Barnaby had never imagined that as the Imperial Chef to His Royal Highness, the French Crown Prince, there would come a day when he would be cooking food in the streets of Paris for men without even trousers to their names.
However, it was an order from the Crown Prince and 14 other court chefs shared the same fate.
Barnaby fixed the peeled potatoes with a specially-made fork, and with his right hand holding a knife, he began to cut with extremely dazzling skills.
Then he skewered the potatoes onto an iron stake and spread them out evenly, turning the potatoes into curly tornado shapes.
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The “tornado” strings were then fried in an oil pan for a while, taken out, and dusted with a variety of seasonings before being inserted into a wooden plank with holes to the side.
The assistant standing next to him immediately looked up to passersby and loudly said, “The most popular court cuisine—Tornado Potato Tarts! His Merciful Highness the Crown Prince invites everyone to taste them for free.”
The tent used for cooking was surrounded by people, all of them desperately sniffing the aroma of the “Tornado Potato Tarts,” yet no one approached to take any of the food.
That was the “Devil from the ground,” after all, rumored to cause lung diseases or leprosy if eaten!
After who knows how long, a filthy little boy with his hair clumped into one big mess came over, staring at those potato strings, hungrily swallowing his saliva.
Eventually, under the relentless urging of hunger, he grabbed an iron stake and viciously bit into it.
Delicious!
The eyes of the little street urchin grew wide; this was tastier than the bread with brown sauce given to him by the kind lady during Christmas.
Ignoring the pitiful gazes of the crowd, he devoured three skewers in one go and, fearing blame, reluctantly turned his head to leave.
Before long, a few more dirty children arrived and quickly devoured the remaining Tornado Potato Tarts.
The spectating citizens shook their heads and sighed as if these children were going to turn into corpses any moment.
“Newspapers for sale!” At the street corner not far away, a newsboy waved the latest issue of the Paris Commercial News, shouting, “Come read the news! 2 sous a copy. The latest novel, Adventurers Sweep the Caribbean Sea, Winning Riches and Beauties!”
Someone bought a newspaper, finished reading the latest issue of “Breaking Through the Blue Sky,” and then flipped to the third page, immediately captivated by the new novel there.
It was about an adventurer, nicknamed “Popeye the Sailor,” who sailed a fast ship called the Black Pearl on adventures throughout the Caribbean Sea.
The most fascinating aspect was that Mr. “Popeye the Sailor” had a unique constitution; he could immediately become incredibly strong after eating potatoes, thereby effortlessly resolving all troubles…
The Palace of Versailles.
Under the personal supervision of Archbishop Brienne, the plan to promote potato cultivation was completed in less than three days.
Joseph arrived at the Petit Trianon Palace early in the morning along with Archbishop Brienne, carrying the plan.
In the garden outside the Queen’s bedroom at the palace, Queen Mary gave her son a warm embrace and seemed extremely happy, “Dear Joseph, I was just about to have someone call you back from Paris.”
She turned to Earl Debreninac and said, “Could you ask Lady Lebrun to come here for a moment? Tell her the Crown Prince is also here. Oh, she must bring that painting with her.”
Having heard this name before, Joseph knew her as a famous court painter, many portraits of the King and Queen had been done by her.
He looked at the Queen, puzzled, “Mother, what do you need Lady Lebrun for?”
The Queen smiled and said, “Lady Lebrun has conceived a wonderful painting, it’s about you, and the title is ‘The Child Favored by the Gods.’ Oh, I believe you will certainly like it once you see it.”
“Oh, all right…” Joseph suddenly had an ominous premonition for some reason, but still quickly turned to the matter at hand, “By the way, Mother, Archbishop Brian and I have an important matter to discuss with you.”
“Oh? What matter?”
Brian hastened to hand over the planning document to Queen Mary, saying, “Your Majesty, according to the analysis of Count Lamark and several scholars, a drought is feared this year, and it may be even more severe than before.”
Queen Mary instantly showed a look of worry, “Do you have any good solutions?”
Brian quickly said, “It was the Crown Prince who thought of it; we can promote the cultivation of potatoes throughout the country to make use of their high yield in reducing the possibility of famine.”
After listening to a detailed explanation of the proposal to promote potatoes, the Queen nodded, “In Austria, people use potatoes to cope with famine. Joseph must have studied the systems of many countries in detail and flexibly applied the beneficial aspects to France.”
She took a pen from a maid by her side and signed the document, murmuring with a smile curling on her lips, “As Lady Lebrun’s painting depicted, my Joseph is exceptionally gifted and must be blessed by the Lord.”
Joseph hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly. Had he known it would be this easy, he would have come to the Queen for her signature three days ago, without waiting for the detailed plan to be completed.
After all, there was just over a month left before the sowing of wheat, and once the farmers had sown the wheat, it would be absolutely impossible to dig it up and replant it with potatoes.
Plus, to transport the potatoes from the northeast of France to the southern provinces would take about a month at best, so time was of the essence.
The Queen handed the document back to Brian, just as an elegant middle-aged woman approached and curtsied to the Queen, Joseph, and Brian in turn.
Queen Mary smiled and nodded, then instructed, “Lady Lebrun, please show your painting to the Crown Prince; I can hardly wait any longer.”
“Yes,” Lady Lebrun immediately signaled to her assistant. Several young people hurried over, carefully carrying over a painting frame nearly as tall as a person and removed the dust cover from it.
The moment Joseph saw the painting, he froze—the upper part depicted God floating in midair, cradling a lamb in one arm and holding an unknown book in the other, with a dazzling aura shimmering behind.
Below God’s feet was a sumptuously dressed youth with his hands in prayer and a look of devotion on his face, gazing up and listening to the holy teachings.
And that youth’s appearance — wasn’t it his own…?
Joseph felt as if his toes were curling so much he could almost carve out a three-room flat, how had Lady Lebrun created such an awkward piece of art?!
But Queen Mary was radiant, saying, “Joseph, this painting is a gift for you, you may hang it in your reception room.”
Ah! Please no— Joseph’s heart twitched; seeing this every day, he would certainly get cringe cancer!
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid it will take a few days,” Lady Lebrun said. “Strictly speaking, this painting is not finished; I still need to perfect some details.”
At this, Joseph breathed a sigh of relief, hastily adding, “Please do take your time to refine it, there’s absolutely no need to worry about the time.”
Watching the painting, Brian nodded appreciatively, “Lady Lebrun, your artistry is absolutely splendid! I’ve felt the holy essence of the Child of Divine Favor from this painting. The Child of Divine Favor will surely be praised by the world!”
Felt the holy essence? At those words, Joseph suddenly had a thought — yes! People of this era loved to use oil painting to propagate religion, and the content depicted in paintings was almost considered to have truly occurred.
That was why the Queen cared so much and appreciated the painting so highly.
Perhaps, this was the best way to dispel the French people’s superstitions about potatoes!
A vision nearly instantly formed in his mind.
Joseph casually made the sign of the cross over his chest — having often made the gesture since arriving in this time, it had nearly become a reflex — and thought quietly: Lord, it seems I need to call upon you to endorse this.