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Erina, sometimes enjoying refusing requests, relented for her sister’s sake. "Since you’re so eager, you can do the plating."
"Are you serious about having me do the plating? Erina, don’t bully me too much!" Alice was clearly joking; making her responsible for just plating would be an immense waste of her talent.
"Otherwise, what? Do you want to be the head chef?"
Erina’s tone was peculiar. Giving Alice the head chef position would be a guaranteed disaster. Alice’s molecular cuisine was a niche style, not one known for broad appeal. Her inclusion in the team was merely to fill a spot. Erina hadn’t expected Alice to believe she could take on the lead role. Making Alice a sous chef was already pushing it; a head chef position was simply asking for too much.
Renz, observing this, understood the underlying issue: a lack of cohesion. Everyone felt they were capable, while others weren’t quite up to par. This situation arises when there isn’t an overwhelming recognition of superior skill.
If everyone’s culinary ability is roughly equal, why should one person be the head chef and others merely assistants? If someone possessed overwhelmingly superior skill, such doubts wouldn’t exist. For instance, if Erina wanted to be the head chef, would anyone object?
Probably not, given the authority of the "God’s Tongue" and Erina’s solid culinary prowess.
"Since Erina has promoted me to head chef," Renz, understanding the problem, quickly addressed it. "Then, let’s not discuss any themes yet."
"I’ll give everyone a demonstration first."
Given his current physical condition, Renz felt he was in a period of rapid improvement, with his overall state and skill rapidly rising. His recent knife practice indicated his knife skills had reached his minimum standard. He believed he was currently in his personal peak, though not yet his "golden age" for culinary mastery. In two or three years, he would be a complete, unassailable force.
But even now, he was more than capable of being the head chef at a Totsuki Gourmet Street restaurant.
"What do you plan to make?" Erina asked, sensing Renz needed an opportunity to "conquer," or at least impress, the others.
"Buddha’s Temptation," Renz replied.
"Buddha’s Temptation? A Chinese dish?" Akira Hayama had heard of the dish; it was a renowned classic with an extremely high difficulty rating.
"Yes, that’s right," Renz nodded.
Buddha’s Temptation suffered from a poor reputation in China due to the prevalence of counterfeit versions.
These imposter dishes, often made with strange flavors and unregulated ingredients, were sometimes thrown together by chefs who had merely glanced at a recipe, then marketed as authentic. This had tarnished the reputation of the famous Fujian Province specialty over time.
The primary reason for the lack of authenticity and strange flavors was the quality of raw ingredients.
Buddha’s Temptation requires an incredibly rich and
expensive array of ingredients, such as abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, yak hide gelatin, king oyster mushrooms, squid, dried scallops, and more.
Aside from the cost, the quality of these ingredients was often not guaranteed in many regions. Fujian, being a coastal city, was the birthplace of Buddha’s Temptation, ensuring fresh, high-quality ingredients. Many other regions used subpar ingredients, and the dried versions were even worse. Yet, to capitalize on the dish’s fame, many hotels would simply list the name to attract wealthy patrons, who, to save face, would order it and force themselves to eat it, even if it tasted bad. They would complain later or order it for others, simply to show off their status.
But beyond the ingredient issues, Renz’s choice of Buddha’s Temptation to prove his skill was justified. The authentic preparation is incredibly complex, requiring each expensive ingredient to be cooked to perfection.
Each ingredient must first be prepared as a separate dish, then combined with rich broth and Shaoxing wine, and slow-cooked for several hours to achieve the true flavor. This dish tests a chef’s comprehensive abilities.
The availability of ingredients wouldn’t be an issue. The Totsuki Resort received daily deliveries of fresh ingredients, as it was the core of the Nakiri family’s prosperous operations.
Hisako Arato was deeply familiar with "Buddha’s Temptation," recognizing it as a type of medicinal cuisine, rich in nutritional value. However, the common pitfall of medicinal cuisine was its taste something Hisako focused on in her own research.
"We’ve arrived at the restaurant," Erina reminded them.
At the restaurant’s entrance, two neat rows of staff in white chef’s uniforms stood respectfully, waiting silently. "Welcome, Erina-sama" a unified bow and cheer erupted. With the Christmas holiday still approaching, there was time to name the shop. Erina nodded, gestured to the staff, and led everyone into the kitchen.
Inside, the restaurant wasn’t lavishly decorated but exuded a unique elegance and nobility. Erina navigated several corridors, reaching the back kitchen.
"This is the kitchen. The walk-in freezer has staple ingredients, but for fresh ingredients, you’ll need to call this number," Erina said, tapping a wall-mounted intercom near the kitchen entrance. She immediately called the delivery service to order the ingredients Renz needed.
"Hayama-kun, what do you think is the best kind of cuisine?" Renz suddenly asked Akira Hayama during this time.
Akira Hayama answered without hesitation, "For a spice enthusiast, the best cuisine is naturally one that can win over diners with just its aroma."
"So, Renz-guye (son-in-law), what do you think is the best kind of cuisine?" Akira Hayama asked mockingly, hinting at Renz’s status.
"That’s an easy bonus question," Renz replied without thinking. "My wife is right here. Of course, I’d say the cuisine that satisfies the God’s Tongue is the best cuisine."
"Then what if Erina-ojousama isn’t here?" Akira Hayama pressed after Renz’s comment. "What would your answer be then?"
"Then my answer would be very simple, and very pure," Renz stated calmly.
"My cuisine is the best cuisine."
Erina put a hand to her forehead. Isn’t your cuisine just the cuisine that satisfies the God’s Tongue? Are you playing Morse code with me? A secret code? This dense, straightforward guy is actually capable of such a high-EQ answer? Where did the sun rise today? Erina was baffled to hear Renz speak so smoothly. Such words were rare from him.
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