Chapter 219 French Blood Duck
The big-nosed chef scooped a mouthful of rice with a silver spoon and put it into his mouth. The rich aroma of black truffle sauce mixed with the fresh aroma of mushrooms filled the air. This flavor is indeed common in Europe. It is also common to add sausages and ham to rice. This crispy bottom is also what his cassoulet pot pursues. Yue Ning skillfully combines these elements and adds Chinese seasonings to create another flavor.
The big-nosed chef carefully examined his plate again, then looked at the empty casserole, and finally his eyes fell on the beautifully carved rooster. He looked at Yue Ning with a suspicious look: "Chef Yue, your dishes... don't they look like real Chinese food? They feel like they are based on French cuisine, but with a bit of Chinese flavor? This is not the impression I have of Chinese food."
After hearing what the translator said, Yue Ning felt a little unhappy, but the stereotypes of Chinese food held by foreign chefs were still deeply rooted even in her previous life. She responded calmly: "On the contrary, I made this clay pot rice based on the core of Chinese food, with a deep understanding of traditional French food and new French food, in line with the taste preferences of the French, and using local ingredients. Its core is still Chinese clay pot rice. What is your impression of Chinese food?"
After listening to this, the big-nosed chef pondered for a moment and then spoke very seriously.
Before Yue Ning finished translating, Yan Xi rushed to speak.
The translator relayed the conversation between the two to Yue Ning: "Chef Valere said he didn't know much about Chinese cuisine. After the French president visited China in 1973, he went to learn about Chinese cuisine. Even the state banquets, he felt those meals lacked aesthetics. However, he also understood that China was very poor at the time, and most people were still struggling for food and clothing, so naturally they couldn't ask for too much. But your Chinese cuisine made him see the sophistication beyond his imagination."
Then, Yanxi began to refute and told the big-nosed chef about the history of Japanese cuisine. He said that the skeleton of Japanese cuisine originated from the culture brought back by the Japanese envoys from the Tang Dynasty, that kaiseki cuisine was derived from the Tang Dynasty banquet cuisine, and that kaiseki cuisine was derived from the Tang Dynasty monk cuisine. From traditional Japanese cuisine, it is not difficult to see the exquisiteness of Chinese cuisine more than a thousand years ago. Japan's tea ceremony, calligraphy, and flower arrangement all originated from China, and they are all well versed in the art of artistic conception. It was only later that China declined, and when Japanese chefs learned from French chefs, China was in its most difficult period. It is precisely because of this that there was... Yanxi mentioned the name of a Japanese writer who once gave a greasy and low-level evaluation of Chinese food. However, Yanxi emphasized that Chinese food has a profound cultural heritage, and Yue Ning is indeed trying hard to show everyone China's catering culture, and even Mr. Miyamoto, the master of kaiseki cuisine, thinks so.
Yanxi finished speaking, and Lucas continued. The translator translated Lucas' words verbatim: "Just watch the video of the last time I went to Ningyan for a banquet and you will know that the dishes at Ningyan taste great and the presentation is extremely exquisite. In addition to experiencing the style of a high-end restaurant like Ningyan, Chef Yue also took us to visit various restaurants in Hong Kong City and Macau City in the next two days. There are both high-end cuisine and street snacks."
After Lucas and the translator finished speaking, he said to Yue Ning, "Chef Yue, the dishes you brought this time are indeed to cater to the tastes of Europeans, and they do not fully demonstrate your true level. You should bring the Qiankun roast goose and bring everyone the authentic Chinese flavor, which will definitely give everyone a shocking feeling."
Everyone said what Yue Ning wanted to say. Yue Ning shrugged and said, "The time is really too tight this time. Next time I will come to France a week in advance and make good preparations."
She looked at the oven on site again: "I have to learn how to use this oven to make roast goose. Let's have the pork tripe and chicken soup first, shall we?"
Yue Ning turned and walked towards the casserole, opened the lid of the pork stomach and chicken, and the milky white soup mist rose up with the spicy aroma of white pepper and the sweetness of the soup. The chefs who were tasting and discussing the clay pot rice suddenly became much quieter.
Yue Ning filled a small bowl with soup and handed it to Chef Valere: "Chef Valere, have a sip of the pork tripe and chicken soup. I just made boiled chicken, and this pot of soup is the soup from the pork tripe and chicken."
Chef Valere took the bowl of soup and said a few more words.
The translator passed on the message: "Chef Lucas just recommended Ning Yan to Chef Valere again. Chef Valere wanted to tell you again that he didn't mean any harm by what he said. He thought he had tried very hard to understand it and would arrange a trip as soon as possible. He should still go and visit it in person."
Yue Ning didn't mind it at all at this time, after all, what Valer said was not entirely true. After all, the aesthetic taste of domestic chefs is very different from that of French cuisine.
In China, there are many chefs who can carve dragons and phoenixes, and Lu Peide has superb carving skills. But in terms of overall shape, domestic plating is not good at leaving large areas of white space. To exaggerate, the whole plating style is like the big flowered coat in the Northeast, which is warm and gorgeous.
On the dining table, there are auspicious patterns carved from watermelon and winter melon, as well as colorful phoenix shapes used in competitions, all of which are presented using traditional techniques.
However, with the trend of simplicity and refinement led by French and Japanese cuisine, such imposing shapes are no longer popular.
Another reason is the cultural differences between China and abroad. I remember hearing someone say in my previous life that when the Queen of England visited China in the 1980s, she was served a steamed mandarin fish. The Queen ate a piece of fish that had a bone in it. In order to maintain her elegant image, she swallowed the bone.
The lack of mutual understanding leads to the fact that many things that you think are good are not appreciated by the other party at all. Of course it would be great to have the opportunity to communicate with each other!
