"Oh? Sect Leader Su's disciple also enjoys cooking? I rarely meet people who like cooking. This is a rare opportunity, and since today is an auspicious day, and Sect Leader Su has spoken up, I'll give your disciple some pointers." Gui Fenghuo sized up Bai Hao, his eyes filled with admiration.
He genuinely admired Bai Hao.
In this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, those with talent are single-mindedly pursuing a stronger path of cultivation, giving their all to stand at the top of this continent, and have no interest in studying food.
Ordinary people without cultivation aptitude think about how to live and survive every day. Sometimes they even have trouble getting enough to eat, so how can they have the mind to think about how to cook a good meal?
Therefore, there are very few researchers like Gui Fenghuo who can focus on cooking, and even fewer who can reach such a high level.
But it is precisely because of this that Gui Fenghuo hopes that there will be more people like himself who love cooking and will carry on this tradition.
How could he not be excited that there was a young man who also liked to cook?
"Senior Gui, perhaps it's a bit rude of me to say this, but I still want to say that your cooking is indeed very delicious, but in my opinion, it's still lacking something." Bai Hao said calmly, making everyone present think he was bragging.
How dare a young man say that Gui Fenghuo's cooking is lacking in something?
If I told you this, probably no one would believe me.
However, Gui Fenghuo wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "Young man, tell me, what's missing from these dishes I made?"
No one had ever dared to criticize his cooking before, so he had never received any feedback on his shortcomings.
Now that Bai Hao dared to say that his dish was missing something, he wasn't angry. Instead, he wanted to see what Bai Hao could come up with.
"It's a bit lacking in sentiment," Bai Hao said calmly.
"A sentiment?" Gui Fenghuo was taken aback.
He wasn't unaware of what Bai Hao meant by "a little bit," but he was surprised that Bai Hao would say his cooking lacked sincerity.
"I didn't realize you knew that cooking also requires heart. That's amazing. To make a truly delicious dish, besides having a perfect grasp of the ingredients and seasonings, you also need to put your heart into it. Only by cooking with your heart can you make a truly perfect dish."
"But you're saying my dishes lack sincerity? That's not quite right. These are all my specialties, and I dare say no one has put more thought into them than I have," Gui Fenghuo said.
He could accept Bai Hao saying that her cooking wasn't good enough, but he couldn't tolerate Bai Hao saying that her cooking lacked sincerity.
These dishes are all his specialties, honed through decades of dedicated practice. He has truly mastered them; how could they possibly lack sincerity?
"I meant it lacked a bit of sentiment, not that it had no sentiment at all," Bai Hao said, waving his finger.
“There are many kinds of intentions. You have indeed put a lot of effort into these dishes, but that is your intention towards these ‘dishes’, not your intention towards ‘people’.”
When we cook a dish, besides treating each ingredient and each dish with sincerity, we must also treat the people who eat it with care. We don't cook for the sake of cooking; our purpose in making these dishes is to bring genuine happiness to those who enjoy them.
This is the true meaning behind our cooking.
Bai Hao's calm words echoed in the hall.
Ning Wan and Su Yuewan didn't quite understand what Bai Hao said, but they knew that Bai Hao's words must have shocked Gui Fenghuo because Gui Fenghuo didn't immediately refute Bai Hao's words and instead looked thoughtful.
"I never expected that your disciple would know so much about cooking, even managing to fool Gui Feng Huo!" Ning Wan nudged Su Yue Wan's arm in surprise.
Gui Fenghuo was such a proud man that when it came to cooking, he was always the one lecturing others; no one dared to lecture him.
And now, this once-renowned culinary master has been taught a lesson by a young man?
That's incredible!
"So, you mean that to cook a dish, besides having enough heart for the dish itself, you also need to have enough heart for the person eating it?" Gui Fenghuo stared intently at Bai Hao, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"I can't believe you just based on what you've said. If you're so capable, cook a dish yourself, and let's have a competition!"
His cooking philosophy is to explore the powerful flavors of ingredients.
He strives to make every ingredient and every dish taste perfect. He cooks for the sake of cooking, not for anyone else.
Now, Bai Hao was saying something that was completely different from his own ideas, but which he found to make some sense, which shocked him greatly.
But without proof, he couldn't simply believe Bai Hao's one-sided story.
He's a culinary master! How could his cooking philosophy be so easily changed by someone else?
Bai Hao smiled slightly: "Alright, let's have a competition then. Please, Senior Gui, lead the way to the kitchen."
Seeing his confident expression, Gui Fenghuo still couldn't believe that a mere young man would dare to doubt his cooking philosophy. This guy must be talking nonsense!
"Follow me." Gui Fenghuo turned around and led the way towards the imperial kitchen.
Inside the main hall, Su Yuewan and Ning Wan looked at each other, both completely bewildered.
They were supposed to be the main characters today, so how did it suddenly turn into a cooking competition between those two?
"Yue Wan, tell me honestly, did you deliberately bring your own people here to cause trouble? Although I don't care, if he gets humiliated by Gui Feng Huo, that won't be my problem." Ning Wan immediately began to distance herself from the situation.
Clearly, in her view, Bai Hao's behavior was suicidal. In terms of cooking skills, of all people to challenge, why did he dare to challenge Gui Feng Huo?
They're like a newborn calf that's not afraid of a tiger.
only,
Su Yuewan, however, did not think so.
"I don't think so. I have a lot of confidence in my disciple. As for the outcome, we'll just have to go and see for ourselves."
Although she was the one who started this cooking competition, Su Yuewan still had confidence in Bai Hao, because after what Bai Hao said earlier, she did feel that Gui Fenghuo's cooking was lacking something.
Compared to the meals Bai Hao cooked for her, perhaps what was lacking was that so-called heartfelt sentiment.
The sentiment behind cooking for one person cannot be conveyed by the ingredients themselves, but depends on the sincerity of the cook...
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