Because it is an exchange group of the two associations competing on the same stage, it is generally eight cool, eight hot, two soup dishes, and four snacks, and half of each of the four snacks. The host is responsible for making the fancy platter, and the guests make the beets.

According to the original arrangement of the Council of the Shudu Association, the seven people participating in the exchange have their own division of labor.

The head of the exchange group is usually a culinary master, and it is not appropriate to act in person, so it is usually not a good one.

Of the remaining six people, one is responsible for the laborious fancy platter, one is responsible for the four cold dishes that can be prepared in advance, one is responsible for the time-consuming soup dishes, and the remaining three are responsible for the four hot dishes and two snacks.

The head of the exchange group should arrange different tasks for each member according to their different strengths, not only to let everyone's cooking skills be fully displayed, but also to ensure that the whole banquet is carried out perfectly, and there will be no non-compliance with the norms.

To a certain extent, this is also an invisible contest between the two captains, after all, at the level of culinary master, it is not only cooking skills that are tested.

This is also the reason why Director Zhong informed Fang Yu and carefully reminded him, he hoped that Fang Yu could become a trump card in his hand.

Now that the size of the exchange group has shrunk, the division of labor for each person has also changed, and the difficulty of arranging troops has decreased a lot.

According to Director Zhong's arrangement, each of the four members of the exchange group except him is responsible for at least one cold dish and one hot dish. In addition, the four of them have to choose one of the fancy platters, soup dishes, and two snacks as their own extra task.

In such a banquet, the fancy platter in the cold dish is usually used to represent the theme of the banquet, such as congratulating friends on their high ascension, and using shapes such as "Pengcheng Wanli" and "Bright Future".

However, because the current customs are different from the past, the current fancy platter not only maintains the exquisite and unique style of the previous plates, but also emphasizes edibility, and can be said to be an edible work of art.

The communication within the association is far more focused on the technical content of the fancy platter than the general banquet outside, and the first sound of the opening is the face of the face, and it is necessary for a first-class master to dare to take on this task.

Originally, Director Zhong cheekily asked Teacher Chen Yizhen to help, and he also hoped that she would gnaw on this hard bone.

Because although Mr. Chen's personal attainments have long exceeded the special level, because he has always been indifferent to fame and fortune, he did not participate in the national vocational assessment, was promoted to the title of technician, and did not participate in any special or above culinary master title battles.

So even though some of her students have become culinary masters, she is still nominally a grandcook, and she is just a few months away from turning fifty, which is completely qualified for the end.

In fact, this also shows the dilemma of the Shudu Cuisine Association.

The convention of this kind of exchange activity is that you can only participate once, and in the age group of forty to fifty, the Shangshu Association really lacks a strong backbone, so it has to ask Teacher Chen, who never participates in similar activities, to come out to support the façade.

However, to Director Zhong's expectations, Mr. Chen said that his eyes were no longer good, and recommended Cao Yingjun, who looked a little unreliable, to be in charge of this important fancy platter.

Director Zhong knew that this Cao Yingjun was Mr. Chen's most valued student, who was proud and high-spirited at the beginning, but was later recruited by the special department of the headquarters and disappeared for a while.

Later, for inexplicable reasons, he quit that department and returned to the Shudu Association, and since then he has become a little cynical and his cooking skills have stagnated.

This time, Teacher Chen agreed to participate in this exchange on the condition that she should also participate as a student.

Director Zhong also knows something about this Cao Yingjun, even if there is no outstanding place in the past few years, but as Mr. Chen's beloved apprentice, his foundation is still very solid.

Considering that there was Mr. Chen's guidance on the scene, even if he couldn't be a blockbuster, it would not be surprising to think about it, so he reluctantly agreed to Cao Yingjun's joining.

But he never imagined that Teacher Chen would arrange for this student of hers to be in charge of the important fancy platter.

As soon as he wanted to raise an objection, he heard Mr. Chen say:

"Since we are the home stadium in this exchange, we must reflect the characteristics of the home stadium. Handsome, I haven't forgotten the 'Panda Playing Bamboo' I taught you. That's what you do. ”

"Panda playing bamboo?"

Director Zhong was stunned, this is a famous dish that has been served at a state banquet, and it was praised by the second-generation leaders at the beginning.

However, corresponding to its reputation, the preparation of this dish is also very cumbersome and complicated, which is very challenging for the chef's skills.

To make this dish, the chicken breast is chopped into minced chicken, mixed with egg whites, seasoned and steamed, and then kneaded into balls of different sizes. Next, turn the balls into the shape of a panda and carve out the hair with a carving knife. The black hair on the panda's body is all chopped and glued little by little.

The bamboo of this dish is carved from cucumbers, filled with fried shrimp and corn and other vegetables, and then spread around the rockery made of carrots, lettuce, beef and other cold vegetables.

The whole process of making this dish takes at least 3 hours, which includes steaming, stir-frying, marinating and other cooking techniques, and also tests the chef's skills such as carving, decoration and plating.

As a famous dish, many chefs have heard of this dish and tried to make it, but making it in front of a group of connoisseurs who have made up their minds to pick the bones in the egg is very difficult compared to fooling the layman.

