From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

This trip to Beijing is really the first time for Feng Zhengming.

Although he followed his master and went out many times a year and had a lot of exchanges with chefs in various places, he had never been to the capital of the country with his master.

Among the senior brothers who were with me, only the eldest brother and the fifth brother had been here.

The eldest brother originally accompanied the master to Beijing to participate in a cooking competition.

After that, the eldest brother never came to the capital again.

The brothers stood outside the train station, looking around with their hearts pounding.

Suddenly several unfamiliar faces came in front of them.

First he looked them up and down carefully.

Finally, one of the older men stared at Feng Zhengming.

"Excuse me, are you Feng Zhuangyuan?"

Feng Zhengming looked at the other party and asked, "Who are you?"

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Feng Zhengming introduced himself first.

"Oh, I'm Feng Zhengming, from Quancheng, and these are my senior brothers."

Feng Zhengming even took out his ID card to show the other party.

The other party confirmed Feng Zhengming's identity and immediately shook hands with Feng Zhengming enthusiastically.

"Feng Zhuangyuan, we are here to receive you. Please ask a few chefs to follow us. Your accommodation has been arranged."

Feng Zhengming and the others naturally followed each other and walked out of the train station together.

When I arrived outside the train station, I saw a minibus parked on the side of the road.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow brothers boarded the minibus together.

After getting in the car, the other party began to formally introduce themselves to Feng Zhengming and others.

"We are from the state banquet reception office. My last name is Yao, you can just call me Lao Yao. I am responsible for contacting you this time. You can tell me if you need anything."

Feng Zhengming and his senior brothers smiled and got to know Lao Yao.

Old Yao didn't say much to Feng Zhengming and the others in the car.

Instead, I chatted with them about some family matters and introduced them to the scenery of the capital along the way.

Feng Zhengming and his friends sat in the car, looking at the scenery outside the window.

We have to admit that the capital city does need to develop better.

There is a lot of traffic on the road, many tall buildings, and some buildings under construction.

The car even passed by Tiananmen Square to allow Feng Zhengming and his friends to take a look at the square.

Old Yao smiled and said to Feng Zhengming and the others, "Feng Zhuangyuan, do you want to get off the car and take a look? We still have some time."

Feng Zhengming looked at his fellow brothers, and then the eldest brother spoke up: "Let's not get off the car yet. Let's go to our residence to put our things down and then learn more about the situation."

The eldest brother's words naturally won everyone's approval.

Feng Zhengming told Lao Yao that he would not get off the car for the time being.

Lao Yao also nodded to show his understanding: "Okay, then let's go to the accommodation first. The accommodation you are arranged is the internal guesthouse of our reception department. The conditions may be a little worse. Mr. Feng, please don't mind."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "It's okay, we are here to attend the state banquet, we will follow your arrangements on where to stay."

The fellow practitioners also echoed the same sentiment and expressed their willingness to obey all arrangements.

Old Yao smiled and said, "Mr. Feng, you don't have to be so polite. You are also our distinguished guests."

The car left Tiananmen Square, drove for a long distance, and finally drove into a place that looked like a family compound.

We stopped in front of a small building in the yard that looked very much like an old-fashioned dormitory.

Although the building looks a bit old, it is still quite clean.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow brothers got out of the car and followed Lao Yao upstairs.

Old Yao greeted Feng Zhengming and others warmly and introduced the situation in the yard.

"This is our internal family compound. There is a cafeteria and a canteen in the yard. You can eat in the cafeteria. If you need anything, you can buy it in the canteen. The items are quite complete."

After leading Feng Zhengming and the others upstairs, they came to a row of rooms on the third floor.

"Oh, these rooms are for you. There may be more chefs from other places coming here in the future. They will also be arranged to stay here. Washing and brushing teeth are downstairs, and the toilet is also downstairs."

When they stepped into the room, Feng Zhengming and his seniors really felt like they were living in a dormitory at school.

However, the rooms here are more like those in a hotel.

There are two beds in the room, with a bedside table between the two beds, a pair of sofas and a coffee table at the entrance, and a large wardrobe and a desk inside.

The furnishings in the room are simple and it is obvious that they are quite old.

But it still remains clean and tidy.

And it can be seen that all kinds of supplies should be new.

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but feel that this room had probably been like this for many years.

