From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

In fact, when it comes to determining and submitting the menu, some chefs from different provinces have their own ideas.

For example, in the case of Shandong cuisine, there were two chefs from the island city who put forward some of their own ideas.

However, the chefs in the island city have not yet considered themselves to have departed from the category of Shandong cuisine.

Therefore, under the coordination of the two masters, Su and Sun, the chefs in the island city finally put the overall situation first.

There was not much disagreement on the final menu.

But when they arrived in Jiangsu Province, they had huge disagreements on the menu.

The first is that Huaiyang cuisine chefs do not think they belong to Su cuisine.

Secondly, chefs from Huaicheng and Yangcheng in Jiangsu Province both believe that their cuisine is the authentic Huaiyang cuisine.

Even the chefs in the town believed that dishes like crystal braised pork should be their town's dishes, not belonging to Huaicheng and Yangcheng, and certainly not counted as Su cuisine.

Then the chefs from Jinling felt that they were chefs from the provincial capital.

Moreover, the famous Red Mansion dishes are mainly Jinling cuisine, so the menu that Jiangsu Province has put forward this time should be mainly prepared by Jinling chefs.

As a result, the chefs in Su, Wuxi and Changzhou in Jiangsu Province were naturally somewhat dissatisfied.

The chefs in Suzhou feel that Suzhou cuisine should be mainly cooked by chefs from Suzhou.

Originally, when the participating chefs could not reach a consensus, the master chefs from all over the country should have come forward to coordinate.

However, the four masters who came from Su Province also had different opinions.

The two Huaiyang cuisine masters also believe that Huaiyang cuisine should not be included in Jiangsu cuisine.

The two master chefs believe that Huaiyang cuisine was originally one of the four major cuisines.

Su cuisine is one of the eight major cuisines and is derived from Huaiyang cuisine.

Therefore, Su cuisine cannot include Huaiyang cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine should compete separately.

The master chef from Jinling has studied Red Mansion cuisine for many years. He believes that Su cuisine should bring out Red Mansion cuisine when participating in the competition and use Red Mansion cuisine as a selling point for the competition.

The cuisine of Red Mansion should be mainly Jinling cuisine, and the chefs should be mainly from Jinling.

Moreover, the master chefs in Jinling felt that no matter whether it was Huaiyang cuisine or Su cuisine in Jiangsu Province, neither side could convince the other.

Then why not just not use Huaiyang cuisine or Su cuisine to participate in the competition, but use Red Mansion cuisine and Red Mansion Banquet to participate in this national competition.

Because the Red Mansion Banquet brings together many dishes of Huaiyang cuisine and Su cuisine, it is very representative.

Master Jinling's plan is actually more in line with the situation in Jiangsu Province.

However, the Su cuisine master chef from Suzhou does not quite agree with this.

The old masters in Sucheng felt that since each province was participating in the national competition this time, they should participate in the competition in the name of Su Province.

Therefore, the Su cuisine banquet launched by Jiangsu Province should be based on Su cuisine.

Then you can add Huaiyang cuisine and Jinling's Red House cuisine to it.

None of the parties in Su Province could convince each other.

As a result, things came to a standstill.

When neither party is able to convince the other party.

Finally, the two masters of Huaiyang cuisine reached an agreement.

Let the participating chefs from Huaicheng, Yangcheng and Zhencheng join forces to present a classic Huaiyang cuisine banquet to participate in the competition.

In this way, Huaiyang cuisine has become independent from Jiangsu Province and has become a separate cuisine participating in the competition.

The chefs from the remaining cities in Jiangsu Province saw that the chefs from the three cities that cooked Huaiyang cuisine had become independent and participated in the competition with Huaiyang cuisine.

After some discussion, it was finally decided that the remaining cities would mainly recruit chefs from Jinling and Sucheng.

They participated in the competition by presenting a Red Mansion Banquet that combined Su cuisine and Red Mansion cuisine.

After Su Province submitted two banquet menus.

The organizers and judges were all a little amused and helpless.

Fortunately, the judges also knew that Jiangsu Province cannot be collectively referred to as Jiangsu cuisine.

In particular, Huaiyang cuisine was indeed formed earlier than Su cuisine.

So in the end, we agreed that Jiangsu Province would set up two banquet menus for the exchange of classic dishes.

With such permission, the chefs in Su Province did not have too many objections.

However, when chefs from other places saw the situation in Su Province, they also talked about it behind the scenes.

