From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

After Lao Yao helped Feng Zhengming report his idea, he soon received a reply from above.

To Lao Yao’s surprise, the higher-ups actually agreed with Feng Zhengming’s idea.

Yao was also asked to notify chefs from all over the country not to design their own dishes for the time being.

This time, we will send senior professors from the Academy of Fine Arts to work with chefs like Feng Zhengming on the design.

The cold dish displays for each province were designed by senior professors from the Academy of Fine Arts.

After everything is designed together, chefs from each province will work together to complete it according to the drawings.

Because they are all in the capital, the news was passed down.

The next day, senior professors from the Academy of Fine Arts came.

Feng Zhengming and others also welcomed the old professors.

Chefs from all over the country also prepared a dish for the old professors as a welcome.

Feng Zhengming and his fellow brothers made a relatively “simple” vegetarian dish.

The general method of making this dish is to carve patterns on different vegetables, cut them into thin slices, blanch them separately, and then arrange them in a pot and stew them with broth.

The most eye-catching part is flipping the spoon after thickening.

However, Feng Zhengming made some changes in his approach.

When he blanched the vegetables, he directly used the broth that he had prepared in advance.

And he uses low heat, without boiling it, which is a bit like slow cooking.

Slowly simmer the prepared vegetables until cooked.

This way, the vegetables can absorb the flavor of the broth well.

Then Feng Zhengming asked his third senior brother Yang Bin to give everyone a big spoon flipping performance on the spot.

This process also surprised all the old professors at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Especially when the dishes were served at the end, all the old professors were amazed.

"Wow, he is worthy of being our national culinary champion. His skills are really different."

“I didn’t expect vegetarian dishes could be cooked so beautifully?”

"It seems that our culinary champion also has some attainments in art."

"These are all vegetables? That's really unusual."

Naturally, the other chefs from all over the country present were also somewhat impressed by Feng Zhengming's skill.

After all, the skill of flipping the spoon is not so easy to learn.

But when several old professors ate this dish.

At the entrance, they all opened their eyes wide with disbelief on their faces.

"Is this a vegetable? It tastes like meat."

"Yes, this radish doesn't have any radish taste at all. Instead, it tastes more like meat."

"It's delicious. It's the most delicious vegetable I've ever eaten."

"The key point is that this is indeed a vegetable, why does it taste like this?"

The old professors' words surprised the other chefs present.

But after all, they are all famous chefs from all over the place, so one of the chefs soon guessed the reason.

"It should be our champion. The vegetables were stewed in broth, so the vegetables absorbed the flavor of the broth, so there is a meaty aroma."

When it was pointed out by the chef present, Feng Zhengming did not hide it.

"Yes, that's right. It's to make the old professors eat better."

Feng Zhengming then smiled and said to the other chefs: "Okay, everyone, show us your specialties so that the professors can have a taste."

The other chefs all started laughing, and soon chefs from all over the place also brought out the dishes they had prepared.

Wait until chefs from other places reveal the dishes they have prepared.

After looking around, several old professors seemed to understand Feng Zhengming's intention of making only one vegetarian dish.

Feng Zhengming guessed that in order to show off their skills to the old professors, chefs from other places would definitely bring out their most famous dishes.

The most famous dishes are often those with a lot of meat, and the taste may be a bit strong.

So Feng Zhengming ordered a vegetarian dish first.

This is just a starting point, and it also prevents the old professors from eating too greasy food right at the beginning.

After eating the dishes, several old professors were deeply impressed by the enthusiasm of the chefs.

We also got to know what kind of masters the chefs who were selected to participate in the state banquet are.

Various ingredients that do not seem to be expensive can really create different flavors in the hands of these chefs.

Especially some combinations of different flavors, which really give the old professors a different taste enjoyment.

After the meal, several old professors from the Academy of Fine Arts sighed.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to eat such delicious food in the future."

"Yeah, one meal has made me so picky. I don't know where I can get more food in the future."

"Hahaha, how about we invite them to the Academy of Fine Arts cafeteria after they finish participating in the state banquet?"

