From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After the meeting, Feng Zhengming had already become the head of the judging panel.

Then he, like other judges, will be arranged to stay in a hotel prepared by the province.

For the sake of fairness, all judges are not allowed to show up in public or meet with any contestants or chefs who are not judges before the end of the competition.

Feng Zhengming was drinking tea with several old masters in the hotel, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for himself.

"I really drew a circle for myself and locked myself in it."

Master Yan sipped his tea leisurely: "This is called shooting oneself in the foot. Who told you to only think about letting us old bones do the work? Is it okay this time? You came in yourself."

Master Su, who usually has a hot temper, was actually quite cheerful at this moment.

"Hahaha, come on, let's drink tea. There's nothing wrong with drinking tea here. The hotel will arrange food and drinks for us. Just think of it as accompanying a few old men on vacation."

Feng Zhengming didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing this.

He actually didn't want to vacation like this, he originally wanted to contact some young chefs.

Of course, the young chefs Feng Zhengming wants to contact are not those among the top 100 in the province.

Because he was opening a branch of his dry rice restaurant in another place, he never thought of recruiting the top 100 young chefs.

Being among the top 100 young chefs in the province is already considered to be somewhat famous.

They have better options.

Feng Zhengming is planning to contact some young chefs who have been eliminated but performed relatively well in the competition.

Feng Zhengming thought of letting these young chefs join his company.

They will be given some subsequent training and then sent to various branches for training. They can all grow and become the backbone of Feng Zhengming's company in the future.

And even if they don't stay in Feng Zhengming's company as chefs in the future.

They each go out to explore the world and will also pass on Shandong cuisine well.

Moreover, when they are accustomed to the standards set by Feng Zhengming, no matter which restaurant they work as chefs in the future, they will bring the standards to those restaurants.

In this way, the standards set by Feng Zhengming can be promoted subtly.

This is another step in Feng Zhengming's plan.

On the one hand, the province and the chefs association will set promotion standards.

On the one hand, we will implement standards more strictly in our own company.

We need to ensure that all chefs, whether they join the company on a short or long-term basis, are thoroughly accustomed to the standards.

Feng Zhengming believes that only by implementing these two steps together can the standards be better promoted.

As long as the standards are enforced.

In the future, Feng Zhengming will launch a restaurant recommendation guide with the Provincial Chefs Association, as well as some other chef recommendation guides, which he believes will gain everyone's support and acceptance.

It’s just that Feng Zhengming hasn’t contacted many young chefs to join him yet, but because of the rules he set, he has confined himself to the hotel and cannot contact the outside world.

Feng Zhengming took a sip of tea and looked at the masters in front of him.

"Master, uncle, master, do you think we are like the college entrance examination examiners?"

When Feng Zhengming said this, several masters looked at each other.

Master Xia laughed first: "Hahaha, now that you mention it, it really does look alike."

Several old masters also laughed.

Now they are trapped in the hotel, and they really do look like the college entrance examination paper examiners.

Master Cui asked: "Zhengming, who do you think will be the provincial champion young chef this year?"

When everyone heard Master Cui's question, their eyes fell on Feng Zhengming again.

Feng Zhengming looked helpless: "How would I know? I think many people have a chance."

Master Yan suddenly said, "I think it might be Gu Zhicheng from your Huiquanlou."

Feng Zhengming was a little surprised when he heard his master say this: "Master, do you think Gu Zhicheng can win the top prize?"

Master Yan made a serious analysis: "Xiao Gu had already learned very well from your Senior Brother Gao. He also studied with your Senior Brother for a long time in Huiquan Restaurant and received your guidance. His cooking skills should have undergone a qualitative change."

After Master Yan’s analysis, the other masters thought about it carefully and nodded.

Gu Zhicheng is indeed a young chef who has accumulated enough experience.

And in terms of age, Gu Zhicheng is just at the age threshold for young chefs.

He is a few years older than Feng Zhengming.

Next year he will also be old enough to compete in the Young Chefs Competition.

It’s because he is the oldest among the young chefs participating in the competition.