"I didn't expect that Su Province would be so troublesome?"

"It turns out that chefs in Su Province are divided into several factions."

"It's normal. After all, when the four major cuisines were first divided, they were Shandong, Guangdong, Sichuan and Huaiyang."

"Speaking of which, is Huaiyang cuisine the most authentic in Huaicheng, Jiangsu Province, or is it Yangcheng that is the most authentic?"

"To be honest, neither place can be said to be completely orthodox or authentic."

"Yes, the Yangzhou of the past and the Yangcheng of today are not the same place, and Huaiyang cuisine is not a combination of Huaicheng and Yangcheng in Jiangsu Province."

“So it’s actually really hard to identify Huaiyang cuisine to a specific region.”

Feng Zhengming has his own understanding of this, and he also expressed his views when communicating with other chefs.

"I think we shouldn't simply divide people into different cuisines. Chinese cuisine has its own characteristics in different places. As the saying goes, people are shaped by their environment. Even neighboring cities may have different tastes.

The division of cuisines actually solidifies the communication between different places. I think it would be better not to talk about cuisine at all.

We chefs should adapt to local conditions, learn from each other and integrate techniques from all over the world, add some of our own creativity, and finally form our own set of things.

Why do you have to say what cuisine your dish belongs to? "

Feng Zhengming's views were not recognized by other participating chefs.

Most of the participating chefs insisted on creating the characteristics of their own regions and shaping their own cuisine.

Perhaps the only participating chef who agrees with Feng Zhengming's statement is the equally young Jiang Chengzhe.

Even a very senior master at the scene directly pointed out that Feng Zhengming's idea was unrealistic.

“Young man, you may be an excellent cook, but your ideas are childish. Everyone has limited energy.

If you want one person to learn cuisines from all over the country and integrate different cuisines, it is almost impossible to do so.

Young people should be more down-to-earth and start by doing your best at Shandong cuisine.

Don’t be too ambitious and try to learn all the cuisines from different places. You may end up learning something that is neither fish nor fowl.”

A master craftsman spoke out against Feng Zhengming, and some other master craftsmen also expressed their criticism of Feng Zhengming's ideas.

Although Masters Su and Sun did not say anything to Feng Zhengming's face, they actually did not agree with Feng Zhengming's idea.

Even the chefs in Hong Kong felt that Feng Zhengming's idea of ​​integrating different cuisines from all over the country was a bit unrealistic.

In the end, only Jiang Chengzhe continued to support Feng Zhengming's idea.

However, Jiang Chengzhe also reminded Feng Zhengming.

"It's better not to confront the old masters head-on. Many of their ideas are already deeply rooted and it's impossible for you to change them."

Feng Zhengming smiled and thanked Jiang Chengzhe for his reminder. "It's okay, I'm just expressing my thoughts. Since it's a discussion, I think everyone should be able to express their own ideas."

These words were recognized by everyone present.

The vice president of the Culinary Association said: "Yes, everyone can speak out their ideas. Our communication is free and there is no need to feel embarrassed."

Feng Zhengming was not at all surprised that his opinion was not recognized.

He could feel that there was always competition between different cuisines in different places.

They all hope that their cuisine can become the most representative of Chinese cuisine.

But Feng Zhengming felt that China was a vast land with abundant resources, and it had been a place with abundant products since ancient times.

It is normal for different places to have their own unique dietary structure according to local conditions.

It is impossible for the cuisine of a certain place to represent the cuisine of the entire country.

Therefore, he still believes that different cuisines from different places should be integrated and classic dishes should be extracted from the cuisines of different places. Only by putting different classic dishes from different places together can Chinese cuisine be truly represented.

In the past, Feng Zhengming also thought that he should stick to the roots of Shandong cuisine.

But this time when I came to the national competition, especially after walking around Shanghai, I stood on the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower and looked out.

It made him feel that Chinese cuisine should be like the Oriental Pearl Tower facing the sea.

We should abandon prejudices against cuisines and factions, and only by working together can we make Chinese cuisine more exciting.

However, his idea does not seem to be recognized by other chefs.

Feng Zhengming didn't say anything, but he had already made up his mind.

He plans to open a restaurant in Shanghai that will combine cuisines from all over the country.

We want to present the richness and diversity of Chinese cuisine to everyone.

Of course, those are future goals. Right now Feng Zhengming still needs to prepare for the national competition.

The two menus from Su Province were submitted and the symposium with all the chefs ended.

