Chapter 2039 - Collective Wedding (VII Continued)

Having said this, he rose and headed toward the long dining table. Zhang Yu stood momentarily stunned, then quickly followed.

This buffet, according to the organizers' wishes, was meant to fully demonstrate the superiority of the "Australian-style" lifestyle.

The tycoons didn't lack money, and being in this "Number One City of the South," they naturally demanded the finest in food and drink. This differed from the buffet dinners held in Lingao and other places before.

From their personal experience, Ming Dynasty cuisine remained relatively simple and plain. Whether in variety or seasoning, it couldn't compare to the Qing Dynasty salt merchants who exhausted every trick for eating and entertainment in the old timeline. However, most guests were wealthy, and Ziming Restaurant had operated in Guangzhou for many years. Most had already tasted various "Australian dishes"—mere "scrambled eggs with tomatoes" and "fried chicken" obviously couldn't impress them anymore.

If they wanted to prepare some high-end dishes from the old timeline, that wouldn't be difficult, but such dishes mostly required exquisite knife work and heat control, couldn't be mass-produced, and weren't suited for the long hours of warming needed at large banquets.

So when Fang Fei discussed the menu with the Elder in charge of the main kitchen, the priority was to emphasize "abundance" rather than "refinement."

"It's like when everyone goes to America. American food, you know, is certainly better than British food. Otherwise, there's not much to say, but anyone who's been to America is definitely impressed by America's abundance and cheapness of food. That's the effect we want."

Under the guidance of several Elder cooking enthusiasts, Great World's chefs studied many buffet menus from the old timeline and drafted the wedding buffet menu.

Because this was the seventeenth century and commoners generally lacked fats in their diet, "hearty dishes" were essential. Just the "meat dishes" numbered nearly ten varieties: mountains of golden crispy pork; ribs coated with spices and honey, kept warm on grills; deep-fried drumsticks and wings; crispy fried chicken tenders; "lion's head" meatballs stacked in pyramid formation, sprinkled with emerald-green scallions... Even red-braised pork was stewed in two large pots. The red, quivering chunks of pork belly steamed in large ceramic pots—one pot was garnished with potatoes, the other with dried bamboo shoots—effectively reducing the amount of pork belly needed.

To emphasize abundance, naturally there couldn't be limited portions, but the budget was finite. So there were many cost-saving measures similar to the red-braised pork: the lion's head meatballs contained not just water chestnuts but also minced fried dough sticks; the batter on the fried tenders and crispy pork was as thick as possible, comparable to popcorn chicken.

Since meat costs had to be controlled, the relatively abundant seafood was extensively used. Two large pots, oden-style, simmered various fish paste products, including both modern-produced fish cakes and bamboo wheels, as well as Fujian-style fish skin dumplings, fish swallow dumplings, and fish balls. One was traditional clear broth flavor, the other curry flavor.

The centerpiece was fresh seafood. In this timeline without cold chain logistics, seafood that died upon leaving water proved difficult to bring to market in time. Even coastal cities like Guangzhou rarely had fresh seafood to eat—most was dried or preserved before sale. Even wealthy families seldom ate dishes made from fresh seafood.

Catch brought from Hong Kong was also prepared in various ways—fish, crabs, shrimp, and shellfish, whether salt-and-pepper, pan-fried, steamed, grilled, braised, or boiled, in countless variations, exhausting every cooking method and seasoning, even including exotic flavors like curry and satay. Once displayed, even seasoned wealthy folks were amazed.

Among them, those who frequented Ziming Restaurant had seen the Australians' skills in cooking fresh seafood, but so many varieties and cooking methods concentrated together, with over a dozen large pots and grill pans filling the long tables and emitting various aromas, made anyone's mouth water upon approach.

"Young Master Zhang, this is indeed a rare delicacy." Gao Ju, wanting to establish a connection, deliberately made conversation while getting food.

Though Zhang Yu had read many "Australian books" and "Australian magazines," when it came to Australian matters, most of it remained theoretical—take this buffet, for instance: this was his first time experiencing it. Not showing his inexperience was thanks to snippets of articles he'd seen before.

Now standing before the dining table, he felt somewhat dizzy, suffering from decision paralysis. Too many things before him he didn't recognize. When Master Gao suddenly spoke, he couldn't help feeling panicked. Following Gao Ju's gaze, he saw a large metal tray. The bottom was mixed with crushed ice and water, covered with small, crystal-clear glass cups containing cream-like substances of various colors, topped with slices of fruit.

Zhang Yu knew what this was, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "This is ice cream." To show he had actually tasted it rather than just heard about it, he added: "Ziming Restaurant has this."

