Cooking on an ocean-going sailing ship is very different from that on land. Because it is a closed space, the only ingredients that can be used are those originally carried.
From this point of view, the chef who manages the ship's logistics and supplies has a heavy responsibility.
The voyage lasted about two months. If the ingredients they had supplied were wrong, they would not only be unhappy and unappetizing. In order to preserve it for a long time during travel, most sailors' food is specially processed. Smoked pork and bacon drained with plenty of salt are the main ingredients, along with plenty of firm, hard biscuits.
What kind of supplies should be carried, and how much should be carried, these details are very nerve-wracking to consider. Novice chefs who are not calm enough will always subconsciously want to bring as much as they can because of their sense of crisis. However, the ship's accommodation space and financial budget are both limited, and if it carries too much material, it will make the sailboat travel too slow and unable to escape from the pirates.
Like any traveler, they must be careful about what they carry. In addition, due to long-distance travel, whether items can be preserved for a long time has become one of the important criteria.
But as said earlier, this issue involves more than just appetite.
The preparation of sailing ingredients on a ship is a matter of life and death.
Captain Francisco is a talkative person. Because the possibility of encountering other people during this period of voyage is extremely low, he and his sailors often communicate with passengers.
The development of this kind of character is most likely still related to career. After all, in a confined space like an ocean-going ship, if everyone is taciturn and cannot speak until necessary, people's spirits will be affected by this depressing and tense atmosphere and become neurotic.
This is where the impression that the captain and sailors are mostly bohemian, chic and funny comes from. Considering that the meal time is when sailors and passengers most often gather together and can talk, most of the chats with Captain Francisco naturally took place during the meal time.
Since we are chatting while eating, it is natural to talk about what we are eating.
Through his words, the Luoan girl and Galeva, who always kept his notebook close to his side, learned a lot of knowledge.
The reason why the Oriental Moon and several other ocean-going sailing ships choose to go to sea in winter may seem quite risky to outsiders, but if you have enough knowledge, you can understand that in fact, this is a more stable solution.
The summer weather in the North Riga Sea is far more stable than in winter, and the summer storms that often occur in the Mobigas Inland Sea rarely affect this waterway. In terms of sailing difficulty and overall experience, traveling in summer is more advantageous than traveling in winter, but our Mr. Sage did not choose to wait for more than half a year. He was not impatient. He obviously had his own purpose in making this choice. The Luoan girl and the young porter did not know the difference between summer and winter navigation because their knowledge was insufficient, so they did not ask questions.
It wasn't until Captain Francisco mentioned it in the chat that they suddenly realized what considerations Henry's choice was based on.
The Northern Sea Route is indeed easier to travel in summer. In fact, most ocean-going sailing ships traveling from Parnilla or Suao Marina also depart in summer. But something Captain Francisco mentioned made people feel very surprised and shocked.
Ships sailing on this route in summer have a damage rate as high as 40%.
Pirates and various other weather conditions accounted for only 10%, and the vast majority of the remaining ships that never returned died from food-related causes.
The true nature of scurvy, also known as sailor's disease, has been discovered in a small circle of sailors. It is related to certain fresh vegetables and fruits. If you are on an ocean voyage and only have salted fish and bacon crackers to eat, you will get this disease. Within a week, the teeth will loosen and bleed, and the bones all over the body will ache. If there is no improvement within half a month, the condition will worsen to paralysis or death.
Navigators on the inland sea of Morbigas occasionally encountered this situation. However, there are many small islands in the calm sea, and it is not difficult to obtain supplies of fresh vegetables and fruits through trade in the inland sea where merchant ships are everywhere.
In contrast, this route to the East takes more than a month to complete even under the best weather conditions.
Although in the northernmost part of the Norte Riga Sea, the weather is very cool even in summer. But in the more than half a month it took to arrive here from Suao Marina, the sweltering weather was enough to completely rot the fresh fruits and vegetables carried on the ship. For this reason, sailing ships choose to set off in the summer in order to avoid navigation difficulties caused by weather factors. However, this directly results in the crew and passengers having to eat shelf-stable food that lacks necessary nutrients.
Eventually he became sick and lost his judgment and ability to operate, and the ship was destroyed and sank.
The coldness of winter actually becomes a boost under these preconditions. There is a large ceramic jar on the Oriental Moon on a wrought iron shelf to store fruits and vegetables. The sailors will salvage ice floes from the sea and put them into it during the journey. In this cold weather, even in the warm weather It also melts very slowly inside the cabin. The melted ice will flow out from the water outlet at the bottom of the pottery jar as long as the wooden plug is removed. The melted ice floes are all fresh water, which not only keeps food frozen and fresh, but also provides fresh water for various daily life.
The chef's large collection of fresh fruits and vegetables includes many lemons. If they travel in summer, they will not be able to withstand the heat of the weather and will rot quickly. But when kept frozen in winter, they can be maintained all the way, providing sailors and passengers with necessary nutrients and avoiding illness.
Most of the people who choose to travel in summer are novices, while those who go offshore in winter are the most experienced captains.
What seems like a risky move is actually a safer choice based on rich knowledge.
It sounds ironic, but just as mercenaries are often called "adventurers" among the people, the psychological impression of ordinary people on a certain profession often deviates from the facts.
The so-called adventure is not the kind of indifferent heroism in the minds of the people. In contrast, if you have more contact with them, you will find that these so-called adventure industries are actually very cautious, and there are many things that need to be paid attention to.
After all, the only thing that will last forever is to be careful. Young people who are full of passion will either transform or die early. This is an unchanging law in the world.
Gaining knowledge from communication and learning, the two young people grew up rapidly.
