From selling box lunches to becoming a famous Chinese chef

In a specially prepared small meeting room, Feng Zhengming invited the five judges for the third dish to take a seat.

All the old masters and Master Hou from Jingcheng and others were also seated there.

Seeing such a grand ceremony, Master Cui spoke with a smile.

"I didn't expect that you, Zhengming, would have such a large lineup just for the judges."

Feng Zhengming smiled and responded: "I have no choice. I am the judge myself and I am afraid that people will say that I am not good enough."

This made everyone present burst into laughter.

A state banquet chef said with a smile: "Zhengming, you are being modest. Who in the country doesn't know that you are the champion of the National Cooking Skills Competition?"

Another state banquet master: "Yes, everyone knows that you have also hosted a state banquet."

Feng Zhengming quickly said, "No, Masters, I have never hosted a state banquet. I just participated."

State Banquet Master: "Why not host? You designed the picture of mountains and rivers of the motherland, and you led chefs from all over the country to make it. You were the head chef at that time."

Feng Zhengming never expected to be certified as the state banquet chef by the state banquet master.

Even several Shandong cuisine masters present, including Master Hou from Beijing and other judges, did not expect the two state banquet masters to give Feng Zhengming such high praise.

However, when Master Hou and the others thought about it, they understood why the two state banquet masters praised Feng Zhengming so highly.

Because since Feng Zhengming's return to the state banquet, many of the dishes they cooked at the state banquet have indeed been used in the state banquet.

Feng Zhengming stood up and bowed to the two state banquet masters to express his gratitude.

It was obvious that the words of the two state banquet masters were not spoken to him, but to everyone.

The certification by the two state banquet masters confirmed Feng Zhengming's identity.

"Thank you, both masters. I will study cooking more seriously in the future and maintain my skills so that our Chinese cuisine can develop better."

No one present would question this statement, as everyone unanimously believed in Feng Zhengming's ability in this area.

Then Feng Zhengming showed the calculated scores and asked everyone to do the final check.

In fact, just as Master Wang said, there were cases of identical scores, and it can even be said that there were quite a few of them.

The reason here is also very simple. Each of the top 100 chefs makes three dishes.

The three dishes were scored separately again.

When you add up the scores of the three dishes, it is inevitable that there will be the same score.

This was affected by the gap in scores for the second dish, braised sea cucumber with scallions.

The young chefs are indeed far behind the top ten.

Among the young chefs, Sun Hai scored the highest in three dishes.

But the combined scores of Sun Hai’s last three dishes ranked him 19th among the top 100 chefs.

Even if all chefs with the same total score were counted as one, Sun Hai would not be among the top ten.

As for the top ten, the fourth and fifth place had the same score, and the seventh, eighth and ninth place also had the same score.

The judges present looked at the tallied scores and fell into silence.

Seeing that no one said anything, Feng Zhengming chose to speak first.

“Everyone here is my predecessor and elder, but since I am the organizer of this competition, I will speak first and express my thoughts.

Regardless of whether the scores are the same, we will select the ten chefs with the highest combined three-course scores as the top ten chefs this time."

Feng Zhengming's words were naturally agreed upon by the two state banquet masters, the two tycoons from Hong Kong and Macau, and the overseas famous chef Mr. Kofman who was invited to the event.

It was recognized by national judges including Mr. Wei Ling from Hong Kong and Master Hou from Beijing.

Speaking with scores is indeed more fair and reasonable, and it should be convincing when it is announced.

However, several old masters present still had some different opinions.

This time, it was Master Sun from Taifenglou who spoke first.

"I think it's not appropriate to just select the top ten based on the scores from high to low. Since there are chefs with the same scores, it means that there is not much difference in their skills."

After Master Sun spoke, Master Su also spoke.

"Right. Obviously we can't just look at the scores. If we only look at the scores, shouldn't chefs with the same scores have the same ranking? Then the top ten should not just be the top ten chefs.

I think that even though it is the top ten, since the chefs in the competition have the same score, they should all be counted in the same place.

If we continue to rank them according to their scores, there should be sixteen chefs in this year’s Top Ten.”

Several other masters also expressed their agreement with Master Su's algorithm.

