From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised when he heard Gao Fengyi say that they were a group of chefs from Beijing.

"The chef team from Beijing is coming to Island City for exchanges. Why haven't I received any news?"

Gao Fengyi quickly gave Feng Zhengming a serious explanation.

It turned out that this time the Beijing chef team came to the island city for exchanges at the invitation of Gaofeng Yihe Island City's Seafood Restaurant.

The chefs who came were several master chefs from the Beijing Hotel.

The reason for such an exchange was that Gao Fengyi and the leaders of the island city jointly established this seafood restaurant in the island city with the leaders of the port city, which was specifically targeted at the Beijing Hotel in Beijing.

Gao Fengyi and the leaders of the island city are quite ambitious.

I want to turn this seafood restaurant in the island city into a capital hotel in the island city.

This is not to say that Gao Fengyi and the leaders of the island city are arrogant.

It’s mainly due to the support given by Hong Kong City.

The tycoon who invested in Hong Kong not only provided funds, but also sent several famous chefs from Hong Kong to the island city.

Unlike Quancheng, Daocheng is also a port city and has many similarities with Gangcheng.

Therefore, several famous chefs from Hong Kong are more adaptable when they come to the island city.

There are famous chefs in Hong Kong, and Gao Fengyi, a master chef who has mastered all styles of Shandong cuisine, is in charge.

The seafood restaurants in the island city are indeed very powerful.

It has only been open for a short time, but it has already won praise from several tycoons in Hong Kong.

This time we invited the chef from Beijing Hotel to come and exchange ideas.

On the one hand, we asked the Capital Hotel for advice.

On the other hand, they also want to borrow the name of the Capital Hotel to further enhance the reputation of the island city's seafood restaurant.

After listening to Gao Fengyi's explanation, Feng Zhengming showed a half-smile expression.

"Brother Gao, it seems that your island city has made a good plan. You invited the chef from the Beijing Hotel to come for an exchange, and then coincidentally, I, the top scholar, am also in the island city.

So you can arrange for me to have a meeting with the chefs from the Capital Hotel.

Regardless of who wins between me and the chef from the Beijing Hotel, your seafood restaurant in the island city is now famous. "

Gao Fengyi showed an embarrassed expression on his face.

He actually knew that as long as he told Feng Zhengming what happened, he would definitely be able to guess it.

This time, he and the island city side did have a plan against Feng Zhengming.

After Feng Zhengming and his party arrived in Yancheng, Gao Fengyi used some connections to find out about Feng Zhengming's next itinerary.

Moreover, Gao Fengyi contacted the Beijing Hotel and roughly calculated the time when Feng Zhengming would arrive in the island city.

If Feng Zhengming had arrived late, Gao Fengyi would not have kept the people at the Capital Hotel waiting too long.

But if Feng Zhengming arrived earlier, Gao Fengyi would cooperate with the city of Daocheng and find a way to keep Feng Zhengming for a few more days so that he could meet the chefs of Jingcheng Hotel.

So now Gao Fengyi came to inform Feng Zhengming.

The main worry is that Feng Zhengming will meet with the chefs from the Beijing Hotel tomorrow, and he is not prepared, so it might be a bit awkward.

Gao Fengyi said apologetically, "I'm sorry, we did plot against you this time. It's because of this seafood restaurant in the island city that we hope to promote nationwide."

The smile on Feng Zhengming's face faded.

"Brother Gao, your plan is really great. I really could not have thought of it at all."

Gao Fengyi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Well, Zhengming, do you want to go meet the people from the Jingcheng Hotel first? They are also staying in this hotel tonight."

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and nodded: "I really need to meet them. The chefs from the Jingcheng Hotel are my predecessors."

Gao Fengyi smiled when he heard this: "In fact, they want to meet you too."

Then, Feng Zhengming and Gao Fengyi went to a private room in the hotel restaurant together.

When Feng Zhengming walked in, he saw quite a few people sitting in the private room.

The moment Feng Zhengming and his companions entered the room, everyone's eyes fell on Feng Zhengming.

Then a middle-aged man who was a bit fat stood up.

"Hahaha, our top scholar is here."

This is the leader of the chef exchange team from Beijing Hotel, Zheng Chengsheng, who is also one of the current chefs of Beijing Hotel.

When Feng Zhengming saw this person, he quickly took the initiative to step forward and extended his hand to the other party.

"Hello, Master Zheng. I didn't expect you to lead the team here for discussion."

Zheng Chengsheng shook hands with Feng Zhengming like a smiling Buddha.