Director Zhong felt that it was too risky to use this dish, and Cao Yingjun didn't dare to take on this task.

He just wanted to persuade Teacher Chen to change his mind, but after thinking about it for a while, Cao Yingjun unexpectedly agreed, without flinching at all.

Director Zhong couldn't help but speak: "Teacher Chen, this... Do you want to think again? ”

Teacher Chen smiled mildly and said in an unhurried tone:

"Director Zhong, don't worry, since Yingjun has agreed, he will definitely be able to do it."

Director Zhong's lips moved, after all, it was not good to brush Mr. Chen's face in public, so he had to continue to assign tasks.

Just as important as the fancy platter is the starter of the hot dish, which is usually used to set the size of the banquet

The farewell dinner consisted of eight hot dishes, served in the order of two hot dishes, followed by a soup dish, followed by the remaining six hot dishes.

The first of the two hot dishes served first is the so-called starter.

According to the traditional habits of Shudu, the most commonly used in this dish is nothing more than "swallow ginseng and abalone wings", which are the four traditional ingredients of China.

If it is to receive exchange groups from other cities, it is indispensable to do it in the traditional way, but it is a pity that this year's exchange with Shudu is the Quancheng Association.

Many of the chefs who came to Sichuan with the northern officials were from Qilu cuisine, and they brought a large number of "swallow ginseng and abalone wings" into the Sichuan and Shu cuisine. Later, after the improvement of famous chefs in the past dynasties, there are famous dishes such as "home-cooked sea cucumber" in the "Rong Pai" Sichuan and Shu cuisine, which can be served at the state banquet.

But after all, "Yan Shen Bao Wing" is the traditional strength of Qilu cuisine, and there is a taste of exchange to make a dish away, and it is not suitable to grab this at home. If you do it well, it will have the taste of deception, and if you don't do it well, it will be even more ridiculous and generous.

Therefore, what to use as the main ingredient of this dish is a headache for Director Zhong.

Teacher Chen's research on Sichuan and Shu cuisine is very comprehensive, and she made a suggestion that this dish can be used in the cow head square.

The bull's head is the top skin of the cow's head, which is not difficult to obtain, but it is very rare. Because the average chef can't do it at all, nine out of ten chefs who can make it can't do it well, so it's rare to use it in dishes.

But if this kind of thing is done well, it is a rare delicacy.

Many heads of state come to China to visit the thank-you dinner must serve dishes made by Niu Tou Fang, and some foreign guests from southeastern China countries even ask to eat this every time they return to China.

Mr. Chen's proposal was immediately supported by Director Zhong, and she also took the initiative to take over the work of making the first dish, which made Director Zhong feel a lot more relieved.

Next, it was determined that there were three hot dishes left, and Fang Yu was assigned the task of making a fish-flavored dish, a task that he had long expected.

But after everyone reported the dishes they had prepared, Director Zhong found that they were all meat dishes, and each one was so good that it was difficult to choose.

Fang Yu offered to make a fish-flavored vegetarian dish, which relieved Director Zhong's distress.

After ordering the hot dish, Director Zhong directly made a decision, and the soup dish was the "Bibo Hibiscus Chicken Bean Flower" in Chongqing, and everyone had no objection to this decision.

This soup dish is extremely excellent, even in the Donglu cuisine, which is known as the ancestor of soup dishes, there are not many dishes that can be compared to this one.

Once you have decided on the hot dishes, you can decide on the cold dishes. There are eight cold dishes at the banquet, which are generally six meat and two vegetarian dishes. Shu is responsible for half of it, that is, three meat and one vegetable.

Because the cold dishes can be made in advance, the difficulty is controllable, and everyone reported a few side dishes that they are good at.

Fang Yu reported the "Pepper Sesame Duck Palm" and "Kimchi Quartet". The director of these two dishes had tasted them before and was very satisfied, and finally he chose "pepper duck paws".

Because Director Zhong felt that this dish was more distinctive in comparison, and the ingredient "duck paw" and the flavor type of "pepper sesame pepper" had not yet appeared in the entire menu, so they could be used for spices. For this reason, he gave up Fang Yu's kimchi and chose Mr. Chen's ginger spinach as a vegetarian cold dish.

Mr. Chen and Mr. Wen Ruilin took over the production of the last two snacks. Mr. Chen became famous for "snacks" when he was young, and Wen Ruilin also studied under Mr. Chen for several years, so he has a lot of experience in this area.

After repeated discussions with everyone, Director Zhong made some adjustments, and then wrote down the names of the dishes one by one, which can be regarded as completing the preliminary preparation of the entire menu.

The final version also had to be connected with the Quancheng Association and coordinated according to the menu they sent.

If particularly rare ingredients are used, they must be reported to the standing councils of the two associations for unification before they can be finalized. It will take at least three to five days to get around.

Before waiting for the association's final notice of the training, the ingredients purchased by Fang Yu and the matching portable safe finally arrived. He decided to explore Shen Jiading's villa again as planned, and took out the contents of the cabinet to take a look.

(End of chapter)