"Ziming Restaurant's ice cream is truly marvelous! Though I know it's made of nothing more than sugar, milk, and such, I don't know what Australian secret method makes it so dense, soft, rich, and smooth."

Dairy products also existed in the Ming Dynasty, and the cheese brought by the Mongols wasn't too rare. Some claim ice cream was invented in the Yuan Dynasty and later transmitted to Europe by Marco Polo. However, similar practices of adding milk, cream, and spices to shaved or crushed ice existed since ancient Egyptian times. But these primitive "ice creams" were not the same as modern ice cream.

Modern ice cream's flavor comes from whipped sweet cream being frozen but not completely solidified, maintaining a semi-melted texture. The large amount of air mixed in during whipping adds fluffiness to the soft, creamy mouthfeel.

Making ice cream requires very low temperatures. The texture of modern Italian and American ice cream couldn't be achieved in the seventeenth century using natural ice cooling methods. Ziming Restaurant could only make it because they had cold storage—naturally, production wasn't high, making it a genuine luxury in Guangzhou.

Zhang Yu had read articles about ice cream in magazines. Now wanting to show off, he said: "The ingredients and preparation for ice cream aren't difficult. What's hard is not having the refrigeration machines the Australians use—I've read in magazines that making ice cream requires extremely cold temperatures that even piling countless ice blocks can't achieve."

"Young Master Zhang truly has deep Australian learning." Gao Ju praised. "I hear the several businesses your family has opened all use Australian machines for production. There must be many similar Australian secrets."

At this, Zhang Yu immediately became animated, talking nonstop about the machines he'd purchased on loan, about how these machines were so useful, about their extremely high production efficiency.

"...Take this mixer—one batch can mix over a hundred jin of powder, mixing thousands of jin a day. If you hired a master to mix by hand, mixing a hundred jin a day would be considered good. It takes much effort and they eat a lot. Setting aside wages, just the food is an enormous expense. Now the factory just needs laborers to load and unload on schedule. Otherwise, hire one boy to watch over things—one person can monitor three or four mixers. His wages are less than a fifth of a master's."

Zhang Yu spoke animatedly—he rarely had the chance to tell anyone these things. After all, he was no longer the idle second-generation pastry shop heir who passed time reading newspapers in teahouses, but the general manager of a food company with factories and stores. Though affairs were managed by hired managers, he still had to handle things personally—the days of idle boasting were gone forever.

He genuinely believed in the Australians' new machines and methods and was quite pleased with his "luck." But he rarely had the opportunity to express this pleased feeling. With just a little prompting from Gao Ju, he couldn't help pouring it all out to this unfamiliar outsider.

Gao Ju nodded along while secretly calculating. He wasn't saying these things just to flatter Zhang Yu and get close to him—he was also trying to understand the actual situation of this "light industry model" the Australians had set up. The Zhang family was currently the only "private enterprise" in Guangzhou using Australian machines and technology on a large scale. Supposedly, they were making money hand over fist. Gao Ju was also considering following suit, investing the capital accumulated from years of trade into industrial production.

However, after inquiring around, he found that the Chiefs greatly welcomed industrial investment, with various support policies. But upon preliminary investigation, the industrial investment was staggeringly high. Just the Zhang Company's factory—supposedly buying the land, building the factory, and purchasing equipment alone cost over ten thousand yuan—all made possible only by Australian loans.

Moreover, he learned that though the Zhang family had secured large Australian orders, especially military orders, and the factory was running three shifts with money flowing in like a river, the enormous production scale also brought cash flow pressure. Supposedly, the Zhang Food Company's production and operation could only be maintained through "bank" loans. If loans were cut off, it would immediately fall into difficulty.

This situation made Gao Ju hesitate. Undoubtedly, Zhang Yu was a model set up by the Chiefs. As long as he didn't do anything stupid, no matter what happened, the Council of Elders would definitely protect him. But whether his own family had such a relationship with the Council of Elders was uncertain. Zhang Yu's humble origins were actually an advantage now.

What Gao Ju had his eye on was Australian-style silk weaving workshops. The Chiefs had recently been promoting this project to the Association, with few takers. After looking into it, Gao Ju also found it daunting—initial investment was at least a hundred thousand yuan, with some machines costing over a thousand yuan each, plus supporting steam engines, boilers, and such, each costing hundreds or thousands. Once running, monthly production and operating costs were staggering, not to mention the enormous capital needed during cocoon-buying season.

Such a business—one misstep could mean total ruin!

(End of Chapter)