We should not just take the top ten, and chefs with the same score should not be ranked in order.

According to the current score ranking, if the fourth and fifth place have the same score, they will both be considered fourth place, and the sixth place will be considered fifth place.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth places had the same score, which means they are all ranked sixth.

Tenth place rose to seventh place.

Next, the eleventh and twelfth players with the same score will be ranked eighth.

Thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen with the same score are all considered ninth place.

In the end, the chef who was originally ranked 16th became 10th.

After listening to the advice of the masters, Feng Zhengming looked down at the list of sixteen people in front of him.

If we follow the masters' method and select sixteen people as the top ten, it seems reasonable.

After all, when the points are tied, we cannot say who is better than the other.

Feng Zhengming then raised his head and looked at the invited judges present.

"Master Hou, Mr. Wei Ling, the two seniors of the state banquet, Mr. Kofman, do you think we should select ten people as the top ten, or rank them by scores and select sixteen people as the top ten?"

See Feng Zhengming raised this question.

The others who were asked looked at each other in confusion.

For a moment, no one knew how to answer.

After thinking for a while, Mr. Wei Ling finally spoke.

"I think sixteen is also fine, but if sixteen are selected to enter the top ten, do we have to announce the scores of all the chefs? That way we can have an explanation for everyone?"

Mr. Wei Ling said this, and Master Hou also expressed his opinions on behalf of the judges from Beijing.

"Yes, if sixteen chefs are to be included in the top ten, then everyone's scores should be announced, at least to let everyone know why there are sixteen chefs in the top ten."

The two tycoons from Hong Kong and Macau also agreed with this method of publishing all the scores.

Although the scores of all chefs will be announced, everyone has already assumed that sixteen chefs can be selected for the top ten.

Only Kofman felt that since it was a competition there should be a winner, and the top ten should be ten chefs.

The final decision naturally lies with Feng Zhengming.

Feng Zhengming was silent for a while, then stood up and walked out of the meeting room, and soon came back with a certificate.

He unfolded the certificate for everyone to see.

"I think it's better to do this. The 100 chefs participating in this competition all have very good cooking skills. Since there is still some controversy over the top ten, let's simply not select the top ten."

As you can see on the certificate, the original top ten were changed to outstanding chefs.

After careful observation, everyone soon realized that the certificate in Feng Zhengming's hand was new.

In other words, he had actually prepared the certificate for the winning chef a long time ago. Feng Zhengming looked at everyone and smiled and confessed.

"In fact, from the beginning, I didn't prepare the certificate for the top ten chefs. I prepared two kinds of certificates, one is the certificate for the top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs, and the other is the certificate for the top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs."

After Feng Zhengming said this, everyone present suddenly understood.

Master Cui made the decision: "Okay, then follow Zhengming's arrangement. The sixteen chefs whose scores rank in the top ten of the top 100 chefs will be the winning chefs, and the other chefs will be our top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs."

After the final ranking is determined, the awards for individual dishes are even simpler, with all prizes awarded based on the scores.

Among them, there are ten gold medal dishes, which can be regarded as an alternative reward for the ten chefs with the highest scores.

There are 20 dishes for the Silver Award and 50 dishes for the Bronze Award.

After the award was finally confirmed.

Feng Zhengming then went out and asked the competition staff to prepare for the award ceremony.

The award ceremony will be held in the afternoon.

Everyone had lunch and took a rest.

Back at the competition scene again, everyone is looking forward to the final result.

Feng Zhengming stood up again and gave a speech, explaining the final results of the competition.

The audience and participating chefs could all understand it.

Since there is an equal share, the chef who shared the spoils should indeed be treated fairly.

The same score does not necessarily mean that one person has better cooking skills than the other. It is more about the difference in dish creativity and some on-the-spot performance.

Therefore, the final selection of 16 winning chefs from the top 100 chefs is acceptable to everyone.

The scores are there, who can have any objections?

The top three in total score of three dishes: Li Huidong, Cheng Guosheng, and Kong Xingli.

Li Huidong himself didn't expect that he could score first place.

However, this competition did not use total scores to divide the rankings.

Therefore, the total score was only announced.

