From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

The Zhang couple were quite down-to-earth. After dinner, they took Feng Zhengming and his friends to see other people's land.

I went to see some yam plantings throughout Changshan.

Even on the way, we encountered a troupe of actors hired by a small village performing a play.

There were people walking on stilts and paddling on land boats in the troupe, and it was really lively.

Feng Zhengming looked at the troupe and quickly raised his camera to take pictures of everything in front of him. He even took some close-ups of some of the people in the troupe.

When shooting close-ups, the troupe and some villagers were all very happy and smiled sincerely at the camera.

After taking the photos, Feng Zhengming asked Lao Zhang beside him with a smile.

"What else do you have here in Changshan? Right?"

Old Zhang smiled and said, "Xinzi is in the first month of the lunar year. On the third day of the first month, we welcome Tai'an's grandmother back to her parents' home, and she will not return until the fifteenth day of the first month."

Hearing Feng Zhengming and Lao Zhang talking about many things about Changshan, Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong who were following them all wondered whether Feng Zhengming was a local?
Lao Zhang also described some of the characteristics of the core to everyone.

There will be various performances such as dragon lanterns, lions, bamboo horses, and land boats.

It is said that Changshan's ancestors got the inspiration from the flickering flames of lit candles.

So it is called the "core".

Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong listened to it as if they were listening to a story.

If this story was told by Lao Zhang, a local.

Maybe three people wouldn't find it very funny.

It is nothing more than an activity organized by the ancestors of local working people.

But Feng Zhengming was there guiding Lao Zhang to talk about these things.

Two people talking to each other.

It was very interesting to Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong.

Combined with the fact that there was a troupe of actors invited to the wedding in the village, which also performed stilt walking and land boat racing, the three of them felt as if they were actually there.

They followed Lao Zhang around Changshan again, and in the evening, the four of them followed Lao Zhang home.

I can only stay at Lao Zhang's house tonight.

In the evening, Zhang's wife specially prepared fish for Feng Zhengming and his friends.

This made Feng Zhengming and the others feel a little embarrassed.

In the end, Feng Zhengming also left some money for the Zhang family.

What he didn't tell Lao Zhang was that he planned to introduce Lao Zhang to his third uncle after he returned.

Maybe Uncle San will need the yams from Lao Zhang’s village.

The next morning, without disturbing Lao Zhang's family, Feng Zhengming and his three companions continued on their journey.

When the sun rose, Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong asked where they were going.

Feng Zhengming pointed ahead and replied, "Changshan is not far from Zibo City. Let's go to Zibo City to have a look. Among the three major branches of Shandong cuisine, there is Boshan cuisine from Zibo City. Let's go and experience Boshan cuisine together."

This time, Gao Yongfu was a little impatient to stand up and speak.

"I know. When I was learning cooking before I joined the cooking class, the teacher cooked Boshan dishes."

Feng Zhengming smiled and asked, "Then you didn't ask about the details of Boshan cuisine?"

Gao Yongfu scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "I really didn't ask."

Seeing Feng Zhengming smiling, Hou Dong immediately asked, "Brother Feng, do you know any details? Tell us."

Feng Zhengming looked at Hou Dong and nodded at him with a smile.

"You are targeting me on purpose, aren't you?"

This made several people laugh immediately.

Everyone is indeed very curious.

Feng Zhengming just talked to a few people as he walked.

In the past, Boshan cuisine was a banquet dish, usually prepared at high-end royal and aristocratic banquets.

Such as shark fin banquet, sea cucumber banquet, squid banquet, etc.

Generally, banquets are arranged at a table with eight people for four, forming a four-by-four arrangement.

Feng Zhengming introduced a very famous banquet of Boshan cuisine here.

"The so-called 44 banquet in Boshan probably evolved from these banquet specifications, especially the high-end bird's nest and shark's fin banquet and whole lamb banquet."

Feng Zhengming then introduced the standards for the 44 seats in Boshan.

"Generally, a four-four-table meal consists of four cold dishes, four side dishes, four large dishes, and four rice dishes."

After saying this, Feng Zhengming said: "These are just simplified parts later. The real 44 seats are more sophisticated."

A few people walked and talked all the way from Changshan to Zibo City.

Feng Zhengming did not lead the three people into the urban area of ​​Zibo City, but went directly south to the Boshan urban area south of Zibo City.

When he arrived here, Feng Zhengming found a restaurant in the city that was obviously responsible for reception.

