From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

Feng Zhengming and his wife were alone with the Kofmans in the kitchen, eating two kinds of pig's trotters they had made, paired with the red wine Mrs. Kofman had brought.

Mrs. Kofman also introduced to Luo Qing some of the particularities of red wine.

The legendary Lafite and the like are not considered very good red wines to Mrs. Kofman.

Mrs. Kofman introduced Luo Qing to some red wines from more niche estates.

“If you want to open a restaurant in Shanghai in the future, I would like to recommend to you several wineries that we often cooperate with. Their red wines are also of very good quality.

Especially if you put it in your restaurant for guests to taste, it will definitely taste better than Lafite or something like that."

At this point, Mrs. Coffman was a little surprised: "I don't understand, why do you like Lafite so much?"

Feng Zhengming couldn't help but smile: "Maybe it's because, in the eyes of many people, if a high-end banquet doesn't feature a bottle of 82 Lafite, it can't reflect their financial strength and status."

Kofman and his wife were stunned at first, but they soon understood.

“Lafite may be great, but there’s no need to drink ’82 all the time,” Mr Kofman said.

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing couldn't help laughing again.

The two of them also knew that the reason why 82 Lafite was so famous in China was that it was always brought up in some movies and TV shows.

In fact, among most people in China, there are very few who truly know how to appreciate red wine.

This is still a problem of lifestyle habits.

After all, for many years in China, the most common wine at banquets is still white wine.

If you ask people in China to talk about liquor, they will probably be able to explain something more or less.

At least they would say something like "soft and mellow in the mouth".

When it comes to red wine, relatively few people in China drink it on a regular basis.

In addition, many people label it as high-end.

This naturally keeps red wine away from the tables of most ordinary people.

But in fact, red wine is not always expensive.

There are also low-end red wines that can be drunk on a daily basis.

There are also many people who can afford mid-range wine for holiday gifts and banquets.

According to the red wines that Mrs. Kofman recommended to Luo Qing, the prices ranged from low to high.

Mrs. Kofman also repeatedly gave instructions to Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing.

"If you want to open a restaurant and need a variety of wines, be sure to tell me. I will help you contact them and guarantee that the price will be very fair."

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing agreed with a smile.

Luo Qing also invited the Kofman couple to come to Shanghai to show their support when they are free.

The Coffmans naturally agreed readily.

The two couples enjoyed this rare leisure time together.

The hotel owner, who had been informed by Kofman before and specially arranged for them to work in the kitchen, also came over at this time.

"Hey, Mr. Kofman, Feng Zhuangyuan and you are here. Everyone is waiting for you outside. You are going to participate in the final judging to determine whether Feng Zhuangyuan and his team's dishes are good enough tonight."

Feng Zhengming and Kofman looked at each other.

Kofman smiled and said: "Today we have seen how good Chinese chefs are. I think today's dishes are really great and very good."

The hotel owner then said, "Then please come back with me."

Feng Zhengming nodded: "Okay, let's go back first."

Feng Zhengming and Luo Qing, together with the Kofmans, followed the hotel owner back to the banquet hall.

Here, chefs from all over the country and invited overseas chefs are waiting.

See Feng Zhengming and Coffman come back together.

All the chefs' eyes fell on the two of them.

Everyone can clearly see the close friendship between the two people.

This scene surprised some of the chefs in Hong Kong, as well as the overseas Hong Kong tycoons who had invited Kofman to help some of the chefs in Hong Kong.

The former Hong Kong tycoon, who has now moved to England, is still very clear about Kofman's status among overseas chefs.

No one had ever thought that after such a short separation, Feng Zhengming seemed to have become good friends with Kofman.

Next, people from the Special Administrative Region came forward and asked the invited overseas chefs to give some comments.

Naturally, all overseas chefs looked to Kofman.

With Kofman present, it can be said that none of the other invited overseas chefs are qualified to comment on such an occasion.

Kofman naturally stepped forward and began to comment on today's Chinese chefs.

“First of all, I must admit that before I was invited here, I did not expect to meet so many outstanding chef colleagues.

Maybe before we came here, we had some misunderstandings about Chinese chefs.

We feel that our Chinese chef colleagues are inferior to us in many aspects and are still sticking to some very traditional and outdated things.

Of course, I also like tradition, especially the rural cuisine.”

After a brief pause, Kofman glanced at each chef present.

“Today, I think our Chinese chef colleagues have shown us that their cooking skills are better than ours, and I think we should realize that we are not much better than them in cooking.

Maybe even in some aspects, we are not as good as them, and we have a lot to learn from them.”

It can be said that all the overseas chefs present agreed with Kofman's words.

Many overseas chefs have indeed never seen Chinese food, or even tasted real Chinese food.

Today, many overseas chefs have discovered that the Chinese food they see and eat overseas is so different from the real Chinese food.

Chinese chefs are able to use their superb cooking skills to create such magnificent, beautiful and delicious dishes.

This finally made all overseas chefs dare not look down on Chinese chefs.

Kofman first commented on the map of mountains and rivers of the motherland, saying that this was the most magnificent dish he had ever seen.

"I never thought that fellow Chinese chefs could incorporate the deep love for their motherland and hometown into your dishes and show it through your cooking skills.

I really admire you very much. Let us all applaud our fellow Chinese chefs."

Applause broke out immediately, which made the person who invited Kofman and others look even uglier.

Next, Kofman focused on praising Feng Zhengming.

"And your champion makes me feel that I am old. A young chef like him can use his own way to make such a beautiful and delicious dish out of a sea bream. I really admire your champion very much."

The praise for Feng Zhengming immediately excited all the Chinese chefs present.

They all looked at Feng Zhengming excitedly, feeling that at this moment Feng Zhengming was the pride of all of them.

