313 Before the Banquet (Part 2)
Grand Golden Terrace.
"Tomorrow is the sixth prince’s banquet. How are the preparations going?" Second Master Tu sipped his tea slowly as he asked Jiu Jiudao in front of him.
Jiu Jiudao scratched his head. "I don’t work for Grand Golden Terrace. I’m just a gambler who comes here often. Why do I have to worry about this matter for you?"
"Jiu-ye." Second Master Tu stood up, adjusting the golden belt around his waist. "This matter is very difficult to handle, ah. Come with me. We can only see to it personally."
"Er-ye, stop kidding around. Just cooking a few dishes? How can that be something your Grand Golden Terrace can't handle?" Jiu Jiudao asked with a grin.
Second Master Tu shook his head. "The problem is not cooking a few dishes. I’m afraid that my Grand Golden Terrace will collapse from under the weight of this imperial banquet."
"Er-ye." Someone knocked lightly on the private room’s door. "The young miss from the General’s Residence is here."
"You see, even the overseer is the young miss of the General’s Residence. Don’t you know that in the whole of Beili, the most terrifying person is this Manslayer Ye." Second Master Tu straightened his clothes and adjusted his golden belt before he walked over and pushed the door open. He smiled at Ye Ruoyi who was standing in front of him. "Miss Ye, you’re here."
Ye Ruoyi returned a polite smile. "I came to take a look at the preparations for tomorrow."
"Very well." Second Master Tu nodded and led Ye Ruoyi out. As they walked down the stairs, Second Master Tu pointed at the guests who were currently engrossed in gambling and said, "Tomorrow, this entire floor will be emptied and set up with exquisite tables made of redwood. Since my Grand Golden Terrace can accommodate over ten thousand gamblers at one time, there will be more than enough space for even the grandest imperial banquet. Please follow me to the kitchen."
Ye Ruoyi followed Second Master Tu to the back kitchen of Grand Golden Terrace. Inside, tens of chefs were preparing the food ingredients, frowning in concentration. The whole kitchen was clamoring with sounds, and expensive food ingredients were laid out all over the place.
"As they say, a gentleman should stay far away from the kitchen. Anyway, there are no clean spots in the kitchen, Miss Ye should not stay here too long." Second Master Tu reached out a hand. "Give me tomorrow’s menu. Miss Ye, let's talk outside." Second Master Tu took the list that an assistant chef handed over, and walked out with Ye Ruoyi. He looked at the list, glanced over its contents and handed it to Ye Ruoyi. "Too many words. Miss Ye, you should read it yourself."
One course of embroidered delicacies: eight fruits platter, citron, mandarin, pomegranate, sweet orange, sweet pear, milk pear, hawthorn, flowering papaya.
One course of blessed dried fruit in pouches: lychee, longan, sweet lotus, torreya seeds, hazelnuts, pine nuts, ginkgo, pear slices, jujube ring, lotus seeds, apple slices, steamed jujubes.
One course of golden-threaded medicinal herbs: brain flowers, liquorice flowers, cinnabar pills, costus and clove, camphor, quisqualis seeds, villous amomrum flowers, fragrant osmanthus flowers, macrocephala rhizomes and ginseng, olive flowers.
One course of sweet and sour savories: fragrant papaya, pepper plums, medicinal flowers, scented cherries, perilla scented incense, scented daylily and willow flowers, scented grapes, liquorice flowers, ginger and shredded plum, plum slices cake, red ginger, shredded plum cake.
One course of cured meats: shredded pork rolls, gleditsia sinensis cubes, Yunmeng lamb, prawns, fish, milk, mixed salted fish, Jinshan salted beans, wine and vinegar meat, pickled melon with meat.
A platter of eight dishes: selected bees, varieties of grapes, rosary of fragrant lotus, almonds, large kumquats, fresh coconut on ivory, small olives, tangerines.
Fifteen bowls of side dishes: the first bowls flower-cooked quail, lychee-shaped pork kidney, the second bowls creamy egg rolls, soup of three crisps, the third bowls sheep’s tongue rolls, tripe with bean sprouts, the fourth bowls gizzard and duck feet rolls, roasted quails, the fifth bowls chopped tripe, duck with fried fish belly, the sixth bowls chopped shark meat, fried fish soup, the seventh bowls fried eels with crab, goose gizzard and feet in vegetable soup, the eighth bowls orange-marinated crabs, creamy shredded vegetable soup, the ninth bowls fresh prawns with sliced pig trotters, southern stir-fried eels, the tenth bowls fresh crabs, mandarin fish with clams, the eleventh bowls sliced perch, clear crab soup, the twelfth bowls, quail with crystal pig skin jelly, pork belly with clams, the thirteenth bowls prawns with sliced oranges, fish and prawn soup, the fourteenth bowls jellyfish slices, two-coloured vegetable soup, the fifteenth bowls fresh raw clams, fresh sheep blood and soy milk.
Snacks: stir-fried pork kidney, roasted fish belly, roasted quail breast meat, wrapped chicken, wrapped rabbit, roasted criinformant pancake.
