From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Chapter 459 The most common home cooking promotion

As expected, Feng Zhengming's speed has caused quite a bit of controversy.

Most of the people watching the game were not very satisfied with the dishes on Feng Zhengming's table.

Through the first two rounds of competition, Feng Zhengming gave everyone the impression that he possesses skills far superior to those of other participating chefs.

Therefore, in this third game, everyone is looking forward to Feng Zhengming showing more novel dishes.

As a result, Feng Zhengming did not present any newer dishes.

Instead, he cooked a table full of very common, even home-cooked dishes.

This naturally disappointed many people who came to watch the game.

"Does this count as running out of ideas?"

"Yeah, in the previous two rounds, you made such beautiful dishes, why are there only a few dishes in this round?"

“They are all home-cooked dishes. They look no different than what I would make at home.”

“So the chef is just like that.”

"There's nothing special about this table of dishes. They're too common."

"I thought there would be some big moves in the finals, but this is the result?"

"Maybe they think they are good enough to qualify for the trials, so they are keeping some for the trials."

The controversy at the scene also reached the ears of the judges and veteran masters.

The judges were a little unsure for a moment. How should they score Feng Zhengming's table of dishes?

Of course, there were also some people at the scene who still supported Feng Zhengming.

"What's wrong with them retaining their strength? Only those with strength can retain their strength."

"That's right. In the first two rounds, every dish was a work of art. Can other chefs do that?"

"In this scene, Chef Xiao Feng obviously didn't choose a more complicated dish in order to accommodate the two assistants so that they could keep up with the pace."

"Do you really think Chef Xiao Feng is incompetent? He is the head chef of Huiquan Restaurant. His ability is unquestionable."

"I support Chef Xiao Feng. I think the dishes he prepared for today's competition are also great."

With supporters and doubters on both sides, a quarrel naturally broke out on the scene.

Both sides have their own reasons, and the key is that both sides think they are right.

So the quarrel at the scene became louder and louder.

The scene seemed a little chaotic, and it was Feng Zhengming alone who caused the chaos.

The host at the scene felt a little amused and helpless.

Fortunately, the TV station stepped in and allowed Feng Zhengming to explain on the spot.

"Everyone, please stop arguing. Let's ask Chef Feng to explain to us why he prepared such a table of dishes on the spot."

When the microphone was given to Feng Zhengming, the scene suddenly became quiet and everyone looked at him.

At the same time, the judges and masters on the scene also wanted to hear what Feng Zhengming was going to say?
Feng Zhengming held the microphone and, in full view of the crowd, first showed his signature smile.

Then he first expressed his gratitude to those who came to support him.

"Thank you everyone for supporting me."

After expressing his gratitude, Feng Zhengming suddenly felt like telling about his inner journey while holding the microphone.

He simply said a few words in a simple and clear manner.

"I was originally just an ordinary chef. Thanks to everyone's kindness, the Huiquanlou restaurant I took over has a relatively good reputation and business. It also gives me this opportunity to stand here and compete with colleagues who are older and more experienced than me.

In the first two rounds of competition, I did my best to show everyone some of the dishes I imagined and the food I hoped for.

Thank you for your love of the dishes in the first two rounds, and thank you for your recognition of my cooking skills. "

After explaining his mental journey, Feng Zhengming finally talked about the dishes for today's game.

“For today’s competition, I didn’t choose some showy dishes, but instead made a table of more homely dishes.

I don’t want to use the excuse of taking care of my two kitchen helpers. I prepare this table of home-cooked meals just to return cooking to its essence.

The essence of cooking is to make the food delicious. Perhaps everyone in this world has different tastes.

But I think if I were to ask everyone who cooks their favorite dish.

I think most people would definitely say that it tastes like home.

So the dishes on my table today are just ordinary home-cooked dishes, just the taste of home in my memory.”

After introducing his table of dishes, Feng Zhengming finally stated that he didn't care about the results of the final round.

"As for the final result, I can accept it calmly no matter what it is. I will also accept the doubts and accusations from everyone. If I am not allowed to enter the trials, I will also accept it calmly."