So he has accumulated more experience than other young chefs.

In addition, he studied under famous teachers, and had guidance from Feng Zhengming, the national number one scholar, and his two senior brothers.

No matter how you look at it, Gu Zhicheng should be the strongest contender for the top young chef title.

Feng Zhengming thought for a moment and shook his head: "Gu Zhicheng is indeed a strong contender, but we can't say that he will definitely be the top scorer. I think that this year, Master Su, Master Sun, and Master Cui all have talented students participating, and they all have a chance."

Speaking of this, Feng Zhengming still did not forget Master Xia's Xia family and several masters who came all the way from Boshan and Yancheng.

"There are also Master Xia, Master Liu, and Master Li. The young chefs under their tutelage also have great opportunities."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, Master Xia immediately smiled and asked, "Zhengming, if you say so, doesn't that mean everyone has a chance?"

Feng Zhengming nodded immediately: "Yes, I think everyone has a chance. The young chefs who can enter the top 100 are all chefs with good abilities in all aspects. They can stand on their own in the kitchen of any restaurant.

So they are all strong contenders for the top pick. Before the competition, it is hard to say who will be the top pick. "

Feng Zhengming's words made the masters fall into deep thought.

Afterwards, the old masters nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Zhengming is right. There is indeed a chance."

“This year’s young chefs are all very capable.”

“Maybe everyone saw that last year’s competition was really well organized, so everyone came to participate this year.”

“The main reason is that the preparation time is longer this year. Only by letting us know in advance can we allow the younger generation to participate in the competition.”

"Hahaha, I think it's because our top pick can't participate this year."

The last sentence made everyone laugh again.

The veteran masters all felt that it was right that Feng Zhengming could not participate in the competition.

After all, if Feng Zhengming participated in the competition, it would be unfair to other young chefs.

It is a bit like bullying for a national champion to participate in a youth chef competition.

What's more, in terms of seniority among Shandong cuisine chefs, Feng Zhengming is the elder of all young chefs.

Even among the young chefs participating in the competition, there are some who are Feng Zhengming’s grandchildren.

Now that Feng Zhengming cannot participate in the competition, it gives other young chefs more opportunities.

Therefore, there are also a lot of young chefs who signed up for the competition this year. Master Cui sighed: "The reason why so many young chefs signed up this year is also largely related to Zhengming. Zhengming's leap from a young chef to the national champion chef should have encouraged many young chefs.

Many young chefs this year should have obvious ideas, and hope to have the opportunity to participate in the national cooking competition and become the national champion like Zhengming. "

Although this statement was recognized by the old masters, they also felt that it was too difficult.

Master Su said bluntly: "It's really difficult to be like Zhengming. Let alone others, if we let Gu Zhicheng go to the national competition in four years, can he be sure to win the first prize?"

This remark silenced all the masters present.

Although the masters all hope that Shandong cuisine chefs can still shine in national competitions in the future.

But everyone knows that it is indeed very difficult to surpass Feng Zhengming's achievement of winning the top spot.

Feng Zhengming suddenly said: "Even if I were allowed to go next time, I can't guarantee that I can win the first prize again. The National Cooking Competition is really full of masters.

The session I attended already had some famous chefs from Hong Kong participating, and there will definitely be more famous chefs participating in the future.

With so many famous chefs participating, it is very difficult to win the first prize.”

These words were recognized by the old masters.

After everyone was silent for a while, Master Cui smiled and said, "Okay, okay, let's change the topic and discuss the upcoming young chefs' competition."

When discussing the young chef competition, everyone naturally relaxed.

Several masters first asked Feng Zhengming questions.

"Zhengming, how do you think we should judge next?"

"Yes, as the head judge, you have to set a standard for us."

"Since we are judges of the professional group, we must be more professional and have professional standards."

"It just shows that we can't judge subjectively based on whether it tastes good or not like non-professional judges."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "It certainly cannot be judged by whether it tastes good or not. All of you senior brothers and sisters should have your own set of standards. I think since it is a profession, we should judge it based on the selection of ingredients, the ingredients used, the knife skills, the cooking skills, and the presentation of the dish."