"This is a good idea, but I wonder if the chefs are willing to go?"

Then the old professors looked at Feng Zhengming together.

Feng Zhengming was looked at in a state of confusion.

"Don't look at me, I'm not their leader."

An old professor laughed and said, "You are their top student, you can definitely make the decision."

The other old professors were also happy and nodded in agreement.

Feng Zhengming looked helpless and was about to say that he was on the same level as everyone else.

As a result, Zhang Quande stepped forward and spoke first.

"You are right, he is the champion of our national cooking skills competition. If we chefs from all over the country were to ask who we admire the most, it would definitely be him.

So he is our temporary leader now, and we are all willing to listen to him."

After Zhang Quande said this, other chefs from all over the country present also echoed him.

"That's right, we all listen to the top scholar."

"Yes, yes, listen to the top scholar."

"The top scholar designed that huge national map this time. I'm impressed."

"If there was no top scholar, none of us would have come up with such good ideas."

This time, all the chefs really chose to believe in Feng Zhengming from the bottom of their hearts.

Because these days, when everyone was discussing in groups to design the cold dishes for each province, the more they discussed and designed, the more they felt that it was amazing that Feng Zhengming could come up with such an idea.

In particular, Feng Zhengming gave everyone ample space for autonomy and also taught some design details during the exchange.

He has almost no secrets, just to make the final dish look good.

This time, the chefs from all over the country were really convinced.

Of course there is another reason behind this.

In fact, the chefs from all over the country who came this time were a little bit competitive with each other.

Feng Zhengming was able to bring several senior brothers with him directly, and his senior brothers also followed his lead.

The cooperation between them as brothers is also very tacit.

This is because he was the top winner of the national cooking skills competition.

He can ignore the opinions of the provincial chefs association and senior chefs and make decisions for his own team.

But for the chef teams in other provinces, it cannot be decided by any one chef.

Especially in Jiangsu Province, not to mention that chefs from different cities are more confident in their own dishes than others.

When it comes to Huaiyang cuisine alone, chefs from Huaicheng and Yangcheng compete with each other.

So with so many chefs from all over the country gathering in the capital, perhaps the only one who could convince them and make them obey his orders was Feng Zhengming.

After listening to the opinions of chefs from all over the country, Feng Zhengming really felt a little embarrassed. "You are all chefs from all over the country. You are older and more experienced than me. I am really embarrassed to command and dispatch you all."

Dai Long stood up and said, "Hahaha, top scholar, don't be polite. Who made us lose to you in the National Cooking Skills Competition?"

Dai Long's half-joking remark made everyone laugh.

This means that everyone agreed with his statement.

Who dares to dissent?

Then why didn’t you win first place in the national cooking skills competition?

Thinking of this, chefs from all over the world feel better.

Several senior brothers saw everything and they all smiled at each other.

For the senior brothers, it is a relief to see their junior brother’s status rising.

That’s what makes them happy.

Feng Zhengming finally stopped refusing and then asked chefs from various places to talk about the specialties of their respective regions.

Let several old professors have some general understanding so that they can design according to the conditions of each province.

Chefs from all over the country began to introduce themselves and talk about the characteristics of local dishes.

Feng Zhengming made this arrangement because he hoped that when the old professor helped with the design, he would not only consider the visual beauty, but also take into account the characteristics of local cuisine.

The old professors have been in the Academy of Fine Arts for many years and can truly be considered a group of people with extremely high attainments in domestic art.

But this time the old professors encountered some big problems.

The difficulty does not lie in the overall design of the national map.

The difficulty actually lies in how to design a map that chefs like Feng Zhengming can cook with dishes.

And we also need to take into account some of the unique specialties of each place.

This posed a difficult problem for several senior professors at art academies.

Next, the old professors simply settled down.

Take some time to communicate with chefs from all over the world like Feng Zhengming.

Even some senior professors specifically watched Feng Zhengming and his colleagues cook.

Several old professors also learned some dishes from Feng Zhengming and others.