At this moment, Feng Zhengming's words showed his attitude.

He just cooked a table of home-cooked meals today.

Even if he is not allowed to enter the trials or participate in the national competition because of this, he will not change at all.

This makes the judges even more confused about how to judge?

The old masters looked at each other, all with bitter smiles on their faces.

Feng Zhengming's willfulness was somewhat beyond their expectations.

But who can say there is anything wrong with Feng Zhengming's willfulness?
He does have enough strength.

His strength was also fully demonstrated in the first two rounds.

If we judge from the perspective of the control a master chef should have in the kitchen, Feng Zhengming's control was indeed demonstrated in this game.

Although the dishes on his table were home-cooked meals, the two kitchen helpers who followed him were fully involved in the entire process.

And they were able to finish the meal so quickly thanks to their cooperation with each other.

If this is the case, then Feng Zhengming is still doing a bad job.

I'm afraid there are not many chefs on the scene who can do better than him.

After a moment of silence, Master Cui said, "Perhaps there is something wrong with the way we designed the competition, but as the head chef in the kitchen, the person who controls the kitchen, it is not enough to just have good personal skills.

Being able to teach everyone in the kitchen and coordinate everyone in the kitchen is also a skill a chef should have.”

Master Cui's words set the tone for this competition.

Everyone still recognized Feng Zhengming's ability.

Even if he just cooked a table of home-cooked dishes.

His personal abilities and the ability to coordinate the kitchen staff cannot be denied.

So Master Cui also stood up and explained to everyone present.

After Master Cui’s explanation, the audience at the scene all agreed.

Especially those who support Feng Zhengming feel that they are right to support him.

At the same time, the other nine participating chefs also completed their banquets one after another.

Compared with Feng Zhengming, the dishes on the other tables were more sumptuous.

For example, on several other tables, almost all of them had the dish of Nine-Turn Large Intestine, and every table had Sweet and Sour Carp.

These two dishes have almost become must-have dishes on the other tables.

This made the audience and judges feel a little aesthetically fatigued, because when people mention Shandong cuisine, they probably think of these dishes.

As a result, every chef cooks these dishes, which makes them seem rather undistinguished.

On the contrary, Xia Mingye, because he did not cooperate well with the two kitchen assistants, he cooked a few Confucius Mansion dishes on the spot.

He almost did it all by himself, without asking the two kitchen helpers on site to help.

The main thing is that Xia Mingye doesn’t know how to command the kitchen helpers, nor does he know what to ask the kitchen helpers to do for him?
So he just did it himself and prepared several Confucius Mansion dishes by himself.

Master Xia looked at it and smiled bitterly helplessly.

"Xiao Ye, this kid really has no experience at all. He doesn't know how to command others, nor does he know how to get people to cooperate with him. He cooked a whole table of dishes by himself."

The judges and several veteran masters also noticed Xia Mingye's situation.

Naturally, they all saw that Xia Mingye had no experience as a chef.

So his two kitchen helpers could only stand by and watch most of the time.

In the end, I even became a waiter who served him food.

However, although Xia Mingye is not very good at commanding others, his personal cooking skills are still very solid.

For example, he once again made Confucius Mansion's imitation bear paw on the spot and showed off his skill in deboning pig's trotters, which still amazed many people at the scene.

The on-site TV station also filmed the scene specially, highlighting Xia Mingye as the one in this scene.

After all ten chefs had prepared their banquets, the judges on site gave their scores.

The scores are based on the presentation and pairing of the dishes, the completeness of the dishes, and the cooperation of the kitchen helpers.

Just talking about the cooperation with the kitchen helpers, Feng Zhengming can be said to be far ahead of others.

His cooperation with the kitchen helpers is the best among all the chefs on site.

In terms of the completion of the dishes, Feng Zhengming and his two kitchen helpers also completed the ten dishes very well.

Of course, in terms of food selection, the dishes on Feng Zhengming's table are the simplest.

So Feng Zhengming's score in this aspect is naturally low.

However, although it was relatively easy for Feng Zhengming to choose dishes, his scores in other aspects were relatively high.

