Chapter 217 Stunning the Audience

All twelve teams came out, and a huge curtain was slowly pulled up, behind which were neatly arranged refrigerators and shelves.

"Today, our sponsor..." the host read out the sponsor's brand, "provided the chefs with a variety of ingredients. Please choose the ingredients and seasonings you need."

Yue Ning and Lucas went to select ingredients together. In the middle was a transparent breeding box, with large snails sticking their heads out and crawling slowly on the wall of the breeding box.

Burgundy is most famous for its snails, besides its wine.

Lucas asked Yue Ning: "Chinese people don't eat snails, right?"

"We eat snails, a kind of snail that grows in water. On summer evenings, we would fry a plate of snails, sit on the street, drink beer and enjoy the cool air." Yue Ning looked at the high-quality oysters in front of him and thought it would be nice to add some oysters to the clay pot rice.

She picked out a French salami, which is lighter than the Italian kind.

In the poultry area, there were indeed fresh chickens that were not wrapped in cloth, and Yue Ning took one.

Yue Ning murmured in his heart, wondering which "clever person" said that Europeans and Americans don't eat offal. In fact, Europeans eat quite a lot of kinds of offal. Look, fresh pork stomachs are in the Durand brand area.

Lucas took a piece of beef leg. At this time, the host was interacting with professional audiences. The professional audiences expressed their expectations for the chefs. When they saw Lucas holding the beef, they guessed that he was going to make beef stew in red wine, after all, that is a traditional Burgundy delicacy.

When Yue Ning was selecting vegetables, he heard an English voice with a French accent coming from the speakers: "I want to ask Chef Pierre, didn't you say that only the most skilled chefs in the culinary world can take the podium at this exchange? So I am not worthy of being your assistant? Now there is a girl with 'wet ears' on the field, how do you explain it?"

Yue Ning looked towards the audience and saw a handsome young man holding a microphone, looking at a chef who was selecting mutton. The chef's mouth drooped, and he was obviously about to lose his temper.

The handsome guy looked at Chef Pierre on the stage and said, "Is it because I'm not a woman or Asian that I don't deserve to be on stage?"

This handsome guy successfully attracted everyone's attention. Lucas said a few words to the translator, who told Yue Ning: "The most powerful chef here is Pierre from Paris, and the one who spoke is his son Nicolas, who is also very famous in Paris."

The so-called "wet behind the ears" is like when cows and sheep are just born, their bodies are dry but the backs of their ears are still wet, which has the same meaning as the Chinese phrase "still wet behind the ears".

The host walked over to the chef and put the microphone to his mouth.

The chef looked at Yue Ning, then looked at his son and said something.

The translator told Yue Ning: "He said: I don't care about others, I only judge by my own standards, you are not qualified to go on stage."

Nicholas stood there with a pale face.

Yue Ning understood that Nicholas had just spoken these words in English because there were teams from Europe and North America present, and he mustered up the courage to challenge his father in such an occasion.

Chef Pierre must be a very demanding person, so he didn't bring his son on stage.

Yue Ning looked at the host and asked in English: "Can I say a few words?"

The host handed her the microphone. Yue Ning looked at the young man and said, "Maybe among so many chefs, I am the only one who has 'wet ears'. But as a celebrity chef who is very popular in Hong Kong and Japan, I can better introduce French cuisine to more East Asians."

"French cuisine has become popular all over the world," said Nicholas.

"French cuisine has a high status and is well-known, but not many people can name the ten representative dishes of French cuisine." Yue Ning looked at Lucas, "That's why the ratings were not good when the Japanese TS TV station broadcast Lucas's specialty, bladder chicken, live on satellite. For most viewers, it is not as attractive as American fried chicken, but in fact, Lucas's bladder chicken is a masterpiece, right?"

Nicholas hesitated for a moment and said, "Yes."

"I will try my best to introduce French cuisine to people who like me in a way that everyone can understand." Yue Ning returned the microphone to the host.