Feng Zhengming finally announced that sixteen chefs were awarded the title of outstanding chef.

The next step is the award ceremony, where the invited judges present will present the awards.

In addition to the judges, provincial leaders were also present to present the awards.

The provincial leaders really felt that this competition was very well organized.

Especially because of the competition, more people are paying attention to Shandong cuisine.

This may also be the result that all Shandong cuisine chefs most hope to see.

After the award ceremony, Feng Zhengming took the stage again to make the announcement.

“Thank you to our 100 best Shandong cuisine chefs for their cooking demonstrations over the past few days. I believe that through your cooking demonstrations, many people have witnessed the charm of our Shandong cuisine.

Since this is a challenge, the next step is to challenge the skills of several master craftsmen.

Everyone will rest for two days, and the final challenge will be held in Quancheng two days later.

I and several chefs will cook ten classic Shandong dishes, and we welcome all the winning chefs to challenge us."

Hearing Feng Zhengming's announcement, the atmosphere at the scene was reignited once again.

In fact, many people are looking forward to this final challenge.

Almost everyone wanted to see the cooking demonstration by Feng Zhengming and several master chefs.

And we are looking forward to whether the winner among the 100 famous Shandong cuisine chefs can challenge Feng Zhengming and the master chefs?

It can be said that the competitions that Feng Zhengming prepared, organized, and continuously raised the level of, were entirely to build up strength for the final challenge.

The moment when Feng Zhengming introduced the masters who were about to accept the challenge with him.

It really raised everyone's expectations.

Bring this international Shandong cuisine master chef challenge to the top.

Wait until the provincial TV station broadcasts Feng Zhengming’s final announcement and the introduction of the masters.

It immediately won the attention of audiences across the country.

This time, even the master chefs and famous chefs from various local cuisines could no longer sit still.

Master chefs and famous chefs from various cuisines have not paid much attention to the competition before.

They think that Feng Zhengming is intentionally promoting Shandong cuisine.

If there is too much attention, wouldn't it increase Feng Zhengming's popularity?

Only after Feng Zhengming made this announcement, master chefs and famous chefs from other cuisines from all over the country had to pay attention.

Now the momentum created by Feng Zhengming can no longer be suppressed.

Who wouldn’t like to see the already famous masters being challenged?

Many people are looking forward to seeing the craftsmanship demonstrations of the master craftsmen with their own eyes.

I also look forward to seeing the old masters being challenged.

Of course, there are also some people who simply hope to see a winner among the top 100 Shandong cuisine chefs challenge Feng Zhengming and suppress his fame through his cooking skills.

After all, Feng Zhengming's fame in China is growing.

This time, by hosting the "International Shandong Cuisine Master Chef Challenge", Feng Zhengming became more famous across the country.

Many people who watched the TV station's recorded broadcast of the competition admired Feng Zhengming's design for the competition even more.

Everyone felt that through this competition, they saw the skills of the master chefs of Shandong cuisine.

What does the most authentic Shandong cuisine look like?
At the same time, we also saw the efforts of the young chefs of Shandong cuisine.

Especially the second dish of scallion-fried sea cucumber.

When the TV station was filming, it secretly interviewed some young chefs at the suggestion of Feng Zhengming.

Through the tensions and worries of the young chefs interviewed.

It is not only possible to see the young chefs’ pursuit of craftsmanship, but it also reflects from the side how great the skills of the master chefs are.

When it came to the first dish, the young chefs were full of confidence.

I was able to admit my shortcomings in the second dish of scallion-fried sea cucumber.

After admitting the gap between themselves and the master chefs, none of the young chefs gave up. They still said they would try their best to complete the dish of braised sea cucumber with scallions.

When the TV station broadcasts the taped game, these interview clips are edited and inserted into it.

Spontaneous combustion seemed very real to many people, and they were all moved by the young chefs’ unyielding spirit.

The results made many people realize how difficult it is to become a true master chef.

The provincial TV station really didn't expect that Feng Zhengming designed the entire recording of the competition.

This game has become a program that many people are looking forward to on the TV station.

Now Feng Zhengming announced the final challenge, and he introduced each master with respect.

Everything has completely raised the expectations for the final challenge. (End of this chapter)