Of course, Guo Kang also knew very well that it was easy to convince Theodora, and what came next was the highlight of what he had to face today.
Not long after, Cao Jian and several servants brought the tea and invited everyone to taste it.
The high-end tea leaves of the Purple Horde Khanate, or "tea" in the original sense, were basically bought from the East. At first, some people tried to grow it themselves, but maybe they were not accustomed to the climate and the soil did not grow well, so people still preferred imported products.
However, the tea drinking trend brought by the Purple Horde Khanate made the local "tea" popular in Greece.
In the mountains of Greece, some plants called "camellia" grow. Local shepherds often collect their branches and leaves, and after drying them, this "tea" is made.
Greek mountain teas from different regions have different varieties, flavors and processing methods. Some people like it fresh, others like it brewed. However, the methods used are similar, they are steamed in hot water, soaked, and then consumed.
This kind of mountain tea was originally a drink used by mountain people to improve their taste. Sometimes it was sold in towns and entered the market. However, after the rise of the Purple Horde, many Greeks also began to consciously pursue "drinking tea" due to the influence of the upper class.
When they couldn't get oriental tea, they began to think about how to use local tea, so they began the process of active selection and planting. Early tea farmers were mainly part-time shepherds in the Peloponnese Peninsula. Later, as the oriental culture became more and more popular, some businessmen also began to invest in establishing tea gardens, making it an industry.
In addition to local consumption, Greek businessmen also often make glazed pottery bottles imitating the Yuan Dynasty style, copy some Chinese characters on them that they may not know the meaning of, fill them with some local mountain tea, and then claim that this is "Serris high-end tea" and sell it to people who do not understand the industry. Western European rich people.
After many times, Western Europeans also discovered that something was wrong and cursed the old Greek liar and deceiver. Some chambers of commerce even have specialized tea appraisers to distinguish between genuine and fake tea to prevent sellers from passing it off as quality.
Of course, this relatively cheap local tea has also become a means for many less wealthy Europeans to brag about their wealth and status. Anyway, most local nobles cannot tell one from the other;
In turn, this kind of counterfeiting made the real upper-class nobles particularly like to emphasize that their tea and porcelain were unique and truly oriental products, and tea tasting gradually became a popular habit. If you can't taste the place of production and the quality, you will be embarrassed to show off in front of other nobles.
It can only be said that the development of things is indeed unexpected sometimes.
Cao's tea was naturally bought specially, but unfortunately Guo Kang himself was not very particular about it and never cared much about it.
Everyone was chatting and tasting. Theodora held the tea cup, took a sip carefully, and turned to ask Guo Kang: "What do you think of this batch of tea leaves?"
Guo Kang also took a sip, but after thinking for a while, he couldn't think of any difference, so he could only whisper: "It should be... all OK?"
"Actually, I think we don't need to care too much about these." Seeing that Theodora was speechless, he took the initiative to explain: "If you think about it, these Seris teas shipped across the ocean are probably not of high quality. I heard that the Ming Dynasty strictly controlled the production areas of truly good tea and did not allow it to be exported casually."
"I would say, rather than buying it at a high price, it's better to drink local water. Anyway, it's just vanilla infused water, so it doesn't matter if the taste is a little different. It all tastes good to me."
However, Theodora was not satisfied with his evaluation.
"You are just like the Nurhaci raised by Jeanne. He is used to eating weeds. If you feed it fine chaff, it will not be able to eat it." Theodora shook his head and said: "This is the outstanding crystallization of Serris civilization, how can it be a vanilla?" matter."
"Okay, okay, I'm just an ordinary Serisian, and I don't understand the Seris civilization." Guo Kang said helplessly: "I just saw these today, and I think we should really save some money. Let's drink tea." , it’s useless, why don’t you save the money and build a steam engine..."
"Tiantian is Brother Tian, and the rest of the days are useless?" Theodora was so angry that she didn't even care about religious issues: "Why don't you marry Brother Tian?"
"Ah..." Guo Kang didn't know how to answer now.
Fortunately, the embarrassing moment didn't last long, and the servants brought out desserts for everyone to taste. These buns and biscuits successfully changed the topic between them, preventing Theodora from continuing to ask questions.
In this day and age, fluffy sweet bread isn’t as expensive as it used to be. At least, in places like Italy, it is already something that wealthy citizens can consume, and special recipe books have appeared to teach everyone how to cook.
After the popularity of this kind of food, there are more and more varieties, but the characteristics are similar. A large amount of sucrose, eggs and other ingredients are required. Sometimes, depending on economic conditions and taste requirements, honey, roses, saffron, etc. must be added to adjust the taste.
The largest amount used here is sucrose. The good news is that the Purple Horde Khanate can now produce this thing on its own, and finally no longer has to rely entirely on imports.
Sugar production was first developed in India and Persia. Later, the Arabs brought these agricultural products to all parts of the world. They consciously selected varieties and expanded the planting range, allowing crops such as sugar cane, cotton, bananas, eggplants, and lemons to spread. This period is also known as the "Arab Agricultural Revolution".
At that time, sugar cane was still called "Persian reed". The Arabs brought it to Egypt, Morocco and Iberia and began to plant it in large quantities to make cane sugar.
But later, with the advancement of the Spanish Reconquista, local agriculture was greatly damaged, and the sugar industry also collapsed. The focus of sucrose shifted to the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Arabs also introduced sugar cane to the islands of Crete and Cyprus, which were later controlled by Italian traders. After the rise of the Purple Horde Khanate, it captured many islands and also obtained the sugar cane manors and sugar workshops in these places.
The most important thing is that the Eastern "white sugar" technology took shape in the Tang Dynasty.
The Seris could prepare purer, truly "white" sugar, far superior in quality to the yellow and red products made by the Indians and Arabs, and after that, no one else could learn it for thousands of years. Therefore, sugar has been a bulk commodity exported by sea since at least the Yuan Dynasty.
The Purple Horde Khanate also acquired the technology to make white sugar by recruiting craftsmen, which gave it a huge advantage over its counterparts in the Mediterranean world.
Because of their importance, these plantations were under the direct jurisdiction of the Great Khan. Previously, at a private gathering, the queen told her adoptive mother that the couple planned to use the sugar workshop in Cyprus as Theodora's dowry, which surprised others.
It can be said that the biggest shareholder of these desserts is Theodora herself, so Guo Kang doesn't know whether to persuade everyone to eat less sugar. He was worried that if he kept saying this, he would be thought of as Nurhachi who couldn't eat fine chaff.
(End of chapter)