Yue Ning saw that Cai Zhiyuan in the audience looked unhappy, probably because he thought she was too modest and did not teach Nicholas a lesson properly.

But Yue Ning felt that it was unnecessary. Young people are full of energy and dare to challenge. Isn't that good? Besides, Chef Pierre only selected people based on their skills in such occasions, instead of bringing Nicholas to the stage just because he is his son. He is a respected predecessor.

What's more, speaking humbly and having excellent skills will be more convincing.

She put carrots, radishes, pumpkins, black potatoes, and a head of broccoli in the cart.

"Ms. Yue, do you want to make radish salad?" Lucas asked.

Yue Ning glanced at Nicholas and said, "No, I want to carve a Bresse chicken."

Lucas had seen Yue Ning's aesthetic attainments in food and said, "I'm looking forward to it."

Yue Ning returned to the operating table, blanched and washed the pork bones, stir-fried them in a pot, poured them into a casserole, added water and boiled pork bone soup.

Then, she cleaned the pig's stomach with salt, flour and white wine, washed the chicken, and removed the excess chicken fat from the chicken's stomach to save for making clay pot rice later.

The chicken and pork belly were soaked in scallion and ginger water. After doing this, she took out a set of carving knives. She knew that making pork belly chicken and clay pot rice today was not complicated, and the entire exchange meeting lasted from 10 am to 3 pm, with five hours, so she had enough time to carve a chicken.

She placed the whole carrot upright on the chopping board, held the top with her left hand, and cut three centimeters deep with a carving knife in her right hand. The blade rotated along the central axis of the carrot, and as she carved, an orange-red comb gradually took shape. She carved folds and unique textures on the comb, dug out three oval depressions on each side, and then carved the drooping crowns on both sides, which is the iconic five-petal comb of Bresse chicken.

After the cockscomb is carved, it is placed in ice water.

Yue Ning cut off a piece of yellow pumpkin, and the blade moved across the surface of the pumpkin flesh like a dragonfly skimming the water, carving out the curve of the beak.

She picked up a white radish, carved out its outline, and assembled it with the comb using a barbecue skewer, first cutting out the depth required for the beak, then carving out the holes for the eyes.

She dug two small balls out of the black potato, pierced them with bamboo sticks, then opened the pot and boiled some white sugar. After the white sugar bubbled into caramel, she put the small potato balls in, quickly fished them out, and put them into ice water. Just like making candied haws, the potato beads were coated with sugar, and the caramel color covered the original dark purple of the black potato, making it appear darker, and the beads became crystal clear.

Two potato beads became the chicken's eyes. She then picked up a small piece of carrot, carved out the chicken's eyelids, fitted them into the grooves, and then installed the yellow beak.

The carving knife kept moving on the white radish, and the feathers on the chicken's head appeared lifelike, with delicate and clear textures.

She was concentrating on carving. Everyone in the audience looked at her, and the host exclaimed: "Wow!"

Cai Zhiyuan then smiled, thinking that this little girl did not disappoint him after all. He looked at Nicholas, thinking that this kid dared to say that Ningning "was still wet behind her ears". In terms of cooking skills, Ningning was good enough to be his aunt.

She pieced together several white radishes, carved out a chicken body, and inserted the chicken body into the pumpkin.

He picked up the cut white radish waste and began to carve feathers. These feathers were either bent or curled up, and were inserted one by one into the chicken body and tail.

The black potatoes were peeled off piece by piece in her hands, and a chicken claw gradually took shape. The carving knife scratched the keratin scales between the toes, and each line extended along the growth direction of the toe bone. After the two chicken claws were completed, they were installed on the chicken with bamboo sticks.

She first stuck the chicken on a big carrot, and then went on to carve a pumpkin. She carved the pumpkin into a slanted hollow stump, and moved the chicken over so that one of its paws was just below the stump and the other was above it.

After carving the chicken, she picked up the broccoli, cut off the broccoli stems, and used the emerald green stems to carve two green grasshoppers of different shapes and inserted them into the tree stump.