"Mr. Feng is so polite. We didn't expect that we would meet our national number one scholar during our exchange and study trip to the island city. This trip was really worthwhile."

Zheng Chengsheng's words immediately caused laughter at the scene.

Several chefs from Beijing Hotel who came with him stood up and shook hands with Feng Zhengming and said hello with a smile.

Feng Zhengming also shook hands with them one by one and got to know them.

I have to say that the few chefs who came to Jingcheng Hotel this time are all real master chefs.

Including Zheng Chengsheng, several people have participated in state banquets.

Compared with them, Feng Zhengming is indeed a junior.

After all, in terms of age, Feng Zhengming is about the same age as their apprentices.

Of course, no one present would look down on Feng Zhengming.

Everyone knows that he has real talent to win the top spot in the national competition.

After greeting each other, everyone sat down.

Zheng Chengsheng originally wanted Feng Zhengming to sit in the seat of honor.

How could Feng Zhengming dare to sit down?

"No, Master Zheng. I am the junior here today in terms of age and seniority. I cannot sit in the upper seat. You should sit. I am so excited to see you."

Feng Zhengming was indeed excited to meet Zheng Chengsheng.

In his previous life, Feng Zhengming, as an online cloud chef, had watched a lot of Zheng Chengsheng’s cooking teaching videos.

It can be said that in Feng Zhengming's mind, Zheng Chengsheng is his real enlightenment teacher.

Feng Zhengming never thought that he would have the chance to meet the real person in this life.

Still meeting each other under such circumstances.

Although the world Feng Zhengming is in now does not seem to be the same world as his previous life.

But Feng Zhengming was really excited to be able to meet so many master chefs.

After sitting down, Zheng Chengsheng looked at Gao Fengyi with a smile.

"Master Gao, are you looking for external help?"

Gao Fengyi laughed when he heard this: "He can't be considered a foreign player, right? Feng Zhuangyuan is our Shandong cuisine champion, he is also from Qilu, and he is our chef."

Hearing this, Zheng Chengsheng immediately looked at Feng Zhengming.

In front of his previous life's enlightenment teacher, Feng Zhengming felt a little reserved and didn't know what to say.
It was Zheng Chengsheng who noticed that Feng Zhengming was reserved in front of him.

He smiled and patted Feng Zhengming on the shoulder.

"Why does our number one student seem so nervous? You can't do that. Show your national cooking competition spirit. We are all looking forward to communicating and learning with the number one student."

Feng Zhengming was patted by Zheng Chengsheng, and he came back to his senses at once. He thought that in this world, he and Zheng Chengsheng were now chefs of the same generation.

After all, his master can be regarded as a senior master of Zheng Chengsheng's generation.

Thinking of this, Feng Zhengming was no longer nervous.

"I'm a little nervous, mainly because I'm really a junior in front of all of you at the Beijing Hotel. I feel like this trip to the island city is worth it to be able to meet all of you chefs from Beijing."

This made Zheng Chengsheng and the chefs from the Beijing Hotel present laugh.

Zheng Chengsheng asked Feng Zhengming with a smile: "Zhuangyuan, I heard that you are walking all over Qi and Lu? Do you want to find the roots of Shandong cuisine in all parts of Qi and Lu? Find new inspiration for cooking?"

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, although I was born in Qilu, I have never been to every place in Qilu. This time I want to spend a year walking and seeing the land of Qilu with my own feet.

Find the roots of Shandong cuisine, find the source where Shandong cuisine originated, and go to various places to see where the earliest forms of Shandong cuisine are preserved in those very old villages. "

After these words were spoken, Zheng Chengsheng took the lead and everyone in the private room applauded Feng Zhengming.

"Okay, that's great. Mr. Feng, your idea is really great. We chefs need to find the root and know the meaning behind a dish.

Only by finding the roots can we respect every material in our hands more.

Only in this way can we make every ingredient into a delicious dish.”

Feng Zhengming felt that Zheng Chengsheng's words resonated with him.

"Master Zheng, what you said is absolutely right. I don't want to be the top scholar in the country and just sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor, take on some apprentices, and make some random things to please the customers.

I hope I can continue to improve and use my cooking skills to bring more food enjoyment to people.”

These words may not be the thoughts of all chefs.

But at least at this moment, the chefs in this private room all had these words in their hearts.

Although being a chef is a skill and profession that everyone relies on for a living, it is also something that everyone truly loves.

Because of passion, everyone can cook better and reach their best.

Zheng Chengsheng sighed: "It's really good to be young. Young people are more daring than us."

All the other chefs present nodded in agreement.

It can be said that among the chefs present, Feng Zhengming is the youngest.