As soon as he entered the door, Feng Zhengming asked in a swaggering manner: "Is your chef here?"

The restaurant's lobby manager and service staff were stunned.

I didn't react for a moment and didn't understand where Feng Zhengming and these four people came from?

Why do you ask if the chef is there as soon as you enter the door?
It was the lobby manager who knew how to entertain guests. He came forward to greet Feng Zhengming and his friends, arranged for them to sit down in the restaurant first, and then asked them some detailed questions.

"Excuse me, are you four going to have dinner at our restaurant? If you are going to have dinner, you don't need to meet our chef."

Feng Zhengming smiled and replied, "Please tell your chef that Feng Zhengming from Quancheng Huiquanlou is here."

Hearing the name, the lobby manager immediately realized who was in front of him.

He immediately greeted with a look of surprise, "It's you, our national champion. I didn't expect you to come to our restaurant. Please wait a moment. I'll call the chef."

Before the lobby manager turned around to go to the kitchen, the chef came out wearing his chef's uniform.

"Hahaha, Chef Feng, why are you coming to our little restaurant?"

When Feng Zhengming saw the chef coming out, he stood up and walked towards him with a smile.

"Brother Luan, when we participated in the national competition together, I said that I would definitely come to meet Brother Luan if I had the chance, and see your Boshan cuisine. So here I am."

The restaurant's head chef is named Luan Bosheng, who is considered the inherited chef of Boshan Sisixi.

It is said that his uncle worked with a chef who came back from the capital to reformulate Boshan cuisine and created the new Si Si Xi.

When Luan Bosheng participated in the national cooking competition before, they also participated in the competition together.

However, in the national competition, Feng Zhengming was too dazzling.

Therefore, other Shandong cuisine chefs were ignored.

As a result, many people may think that Feng Zhengming is the only Shandong cuisine chef participating in the national cooking competition.

In fact, there were ten Shandong cuisine chefs who participated in the national cooking competition.

There are not only chefs from Quancheng, but also chefs of Boshan cuisine like Luan Bosheng.

There are also chefs who cook Jiaodong cuisine.

They all went to participate in the national cooking competition together.

Feng Zhengming and Luan Bosheng also met at a national cooking competition.

Seeing Feng Zhengming win the first prize, Luan Bosheng was happy and a little jealous. He was happy because Feng Zhengming represented Shandong cuisine.

This is already the third national cooking competition.

This time, the Shandong cuisine chef finally won the top prize.

This is something that makes any Shandong cuisine chef very happy.

Jealousy must be due to personal reasons.

Luan Bosheng does not have the same skills as Feng Zhengming, nor is he as young as Feng Zhengming.

It can be said that Feng Zhengming has completely crushed all contemporary chefs.

But today, I saw Feng Zhengming and his group, covered in dust, and they came to the restaurant to find me.

Luan Bosheng was really touched.

"Chef Feng, I'm so glad you're here. After I came back, I've been wondering when I'll have the chance to talk to you again? Can I discuss with you what I've been thinking about during this time?"

Feng Zhengming laughed: "Hahaha, I'm here now, aren't I? What does Senior Brother Luan want to discuss? We can have a good chat."

Luan Bosheng did not directly pull Feng Zhengming and the others into the kitchen. After all, they had been on a long journey and were now covered in sweat and dust.

He really looks like he's covered in dust.

Luan Bosheng immediately invited Feng Zhengming and three others.

"Chef Feng, please go to our dormitory first, take a shower, change clothes, and have a good rest. Then we will talk."

Feng Zhengming nodded and agreed: "Okay, then let's go take a shower first."

Luan Bosheng led Feng Zhengming and three others to the restaurant's staff dormitory.

The restaurant where Luan Bosheng works now is actually still state-owned.

The restaurant's employees, chefs and apprentices will all be arranged to live in the same dormitory.

There is also a special reception room in the dormitory building.

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but sigh: "Brother Luan, you have really good conditions."

Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong also thought that the restaurant had good conditions.

The key point is that there is a special bathhouse in the dormitory.

Luan Bosheng smiled, moved closer to Feng Zhengming and lowered his voice.

"The conditions are good, but because of the good conditions, there are many people who just want to get by. Now it feels like this restaurant will soon be unable to operate if it doesn't make changes."

Feng Zhengming knew that the restaurant where Luan Bosheng worked was not an isolated case.

This is also a common problem in many state-owned restaurants in this period.