She stopped what she was doing, and someone started to applaud. Suddenly, the whole exhibition hall was filled with thunderous applause. The camera zoomed in, and the host exclaimed, "This is not food at all."

Yue Ning took over the conversation: "Of course it's not food, it can't be eaten, it's for decoration."

“It’s a work of art.”

Yue Ning swept the waste on the table into the trash can: "This is for decoration of my pig stomach chicken."

At this time, Chef Pierre at the next workbench came over to see the chicken carved by Yue Ning. He picked up the microphone and said something to his son.

The translator said to Yue Ning: "He asked Nicholas to come up and take a look."

Nicholas walked up to Yue Ning's operating table and bent down to examine the chicken carefully. The red crown made of carrots was bright in color, and each wrinkle showed vivid texture; the white feathers cut from white radish were layered, and the details from the neck to the tail were clearly visible; the beak carved from pumpkins dipped slightly, and the cracks at the tip looked like the marks left by real pecking; the claws made of black potatoes grasped the base, and the scales between the toes were clearly marked. He stretched out his fingers, and his fingertips stopped in mid-air, but he still didn't dare to touch it.

Old Pierre looked at Yue Ning who was stuffing seasoning into the chicken's stomach and said to his son, "A truly talented chef doesn't need his father to lead him on stage."

After hearing what the translator said, Yue Ning looked up and smiled at Pierre, saying, "I envy Nicolas for having a father who is at the top of the industry. If he works harder every day, he will be on par with his father one day."

"Ms. Yue, your father would definitely be proud of you." Pierre said in English with a thick accent.

Hearing this, Yue Ning's eyes moistened: "Yes, my father is a person who loves cooking very much. If he were still alive, he would definitely be proud of me when he saw me standing on a stage like this."

Pierre showed a regretful expression and said sincerely: "Wherever you are, there he is."

"Thanks!"

Pierre smiled and said to her: "Please come over and taste the blood duck I made later."

"Okay!" Yue Ning agreed.

Blood duck in French cuisine is very difficult to cook, and the cooking method is very strange. Yue Ning had eaten blood duck in a restaurant in Paris in her previous life, where the average cost per person was more than 1,000 euros. As a cook with a high tolerance, she also felt that the taste was really not good. She really wanted to try this dish made by a top chef.

"Come and try the pork belly and chicken I made later." Yue Ning also invited warmly.

"certainly."

Yue Ning's superb skills naturally became the focus of the field.

Yue Ning crushed the Hainan white peppercorns she brought with her using the side of a kitchen knife and placed them on a plate. The host asked her, "You want to cook the chicken in the pig's stomach. Was that inspired by Lucas's bladder chicken?"

"No, the history of Chinese pig stomach chicken and French bladder chicken is almost as long. Pig stomach chicken originated in the Chinese court and later became a folk dish. Bladder chicken gradually became a French state banquet dish from the folk."

The pork bone soup on the stove had been stewed until it turned snow-white. Yue Ning turned off the fire, took out the chicken that had been soaked in scallion and ginger water, put it into the pork bone soup, then took it out and soaked it in ice water, repeating this twice.

"Ms. Yue, why do you have to soak it like this and then take it out and put it in ice water?"

“This is the secret to making smooth skin on Cantonese-style white-cut chicken.”

Traditional pork tripe chicken does not require the "three dips and three lifts" method used for boiled chicken, but the pork tripe chicken that Yue Ning made today wanted the chicken to have the characteristics of Cantonese boiled chicken, so he used this method.

She took the chicken out of the ice water, put white pepper, green onion and ginger in the chicken's stomach, poured in the rice wine she brought, stuffed the chicken into the pig's stomach, sealed the pig's stomach with bamboo sticks, and said to the microphone handed to her by the host: "Isn't it very similar to the method of making bladder chicken, just with different ingredients?"

“It really is similar.”

She turned the heat down low and let the chicken wrapped in pork belly simmer in the bone broth.