Chapter 17: Ferdinand Chicken
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“This was left to me by my father. I had it tested, and the purity is only about 80%, so it’s not in great condition,” Josh pointed to the gold in the box and said, “But as long as I exchange this gold for US dollars at the bank, I can pay for this house.”
“What? The bank? No, no, you can’t exchange it at the bank,” Margaret immediately objected when she heard Josh’s words.
“Why not?” Josh pretended not to know and asked.
“It’s not worth it. The exchange rate at the bank is just a means for the government to collect money. It’s just to fool ordinary people. According to the current market, if it’s a regular transaction, it’s at least $50 per ounce,” Margaret explained.
Although he was a rich boy, he was not good at managing money, but Josh was not the kind of silly boy who knew nothing. He knew some basic economic knowledge.
“Then where should I go to exchange it?” Josh asked.
“It’s simple. Leave it to me. Uncle John needs a lot of gold, and he can easily take this amount,” Margaret confidently took on the task.
“Uncle John?” Josh didn’t understand.
“He’s the one who took over my father’s jewelry company. He is also my father’s partner and had a good relationship with my father. After my father passed away because I’m not good at running the business, I sold most of the shares to him, keeping only a small part,” Margaret explained.
“That’s great, but wouldn’t this be too much trouble for you?” Josh thanked her.
“It’s not troublesome. This is a mutually beneficial thing. Don’t be fooled by the fact that the bank charges $35 per ounce for the gold they collect. Although the price doesn’t change when sold to companies that need it, the actual cost, including various fees and approval procedures, is not much lower than the price purchased from the black market. And there are limits on the amount they can sell. Uncle John has had a hard time doing business these years,” Margaret shook her head and said.
Upon hearing Margaret’s words, Josh nodded.
He was also aware of this.
The US government is an expert in harvesting the people’s and world’s wealth.
Although Roosevelt’s New Deal seemed to have saved the US economy ten years ago, the government was heavily in debt and didn’t have much money to implement the New Deal.
But the New Deal was implemented smoothly. The question is, where did the money come from?
The answer is to harvest the people’s wealth.
The first bill of Roosevelt’s New Deal was the Emergency Banking Act, which devalued the US dollar against gold and banned the export of gold.
Then, the people were ordered to turn in their gold at $20.67 per ounce, and US gold mine owners were ordered to sell their gold to the Treasury at the same price.
In just one year, the gold exchange rate was raised to $35 per ounce, which devalued the US dollar by 40%.
This meant that people’s wealth immediately shrank by 40%.
The country became rich, but the people became poor.
The ability to harvest the people’s wealth is amazing.
Now, think about the future where the US frequently devalues the dollar and gives money to the people when things happen.
Therefore, harvesting the people’s wealth has become a traditional art of the US government.
“I helped you out again. Shouldn’t you thank me?” Margaret teased after they had settled the matter.
“That’s only natural. So I’m preparing to cook dinner and invite you over,” Josh said with a slight smile.
“Oh? You can cook?” Margaret was surprised to hear that.
“Of course. Just wait and see. But first, we have to go buy some ingredients,” Josh said.
“Oh, I’m already looking forward to it,” Margaret said with a smile.
So they went out again and drove to the nearest farmer’s market.
In the 1940s, supermarkets had already been established in America but mostly sold nationally branded goods. Fresh produce and the like were not available. Due to the fact that supermarkets were mostly built in the suburbs, which were far away, and refrigerators were not yet widely used at the beginning of the 1940s, residents’ shopping needs did not match supermarkets’ convenience.
So, buying fresh food during this period was still mainly done at small retail stores, roadside stalls, or farmer’s markets similar to vegetable markets. Nearby farmers would sell their farm produce, such as fruits, vegetables, honey, and other agricultural products.
The two of them walked around the farmer’s market, and Josh quickly bought some beef, a chicken, a salmon and ingredients such as lettuce, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots.
He didn’t plan to make authentic Chinese food, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t have the necessary ingredients. He can’t buy the seasonings for Chinese food, such as scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, or cooking wine in this place. Only Western seasonings such as rosemary, cinnamon, ketchup, and pepper were available. Chili peppers were available, of course, as the Americas were their origin.