The key point is that we may have to start the layoff diversion soon.

At that time, restaurants like this will definitely be given priority to be transferred from state-owned to privately owned.

It will no longer be regarded as a special hospitality department.

But even if there are such rumors.

But most people who are used to such treatment are still unwilling to give up easily.

Feng Zhengming reminded Luan Bosheng in a low voice: "We still need to make preparations early. I think Senior Brother Luan, you can prepare to contract the restaurant and restore the 44 seats. I believe it will be very popular then."

Luan Bosheng actually had the same idea in his mind, but he was still a little conservative and didn't dare to do it easily.

Now, after hearing Feng Zhengming's reminder, he asked in a low voice, "Can it really work?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It will definitely work. And Brother Luan, remember one thing, the 44 seats brand cannot be lost. If you want to do it, then only do 44 seats, and launch 44 seats at different prices according to the needs of different groups of people."

Luan Bosheng was a little surprised when he heard this: "Can it be like this?"

Feng Zhengming immediately smiled and asked back: "Why not?"

Without waiting for Luan Bosheng to respond, Feng Zhengming continued to give him a detailed analysis.

“Think about it, a traditional banquet would include shark fins, sea cucumbers, and the like, or at least a whole lamb banquet. How could ordinary people afford it?

So you should launch some more popular 44 seats so that ordinary people can also eat 44 seats.

It is to experience this kind of traditional banquet form.”

After hearing Feng Zhengming's analysis, Luan Bosheng was actually a little excited.

He felt that Feng Zhengming's analysis made sense.

In the past, the term "Si Si Xi" was used to refer to high-end banquets in the capital.

Now the Qing Dynasty is no longer there.

How can we continue to use the traditional specifications of the past?

It should be closer to the common people.

We can make some dishes that ordinary people like to eat but at an affordable price. Most importantly, we can let ordinary people experience the four-four-table format of the past.

Thinking of this, Luan Bosheng excitedly held Feng Zhengming's hand.

"Zhuangyuan, you should have come here earlier. If I had your opinion, I would have started doing it a long time ago."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "Brother Luan, don't get excited. You don't have to call me the top scholar. We are brothers. You can call me Zhengming."

Luan Bosheng agreed excitedly: "Okay, then I will call you Zhengming."

When it was time to take a shower next time, Luan Bosheng actually followed her into the bathhouse.

In the bathhouse, he asked Feng Zhengming about many details of contracting the restaurant.

The key point Feng Zhengming gave to Luan Bosheng was.

"Remember, you must find a very qualified lobby manager and an accountant who can manage the accounts. These two people must be people you can absolutely trust and are absolutely capable."

Luan Bosheng nodded: "Okay, I'll make a note of it. I already have a candidate. I'll think about it carefully later."

After taking a shower and changing clothes.

Feng Zhengming saw that someone was already waiting for them.

Luan Bosheng stepped forward and introduced Feng Zhengming.

"Oh, this is the current general manager of our restaurant, and this is our district committee leader who is in charge of some reception work."

Feng Zhengming smiled and took the initiative to shake hands with the two of them and greet them.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing the two leaders. We were just passing by and came to see my Senior Brother Luan. By the way, I want to learn about the Four-Four Seats of Boshan cuisine from Senior Brother Luan."

The district leaders were very excited.

"You are the champion of the national cooking competition. It is our honor to have you come to Boshan."

The leader then asked: "Feng Zhuangyuan, are you coming to Boshan this time to communicate with some of our chefs in Boshan? I can help you contact the Cooking Association in this regard."

Feng Zhengming quickly refused: "No, no, I'm really just passing by in Boshan. I just want to come and see Senior Brother Luan. It's better not to alarm so many people, otherwise when I go back, my master and the uncles and uncles in Quancheng will definitely blame me."

Luan Bosheng could naturally hear that every word Feng Zhengming said was about him.

This is to deliberately elevate Luan Bosheng's position.

Let me tell you, Feng Zhengming came to Boshan because of Luan Bosheng.

Luan Bosheng also said: "However, let's not alarm the others. I will still be responsible for entertaining them. Of course, everyone can rest assured that I will share some of the things we discussed later."

The district leaders and the general manager of the restaurant looked at each other, and finally agreed to let Luan Bosheng host the guests.

Afterwards, Feng Zhengming led Ding Yuan, Gao Yongfu and Hou Dong, and Luan Bosheng into the kitchen of their restaurant. (End of this chapter)