Chapter 56: Slow-cooked Venison Ribs in a Traditional Sauce. (First update...
The waiter was indignant, but Linzhi and the other two were guests, so he could only take his dissatisfaction back to the kitchen.
"Why is Brother Ping so angry?"
"Chef Zhou!" The waiters' voices cracked with excitement upon seeing the chef, their indignation barely concealed in their voices: "Someone actually said our matsutake chicken soup used pork knuckle in the broth!"
"Huh? Who said that?"
"Where did this country bumpkin come from? Is he crazy?" The clerk next to him came forward with a look of shock on his face. "What kind of place is our store? Why would they use something like this?"
"That's right, I'm afraid I'm just ignorant."
"Look, that's the young lady at table number three!"
"Such a young lady? I'm afraid she is talking nonsense." Another waiter glanced towards the lobby and shook his head repeatedly.
"I thought so too, but he is a guest after all, so I dare not say anything." Brother Ping was very angry. He pulled a few waiters to complain non-stop. Maybe it was because the chef and the kitchen assistants in the kitchen rarely talked to them on weekdays, so they didn't notice that Chef Zhou had not made a sound since the beginning.
Chef Zhou listened quietly, looked in the direction Ping Ge'er pointed, and took a deep look at Lin Zhi.
He turned and went into the kitchen and reported what he had heard to the chef.
"Call Brother Ping over." The chef paused, "Don't let anyone else notice."
"Yes." Chef Zhou responded respectfully, turned around and went to the kitchen door. While the waiters around were working, he called Brother Ping in.
Ping Ge'er was very restricted when walking in the kitchen. As hired servants, they were strictly prohibited from entering the kitchen on weekdays. If they looked at it for a few more seconds, they would be driven away.
Ping Ge'er thought of Wang Shiwu who was kicked out last time. After he was kicked out, he couldn't go to any other big store and could only work in a foot shop, earning seventy or eighty cents a day. He had to greet customers and wash dishes and vegetables in the backyard. He even had to wash the clothes and toilets of the stall owner.
Back when I was working in the restaurant, life was so easy! I could earn a hundred or two hundred coins a day, which included two meals a day. I'd get bonuses during festivals and holidays, and I'd often have leftovers to take home. Everyone who heard about me would praise me for my ability.
Just as he was lost in thought, Chef Zhou in front of him suddenly stopped. Ping Ge'er didn't react and bumped into him on the back: "Ah! Ho!"
Ping Ge'er came to his senses and quickly covered his mouth.
As Chef Zhou moved aside, he finally saw the head chef of the shop: Chef Cui.
Cook Cui looked to be in her forties or fifties. She was wearing an indigo-colored dress embroidered with a round blessing pattern. Her somewhat gray hair was combed neatly and wrapped in a cloth of the same color. Apart from pearl pendants on both sides of her hair, there was no other decoration.
She had a long face, long eyebrows, thin lips, and obvious wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. When she frowned, she looked very majestic: "It was you who heard the guests at table three say that?"
Ping'er had only seen Cui the cook walking by before, and since this was the first time he spoke to her, he stumbled over his words and said, "Yes, yes."
He paused, afraid that Cui the cook would suspect he was talking nonsense, so he quickly told Lin Zhi everything he had said before: "That young lady was talking about our fresh poultry with gold and silver tongs, saying why bother making them into tongs, because it ruins the flavor of the broth."
"I just happened to be delivering food at that moment, and I was really unhappy to hear that. The food in our shop is so famous in Bianjing City, how can a young girl say that?"
"So I walked slower, wanting to hear what they had to say."
After Ping Ge'er finished explaining the whole story, he didn't dare to look at Cook Cui's expression. He just stood there with his head down and his hands raised.
He imagined that Cui the cook must be very annoyed, but she continued to ask in a calm voice, "It's actually a young girl? How old does she look?"
"I took a look and he looked like he was fifteen or sixteen years old." The person who spoke was not Brother Ping, but Chef Zhou.
