Swan Durian Pastry
Jian Jianan sent her three friends out after lunch. Even though there was a lot of noise in the kitchen and her friends knew that something big must have happened back then, she remained calm and stood at the door to say goodbye to them.
After they said goodbye to each other and their friends' backs disappeared around the corner of the street, Jian Jianan turned around and went back to Jinhuiju. He walked through the crowd and headed towards the kitchen with a calm face.
She lifted the curtain with the words "No entry for outsiders, kitchen is restricted area" written on it. Before she even set foot in, she heard all kinds of noisy sounds coming from inside.
Jian Jianan stood at the door and listened for a while, and only walked in after making a rough judgment.
As soon as she came in, employees of all sizes saw her as if they had found their backbone and called out to her.
"Little Boss!"
"Little boss, you're here!"
"Hey, what a coincidence today! The young boss is here!"
"Great! There's someone at Jinhuiju after all. Sister Qin and Brother Yang are both outside, and Sister Xiaotao isn't in the store either. Boss, please come over and see what we're going to do about this!"
Jian Jianan walked up and asked everyone, "What happened?"
Before anyone could answer, she stared at the man who had just shouted the loudest in the crowd and asked, "What's going on? Why are you shouting so loudly? I could hear you from outside the kitchen."
The man she was staring at immediately turned his head away uncomfortably. Jian Jianan was obviously just a 14-year-old girl. Girls and boys of the same age as her were all innocently and romantically acting coquettishly in their parents' arms. How could she have trained herself to have such an expressionless face that was extremely oppressive?
Everyone fell silent again after hearing her question. After a long while, a girl finally spoke up, "Well, we might run out of one of our dishes and have to stop making it. But we've already sold dozens of servings, and it's a signature dish. If we pull it now, it might have an impact. But if we don't, there's nothing we can do. The chef who makes it is on leave today, so he really can't make it."
Jian Jianan nodded. She had just heard them arguing outside the curtain because of this matter. "Is it Master Ma Zhiping?"
The woman opposite nodded. She was not a member of the kitchen team, but a head waitress outside. However, because the dish had not been served for half an hour and the customer was really urging her to come, she came in to discuss with the kitchen what to do.
Jian Jianan understood: "Master Ma is old, and he has been ill for many years due to various things. Whenever I see him, I always feel that he is not feeling well. He should go to the hospital for a good check-up. If he is sick, he should get treatment as soon as possible so that he can stay healthy."
Because taking sick leave is very normal, there is no need to be too harsh on the elderly.
The head waiter nodded and said, "He came here this morning feeling very dizzy, so the boy in the kitchen forcibly sent him to the hospital."
What this means is that his request for leave was not approved in advance, so there are no arrangements for his subsequent staffing.
Jian Jianan frowned. That was a problem. Not to mention when Master Ma would be back from the hospital, at least two dozen guests at Jinhuiju had ordered this dish today, and everyone was waiting for it to be served. Otherwise, it would be unrealistic to just wait here for Ma Zhiping to come back.
Jian Jianan asked the foreman: "What is this dish? Besides Master Ma, is there no one else who can make it?"
The foreman looked at the kitchen team and signaled them with his eyes to answer. After all, he was a waiter working in the lobby and had a different profession, so it would be inappropriate for him to interfere.
"Master has a specialty pastry called Durian Pastry. To be more precise, it should be Swan Durian Pastry. The dough is shaped like a swan and filled with durian. No one can make it right except Master."
The man who stood aside from everyone in the kitchen and acted as the spokesperson for the kitchen team was named Lu Zude, and he was Master Ma’s eldest apprentice.
Jian Jianan didn't understand at this moment. Yang Tao had always been in charge of the kitchen team of Jinhuiju. When Yang Tao and Ma Zhiping were there, everything was in order and nothing major happened. Why did big and small problems keep happening when it came to him?
But now that the others are not here, I can only figure out a solution myself.
Jian Jianan asked, "You are all Master Ma's apprentices, so is there no one who has learned how to make this dessert?"
Lu Zude gave a wry smile. "Our team values tradition above all else. Although the chef teaches us how to make a few other dishes, this durian pastry, along with dozens of other dishes, is a recipe he created himself or passed down in his family. He keeps the recipe to himself and always makes it all by himself, never letting us see it. That's why we don't know how to make it either."
Seeing Jian Jianan's confusion, Lu Zude added, "It's like this. The master is getting old, and he said he'd choose a successor from among us. Only then would he teach the successor the recipes for these dishes, no matter how big or small. But the successor hasn't been chosen yet, so none of us know how to cook these dishes. We haven't even finished our apprenticeship yet."