And this journey, which is destined to not be smooth sailing, finally begins to show its terrifying side.
Rigal calendar year 1332, Padrosi new calendar year 1531, West Coast United Kingdom calendar year 1 January 4th. When the various forces in the distant southern land were undercurrents, our sage and his party, who knew nothing about it, encountered incredible abnormal weather.
Thunder and lightning flashed in the sky, and the deep blue water of the North Riga Sea began to roll.
The cables and sails were blown wildly, and the sea, which was sunny just half an hour ago, was completely shrouded in dark clouds.
I don’t know the front and back, I don’t know the up and down; I don’t know the difference between heaven and earth, and I don’t know where I am.
The sea shrouded in darkness had only a little light reflecting the sparkling waves. It looked as if some kind of abyssal beast was about to jump out of the water and engulf the Oriental Moon in one go.
The sailors shouted loudly, and many passengers were called out to help. The rain did not fall, the dark clouds were huge but there was no raindrop in the sky. The strong sail was torn by the huge wind and almost broke the mast, but Captain Francisco remained calm. He did not ask to lower the sail because he was worried about the mast breaking because he understood that once it was lowered, they might never be able to leave here again. A sea area.
A row of bright yellow lanterns emerged from the dark cabins. These windproof and rainproof glass lanterns were lit and hung to ensure that people were aware of the situation on the deck. But the turbulent waves made it difficult for them to stay in one position as they swayed from side to side, and the brilliance flickered, echoing the lightning. The seawater lapped up from both sides of the bow onto the deck, and then poured in through the lower vent windows, drenching the sailors who were running to secure their belongings below.
The rain-soaked deck caused a running sailor to fall flat on his face. When he got up, his mouth hurt and he was bleeding. A closer look revealed that his front teeth were embedded in the front deck of the Eastern Moon. superior.
"I'll pay you later to set it in gold. Now, fix the cable!" Following Captain Francisco's words, a flash of lightning suddenly flashed across the mast of the Oriental Moon, and everything was as bright as day in an instant. The captain, wearing a cloak and a round-brimmed hat and holding his cat Clow, looked majestic and showed no intention of giving in to the storm.
He stood firmly on the command podium on the second floor as if there were nails under his boots. The sails were swollen with wind and the huge straight cables were full of tension. But before everyone could appreciate this heroic figure for half a second, a sailor at the bow of the ship, who used lightning to see the front clearly, shouted loudly.
"A huge wave is coming!!"
These were his last words. After reminding everyone, he was thrown out by the ship that suddenly hit the waves and fell into the cold and turbulent water.
"Hold on tight!" The roaring voice was immediately covered by the sound of even bigger waves, and the whole ship was bumping up and down, and everything inside was being tossed around. Henry, Mira, and Galeva should have returned to the cabin in this situation, but because there was a risk of being thrown away if they let go, they could only stay on the deck where the waves were constantly beating.
"The only God above, the great God, protects us. The only God above, the great God, protects us." In the cabin with the flickering lights, the missionary hugged the pillar and kept praying. "Hey! Be careful." But he was only focused on praying and forgot to pay attention to the things around him. When others reminded him, it was too late. An empty wooden wine barrel fell out of the fixed hemp rope due to too violent shaking and was directly smashed. Got in the missionary's face.
"Ahem" his eyes darkened, he let go of the pillar and hit the inner wall of the cabin and passed out.
There was darkness and a cacophony of sounds coming and going.
Among the sounds of thunder and crashing waves, the sounds of people roaring and running were so small.
Small, but determined.
The sailboat was pushed to the top by the huge waves, like a tiny crab on the sand dunes.
Then it falls again.
The cabin was in a mess, but with unyielding will, they successfully got through this level.
Things gradually began to calm down.
"Crack" When he regained consciousness, the first thing the missionary felt was the warm touch on his face.
This is what a warm towel feels like. Someone was wiping his face. After wiping it a few times, he was immediately replaced by a chilly feeling as soon as he touched it. Then he heard the sound of a towel being shaken and wrung out in the basin.
This was a very rare experience during this period of travel on the Oriental Moon. Due to the limited fuel on board, apart from heating and cooking, they rarely had the opportunity to wipe their bodies, and they had never had a shower since departure. Any time.
This made many Imperial passengers accustomed to daily bathing very uncomfortable, but as the Romans did, others could tolerate it and they had to endure it.
"Uh." The missionary opened his eyes, and the lantern fixed high in the cabin that had calmed down steadily cast orange firelight. Looking at the man's white hair, his own figure reflected clearly in those beautiful eyes. He was stunned. Because he had been hit on the head and had just experienced life and death, he subconsciously blurted out under the influence of his confused mind:
"Is it an angel?"
"..." Mira gave him a helpless look, then stood up and prepared to pour water into the wooden bucket for cleaning the deck. Captain Francescos, who happened to walk into the cabin on the other side, touched the head of the kitten Kuro and glanced at the girl Luo An: "An angel? Maybe it really is."
The reappearing light illuminated the hull, and the Oriental Moon made it through the storm with a lot of scars, but nothing really fatal. Her tenacious construction and materials combined with years of careful maintenance, coupled with a crew who know how to exploit these strengths, avoid any unexpected incidents.
After paying the price of one crew member being sacrificed and two passengers and three sailors being injured, she finally survived until the rainbow appeared.
There was still lightning and thunder in the sea behind them, but they had already crossed the coldest area.
The size and quantity of ice floes on the sea surface are getting smaller and smaller.
The orange-red sunset set from the rear of the ship, and its light shone through the frosted glass windows into the dim interior of the cabin.
The Luoan girl, the sage, the young porter, and many other people on the ship all turned their heads and looked over there.
The west.
Already far behind.