But no one knew that Feng Zhengming had already had a friendly exchange with Kofman in the hotel's kitchen.

Both of them can be considered top chefs, and their competition was so silent. There was no fancy, colorful competition.

There is no atmosphere of tension between the two sides.

The two men finished the fight with pig's trotters in a very friendly and communicative manner.

The final result was a draw as both sides lacked some important ingredients.

However, this kind of confrontation really made both sides appreciate each other.

The older people were not arrogant and were very approachable. They shared their experiences and understandings with the young people in a broken down manner.

Young people also teach their own insights and unique things they have created to the elderly.

This pair of friends, regardless of age difference, truly experienced the joy of sharing cooking.

Maybe this kind of fun is difficult for others to understand.

Finally, Kofman looked at Feng Zhengming and said, "I hope that you, the number one Chinese cuisine student, can have more ideas and creativity in the future, and can fully display your talent in cooking."

Feng Zhengming smiled and took two glasses of wine from the waiter.

He walked up to Coffman and handed him a cup.

Coffman took the glass.

The two men clinked their glasses in front of everyone and drank the wine of friendship together.

The scene suddenly erupted in applause again.

This is a heartfelt applause from all the chefs for being able to witness such a friendship.

The tycoon who invited overseas chefs like Kofman, and the Hong Kong chefs who originally wanted to laugh at Feng Zhengming and his team, were all stunned by the scene before them.

They probably didn't expect that the invited overseas chefs would be impressed by Feng Zhengming and his team's cooking skills.

Especially the team led by Kofman, a top chef who is very influential overseas.

He actually seemed to have become friends with Feng Zhengming.

The fact that Kofman and Feng Zhengming became friends meant that other overseas chefs present did not dare to have any other opinions.

Because Kofman has absolute authority and is a chef respected by all chefs.

It can even be said that many of the chefs invited this time have received some guidance from Kofman.

Among overseas chefs, Kofman is famous for his good temper.

This also leads to Coffman's very good interpersonal relationships.

He even has very good friends with many well-known top chefs overseas.

Now Feng Zhengming has become Coffman's friend.

The two people seem to have a very good relationship, and even seem to sympathize with each other.

This means that if Feng Zhengming goes abroad in the future, with Kofman's support, he will be respected enough overseas and will be able to embark on his culinary exchange journey more easily.

After Kofman gave high praise to Feng Zhengming and others on behalf of the overseas chefs.

Feng Zhengming was also asked to say a few words on behalf of the Chinese chefs.

Feng Zhengming did not shirk his responsibility.

He understood that times like this were more important than ever for him, the top scholar, to step forward.

This is the time when Chinese cuisine truly demonstrates its strength in front of overseas chefs.

Therefore, representative figures are needed to stand up and show everyone the confidence of Chinese chefs.

“First of all, I would like to thank the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for inviting us this time, and thank all the overseas chef colleagues for coming from afar to have this exchange with us.

I think in the past we lacked communication with each other because we were thousands of miles apart.

Whether it is us looking at you or you looking at us, we both look at each other with a certain strangeness.

So we may not understand some of your cooking techniques, and you may not understand some of our cooking concepts."

Feng Zhengming said this and looked at Kofman.

"Today, Mr. Kofman and I had a discussion about a dish in the kitchen, and I think we both discovered that we have so many similarities.

Whether it is Chinese food or Western food, we are working hard to make delicious food to satisfy our customers' appetites.

Let customers taste the delicious food we have worked so hard to make.”

Feng Zhengming's words were quite simple and won the approval of almost all the chefs present.

Especially some overseas chefs, who heard that Feng Zhengming and Kofman had just cooked a dish in the kitchen.

A hint of surprise appeared on each of their faces.

But seeing the smile on Kofman's face, everyone could see that the two of them had a very pleasant fight.

“I hope that in the future, we will have more opportunities for such exchanges. The Chinese chefs present here, as well as some chefs who are not here, sincerely invite all overseas chef colleagues to come and have more exchanges with us.”

Feng Zhengming's words were recognized by the Chinese chefs present.

This culinary exchange has indeed given a lot of inspiration to chefs from all over the world.

Especially when they were communicating with overseas chefs just now, everyone found that overseas chefs are very curious about Chinese food.

This curiosity comes from a lack of understanding, so everyone needs more communication.

Only through more exchanges, more confrontations, and even more tit-for-tat confrontations.

Maybe both sides can understand each other better and integrate many things with each other.

Feng Zhengming finally extended an invitation to the Kaufman couple.

"If possible, I hope Mr. Kofman and your wife can visit us in Qilu when they are free this year or next year. We can have a more in-depth culinary exchange in Qilu."

Coffman and his wife looked at each other, and then Coffman agreed.

"Okay, I am willing to accept your invitation, Feng. If possible, I even hope that you can open your restaurant in Shanghai as soon as possible, so that our two restaurants can have more exchanges.

I also hope you can bring your wife to visit our restaurant."

Feng Zhengming agreed with a smile: "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Kofman. I think my wife and I should visit you and your wife before we open a restaurant in Shanghai."

Mrs. Kofman finally couldn't help but speak, and she directly blew a kiss to Luo Qing as an invitation.

"Luo Qing, we are waiting for you to go."

Luo Qing smiled and nodded in agreement: "We will definitely go."

At this moment, chefs from all over the country were really envious of Feng Zhengming, especially because he had learned a foreign language in advance and was able to communicate so smoothly with the Kofmans.

Of course, chefs from all over the world also extend invitations to other overseas chefs.

Many overseas chefs also accepted the invitation.

In an atmosphere of harmonious communication between Chinese and Western chefs, this banquet performance held in Hong Kong City ended successfully. (End of this chapter)