Ten selected dishes from the kitchen: clam with fried fish belly, fresh raw clams, crab rolls, snail in ginger and vinegar, snail with fried fish belly, ginger and vinegar with bull pizzle, roasted oysters, oysters with fried fish belly, shellfish with fried fish belly, bull pizzle with fried fish belly.
Twenty servings of ten accompanying dishes: lotus and duck rolls, vegetable soup, three treasure slices, fried southern eels, raw jellyfish, quail soup, perch fish slices, soup of three crisps, fresh crabs, roasted fish belly.
Banquet’s end, five dishes of fruits.
Even though she was the daughter of the General-in-chief, and lived a life of luxury since she was young, she had never witnessed such an extravagant banquet. Ye Ruoyi held onto the menu and read it for a long time before she frowned and said, "All of these ingredients were available?"
"We are Grand Golden Terrace," Second Master Tu replied deadpan.
Ye Ruoyi laughed and said, "How long does it take to prepare for such a banquet?"
"It will take seven days for Diaolou Mansion, five days for Tianxia Pavilion, four days for the Imperial Food Provisioner, but here at Grand Golden Terrace, we only need three days." Second Master Tu tightened his golden belt. "From the moment the sixth prince walked out of Grand Golden Terrace, our Grand Golden Terrace announced the temporary closure of our food service. That also cost me a whole lot of silver, ah. Since that day, our kitchen has been preparing for this banquet. Believe me, even those imperial sons and nobles would be shocked."
"No wonder Xiao Se wanted to host the banquet at Grand Golden Terrace," Ye Ruoyi praised.
"Could this be the Young Miss of the General’s Mansion that Jiu Jiudao mentioned who is top three on the list of the most beautiful ladies in Heavenly Revelations? Indeed, you look like an angel who lives in Heaven." A faint voice suddenly sounded and everyone looked up to see three newcomers walking towards them.
The man who led the rest was quite tall and his gray clothes appeared rather shabby, its color faded from repeated washings. He had a calm expression on his face though he gave off an indescribable sense of melancholy.
To his right stood a rather thin man, his complexion a little pale. As for his appearance… he looked kind of like the type of “boy toys” favoured by high-ranking nobles who had particular hobbies.
To his left was a rather gorgeous woman. She was tall with a somewhat heroic spirit between her brows.
Jiu Jiudao bowed his head and greeted, "Da-ge, you’re here."
The tall man in the lead nodded slightly, his face still expressionless.
"These three are my sworn brothers and sister. This is my da-ge, Dugu Gudu. Don’t laugh, Miss Ye, you must not laugh. My da-ge doesn’t like people laughing at his name. And this is my san-di, Hu Dan. Don’t look down on him just because he looks like a boy toy, he’s in fact highly sought after in Heavenly Revelations City. And this is my si-mei, Wu Daidai. When she was young, she was really blank, but she never messes up when it comes to important things. In Heavenly Revelations City, she’s also considered a top figure." Jiu Jiudao hurriedly introduced them to Ye Ruoyi.
Dugu Gudu, Hu Dan, Jiu Jiudao, Wu Daidai.
These four names were really odd… But, Ye Ruoyi still managed to hold back her laughter and she nodded calmly. "Hello everyone, well met."
But Jiu Jiudao added another sentence.
"We are what they call on the streets, the Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations."
"Hahahahahaha." Ye Ruoyi finally couldn't hold it back. After a little giggle, she burst into hysterical laughter.
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About the four odd names:
独孤孤独 Dugu Gudu
Gudu means solitary or lonely, which is a reverse of his surname. He’s the oldest of the four so the rest call him da-ge (大哥, big brother).
九九道 Jiu Jiudao
As explained before, his name means nine by nine streets. He’s the second oldest and the other two would call him Jiu-ge (九哥) but Dugu Gudu calls him Xiao-Jiu (小九) or Jiu-di (九弟).
胡蛋 He Dan
Dan means egg, and Hu is a common surname. He’s third and the other boys call him san-di (三弟).
五呆呆 Wu Daidai
Dai means to look blankly into space like you’re daydreaming. Wu means five but she’s placed fourth in age so the older boys call her si-mei (四妹).
天启四少 Four Youths of Heavenly Revelations
Literally what it says. It’s funny because they are definitely not youths, and it sounds like they’re a gang of bosses wannabe.
The origin of these names will be explained further in the later chapters.
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About the ingredients of the imperial banquet:
The imperial banquet consisted of multiple courses for a total of 200+ dishes. The courses described by the author are likely from the Song dynasty, though such imperial banquets probably started from the Tang dynasty and went on until the Qing dynasty. Such an extravagant banquet would be held during special occasions, for example, the Emperor’s birthday or anniversaries.
As for the names of the ingredients, half of them are guessed, the rest are just translated literally. The preparation and presentation of the dishes are part of the dish name, and they cannot be understood even in the original language. Indeed, the names of these dishes were found in ancient records and some of them can only be deduced by professional chefs with the help of historians.
Reference and lots and lots of help: http://www.sbar.com.cn/