"It's actually a girl of this age. Does she look familiar to you?" Seeing this, Cook Cui first signaled Ping Ge'er to leave, and then continued to ask.
Ping Ge'er was upset but didn't dare to say anything. He walked out with his head down. He faintly heard Chef Zhou's voice: "I see that the table looks like a family. They all look unfamiliar. They can't be apprentices from any restaurant."
"That's a talented kid."
"Madam, do you want to send someone to ask?"
"If someone comes to our shop to eat and orders matsutake chicken soup and fresh mackerel with gold and silver tongs, I guess they're not from a poor family. They might not be willing to learn cooking..."
Ping Ge'er didn't hear the rest of the words, but these words alone were enough to shock him: Just those two sentences could make Cui the chef praise him for his talent? Talented?
Ping Ge'er suddenly got a flash of inspiration and was stunned, his pupils trembling: According to what Chef Cui and Chef Zhou said, could there really be pork knuckle in the matsutake chicken soup?
Ping Ge'er was shocked, while Chef Zhou was still talking to Chef Cui: "Other restaurants have recommended many newcomers in recent years, and they have made a big splash at the New Year's party."
"Our family has already fallen behind."
"If we don't introduce new talents in the next few years, I'm afraid we won't have a place to stand in Bianjing City in the future..."
"That New Year's party is just a gimmick." Cook Cui shook her head and said, "Look at all the new people who come up every year. They get a bit of attention, enjoy the limelight for a couple of months, and then what happens?"
Chef Zhou thought for a moment and said nothing.
Cui the cook sighed, "They either enter the noble court and are never heard from again, or they leave Bianjing and go far away. Only a handful of them can stay in the restaurant and rise steadily."
"It's called a New Year's party, but it's more like putting talented chefs on a brothel for people to watch and judge, and then exploiting them under the guise of a competition."
Chef Cui looked down on the New Year's Newcomers' Party. The original intention of this competition was good. It allowed chefs to compete in cooking in public and show their skills. It could not only increase the reputation of the shop, but also attract diners from all over the world. It was a mutually beneficial thing.
But over time, the taste changed.
A few years ago, some chefs brought their signature dishes to the Newcomers' Association, and soon their signature dishes became popular throughout Bian Jing.
Not only could his family not maintain normal business, they went bankrupt within half a year and had to leave Bian Jing.
Although a restaurant cannot survive long-term relying solely on one signature dish, if it does not participate in this so-called New Year's party, it may be able to survive for a year or two.
But when seeing fame and fortune within easy reach, how many people can clearly see whether what lies behind is a mountain of gold and silver or a cliff?
After thinking for a moment, Cui the cook said, "Let someone take a look and see if this young lady is learning any skills or running a business at home."
Chef Zhou responded, thinking to himself that although Chef Cui said no, she was still thinking about him.
He turned and left the kitchen, sighing secretly as he walked forward: There is nothing we can do about it, the next generation of the Cui family has no talent and is unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility, and the grandchildren are still young and need many years of experience.
Seeing that there was no one to take over the Juyou Building, not only was Cui the chef anxious, but even he, the old man, was filled with worry.
However, the more there is a lack of successors, the harder it is to find suitable candidates, and it has gradually become a vicious circle. Nowadays, chefs with a little fame are unwilling to choose our company, and even the kitchen helpers are restless and have other ideas.
Chef Zhou paused and looked at the family of three at table number three.
Lin Zhi never expected that his casual comments would be seen as a talent by the kitchen staff, and someone was secretly observing him.
She was enjoying the dishes on the table with gusto.
Following the matsutake chicken soup, two light side dishes arrived. Lin Zhi took a few bites and smiled, "This chef is quite impressive. The matsutake chicken soup was so delicious and rich, but they didn't serve a main course. Instead, they served two light stir-fries. They'll wait until the umami taste has faded before serving the main course."
It also shows that the shop is well managed, so the kitchen helpers will pay attention to details to provide diners with a better experience.