Jian Jianan understood Ma Zhiping's approach. Teaching the apprentice will only starve the master. The team that Su Qinxuan and Jian Yangping spent a lot of money and countless time and energy to hire must have real skills. The leader Ma Zhiping wanted to keep the secret recipes of several dishes firmly in his own hands, and there was nothing to blame. Today's incident was just a sudden incident. No one could have predicted what to do after Master Ma suddenly fell seriously ill and was sent to the hospital.
Jian Jianan repeated her previous question: "So, no one here knows how to make durian pastry?"
Although she was just a junior high school student, there was a natural barrier between her and professional chefs in cooking. After all, everyone had their own expertise, and she couldn't interfere. She could only try to ask again.
Lu Zude smiled bitterly and gestured to Jian Jianan to look at the kitchen table.
Jian Jianan's eyes followed and he saw the kitchen table filled with plates, each containing a small swan durian pastry, but...
This is not a swan at all. A swan should have a long neck, fluffy wings, and a small beak. The durian pastry underneath that is shaped like a swan's body should also be a perfect oval shape.
But if you look at these plates, the swans' necks are either too thick or too crooked, and some even have polygonal bodies. It's obvious that the external force and technique were not mastered when shaping them, resulting in this appearance.
There were about seven or eight such failed swan durian cakes placed on the table. Even the most beautiful plates could not save their failed appearance.
Jian Jianan didn't say anything. She picked up a knife from the side, cut off a piece of intact Swan Durian Pastry, and put it in her mouth to taste.
Almost at the same time, her eyebrows twisted into a deep "chuan" character. Pah, pah, pah, this is not durian pastry at all. Don't think that you can call it durian pastry just because it is made with durian!
Real durian pastry should be thin and crispy, with distinct layers. When you bite it, there will be a crunching sound in your mouth. If you bite deeper, you can taste the hot durian filling. The sweetness is just right, sweet but not greasy, and coupled with the strong durian aroma, people who love durian will go crazy for it.
But what is this in my mouth? It's basically a mixture of flour and durian. It's very dry and sticky. When I put it in my mouth, the flour is flour and the durian is durian. They are clearly separate and don't blend together at all.
Jian Jianan quickly drank a few cups of tea before swallowing the durian and flour in his mouth.
"Cough cough cough." Jian Jianan drank the tea too quickly and choked a few times. It is definitely not okay to serve this kind of thing on the table for guests to taste. Is there really no other way?
Just when Jian Jianan had figured out how to deal with the customer who ordered this dish, she turned her eyes and suddenly saw a lonely plate on an inconspicuous table next to her. On it was a single swan, emitting heat and fragrance, as if tempting her, the diner, to pick it and touch it.
She walked over involuntarily, pointed at the swan pastry and asked, "Who made this? Why wasn't it displayed just now? Did it accidentally slip out or was there some other reason?"
Comparing this lonely swan pastry with the previous ones, anyone with eyes will know which one is superior and which one is inferior. Even if you don’t look at the taste, just looking at the surface, you will know which one is better.
This swan has a longer neck with a beautiful curve and distinct layers of pastry. You can tell at a glance that it is both thin and crispy. I wonder what a wonderful feeling it would be when you eat it.
Jian Jianan didn't want an answer right away. He walked over quickly, cut off a piece of swan pastry with a knife and was about to put it into his mouth.
The other swan pastries showed signs of having been tasted by someone, big or small, but this one, for some reason, perhaps because it had just been baked or perhaps because it had not been seen, was intact and undamaged, making it even more perfect.
"Hey... don't..." Lu Zude failed to stop it in time. Even if he had, he couldn't stop Jian Jianan's actions. He could only watch Jian Jianan eat a bite of the durian pastry from the swan's body.
Jian Jianan was chewing there with an expressionless face and an unpredictable look. Lu Zude thought that she was choked by the cake just like before, so he quickly handed her a cup of tea to moisten her throat and help her swallow the defective cake.
But unexpectedly, Jian Jianan didn't even bother to take the cup. He raised his head and met Lu Zude's gaze, asking concisely, "Who made this?"
Lu Zude laughed awkwardly, "What's wrong, little boss? Is it too unpalatable, or what? I promise, I'll give her a good beating later and tell her not to come out and embarrass herself!"
As Jian Jianan listened, she suddenly noticed something strange. Logically speaking, this team of chefs, who came from the same place and studied under the same master, and were brothers from the same school, should protect each other in front of her, an "outsider". Why did Lu Zude seem to look down on the maker of the swan pastry?
Could it be bullying within the group?
Jian Jianan was alert. She had heard about this kind of bullying before. It would not only cause great harm to the bullied person's body and mind, but also cause immeasurable consequences.