The other chefs are mostly in their thirties, and the team leader Zheng Chengsheng is already in his forties.

In terms of age, Feng Zhengming and the other chefs present are really from two different generations.

Next, everyone listened to Feng Zhengming talk about what he saw and heard on the road.

Listen to him talk about the different culinary specialties in some villages across Qi and Lu.

It also opened the eyes of the chefs from the Beijing restaurants present.

After all, in the past, chefs in Beijing restaurants were basically all trained in orthodox schools. They started as apprentices and learned step by step according to the procedures.

During Feng Zhengming's trip to various places in Qi and Lu, he saw some more local cooking.

This was indeed a bit unexpected for the chefs at the Beijing Hotel.

Feng Zhengming also learned through chatting that there was actually no Shandong cuisine chef among the chefs who came to the Beijing Hotel this time.

The chefs who came were masters of Huaiyang cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Tan cuisine.

It can be said that the chefs present here are definitely among the best chefs in the corresponding cuisine in the country.

Feng Zhengming feels that this is a very good opportunity for communication and learning.

Because he knew that each cuisine in Beijing’s restaurants had its own characteristics.

There are some differences in the cooking methods of some local dishes of each cuisine.

Maybe the names of the dishes are the same.

But Beijing Hotel may do things completely differently.

The taste of the dishes will naturally be different.

Therefore, Feng Zhengming has prepared himself for this exchange and learning with the master chefs from Beijing Hotel. He wants to learn some of the essence of Beijing's culinary skills from these master chefs.

Because it was evening, we didn't chat for long.

Feng Zhengming and Gao Fengyi accompanied the chefs from the Jingcheng Hotel for dinner.

Because we were entertaining the chef from Beijing Hotel, the chef from Island City Hotel really put in a lot of effort in the evening.

I made several Shandong dishes that require a lot of cooking skills, and they were all very good.

Feng Zhengming saw that Gao Fengyi seemed to be secretly relieved when he saw the dishes on the table tonight.

He really couldn't help laughing.

While eating, Zheng Chengsheng and the chefs from Jingcheng Hotel also asked Feng Zhengming and Gao Fengyi about some tips on Shandong cuisine.

Most of the time, it was Feng Zhengming who answered the questions.

The chefs at Beijing Hotel have a good understanding of his professional level, especially the basic skills, and feel quite impressed by him.

During the conversation, Zheng Chengsheng also made this very clear to Feng Zhengming.

"Zhengming, your Shandong cuisine is different from some Shandong cuisines in Beijing."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Yes, there is indeed a difference in the cooking methods. I discovered this when I participated in the national competition and communicated with some chefs from Beijing."

Zheng Chengsheng then asked: "Do you think this kind of distinction is good or bad?"

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and replied: "I personally think there is no good or bad. Cooking is about making the dishes look good, smell good and taste good. The key is the taste. Everyone has different preferences for taste.

Therefore, Shandong cuisine in Qi and Lu will definitely have different tastes than in Beijing.

When you arrive in Beijing, make some changes to better suit the tastes of Beijingers. There is nothing right or wrong about that.”

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, everyone present nodded, thinking that what Feng Zhengming said made sense.

Zheng Chengsheng smiled and looked at Feng Zhengming seriously.

"I now understand why you became the top scorer of this year's class. This proves that you have a vision that many chefs may not have.

Oftentimes, there are disputes between chefs of different cuisines, or even between chefs of the same cuisine, over whose cooking method is more authentic.

This is actually completely unnecessary. As long as the food is delicious and suits the local taste, then it is the right approach.”

Feng Zhengming immediately agreed: "Master Zheng is right."

Gao Fengyi raised his glass at this time: "Then let's have a toast together. Cheers to this delicious dish."

This made everyone smile and raise their glasses.

Let's clink our glasses and drink this wine together.

After dinner, Feng Zhengming and Gao Fengyi first sent the chefs from the Beijing Hotel upstairs.

He walked out of the hotel with Gao Fengyi and chatted for a few minutes.

Gao Fengyi still expressed his gratitude to Feng Zhengming first.

"Thank you. I learned a lot from your communication with the chefs from the Jingcheng Hotel tonight."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded, "Senior Brother Gao, you are too polite. I know that Senior Brother Gao's cooking skills are better than mine, but Senior Brother Gao deliberately let me stand out tonight as compensation."

Gao Fengyi laughed at what he said.

“I’m not being modest. I really learned a lot.”

Feng Zhengming also sighed: "Yes, I have learned a lot. I really need to communicate and learn more with experts."

Gao Fengyi deeply agrees with this. (End of this chapter)