From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The challenge was arranged smoothly, and the venue was used as the venue for the subsequent qualifying rounds.

Then, a portion of the various supplies allocated for the selection competition were also set aside for the young chefs participating in the challenge competition.

However, after the news was broadcast on the provincial television station, what the province did not expect was that there would be so many young chefs coming from all over the province.

Many young chefs missed the last provincial youth chef cooking exchange competition.

This time, the news about the challenge was announced half a month in advance.

After learning that if I could get into the top three in the challenge, I would be able to participate in the provincial trials for the national cooking competition.

All of a sudden, qualified young chefs from all over the province rushed to Quancheng without stopping.

Some young chefs also registered with the provincial government by phone.

As a result, there were more than 1000 young chefs who were eligible and signed up for the challenge.

Faced with such a large number of young chefs signing up for the competition.

Tao Jingwen and Chen Zhiheng quickly carried out some coordination.

It was very straightforward to organize all the master chefs who signed up for the selection competition to serve as judges.

Then the more than 20 young chefs participating in the challenge were divided into groups.

The selection process was by lottery, with each group consisting of more than 50 people.

First, they are divided into groups, and each group competes individually.

The five best performers were selected from more than 50 people.

Then the remaining 100 people will draw lots again and be divided into 5 groups for the second round.

In the second round, only the top two in each group will advance.

Finally, the remaining ten people were screened and the competition was conducted in full accordance with the standards of the selection round.

In other words, in the final round of the competition, not only must the chefs defeat the young chefs participating in the challenge, but they must also be able to reach the level of the master chefs in the selection competition.

If you only rank high among young chefs but fail to reach the level of a master chef, you will not be eligible to enter the selection.

This kind of competition format has a very tight schedule and also tests the young chefs' on-the-spot performance level.

Of course, some people may think that the grouping by drawing lots is unfair?
But Master Cui came out and said directly: "Drawing lots to divide the groups is actually the fairest, because your opponents in the challenge are none other than yourselves.

If you cannot challenge yourself and do your best, you are not qualified to challenge the master chef.

I am even less qualified to represent Shandong cuisine in national competitions."

When Master Cui said this publicly, everyone felt that this was reasonable.

If you can’t beat anyone else in your group in a random draw, why do you feel qualified to challenge the master chefs?

The province has done this, and it has become both a youth chef challenge and a Shandong cuisine representative chef selection competition.

It really became a hot topic in an instant, and after being reported on various TV stations and newspapers, it instantly became the most watched thing in the province.

Seeing that everyone was paying close attention to this matter, the provincial television station and newspapers immediately followed up on the report.

Then the news quickly spread out of Qi and Lu.

When chefs from other provinces are selected to participate in the national cooking competition, everything is quiet and no one cares.

Qilu's grand chef selection process instantly became a hot topic in the country.

The provincial television station did not expect that this incident would cause its ratings to suddenly increase a lot.

At the same time, many companies from within and outside the province contacted the provincial television station and expressed their willingness to sponsor the challenge and trials, only asking for advertisements when the provincial television station broadcasts the competition.

Neither the TV station nor the provincial government expected that this incident would attract so much attention.

Suddenly, it really felt like there was a culinary craze sweeping the country.

The TV station did not dare to accept sponsorship casually, but asked the province for instructions.

After some discussion, the province quickly decided to broadcast the event live on the provincial television station and accept sponsorship from those companies.

With corporate advertising sponsorship, the TV station and the provincial department planning this event both had funding.

We quickly began to rearrange the competition venue, replaced all the cooking equipment on site, and purchased all the ingredients and seasonings needed for the competition.

After reporting the incident specifically, they rented some live broadcast equipment from Beijing TV Station.

They even invited a director with live broadcast experience from Beijing to provide on-site command and dispatch.

Feng Zhengming sat in Huiquan Building, reading the reports in the newspaper with a playful expression on his face.

Unexpectedly, the province was supposed to find a reasonable channel for itself to enter the trials.

It turned out to be a series of operations, especially after attracting national attention.

It evolved into a live television show that may be ahead of its time.