More importantly, time is running out. The customers who ordered durian pastry have been waiting for half an hour, and she has no time to waste on this kind of internal team mediation.
"Who did it? Just tell me! It's none of your business how they deal with it!"
Jian Jianan repeated the question concisely. Lu Zude knew that something was wrong, and his first reaction was to push the person out. He looked at the end of the crowd, and the people he had scanned seemed to be afraid of being mistaken by Jian Jianan, and they all moved to the sides, revealing a short figure standing at the end.
Seeing Jian Jianan's expressionless eyes, the figure shrank even more. After a long while, she raised her hands tremblingly under Jian Jianan's gaze, and said in a mosquito-like voice: "I, I, I did it..."
Huh huh huh???
Jian Jianan was stunned. It turned out that the voice was not "his" but "her"!
There is actually a woman in this all-male chef team?
Is she a female chef?
Jian Jianan has no objection to female chefs. On the contrary, she has Su Qinxuan, a mother, as a role model. It can be said that the entire Nanbei Restaurant is supported by Su Qinxuan. She has made an indelible contribution to the growth from a street cook to such a large scale today.
Jian Jianan likes female chefs very much. When he sees a female kitchen helper apprentice, he will give her encouragement, watching it silently and keeping it in mind.
However, most of the chefs in Jinhuiju's team came from nearby towns or counties, and they had a very strong clan consciousness. In this team, Jian Jianan had never seen a female chef. Even if a woman occasionally passed by the kitchen, the people of the Ma family would not like it.
Jian Jianan had seen this before. One time, the front desk lady came to the kitchen to discuss something with everyone, but was kicked out with the reason that "the kitchen is a restricted area, women are not allowed to enter."
If Jian Jianan didn't have the status of a "small boss", she believed that Lu Zude and others would also use words to drive people away.
But even though her status was clear, she didn't realize that Lu Zude and the others had any respect for her. Sometimes their eyes would clearly reveal the meaning of "You little girl should go home."
Not to mention, if his brother Jian Jiabei was present, these people would flock to Jian Jiabei to get close to him, even though he couldn't say a single useful word. In the end, he would be the one who would be in trouble, and the people from the Ma family would still ignore him.
But in such a team, there is now a woman? Although she has tried her best to cover it up, wearing a tall chef's hat and hiding her hair tightly, she is a genuine female chef.
This is really strange, but in this way, it makes sense why Lu Zude and others had previously looked down on and excluded this person.
It's not bullying within the team, it's just sexism and looking down on her!
But one thing is very strange. This person knew about their discrimination but still mixed in with them. He is really brave.
However, Lu Zude and his men did not resort to force to drive him out. This either means that this person is extremely thick-skinned and has a high level of martial arts ability, or that this person has a different identity.
Looking at this figure that was obviously shorter than the others, Jian Jianan felt that the latter one was more likely.
"So, this is what you did." Jian Jianan confirmed again.
The female chef opposite was pushed in front of Jian Jianan intentionally or unintentionally, waiting for Jian Jianan's decision like a quail, as if Jian Jianan's next words could determine her life or death.
"Very good. You'll take over the Swan Durian Pastry today. We'll discuss it after Master Ma Zhiping comes back. It's settled."
The female chef raised her head in a daze, and met Jian Jianan's encouraging smile.
"Ah? Ah! What? I..."
The female chef had originally prepared herself to be scolded, and in serious cases, she might even be kicked out of Jinhuiju. Unexpectedly, Jian Jianan blurted out a word of praise and gave her the task of making durian pastry to save the day.
This made her swallow back the words she wanted to say, and she suddenly started to stutter.
Jian Jianan wanted to ease her tension and asked her, "What's your name?"
This method really worked. The female chef calmed down and replied softly, "My name is Ma Xiu Li."
A guess suddenly flashed through Jian Jianan's mind: are they all surnamed Ma?
So, is there any blood connection between her and Ma Zhiping?
"Wait! This isn't appropriate!"
Before Jian Jianan could confirm this guess, Lu Zude pushed through the crowd, let out a strange laugh, slowly walked to Jian Jianan, and asked the above question, interrupting her thoughts.
Lu Zude glanced at Ma Xiu Li with disdain. "Young boss, I think you picked the wrong person today. How can Ma Xiu Li make pastries, let alone replace Master Ma to make Swan Durian Pastries? She's not the right person to save the situation. Otherwise, you'll be the first one to complain after the customers eat it!"
Jian Jianan turned his head and said with a half-smile, "If she isn't allowed to go to the rescue, do you want her to go?"
Jian Jianan's gaze paused on Lu Zude's work - a swan with one wing missing, then turned back to look at the perfect swan belonging to Ma Xiuli.
