Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Li Jiuzhou reorganized the promotion system in the steel rolling mill canteen, so it no longer takes many years to get ahead.

Li Jiuzhou gave all the apprentices a chance to be tested on chopping, wielding the ladle, controlling the heat, and mastering the recipe.

In the steel rolling mill, one could generally be promoted if they could cook the 25 large pot dishes perfectly.

Most importantly, Li Jiuzhou and Shazhu, the two fellow disciples, were willing to teach, and the people in the cafeteria loved to learn, regardless of gender or age.

I want to learn! I'll teach you!

As time goes by, the 25 dishes cooked in large pots at the steel rolling mill have become a golden brand.

If you master 25 dishes, you'll be highly sought after by other companies if you want to switch jobs.

Chefs who left the steel mill basically talked about 25 dishes all the time.

This is their capital, their means of survival in this era!

Of course, don't assume you can learn it in a few months; Li Jiuzhou naturally has a plan.

The apprentices are given an opportunity once a year; if they pass the exam, they will be promoted. If there are no places available in the steel mill canteen, they will be placed outside the factory.

They continuously supplied chefs specializing in large-pot dishes to other factories in Beiping.

There were even people from other factories who came to learn. They had to beg and plead, and the factory leaders had to pay a lot of money and give them a lot of benefits before they agreed to let them into the canteen to learn.

Of course, it was first approved by Li Jiuzhou, the head of the canteen.

By the way, Li Jiuzhou was given more responsibilities, and he was promoted from deputy section chief to section chief.

These are Secretary Nie's original words at the high-level leadership meeting:

"Comrade Jiuzhou is in charge of five canteens. His rank as deputy section chief is a bit low. Such a good comrade should be given more responsibilities."

Li Huaide immediately raised both hands and feet in agreement, knowing that his nephew had gotten the job at the steel mill because of him.

Not only did they develop 25 large-pot dishes for steel rolling mills, they also made many other contributions.

Simply providing the factory with the recipe for large-scale cooking without any conditions is a great achievement.

You have to understand that learning a trade is extremely difficult these days.

In other factories' canteens, only the head chef has the ingredients; the rest are basically half-baked.

In the steel rolling mill, the apprentices in the canteen have a standardized learning process from the moment they enter the factory.

It can generally be completed within three years from the beginning to graduation.

Of course, this refers to cooking in a large pot; cooking in a small kitchen doesn't count.

Even though it's a communal kitchen, people inside and outside the factory are now scrambling to get a job as an apprentice in the steel rolling mill canteen.

First, there's no need to take on a master.

Second, they learn quickly.

Third, it can be completed quickly.

Three years later, the monthly salary will be 38.5.

This is at a steel rolling mill. If the head chef were to be transferred to another factory, his salary might be even higher.

At the same time, the chefs who went out dared not pass on the 25 dishes to others without permission.

What a joke! Teaching your apprentice will only lead to your own demise.

The steel rolling mill is the steel rolling mill, and the outside world is the outside world. Many chefs who leave the mill basically keep their culinary skills tightly under wraps and don't pass them on to outsiders.

Even if a factory offers incentives, it might only take on a few apprentices, but it's practically impossible to master the skills in less than three to five years.

It's not that they're shady, but learning a skill is really not easy.

That's how they met Li Jiuzhou and his fellow disciples; they would never have had this opportunity anywhere else in their lives.

As a result, the canteen workstations in the steel rolling mill were the most expensive to sell on the black market, costing around a thousand yuan.

Basically, there's a price but no market for it. Some leaders are envious of the price, but it's useless to them.

Even with the power, Li Jiuzhou couldn't force someone to join the team without his approval.

Of course, once you master the 25 major dishes at the steel rolling mill, there are also opportunities for promotion, not just getting 38.5.

When it's time to raise the wages of outstanding or long-serving senior workers, morale will drop and the team will be difficult to manage.

The steel rolling mill used to be renowned for its exceptional service to leaders and peers, so much so that even the Russians stayed there and refused to leave. Its reputation resounded throughout the entire city of Beiping.

Even now, the small stove remains a masterpiece, and the 25 large-pot dishes from the steel rolling mill are famous throughout all the factories in Beiping.

Workers from other factories must be envious when they find out. They're all just workers, so why do the workers at Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill get to eat so well?