Feng Zhengming didn't think this was a bad thing.

It is a great thing that Shandong cuisine can be successfully promoted in this way and gain the attention of people all over the country.

Obviously, not only Feng Zhengming realized this, but the province also realized this.

That is why the province is making every effort to promote this matter and even helping the provincial television station to contact various parties.

Feng Zhengming was reading the newspaper when his grandfather and Mr. Situ came in together.

When Mr. Situ saw the newspaper in Feng Zhengming's hand, he immediately smiled and said, "Zhengming, this is a great opportunity for you to make a name for yourself. Do you have the confidence to stand out?"

When Feng Zhengming heard the voice, he quickly put down the newspaper in his hand and greeted the two grandfathers who came in.

"Grandpa Situ, please take a seat."

When the two old men sat down, Feng Zhengming said with a relaxed look: "I am sure I will stand out and participate in the national competition. How can I fail in the provincial competition?"

Grandpa reminded me: "Don't be careless, it will be a live broadcast. If you make a mistake, there will be no chance to make up for it."

Feng Zhengming sat down with a smile: "Don't worry, sir. I have been preparing for such a long time just for such an opportunity."

Mr. Situ thought for a moment and asked, "So, you have long been planning to represent Shandong cuisine in the National Cooking Skills Competition?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, I still remember that after Master officially accepted me as his apprentice, he didn't actually teach me anything in the kitchen of Yanxilou, but every time he went out to communicate, he would take me with him.

Following my master, I have witnessed so many different cooking styles from all over the world.

I have seen the amazing skills of chefs from all over the country, and I have also seen the creative ideas of many folk masters.

The last time I accompanied Master on a communication trip, Master said something to me on the way back.

Feng Zhengming paused and returned to that day in a trance.

He and Master Yan were returning to Quancheng from other places, and the master and apprentice were sitting together on the swaying train. Master Yan said seriously: "Zhengming, do you know why I didn't teach you anything in the kitchen of Yanxilou after you became my apprentice, but instead took you out to walk around?"

Seeing Feng Zhengming shaking his head, Master Yan gave an explanation.

“Because you had already learned everything about the kitchen from your brothers before you officially became their apprentice. I have been observing you since I took you into the kitchen of Yan Xi Tower.

I didn't accept you as my apprentice right away, but let you start by doing odd jobs, just to let you understand the hard work of a chef.

As a hard worker, as long as the chef stands in the kitchen, it seems like there is endless work to do.

From slaughtering to cleaning, to classifying the various ingredients, organizing them and putting them in the refrigerator, or handing them over to the chef on the stove.

This series of work is tedious and quite hard.

Only if you can endure this hardship, you will be qualified to become a chef in the kitchen."

At that moment, Master Yan looked at his little apprentice with eyes full of satisfaction.

"What makes Master happy is that you have endured all those hardships. From imitating your senior brothers to learning from them, you have learned enough through your own efforts.

Although you have solid basic skills, you still lack vision.

The size of a chef's vision determines where he will eventually reach.

Why might the chefs in the palace in the past be inferior to the private chefs employed by wealthy businessmen?

Why is it that the chefs at state banquets seem to have more knowledge than chefs from other provinces?

This is determined by everyone's different perspectives. If you haven't seen or tasted it, how can you make it? "

Mr. Situ listened to Feng Zhengming repeating what Master Yan said.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Master Yan is indeed a famous teacher. He takes you out to participate in exchanges in various places to broaden your horizons and let you see more different ingredients, seasonings and techniques.

No wonder many of the dishes you cook at Huiquanlou look like Shandong cuisine, but when you look deeper, they are not traditional Shandong cuisine.

It is because you have a broader vision and know how to integrate things from different regions that you can create those unique dishes. "

Feng Zhengming smiled and waved his hands: "I don't deserve it, Grandpa Situ, your praise is unacceptable to me. I didn't quite understand Master's intention at first, but I am very happy to be able to follow Master and see the skills of so many chefs.

When I really stepped out of the kitchen of Yan Xilou, from working in the brewery canteen with my senior brother, to setting up a stall selling boxed lunches at the train station.