In addition to ingredients, kitchen utensils were also a problem. There was no wok at home, only an oven, a frying pan, and a barbecue grill.
So he could only make some half-Chinese and half-Western dishes.
For example, beef could be stewed with tomatoes and potatoes.
Chicken can be cooked with tomato sauce and starch to create a dish that would become famous in the future United States, but the dish known as General Tso’s Chicken is a source of confusion for people in China. It is just a simple dish of chicken cooked in a sweet and sour tomato sauce, prepared like sweet and sour pork. It was created by a well-known Taiwanese chef in the 1950s to impress the commander of the US Seventh Fleet during their visit to Taiwan.
The salmon was cooked using a standard Western roasting method, with a little lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and served with rosemary.
Finally, the vegetables were shredded lettuce, carrots, and mushrooms and stir-fried in a frying pan.
As for the main dish, of course, it was bread. Two freshly baked baguettes solved all the problems.
It can only be said that Chinese people would look down upon these dishes, but they were enough to fool foreigners.
If you really wanted to make authentic Chinese food, you would have to wait until you had time to go to Chinatown to buy the necessary seasonings and kitchen utensils.
“Wow, it’s really sumptuous. This chicken is so delicious. Is it a specialty of Austria? What’s it called?” Although this was just a basic dinner in Josh’s eyes, most of the dishes had a slightly sweet and sour taste that was clearly to Margaret’s liking, and she ate happily, especially the strange General Tso’s Chicken.
“Well, yes, this is an Austrian dish called Ferdinand Chicken!” Josh looked deeply at General Tso’s Chicken and refused to acknowledge that this was a Chinese dish.
And it was totally unreasonable for a person of Austrian descent to cook Chinese food.
So, it was an Austrian dish, Ferdinand Chicken, and there was no problem with that.
As for why it was called Ferdinand, mainly because, besides the failed art student, Josh could only think of the spark that ignited World War I at that time.
Therefore, amidst the inexplicable situation throughout Austria, a future popular Austrian dish in the United States, Chicken à la Ferdinand, was born.
Chapter 17: Ferdinand Chicken
_
“This was left to me by my father. I had it tested, and the purity is only about 80%, so it’s not in great condition,” Josh pointed to the gold in the box and said, “But as long as I exchange this gold for US dollars at the bank, I can pay for this house.”
“What? The bank? No, no, you can’t exchange it at the bank,” Margaret immediately objected when she heard Josh’s words.
“Why not?” Josh pretended not to know and asked.
“It’s not worth it. The exchange rate at the bank is just a means for the government to collect money. It’s just to fool ordinary people. According to the current market, if it’s a regular transaction, it’s at least $50 per ounce,” Margaret explained.
Although he was a rich boy, he was not good at managing money, but Josh was not the kind of silly boy who knew nothing. He knew some basic economic knowledge.
“Then where should I go to exchange it?” Josh asked.
“It’s simple. Leave it to me. Uncle John needs a lot of gold, and he can easily take this amount,” Margaret confidently took on the task.
“Uncle John?” Josh didn’t understand.
“He’s the one who took over my father’s jewelry company. He is also my father’s partner and had a good relationship with my father. After my father passed away because I’m not good at running the business, I sold most of the shares to him, keeping only a small part,” Margaret explained.
“That’s great, but wouldn’t this be too much trouble for you?” Josh thanked her.
“It’s not troublesome. This is a mutually beneficial thing. Don’t be fooled by the fact that the bank charges $35 per ounce for the gold they collect. Although the price doesn’t change when sold to companies that need it, the actual cost, including various fees and approval procedures, is not much lower than the price purchased from the black market. And there are limits on the amount they can sell. Uncle John has had a hard time doing business these years,” Margaret shook her head and said.
Upon hearing Margaret’s words, Josh nodded.
He was also aware of this.
The US government is an expert in harvesting the people’s and world’s wealth.
Although Roosevelt’s New Deal seemed to have saved the US economy ten years ago, the government was heavily in debt and didn’t have much money to implement the New Deal.
But the New Deal was implemented smoothly. The question is, where did the money come from?
The answer is to harvest the people’s wealth.