Just as I was thinking about it, there was a noise at the stairs.

Soon another group of people were brought up.

Then Feng Zhengming saw an acquaintance among them.

Chef Zhang Quande, a representative of Huaiyang cuisine.

Zhang Quande also saw Feng Zhengming and immediately smiled and greeted him first.

"Our top scholar is here too?"

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded, "Chef Zhang, you guys are here too? What a coincidence, we actually live on the first floor."

Lao Yao explained: "It's not a coincidence, it's our special arrangement. Your Shandong cuisine chefs and the Cantonese, Sichuan, and Huaiyang cuisine chefs live on the first floor, and the chefs from other places live upstairs."

After hearing that this was an intentional arrangement, Feng Zhengming and the others couldn't help but laugh.

Afterwards, everyone went back to their rooms to clean up.

Feng Zhengming and his eldest brother lived in one room, his second and third brothers lived in one room, and his fifth and sixth brothers lived together.

After putting his things away, Feng Zhengming walked out of the room and just happened to see Zhang Quande walking out as well.

The two of them smiled at each other first, and then invited each other almost in unison.

"Chef Zhang, come over and sit down?"

"Mr. Feng, would you like to come sit with us?"

Hearing the other party's similar invitation, both sides burst into laughter again.

After that, everyone just gathered in Feng Zhengming's room.

Feng Zhengming and Zhang Quande introduced the accompanying persons respectively.

Zhang Quande and the others were a little surprised to hear that the five people accompanying Feng Zhengming were all his senior brothers.

When Li Huidong saw the surprised expressions of the Huaiyang cuisine chefs, he smiled and made a self-deprecating remark.

"Are you surprised that we, the senior brothers, are not as capable as the junior brother in the end?"

This statement made everyone laugh.

Zhang Quande said with a smile: "It seems to be a bit difficult to be better than our top scorer."

Feng Zhengming naturally had to be humble at this time.

"Don't say that. I'm still young and I still have a lot to learn from you. I came to participate in the state banquet this time because I was afraid that I was young and inexperienced, so I invited you brothers to come along."

At first glance, this statement may seem reasonable.

But after careful consideration, everyone realized that something was wrong.

Li Huidong smiled and said, "You kid are teasing me in front of outsiders, right?" Third brother Yang Bin took over and said, "That's intentional. You are the champion of the National Cooking Skills Competition and you have no experience. We haven't even entered the National Cooking Skills Competition, so how can we be more experienced than you?"

Everyone laughed when they heard this, and naturally thought that Feng Zhengming was being modest.

After talking about these, we then talked about the state banquet.

Zhang Quande expressed his thoughts first.

"Since it is a state banquet with the theme of return, it must still have the beautiful vision of welcoming the return of Hong Kong and welcoming the reunification of the motherland. Our banquet should also focus on this theme."

This point has been recognized by everyone and is a consensus among everyone.

When it comes to specific dish design, every chef has his own ideas, and there are also differences between Shandong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine.

When it comes to Huaiyang cuisine, we’ll bring out more traditional dishes and present them in a completely new way.

Feng Zhengming has similar ideas, but he has more innovative ideas.

Even Feng Zhengming had a bold idea.

"I wonder when chefs from other parts of the country will be able to come? I have a bold idea. Can our chefs from all over the country cook a dish together, and then combine the dishes made by our chefs from all over the country.

Can they be combined into a map of our motherland, showing the local customs and practices of various regions, and be served as a decorative dish at this state banquet? "

Feng Zhengming's proposal surprised all the chefs present.

At the same time, everyone thought that Feng Zhengming's idea was very good.

Since it is a state banquet to welcome the reunification of the motherland.

Then there should indeed be such a design.

It reflects the unity and solidarity of the motherland.

It can also better showcase the characteristics of each place and the customs and practices of different regions of the motherland.

However, it is not easy to design a dish like this.

It also requires the cooperation of chefs from all over the country.

It is indeed quite difficult to actually do it.

When everyone fell silent.

Zhang Quande suddenly smiled and said, "If it were someone else, it might be difficult to accomplish this. If it were us, Feng Zhuangyuan, I believe it would be easier to accomplish."

After hearing what Zhang Quande said, fellow senior brother Feng Zhengming and several Huaiyang cuisine chefs present all felt that it made sense.