"Great! There's an old Chinese saying that seeing is believing. Welcome!"
"good."
Valere took a sip of the soup and it was obvious that this soup had more white pepper than the ones they usually used in cream soup, so it was a little spicy, which made the soup more likely to awaken the taste buds and was really great as an appetizer. The pork belly was chewy and made people want to eat it again and again.
Yue Ning is confident that this soup is very suitable for European tastes, but it will not amaze everyone like the clay pot rice. After all, the taste of truffles in the clay pot rice is completely in line with their taste. Yue Ning is already very satisfied with the chefs' heated discussion.
After discussing the dish that Yue Ning cooked, Pierre looked back at his workbench and said, "Ms. Yue, there are still 20 minutes left. Let's start squeezing the duck blood."
"OK."
Valere also said: "I still need more than an hour. I can wait to eat Pierre's blood duck before tasting my cassoulet."
“And there’s my goulash in the middle,” Lucas added.
"Now, don't you want to try my Flamenquin?" a Spanish chef invited enthusiastically.
Yue Ning responded immediately: "Of course."
Except for the chef who had to look after his own stove, everyone else gathered around the Spanish chef's workbench.
Flamenquin, a traditional Spanish delicacy, is made by stacking soft pork tenderloin, fragrant cheese and salty ham in layers, rolling it up, dipping it in egg liquid, coating it with breadcrumbs, and then frying it in a pan.
The Spanish chef's assistant has already poured enough olive oil into the hot pan, and the oil surface is slightly rippled. The assistant puts the meat rolls wrapped in egg liquid into the pan. In an instant, the hot oil is boiling. The assistant flips the ham rolls from time to time. As the frying progresses, the aroma is overflowing. This aroma is actually very familiar to everyone, it is the smell of fried meatballs at home and fried chicken wings in fast food restaurants.
The chef is mixing the dressing, adding lemon juice and other spices to the mayonnaise.
The assistant took the fried meat roll out of the frying pan, drained the oil, placed it diagonally on the chopping board, and cut it into slices with a knife. The chef put the milky white sauce and the vegetables on both sides of the meat roll.
The traditional Spanish food Flamenquin is ready.
After the meat roll was sliced, the goat cheese inside slowly overflowed. Yue Ning took a small plate and forked a piece of meat and placed it on the plate, then scooped a little sauce on it with a small spoon.
Most people simply cannot resist such a calorie bomb, let alone the version with Iberian ham. It is really super satisfying after taking a bite.
Yue Ning thought to himself that he must prepare this delicious dish, which could never go wrong, for his colleagues who were supporting the Spring Fair when he returned.
After tasting it, Yue Ning went to Pierre's operating table and waited.
Blood duck is an extremely classic dish in French cuisine. Yue Ning has never been to Paris in this life, but in his previous life, this dish was a signature dish in the top restaurants in Paris.
Unfortunately, the opinions of diners on this dish are extremely polarized. Those who accept it regard it as a treasure, while those who do not accept it, such as her best friend in her previous life who accompanied her to eat around the world, the girl who grew up in Hunan and should be used to eating blood duck.
Before we went, the girl said confidently: "How can I, a Hunanese, not be able to eat blood duck?"
But after eating it, she was full of disgust: "How can you enjoy it so much? Don't you think it's disgusting to see the bloody juice flowing out when they squeeze the raw duck bones, duck liver and red wine together? I wanted to vomit at that time. This chef's skills are good, let him not make this dish in the future."
This dish is a delicacy in the eyes of some people, but like poison in the eyes of others.
Yue Ning's eyes were fixed on the roasted duck in front of Pierre. It was not as if it was a lifetime ago, but a lifetime ago.
Pierre's assistant introduced in English: "This fat duck has been air-dried for fourteen days. Now the duck has been roasted to medium rare."
When Pierre's blade cut into the duck breast, the blood-red meat was exposed inside. The duck, which had been matured for more than ten days, was slightly bleeding.
The duck breast and duck leg meat were sliced, and the chef's movements were as graceful as a performance.
Chef Pierre put the remaining duck shells, meat and bones into a press, and specially added a large piece of duck liver. The assistant explained that according to tradition, all duck offal should be added, but considering everyone's taste, now basically only duck liver is used.
Pierre poured red wine into the press barrel again and turned the handle of the press. The red liquid slowly flowed out and gathered in a large silver bowl.
The remaining duck meat, duck bones and duck liver mixed together to form this dark red bloody paste.
Pierre added a piece of butter to the pot, poured the blood paste into the pot, and stirred it gently with a silver spoon. The blood paste gradually became thick, and the blend of red wine and duck blood exuded a unique aroma. Yue Ning felt that the taste was quite similar to the aroma when he fried blood duck.
People who don't accept this dish may not be able to accept the process of squeezing the juice. If people don't see the process, perhaps more people will accept it. But for the French, this is part of their food culture, and this duck is one of the representatives of top French cuisine. The juice squeezing process is essential.
At this time, Pierre put the duck breast that he had just sliced into the sauce, allowed the sauce and duck breast to fully blend, poured wine on it, the flames instantly shot up, and the blood duck was done.
The assistant puts the duck leg meat in a pan of duck oil and fry it over low heat.
Pierre drew an arc with duck blood sauce on a white porcelain plate. The duck meat was cut into slices diagonally and served on the plate, with duck legs as a foil, and garnished with roasted tomatoes and a piece of rosemary for frying duck legs.
Pierre held up his hand to indicate that the job was done.
Yue Ning was young and inexperienced, so he naturally waited on the side. Chef Valer was the first to taste the food. Lucas picked up a piece of blood duck and handed the plate to Yue Ning.
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