After hearing what Feng Zhengming said, the old masters nodded and agreed with his judgment.

A chef must have sufficient vision and solid basic skills.

A truly good chef can make a dish that impresses the audience the moment it is served.

Just like Feng Zhengming's performance in the national cooking competition.

He always has a good grasp of the preferences of the judges and the audience.

He was able to show everyone his strength from material selection to ingredients usage, to knife skills, fire skills and final plating.

This is what is called taking the lead.

When Feng Zhengming brings the dishes to the table, the judges’ eyes light up.

Then if you look at it in more detail, both the professional judges and the invited non-professional judges can find various highlights in Feng Zhengming's dishes.

Feng Zhengming then shared some of his ideas with the masters.

"Everyone, since we are the judges of the professional group, we must use the most professional standards to strictly require that even if there is a slight flaw, it must be pointed out. We cannot be careless when scoring."

Of course, the old masters all agree with this point.

Master Cui was even more straightforward: "It must be stricter, stricter than during normal assessments."

Master Su echoed: "We need to make sure every dish performs to their standard."

Master Sun nodded: "It meets the technical standards of our Shandong cuisine. We can't let them change it at will."

Other masters also expressed their opinions.

Summarize everyone's opinions.

The first and most important point is that it must be the technique of Shandong cuisine and what you want to cook is Shandong cuisine.

It cannot be said that he was participating in the Shandong cuisine young chef competition.

As a result, during the competition, some cooking methods from other local cuisines were used, making the dishes look authentic but not quite.

Secondly, we must strictly consider the application of techniques.

The technical standards of Shandong cuisine are quite strict.

Since you are competing for the title of top young chef, you must not make any mistakes in your techniques.

You can't just use some unqualified techniques to do it.

These points are some criteria for judging.

Feng Zhengming took the lead, and the masters discussed it one after another, and soon determined a set of judging criteria.

When everyone had almost agreed on the standards, Master Hou and several chefs from Beijing also arrived.

Seeing them, Feng Zhengming and the masters all stood up to greet them.

As soon as Master Hou saw Feng Zhengming, he couldn't help but complain.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, this is not right. We are here to observe and be guests. Why did you drag us in as judges?"

After hearing what Master Hou said, Feng Zhengming smiled and apologized to Master Hou and others.

"Master Hou, all the chefs in Beijing, please forgive me. This arrangement is really helpless. We must ensure fairness and justice in this young chef competition, so we can only ask Master Hou to come forward."

Master Hou jokingly asked: "Do you think you can't guarantee fairness and justice?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and nodded: "There will always be some bias. After all, they are all young chefs from Qilu and the future of Shandong cuisine. We may indeed be biased."

Master Hou was just joking, but he didn't expect Feng Zhengming to answer so seriously.

The chefs in Beijing could only nod their heads to show that they understood.

"It's okay to be partial. We will also be partial to chefs we are familiar with and may be more tolerant."

"Yes, sometimes it's hard to say what's wrong because of face."

"That's right, Mr. Feng, you guys are already very good."

Feng Zhengming said to the chefs from Beijing and Chef Hou: “So this time, we ask for your help to make the judging more fair and just so that the best young chef can be selected in this young chef competition.”

Speaking of this, Master Hou and the others naturally agreed.

Feng Zhengming and the other masters compared the standards with those of Master Hou and his team.

Master Hou and the chef from Beijing were a little surprised when they heard the standards.

"You guys are being a bit strict."

When Feng Zhengming heard what Chef Hou said, he responded calmly: "Only by being strict can we truly select the best chef."

Chef Hou and the chefs in Beijing didn't say anything more and agreed that they would be stricter.

The professional judges have already determined strict evaluation standards.

Non-professional judges, on the contrary, will have it easier as they don’t have to stay in a hotel to test their skills.

At the same time, Feng Zhengming’s three senior brothers are helping him to recruit some young chefs.

The main target, of course, is the young chefs who did not make it into the top 100. (End of this chapter)