Feng Zhengming quickly said, "Does it seem a bit arrogant of me to host this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Hahaha, how can the top host of our national cooking skills competition be so arrogant?"

Hearing the sound, everyone turned around to look.

I didn't know when the Cantonese chef representative was standing outside the door.

The leader was also Feng Zhengming's acquaintance, Li Yong.

The several Cantonese chefs who came with Li Yong had actually met each other before at the National Cooking Skills Competition.

But because there were so many people at the time, Feng Zhengming didn’t have much communication with them.

Now that everyone has more time, we can naturally have a good conversation.

Zhang Quande introduced his previous ideas to everyone.

Naturally, it also won the recognition of Cantonese chefs.

Li Yong nodded and said, "This is a very good idea. We can submit our suggestions together. I believe it will be recognized. However, we also need to consider the form in which it should be presented."

Feng Zhengming directly gave his thoughts.

"You can make a cold dish platter for each place, using the unique cooking methods of each place. As for the shape, you can use the geographical shape of each province as the theme, and add the characteristic mountains and rivers of each province."

Feng Zhengming's idea was once again recognized by everyone present.

This kind of viewing of cold dishes can be considered as the romance of chefs.

Moreover, everyone uses their own provincial specialty cold dishes, and the shapes are mainly based on the regional maps of each province, which makes everyone feel quite interesting.

Li Yong went on to say: "We will first communicate with chefs from other regions, reach a consensus among ourselves, and then report it together. This way it should be approved by the higher-ups."

This statement was recognized by everyone.

At this time, everyone was chatting and chatting, and before they knew it, it was dark outside.

So Feng Zhengming and the others went out together and prepared to go to the cafeteria to eat.

When Feng Zhengming and his team went downstairs, they met chefs from other places who had checked in one after another.

Feng Zhengming is an acquaintance in almost every local chef team.

The chefs who participated in the National Cooking Skills Competition are almost all from chef teams in various places.

Looking at it this way, it is only Shandong cuisine that is represented. Feng Zhengming came here with his fellow seniors.

Of course, no one would think there is anything wrong with this.

After all, Feng Zhengming is the champion of the National Cooking Skills Competition.

His presence is enough to represent the highest level of Shandong cuisine.

When Feng Zhengming and his friends stepped into the cafeteria, they found that the food there was quite rich.

And judging from the craftsmanship, the level of the canteen chefs is really not low.

Even in the cafeteria, there are many special snacks from the capital.

Then, everyone tasted the soy milk that was mentioned by many people in the capital.

When everyone wanted to try it, Feng Zhengming decisively did not try it, and instead chose to eat a bowl of mixed noodles.

Seeing that Feng Zhengming did not try it, fifth senior brother Cao Zhiguo, who also did not try soy milk, was a little surprised.

"Zhengming, have you ever tried soy milk before?"

Feng Zhengming shook his head: "I don't think it's necessary to try."

Cao Zhiguo was stunned at first, then he laughed: "Hahaha, your choice is correct. That thing really can't be tried casually."

Sure enough, the result was that almost all chefs who tried soy milk could not accept it.

Then everyone couldn't help but feel that Feng Zhengming's choice to refuse to try was the right one.

The first meal in the capital city was not a true taste of the capital’s special food.

However, after the meal, Feng Zhengming and his fellow chefs continued to discuss with chefs from all over the country, and everyone gained a lot from the communication with each other.

Over the next two days, invited chefs from all over the country arrived.

This time, even chefs from all over the country gathered in the capital.

Finally, the chef team from Hong Kong City is indispensable.

At the same time, there are also chef groups from Australia City and Formosa Boulevard this time.

Feng Zhengming contacted chefs from all over the country and discussed the idea of ​​working together to create a dish that represents the whole country with chefs from all over the country.

In the end, his idea was successfully agreed upon by all the chefs.

It can be said that this is also what chefs everywhere think.

It’s just that chefs from other places don’t have the status and appeal that Feng Zhengming has.

So even though everyone has similar ideas, it is certainly difficult to put them forward.

Now that Feng Zhengming has proposed it, everyone naturally supports it.

Feng Zhengming collected everyone's opinions and even drafted a proposal himself. Then he found Lao Yao and asked him to help submit this proposal that was agreed by all the chefs.

Lao Yao was also a little surprised when he saw the proposal. He immediately helped to submit the proposal. (End of this chapter)