Feng Zhengming and the others went back to rest and prepare for the next game.

Almost all chefs brought their own set of knives, and some, like Feng Zhengming, even brought pots.

So before the competition, everyone needs to check their tools separately.

Feng Zhengming's set of knives, including the Wen and Wu kitchen knives, were passed down to him by his master.

The remaining knives were collected by Feng Zhengming himself later.

For this national competition, he also specially prepared a set of carving knives that are easy to use.

The preparation of the carving knife is a lesson learned from the selection competition.

Seeing the knife Feng Zhengming took out, Li Zhifeng and Lin Bosheng who were in the same room came closer to take a closer look.

From the two kitchen knives he took out, the two men could tell that they were old knives.

Li Zhifeng asked: "Were these two knives passed down to you by Master Yan?"

Feng Zhengming was a little curious: "How did President Li know?"

Li Zhifeng replied: "I have seen Master Yan use these two knives before, when he participated in the first national competition."

Lin Bosheng also took a closer look and couldn't help but sigh: "The knives of the masters are well maintained, and their knives were of good quality at the time."

Li Zhifeng agrees: "The kitchen knives in the past all had to be forged, which is indeed different from the ones that were mass-processed in factories later."

Feng Zhengming stroked the two knives and said seriously, "These two knives have been with my master for many years, and have helped him make many delicious dishes. I will also use these two knives in this national competition and take home a gold medal."

Li Zhifeng and Lin Bosheng both felt that it was no big deal for Feng Zhengming to win the gold medal.

"Your dish, Oolong Playing with Pearls, will definitely win the gold medal."

"Yes, it only needs a little improvement, and that dish will definitely win the gold medal."

Feng Zhengming smiled and said, "We can't just make that one dish, we need to prepare other dishes."

Li Zhifeng said: "At the exchange banquet, you need to make the sweet and sour carp yourself. In the first national competition, Master Yan also used these two knives to make sweet and sour Yellow River carp and successfully won the gold medal.

And made sweet and sour carp a classic dish in Shandong cuisine.”

In fact, sweet and sour carp has been a part of Shandong cuisine for a long time.

But there are many ways to do it.

Until the first National Cooking Skills Exchange Competition.

Master Yan personally made a sweet and sour carp that was like a fish leaping over the dragon gate.

This has greatly improved the appearance and grade of this dish.

Later, when Master Yan came back from the national competition, he also conducted many production demonstrations and exchanges in Quancheng.

Gradually, sweet and sour carp has become a classic representative dish of Shandong cuisine.

During this banquet exchange, this dish was still served on the banquet.

Masters Su and Sun hope that Feng Zhengming can do it in a more standard way.

It can be said that the overall cooking method of sweet and sour carp was determined through the national competition.

In this way, after writing down the recipe, more Shandong cuisine chefs can learn to make it.

Li Zhifeng asked Feng Zhengming: "Zhengming, you must prepare well. You must not make any mistakes when making the Peony Flower Knife."

Feng Zhengming was also very clear that since it was to be used as a standard, it had to be photographed and put on the menu.

So when you do it yourself, you must adhere to the absolute standards.

He couldn't be like in Huiquanlou, where apprentices were allowed some deviation when making flower cuts.

Feng Zhengming absolutely does not allow any deviation.

Lin Bosheng patted his shoulder and said, "Zhengming, you have a heavy burden."

At this Shandong cuisine exchange banquet, Feng Zhengming indeed had a heavy burden as he had to prepare several dishes.

And almost all of them are dishes that require great skills with knife, fire and spoon.

There is really no way around this, because Feng Zhengming is the youngest in the Shandong cuisine chef team, so he is more confident in his skills and can achieve a sufficient standard.

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded to Li Zhifeng and Lin Bosheng: "Don't worry, I will definitely meet the standards seriously."

At the same time, chefs from all over the world are making final preparations.

On the one hand, you need to prepare the knives and kitchen utensils, and on the other hand, you also need to review the dishes that you need to cook.

There was even a chef who borrowed the hotel kitchen to practice his knife skills.

This national competition makes every chef ready for the event.

At the same time, television stations, newspapers and some magazines also rushed to the scene to make arrangements.

Especially the TV stations. The TV stations in Shanghai and Beijing have arranged people, and CCTV has also sent a special team to conduct a nationwide live broadcast.

Everything is ready, and the national competition has finally arrived at its first official competition day. (End of this chapter)