And Xia Mingye’s table includes several dishes that require very high technical skills.

However, there was no tacit understanding between him and the kitchen helper, and among the dishes on the table, there were only a few dishes that required very high technical skills, which seemed inconsistent with the overall style of the banquet.

Instead, it made it impossible for Xia Mingye to get a high score overall.

These comparisons really posed a big challenge to the judges.

What kind of comprehensive score should be given?
The judges can only ask the old masters for advice.

Several veteran masters also discussed the issue on the spot.

While the masters were discussing, Master Xia suddenly appeared.

Seeing Master Xia, several masters hurriedly greeted him with a smile.

"Old Xia, why don't you show up when you're here?"

"That's right, Old Xia, you should come over to our place. You are the heir of Confucius cuisine."

"Old Xia, are you hiding from us on purpose?"

"I think Old Xia is hiding from his grandson, right?"

"Old Xia, come on, tell me, what do you think of this game?"

The reason why Master Xia stood up was mainly because he saw that there was quite a lot of controversy about the scoring at the scene, so he stood up and gave his own opinion.

“I watched the whole game, and I think you don’t need to worry about the details, just rate them separately.

For example, how well the team works with the kitchen helpers? Give them a separate score.

The technical content of each dish is also given a separate score.

For example, the completeness of the entire banquet can also be given a separate score.

Finally, add up the scores, and the one with the highest score will be the first place in this challenge."

After Master Xia said this, everyone felt that this method was better.

Master Cui asked again: "Who will advance to the trials in the end?"

Master Xia smiled and said, "That's easy. Just add up the scores from the first two rounds and the third round, and the one with the highest score will advance to the qualifying round, right?"

After hearing what Master Xia said, everyone agreed with this approach.

A score was counted on the spot.

In the end, when the scores were announced, it turned out that neither Feng Zhengming nor Xia Mingye got the highest score.

After adding all the factors together, the person who got the highest score in the third round was Liu Dewei, who had been low-profile before.

The chef, who is almost 50 years old, did perform better overall in the third round.

Liu Dewei did not expect that he would be able to win first place in the third round.

Of course, considering his age, he was still relatively calm, and he also understood that it was a stroke of luck that he was able to score first in the third round.

If Feng Zhengming was given more time, he could get along better with the two kitchen helpers, and Feng Zhengming would definitely choose to cook more difficult dishes, then he would definitely not be able to get first place.

However, there is no if. After all the scores were announced, several veteran masters at the scene also congratulated Liu Dewei.

As Liu Dewei's master, Master Cui also gave him some encouragement.

"You performed very well. You don't have to underestimate yourself. It seems that you have been working hard in other places these years. That's right. You must remember that it is our duty to cook well."

Many people were surprised to learn that Liu Dewei was Master Cui's apprentice.

Perhaps no one would have thought that Master Cui's apprentice is so low-key.

However, considering that he is Master Cui's apprentice, it is in line with Master Cui's usual low-key style.

Next, the results of the three rounds of challenge scores were added together.

Although Feng Zhengming's score in the third round was not high, his scores in the first two rounds were too outstanding, and in the end he still ranked first in the entire challenge.

So Feng Zhengming directly advanced to the next selection stage.

The second person to enter the qualifying stage was Liu Dewei.

Xia Mingye has outstanding personal abilities, but he still has not been able to successfully break through and enter the trials.

Qiu Zhonghui scored very high in the first round, but his performance in the subsequent games was slightly worse.

There are more or less some gaps between other chefs.

As a result, in the end only Feng Zhengming and Liu Dewei entered the selection round.

After the challenge ended, Master Cui, as the president of the Cooking Association, announced the start time of the next selection competition.

"The trials will be held in a week. There will be no grouping. There will be three consecutive days of three-course competition. I hope all the Shandong cuisine chefs participating in the trials will be well prepared."

Naturally, the people at the scene were full of expectations for the selection competition and wanted to see the skills of the master chefs at the selection competition.

After the game, Feng Zhengming was surrounded by many people at the scene, and many of them wanted to ask him for advice.

Xia Mingye was also brought to his grandfather by his sister.

(End of this chapter)