This is a kitchen customized for Alphonse. Except for some necessary gorgeous decorations, it is practical and spacious everywhere.
Classical French cuisine focuses on a greasy and smooth taste. In order to add layers and variety, a variety of cooking oils are used. But what Kawei said about "clean" made Alfonse shell-shocked: "Clean, what does it mean to be clean?"
“It’s best to use freshly squeezed vegetable oil that has been stored airtight in a glass bottle.”
The conditions were not too harsh, and Alphonse immediately thought of several oils that met the requirements: "Yes, yes, but I have to hear your answer first. Why does it hurt here?"
Seeing him pointing at his upper right abdomen, Kawei didn't want to waste time and directly hit his pain point: "The reason is simple, because of your figure."
Alphonse's figure, to put it mildly, would be called burly and strong, but if we were honest, or looked at the problem from a simpler perspective, he was actually fat.
He is not the kind of fat man who is full of fat. He has worked at the cooking table all year round and has gained a lot of muscles. Therefore, a more accurate term for his figure would be overweight, that is, an imbalance in the proportion between height and weight.
But if the removal of the limbs doesn't count, just looking at his torso, especially the big round belly, it would be too much to say he is fat.
Regarding his figure, Alphonse is in a strange state where his body is already lying flat but his heart is still unwilling to lie down. Like a toad thrown into warm soup, looking at the flames underneath, knowing that one is going to die, one still has to kick one's legs up to show resistance before death, otherwise it will appear that one is too careless.
Therefore, in terms of title, he cannot just be called Fatty. "Flexible Fatty" is his bottom line. After all, his hands can cook the best French cuisine.
"I know I'm fat, but what does fatness have to do with stomachache?"
"It's not a stomach ache, it's your liver."
With a body as strong as Alphonse's, he is also an excellent chef. He usually eats French dishes with extremely high fat content. If you say that he does not have fatty liver, you would not believe it.
Judging from Kawei’s thirty years of medical practice, Alphonse’s fatty liver is quite serious, and the probability of pain in the right upper quadrant is very high [1]. Of course, a high probability does not mean that it will definitely occur. Some people have no symptoms of fatty liver even if they have mild cirrhosis.
If Alphonse denied the dull pain in his upper right abdomen, Kawei also had other plans.
For example, coughing and chest tightness caused by oil fumes affecting the respiratory system, as well as varicose veins in the lower limbs caused by standing for a long time are all acceptable.
There are many occupational diseases among chefs. These three diseases are easy to judge, but they were not well known to people in the 19th century, and they can have the effect of deceiving people.
Of course, not all chefs suffer from occupational diseases. If Alphonse had no symptoms, Carvey would work backwards on his daily habits in order to gain his trust. For example, no smoking or drinking, regular living, light diet, etc. There will always be something suitable for him.
He had limited access to information, and the only thing he knew was Alphonse's figure. Therefore, sufficient preparations must be made to deal with some uncertain situations.
Fortunately, as luck would have it, Alphonse was bluffed right from the start.
"Physicians may not understand, but surgeons do anatomy every day and it is very clear. Your body is full of fat, and these fats sometimes enter the internal organs. The most obvious one is the liver. The kind of high-grade foie gras that has a dense and smooth taste should be your favorite. Very familiar."
As a top French chef, Alphonse naturally knows how high-end foie gras comes from. The cramming feeding method is to make the goose fat as much as possible. A large amount of body fat accumulates in the liver to form this unique taste.
"You mean my liver is the same as the foie gras on my dinner plate?"
"Maybe it's more serious." Kawei patted Alphonse's belly and said in a language that the other party could understand, "The liver filled with fat is much larger than normal, but its space But it’s fixed, and it will naturally hurt if you squeeze it.”
Alphonse thought back to the feeling he had when he was sitting in the small kitchen, and his face became a little solemn.
He took a green vial from the corner of the cupboard and said: "I went to Hartman Hospital before, and the doctor there told me that I needed to undergo bloodletting treatment, using the black bugs to suck blood. Then he asked me to go to the street The pharmacy bought a whole bottle of mercury and told me to drink it twice a day.”
Leech and mercury.
Absolutely.
Kawei cleared his throat and didn't know how to explain it. He could only follow the words and continue to ask: "Have you tried it?"
"I tried it, and the bloodletting therapy is really effective. Every time I let go of the thick and sticky blood, I feel more relaxed." Alphonse praised the leeches, but he didn't have such a good evaluation of the bottle of mercury. " But the mercury he gave me was a bit unpleasant to drink.”
This is an old top-down concept that has been deeply ingrained in the bones of Europeans and is difficult to explain in just a few words.
Kawei is well aware of the difficulty of popularizing science, so he did not refute his treatment experience. After all, the placebo effect [2] also exists: "How much can you drink each time? Can you tell me about your reaction after drinking mercury?"
"Just one bite, after all, this small bottle cost me a full 5 crowns." Alphonse explained, "It tastes very strange when you eat it, it has no taste. After eating, your stomach will feel a little uncomfortable, and your saliva will increase, and then you will... I’ll vomit out everything I’ve eaten that day.”