As soon as Linzhi finished speaking, the waiter brought a dish of slow-cooked venison short ribs in a traditional Chinese stew. The so-called short ribs are the meat on both sides of the chest containing the ribs, in short, slow-cooked venison short ribs.
Since Linzhi came to this era, he has never eaten either beef or venison.
Contrary to what people later thought, it is not that cattle are expensive and hard to find because they are draft animals, or that they are only enjoyed by the powerful. On the contrary, beef is very common nowadays and its price is even lower than pork.
But even when she was short of money, she did not choose beef. The reason was the concept of people at that time: from the emperor to the common people, the whole society believed that cattle were very important production tools, and eating beef was something only people with corrupt morals would do.
Therefore, saints and even scholars would never touch beef, and the common people would regard eating beef as a sin. Only those who could not even afford pork would buy and eat it.
Linzhi could sell dishes made with pork, but if she used beef, no matter how delicious the food was, officials and even the people around her would not step into her shop.
Back to the venison in front of me, the aroma was truly enticing. Linzhi picked up a small piece and took a closer look. The venison had distinct textures and a glossy sheen. The closer he got, the more distinct the aroma became.
When Linzhi put the venison into his mouth, the meat was tender and firm, without the fishy smell of venison, and his mouth was full of the aroma of fat.
"Hmm, this is venison? It's so different from what I bought before!" Lin Sen ate two pieces in a row and couldn't help but exclaimed, "I also bought a lot of venison when I was in Taiping Prefecture. It was either stewed dry or had a strong fishy smell. After eating it a few times, I never touched it again."
Just when Sister Zhi ordered the dishes, he was still worried. He never thought that this shop could make venison so delicious!
"Because venison has a very strong wild fishy smell, it needs to be soaked in clean water for about an hour before cooking, and then marinated with onions, ginger, garlic, and rice wine to remove the fishy smell," Linzhi continued.
It sounds simple, and it's easy to do, but it's a delicate job. Not only does the water need to be changed frequently, but the marinating time is also very particular. If it's marinated for too long, the flavor will be masked, while if it's marinated for too short a time, the fishy smell will be lost. Small shops with limited staff make this a real hassle.
Besides, the muscle fibers of venison are finer and more tender, and the fat content is much lower than that of beef. At the same time, the gamey smell is much stronger, so there are many details to pay attention to when making dishes.
"This one has a rich aroma. I guess the chef added ghee... hmm, or maybe lard? It adds a lot of flavor. They also added a lot of spices, and I think there was a bit too much cinnamon."
Lin Sen was stunned for a moment, and finally stopped listening and followed Song Jiaoniang to eat.
Linzhi ate very slowly. Ever since she discovered that her original body had the talent to distinguish flavors, she would savor any delicious dish she came across carefully.
Every touch of her tongue gave her a different feeling. The tender venison danced gently on the tip of her tongue, and the spices spread out in front of her eyes like a long scroll, each of which infused the venison with a different flavor.
All the spices intertwine and merge to finally form the taste before your eyes!
Linzhi held her face in her hands and ate happily. Chef Zhou, who had never expected to come over to check on her, was stunned when he heard her words, with a storm in his mind!
Chef Zhou had just glanced at the three people's attire and hadn't stepped forward to listen to their conversation. But when he heard Lin Zhi's words, he instantly concluded that the person before him was no ordinary diner, but a 100% colleague!!!
At this age, could they be the next generation of a restaurant that carries on the family tradition? Chef Zhou's gaze shifted to Lin Sen and Song Jiaoniang, examining them carefully. After some reflection, he was certain he didn't know them.
Maybe from out of town?
But he hadn't heard from anyone whether any chefs from other places had come to Bian Jing recently.
Chef Zhou was puzzled. For a moment, he stared at the Linzhi family with sharp eyes.
This sight makes people feel very uncomfortable.
Therefore, the Linzhi family quickly turned around and looked at Chef Zhou.
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