The first bill of Roosevelt’s New Deal was the Emergency Banking Act, which devalued the US dollar against gold and banned the export of gold.
Then, the people were ordered to turn in their gold at $20.67 per ounce, and US gold mine owners were ordered to sell their gold to the Treasury at the same price.
In just one year, the gold exchange rate was raised to $35 per ounce, which devalued the US dollar by 40%.
This meant that people’s wealth immediately shrank by 40%.
The country became rich, but the people became poor.
The ability to harvest the people’s wealth is amazing.
Now, think about the future where the US frequently devalues the dollar and gives money to the people when things happen.
Therefore, harvesting the people’s wealth has become a traditional art of the US government.
“I helped you out again. Shouldn’t you thank me?” Margaret teased after they had settled the matter.
“That’s only natural. So I’m preparing to cook dinner and invite you over,” Josh said with a slight smile.
“Oh? You can cook?” Margaret was surprised to hear that.
“Of course. Just wait and see. But first, we have to go buy some ingredients,” Josh said.
“Oh, I’m already looking forward to it,” Margaret said with a smile.
So they went out again and drove to the nearest farmer’s market.
In the 1940s, supermarkets had already been established in America but mostly sold nationally branded goods. Fresh produce and the like were not available. Due to the fact that supermarkets were mostly built in the suburbs, which were far away, and refrigerators were not yet widely used at the beginning of the 1940s, residents’ shopping needs did not match supermarkets’ convenience.
So, buying fresh food during this period was still mainly done at small retail stores, roadside stalls, or farmer’s markets similar to vegetable markets. Nearby farmers would sell their farm produce, such as fruits, vegetables, honey, and other agricultural products.
The two of them walked around the farmer’s market, and Josh quickly bought some beef, a chicken, a salmon and ingredients such as lettuce, onions, potatoes, mushrooms, and carrots.
He didn’t plan to make authentic Chinese food, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t have the necessary ingredients. He can’t buy the seasonings for Chinese food, such as scallions, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, or cooking wine in this place. Only Western seasonings such as rosemary, cinnamon, ketchup, and pepper were available. Chili peppers were available, of course, as the Americas were their origin.
In addition to ingredients, kitchen utensils were also a problem. There was no wok at home, only an oven, a frying pan, and a barbecue grill.
So he could only make some half-Chinese and half-Western dishes.
For example, beef could be stewed with tomatoes and potatoes.
Chicken can be cooked with tomato sauce and starch to create a dish that would become famous in the future United States, but the dish known as General Tso’s Chicken is a source of confusion for people in China. It is just a simple dish of chicken cooked in a sweet and sour tomato sauce, prepared like sweet and sour pork. It was created by a well-known Taiwanese chef in the 1950s to impress the commander of the US Seventh Fleet during their visit to Taiwan.
The salmon was cooked using a standard Western roasting method, with a little lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and served with rosemary.
Finally, the vegetables were shredded lettuce, carrots, and mushrooms and stir-fried in a frying pan.
As for the main dish, of course, it was bread. Two freshly baked baguettes solved all the problems.
It can only be said that Chinese people would look down upon these dishes, but they were enough to fool foreigners.
If you really wanted to make authentic Chinese food, you would have to wait until you had time to go to Chinatown to buy the necessary seasonings and kitchen utensils.
“Wow, it’s really sumptuous. This chicken is so delicious. Is it a specialty of Austria? What’s it called?” Although this was just a basic dinner in Josh’s eyes, most of the dishes had a slightly sweet and sour taste that was clearly to Margaret’s liking, and she ate happily, especially the strange General Tso’s Chicken.
“Well, yes, this is an Austrian dish called Ferdinand Chicken!” Josh looked deeply at General Tso’s Chicken and refused to acknowledge that this was a Chinese dish.
And it was totally unreasonable for a person of Austrian descent to cook Chinese food.
So, it was an Austrian dish, Ferdinand Chicken, and there was no problem with that.
As for why it was called Ferdinand, mainly because, besides the failed art student, Josh could only think of the spark that ignited World War I at that time.
Therefore, amidst the inexplicable situation throughout Austria, a future popular Austrian dish in the United States, Chicken à la Ferdinand, was born.