Seeing that Lü Zude was about to say something else, Jian Jianan didn't want to listen anymore and interrupted him. "Besides, Ma Xiuli's swan durian pastry is not only perfect in appearance, but also perfectly seasoned. I can responsibly say that it is the best among these samples. If it's not suitable, are we going to serve these swans with broken necks or wings that are larger than one another to the guests' tables?"
"Is this appropriate?" Jian Jianan lowered his voice at the end.
Looking at his own horrible work, Lu Zude knew that he was in the wrong and did not dwell on the issue. However, there was still someone who did not give up. He leaned half of his body out from behind Lu Zude and tried to make Jian Jianan retract his decision.
"But, but Ma Xiuli has only been practicing for a short time. How can you compare to the skills that we brothers have practiced for years? Besides, she is a woman. Her success just now was just a fluke. What if the durian pastry she makes later is worse than ours? If she is the dim sum chef today, wouldn't she be laughed at?"
Jian Jianan was puzzled: "What's wrong with being a woman? I'm a woman too, why don't you say I can't do it?"
The man chuckled awkwardly, scratched his forehead, and shrank back.
Ma Xiuli thought to herself that she was Ma Zhiping's biological daughter. She had always been by the stove watching her father cook since she was a child. Sometimes when he accidentally forgot something or needed help, she was always there to lend a hand.
But since Ma Zhiping's reputation grew, and he even took in many apprentices and formed his own team, Ma Xiuli was surprised to find that her status was slowly declining, not only in her father's heart, but even in the Ma family troupe she had founded, gradually no one mentioned her name anymore.
Even though the Ma Clan had just been established and there were only herself and her father Ma Zhiping, she was still their right-hand man and could be said to be one of the great contributors to the establishment of the Ma Clan.
However, when the Ma family troupe grew from a small team of two to a group of more than ten people today, Ma Xiuli was even intentionally or unintentionally excluded by her fellow apprentices. They did not allow her to touch the kitchen utensils, did not allow her to watch the cooking process, and would even yell at her if she got too close.
From childhood to adulthood, Ma Xiuli has heard sarcastic words countless times.
"Little Junior Sister, the kitchen is so dangerous, why are you here? Go out quickly, go out and play or find your sisters to play with, and don't come here again. Otherwise, there are so many things in the kitchen, and if you accidentally bump into something and get hurt, Master will beat me to death!"
Just like this, when Ma Xiuli thinks back now, she has no idea on which day the Ma Clan team drew a line between her and others. She was like a frog slowly boiled in warm water, excluded, isolated, and expelled.
However, the frog that has been living in the well will also want to jump out of the well one day to see the vast world outside. Ma Xiuli has a premonition that perhaps today, Jian Jianan's arrival will open a door for her and build a ladder to the outside world.
Ma Xiuli was not confident to begin with, and now after hearing the doubts raised by the dozen men opposite her, her body began to tremble even more violently. When Jian Jianan tried to get her out despite all odds, Ma Xiuli even wanted to refuse the job. However, after seeing the encouraging look in Jian Jianan's eyes, her firm and powerful movements, and the respect she expressed in her words for herself, Ma Xiuli inexplicably did not want to retreat as usual.
She stood up firmly and commanded her fellow disciples.
"Go and mix the flour into a paste."
"Go preheat the oven and set the temperature to the right level."
"Go peel the durian, take out the flesh and place it on a plate."
Seeing that Jian Jianan had made up her mind and no one here could stop her, Lu Zude brought up the names of two other people to try to stop Jian Jianan.
"Little Boss, you're the little boss, and there's a big boss above you. Do you want to tell Sister Qin or Brother Yang about this, or even call Brother Xiaobei over?"
Sister Qin is Su Qinxuan, Brother Yang is Jian Yangping, and Brother Xiaobei naturally refers to Jian Jiabei.
Jian Jianan had witnessed the contempt shown to him by Lu Zude and the others, and was also angry about Ma Xiuli's experience in the Ma family troupe in recent years. They didn't want to hide anything at all, and he could imagine how Ma Xiuli had been treated excessively in private.
Jian Jianan didn't even glance at Lu Zude, "No need, I've already made the decision on this matter. From now on, just cooperate with Ma Xiuli! If anything happens later, I'll take the responsibility alone!"
Lu Zude stopped talking, but kept retorting in his heart, Haha, you little girl, your hair hasn't even grown out yet, but you're pointing at another little girl. I want to see how you two will end up if the guests blame you.
He just didn't believe it. Could the food cooked by women be better than theirs?
In Lu Zude's view, women can only cook delicious meals in the kitchen of a small family.
But it is not worthy of being accepted by the upper class!
No way! There’s no way in hell any hotels or restaurants are allowed here!
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