Now I run Huiquanlou and have truly become the head chef in a restaurant's kitchen.

Only then did I truly understand Master’s good intentions.”

Mr. Situ nodded and said, "Yes, Master Yan is really a famous teacher. He takes you to see and eat, so that you can experience it from his own perspective. This is better than teaching you step by step in the kitchen of Yanxilou."

Grandpa suddenly said, "I'm afraid that in Old Yan's heart, he already regarded you as his apprentice who would take over his class."

"Yes, that's right. It should be like this. Old Yan hopes that you can take over as the head chef of Yan Xilou." Mr. Situ also made the same judgment.

Feng Zhengming said quickly when he heard it: "No, I have so many senior brothers in Yanxi Tower. Although the eldest senior brother is low-key, his skills have always been very good and his basic skills are very solid.

The second brother is also very capable, and the third brother’s cooking skills are definitely not worse than Jubinyuan’s.

The fourth senior brother is very powerful. It is said that he is now the head chef of a large Southern Restaurant and has foreign chefs under him.

Senior Brother Five and Senior Brother Six also have their own specialties, and they are both better than me."

Hearing Feng Zhengming tell his fellow seniors everything they knew, the two grandfathers smiled at each other.

Mr. Situ waited for Feng Zhengming to finish speaking, then said something with a smile.

"But they all have their own limitations. Master Yan taught them the techniques but did not broaden their horizons. You are different. You have broadened their horizons and understand how to disassemble the process and how to guide the various details in the kitchen."

After hearing this, Feng Zhengming understood without Mr. Situ continuing to speak.

The master did want Feng Zhengming to take over as the head chef of Yan Xilou.

However, in the end, Yan Xilou was unable to hold on.

What the master taught Feng Zhengming, especially taking him out for exchanges, broadened his horizons.

Those naturally made Feng Zhengming and the current Huiquanlou come together.

Feng Zhengming sighed: "Master has given me a new life. Without Master's teachings, I would not have achieved what I have today."

Grandpa said: "So you must break through the challenge, you must win the trials, and finally represent Shandong cuisine on the stage of the national competition. You must use your different perspective to let more people see the different Shandong cuisine."

Feng Zhengming nodded seriously: "I understand. I will definitely work hard to stand on the national competition stage."

In the following period of time, Feng Zhengming paid attention to the progress of the game while also taking time out to train every day.

Because in the competition, the knife skills, fire skills and spoon skills will be tested more rigorously.

These actually require skilled work and must be practiced over and over again.

Only by practicing to the end and developing a feel for it will you be able to fulfill the requirements of the competition with ease.

When Feng Zhengming practiced sword skills, he did not use only one sword to practice, but instead used different swords alternately.

Using just one knife might become a habit.

When you get used to the feel of a knife, there may be some deviations when you switch to a knife that feels different.

So Feng Zhengming would alternate between different knives and practice with each one continuously.

In this way, you can gradually master knives with different feels and become proficient in using them.

When it comes to fire skills, Feng Zhengming basically uses his ears to listen and his nose to smell.

Listen to the sounds of oil, vegetables and water in the pot under different fire conditions.

You can also smell the different heat levels and the flavors emitted during cooking.

The training process of spoon skills is similar to that of knife skills.

You must be able to master the technique of flipping the wok.

Especially the strength of stir-frying, which should be able to stir-fry the vegetables and allow the flavors of the vegetables and soup to blend quickly.

When stir-frying many dishes, if the strength is not well controlled, the taste of the dishes may not be uniform, and the degree of doneness may even vary.

So to some laymen, the chef just pours the food into the pot, stirs it a few times and then takes it out of the pot.

In fact, the skill of using a spoon is reflected in these two scrapes and flips.

For dishes that are quickly cooked over high heat, just a few stir-frys are not enough to stir-fry the dishes thoroughly and evenly so that the flavor is evenly coated on every piece of the dish.

The chef's skill with the spoon is really not up to par.

After a week of intensive training, Feng Zhengming finally welcomed the start of the challenge. (End of this chapter)