The workers certainly wouldn't stand for it. At the time, many people went to restaurants to poach chefs, offering much higher salaries.

But they are different from Li Jiuzhou. They can cook in small kitchens, but they can't cook in large pots.

That's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito; of course I won't do that.

As for taking on apprentices and passing on skills, that's even more absurd.

Do you want to learn a trade without at least 5 years of experience?

You've only been in the business for three years and you're still chopping wood for your master? What are you learning?

Therefore, no matter how hard the noodle factory's canteen tries, it can never beat the steel rolling mill's canteen.

You can only learn the basics.

Qinxing had no objection to Li Jiuzhou's arrangement. It was just a large-scale production, and Mr. Yu wasn't passing on his core skills. It wasn't a big deal.

They also understood that true skills could only be passed down to apprentices, and Mr. Yu, being a renowned figure in the industry, would not break the rules.

And he also took on apprentices, didn't he? You Fulai is the one recognized by the Beiping Qinxing.

This is someone who has formally become an apprentice. The Beiping Qinxing Group has also received the news. After You Fulai completes his apprenticeship, finding work will be incredibly easy.

In the future, when You Fulai goes out to find work, he will definitely have to introduce himself first, giving a brief introduction in one sentence:

"Fu Lai, who was later introduced to Mr. Yu, was his first disciple."

For those in the same trade, if they apprenticed at a large restaurant, they would typically start as third-class cooks upon graduation, but their culinary skills would definitely reach the level of second-class cooks.

It's a tradition to first surpass someone before making a move, to avoid arrogance and complacency, or perhaps you have extraordinary talent like Li Jiuzhou.

As long as your master thinks you can graduate, there will be absolutely no problem with your skills.

If you graduate before your skills are up to par, you'll lose face for the entire school; nobody wants to ruin their reputation.

Unless a traitorous bastard appears, that's another story.

Another thing is that it's harder to learn to cook now.

Business at the restaurant was slow, supplies were tight, and there were too few opportunities for apprentices to practice, because the ingredients couldn't be wasted.

This results in a slower pace of learning a trade.

In the past, there were many opportunities to practice. The meals in the kitchen were basically prepared by the apprentices in rotation as a way to hone their skills.

Now it's done by apprentices, but the ingredients are much worse; there's nothing good to make for them.

Previously, the meals served in the kitchen of Fengzeyuan Restaurant consisted of three meat dishes as a base, and sometimes even more.

Nowadays, restaurants mainly offer pork and vegetables; other meats are nowhere to be found, so there's no way to practice cooking them.

There's nothing we can do about it; that's just how things are.

Sha Zhu's skills improved rapidly, thanks to the many opportunities he had to learn from his senior apprentice.

With a top chef like Li Jiuzhou personally guiding him while he cooks, if he doesn't improve rapidly, he might as well find a block of tofu and smash his head against it.

Even Sha Zhu himself couldn't forgive himself.

Therefore, Li Jiuzhou's evaluation of Sha Zhu's cooking skills was that of a top-notch chef, which was a comprehensive assessment of Sha Zhu's mastery of several cuisines.

If we're talking about Sichuan cuisine alone, Li Jiuzhou would rate Sha Zhu as top-tier.

Few can rival Sha Zhu's mastery of Sichuan cuisine.

Master Wu of Emei Restaurant had a very high opinion of Sha Zhu, and even offered him a high salary of 150 yuan a month to poach him.

Master Li Tielong is proficient in both Shandong and Sichuan cuisines, making him a top-notch chef.

Chef Wu and Li Jiuzhou are not top-tier chefs; they are at a higher level, belonging to the category of renowned chefs. They have titles and can even establish their own schools of thought, making their qualifications extremely prestigious.

If Li Jiuzhou were to compete against Master Wu, Li Jiuzhou would be the clear winner.

Chef Wu is an expert in Sichuan cuisine, but has limited knowledge of other cuisines.

Li Jiuzhou, on the other hand, was equally skilled in other cuisines.

Many top chefs at Beiping Qinhang had eaten Li Jiuzhou's dishes. They were initially unconvinced, but after eating them, they couldn't even bring themselves to challenge him.

When you meet him, greet him respectfully as "Mr. Fish".