"Didn't you spit out the mercury?"
"But I think it's good. The doctor said that this is because the body is detoxifying and the treatment is effective." After the exchange just now, Alphonse's attitude towards Kawei also changed somewhat, "What do you think? Do you have any good suggestions? "
Kawei stood up straight, tilted his head back slightly, and nodded after thinking for a moment: "It's not bad, but don't drink the mercury yet. Vomiting after eating is just like not eating at all. You are tossing it over and over again, it's not as good as... I won’t eat it in the first place.”
"You mean not to eat?"
"Eat less. This disease requires controlling the amount of food you eat and taking time to slowly adjust."
"...So that's it."
Kavi’s comfort temporarily relieved Alphonse’s anxiety, and also allowed him to talk about an experience he had when traveling to the East: “A few years ago, I left France and went to the East with the merchant fleet, where I also met Got some very good doctors.”
"East?"
"Well, it's a beautiful country and very welcoming, but..."
"Just what?"
"There are too many people." Alphonse laughed.
"Speaking of which, their suggestions are similar to what you just said. They all told me to eat less. But there is nothing I can do. As a chef, I cannot stick to the previous dishes for a lifetime. It is my task to create new dishes. What comes with this is constant testing of dishes..."
When it came to trying the dishes, he became interested and suddenly leaned over and took out a piece of dried salted fish from the cabinet on the side: "Speaking of their eating habits, they are rich in diversity, and I learned a lot of useful things from them."
At first, Kawei thought he was learning from dried salted fish, but he didn’t expect that the French had already eaten salted fish[3]. What really inspired Alphonse was something else, and he was full of praise for it:
"They processed a whole piece of pork shoulder just right. The surface is oily and smooth, with a bright glass sheen. The fat and thin have a layered texture and can be intertwined repeatedly with chewing. It's really amazing. Of course. I can also do this kind of processing method, but what I can’t do is actually this..."
Alphonse opened the cap of the small bottle. Judging from the smell and color, it was easy to tell that what was inside should be Cantonese authentic barbecued pork sauce.
"What is this?" Kawei asked knowingly.
"A local condiment that tastes sweet and delicious. It tastes..."
Kawei had no interest in cooking to begin with, but when he saw him having to talk a lot, his last bit of patience was worn away. After cultivating the relationship for so long, taking care of his body, and chatting with him, it was finally his turn to get down to business.
"Okay, okay, I'm here to borrow something. So, where's my gas?"
"Oh, yes, yes, oil~~~"
Alphonse quickly dug out several bottles of cooking oil from the cabinet on the other side. According to Kawei's request, they were all extracted from plants: "Peanut oil, walnut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, linseed oil... ..”
"Peanuts and walnuts have residues. The sesame oil is too dark for observation. Olive and flaxseed oil are good..." Kawei quickly made a decision, "I want these two bottles, is that okay?"
Alphonse nodded: "It's just two bottles of oil, no problem."
...
While Kawei was going to borrow oil, the abdominal surgery Ignatz had mentioned before was getting closer.
Unlike modern surgery, because there was no concept of sterility and for entertainment purposes, surgeries in the 19th century were performed in special "operating rooms" in theaters.
Those unfashionable surgeons would temporarily book some small theaters to operate on patients. The Municipal General Hospital is the largest hospital in Austria, and the style is naturally much more grand. The operating room is arranged in the largest theater in the area, the Theater an der Wien. .
Of course, surgery is not an overly elegant performance. In the early years, it was accompanied by all kinds of heart-rending screams, so the location of the room was relatively remote.
The patient is accompanied by two assistants and family members and is sent to the preparation room to rest one hour before surgery. Mainly to help calm the patient's anxious mood and prepare some knives and other instruments.
Ignatz, the surgeon, would arrive just before the show started. Firstly, he was too busy with work, and secondly, he didn’t need much preparation time in the first place. The main thing is to check the surgical area before surgery and quickly simulate the entire surgical process, which only takes a few minutes.
But today is different. The person lying on the blood-stained operating bed today is Count Morasso [4], the cousin of the King of the Austrian Empire. As a noble, it is of course impossible for people and medical records to stay with ordinary people.
So Kavi didn't know about the operation.
The patient is very important, and the operation is also difficult. Those who come to watch are royal relatives, close friends, and colleagues who hold the scalpel. Although the count has always said that he is old and does not care whether he lives or dies. But in fact, counting his age with his fingers, he is only seven or eight years older than Ignatz, far from being old.
In order to prepare for this operation, Ignatz rummaged through all the reference books he could find. He had also been looking for corpses everywhere before, hoping to do as much practice as possible.
But the uncertainty of the operation still made Ignatz very hesitant: "Your Majesty, how about..."
"Stop talking, you should know my temper." Morazo pointed to his lower right abdomen and said, "It's really uncomfortable to keep this thing for so many years. If you continue to shirk it, I will do it myself."