Finally, after several days of discussion, the old professors came up with a plan.

Written by a couple of old professors.

After another day of waiting, the dish designs designed for Feng Zhengming and his team were finally ready.

When the scroll was unfolded, all the chefs including Feng Zhengming were stunned.

What the old professors of the Academy of Fine Arts designed is not just a national map, but a national food map.

They really incorporated local delicacies into the maps of each place.

Even the old professors marked some specific details, such as what ingredients should be used.

After watching it, Feng Zhengming and others couldn't help but admire the old professors.

Everyone bowed to express their gratitude to the old professors, and then applauded them together.

Several old professors from the Academy of Fine Arts also had happy smiles on their faces.

"Our mission is complete."

"It's up to the chefs now."

“After just a few days together, I was able to see the skills of the chefs.”

“We believe that chefs should be able to make this picture.”

"We are all looking forward to seeing this food map at the homecoming dinner."

Feng Zhengming led everyone to agree: "Please rest assured, we will do our best."

All the chefs shouted in unison: "We will definitely do our best."

With the drawings, Feng Zhengming and his team will then carry out cooking designs in different locations.

In order to ensure the final beauty of the display, Feng Zhengming and his team could not produce it in advance.

The preparation of the plate can only start one day before the state banquet.

So for all chefs including Feng Zhengming, this state banquet may be a huge challenge for them.

Because they have to complete the national food map.

They also need to participate in state banquets and provide meals for guests from home and abroad who celebrate the return.

Therefore, they have to make all preparations before the actual state banquet begins.

So in the next few days, Feng Zhengming and his team began to disassemble and analyze the production of the market.

Chefs from each province do it separately.

According to the drawings made by the professors of the Academy of Fine Arts, we began to try to arrange the dishes with specific dishes.

There may be some deviations in color, but the overall design cannot have any deviations.

Otherwise, when the provinces finally assemble it, it may not be able to be fully assembled.

After all, it is a viewing plate, and the important thing is to assemble it so that people can see it.

Feng Zhengming also discussed the matter with several fellow students, and they were also making some attempts.

We must ensure that the results can be achieved on the same day.

You can only try to arrange the dish in advance.

Try various possible situations and find the best approach.

It seems that there is a picture and you can arrange the dish according to it, but it is not easy to actually do it.

So almost every day, Feng Zhengming and his colleagues start their research after breakfast.

I tried again and again, arranging the dishes according to the designs of the old professors from the Academy of Fine Arts.

Chefs from all over the world need to try again and again.

Try to make it as close to the drawing as possible.

The efforts of Feng Zhengming and his colleagues have also earned them great admiration from the chefs in the capital who are usually responsible for state banquets.

Several senior chefs from the state banquet came to visit Feng Zhengming and his team.

Seeing their ideas and designs, the old masters were full of praise.

"You young chefs from all over the country are the ones who dare to think and do it. We often don't even dare to think about it, let alone do it so boldly."

“It seems that we need to invite more chefs from all over the world to exchange ideas in the future.”

“That’s right, especially to let some young chefs show themselves.”

"Hahaha, this is our top scholar you're talking about, right?"

"I can't help but mention the champion. He is a serious young chef."

"To be honest, I kind of want to keep him here."

This sentence won the hearts of several state banquet chefs.

After spending some time together, especially after seeing Feng Zhengming's many brilliant ideas.

The old masters really admired him and wanted to keep him in the capital.

However, an old master expressed a different opinion.

“I think that he should not be kept in the capital, but should be allowed to go out more often, see the world, and interact with chefs from all over the country, and even those from overseas.

His wonderful ideas can be better displayed in the collision process, and then his craftsmanship will be further improved. "

After thinking about these words, the other state banquet chefs all nodded and agreed that they made sense.

So after that, although several chefs at the state banquet admired Feng Zhengming very much, they never suggested keeping him.

As time went by, Feng Zhengming and his team conducted research and preparation.

Finally, as July 1st approached, the designs of various places on this national map were completed. (End of this chapter)