Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the so-called descendant of the imperial chef, Master Jin, began to speak with great assurance:
"As everyone knows, our last imperial family originated from a nomadic tribe. Butter is a fat extracted from cow's milk, and it was the most commonly consumed fat by nomadic peoples. The rich, milky aroma of butter can maximize the natural earthy scent of porcini mushrooms. Combined with sea urchin, a treasure of the sea, it creates an exceptionally fresh and flavorful pairing."
Saying this, he gave Judge Qiao an enigmatic smile and added, "This dish actually comes from an ancient recipe in our ancestral imperial cookbook. It is indeed rarely seen among the common folk."
Xu Yanxia was speechless.
If she had only been a little suspicious earlier, she was now two hundred percent sure that this descendant of the imperial chef was a fake.
Because modern butter and the ghee used in imperial meals back then, although both extracted from cow's milk, were essentially two completely different things.
Moreover, even back then, the ghee in the imperial kitchen was only used for making pastries, dairy drinks, and cooking a few specific types of red meat.
Seafood like sea urchin was never cooked with ghee.
His so-called Mountain Delicacies Stuffed Sea Urchin was, at best, a self-created fusion dish. He simply used Western cooking methods to prepare the porcini mushrooms, stuffed them into the sea urchin, and steamed them together.
Furthermore, it was a very failed fusion. The strong individual flavors of the butter, porcini mushrooms, and garlic completely masked the fresh taste of the sea urchin.
Fortunately, there were still people who knew their stuff at the scene.
Judge Qiao spoke up, "Although I don't know much about imperial cuisine, as far as this dish goes, I feel that the butter overpowers the freshness of the sea urchin."
"Actually, the porcini mushrooms are also a bit overpowering."
Chef Zeng, who was standing to the side, also chimed in, "For umami-rich ingredients like sea urchin, our traditional Chinese approach is to steam them with egg, crab roe, or dried scallops. But you can't use too much, just a little bit is enough. You must remember not to let the secondary ingredients steal the show."
"Because if the supporting ingredients have too strong a flavor, they will steal the freshness of the main dish. This principle applies to both Chinese and Western cuisines."
This explanation was well-founded and easy to understand. It made both the on-site staff and the public judges nod in agreement.
But the fake descendant, Master Jin, was still trying to argue, "This is actually the difference between modern diets and imperial cuisine."
"After all, in the past, all the good food was in the palace. The emperors and empresses lived in luxury, and many ingredients were eaten together. Unlike us commoners, who didn't even know what porcini mushrooms were back then; these were things only the palace could afford."
"Now that the living standards of us commoners have improved and there is no shortage of ingredients, various cooking principles have gradually emerged."
Saying this, he took the opportunity to plug his business, adding, "Our Imperial Flavor Nourishing Meals restaurant in Jingbei was founded exactly so that everyone can truly taste the imperial cuisine of the past. If you have the chance, you are welcome to come and try it, and experience the diet of the royal family from those days."
Xu Yanxia was speechless once again.
To be able to spout nonsense so naturally and advertise in this kind of situation, his psychological fortitude was on par with that fake foreigner from last time.
One must know that transportation capabilities were limited in the past. The ingredients eaten by the royal family mostly came from the Northeast, North China, and the Jiangnan region, reaching Guangdong at the farthest.
Although the Yunnan region had many wild mushrooms, due to the conditions at the time, they simply couldn't be transported to the capital. Not to mention anything else, from the time her family served as imperial chefs until her death, porcini mushrooms had never appeared in the imperial cuisine.
Of course, everyone was here for self-promotion. Considering that this person wasn't as outrageous as the fake foreigner from last time, she didn't expose him and just treated it as an entertaining spectacle.
After all, aside from this dish, his other dish, the braised rice, also had significant problems.
Sure enough, after Master Jin finished his advertisement, Judge Qiao spoke up again, "Actually, I feel that there's also a small issue with this Eight Treasures Tribute Braised Rice. Although it has abalone and sea urchin, it doesn't taste that fresh."
"The problem lies with the rice."
Chef Zeng stepped in to explain once more, "Our local Simiao rice absorbs more water than the Northeast rice commonly eaten in the north, so it takes longer to make braised rice."
"If you're cooking it with quick-cooking ingredients like abalone and sea urchin, you must soak the rice beforehand. Otherwise, by the time the rice is cooked, the other ingredients will be overcooked, which compromises both the texture and the flavor."
"I see."
Judge Qiao and the host nodded in agreement and began to applaud, saying, "Thank you, Chef Zeng, for your professional explanation."
As for Master Jin, although he lost some face, he paused and then bravely admitted, "That was an oversight on my part. We do use Northeast rice more often in Jingbei. I originally wanted to kindly promote the local specialty, but I didn't expect to mess up due to my lack of understanding."
Saying this, he bowed to the camera and smiled, "Please forgive me, everyone."
To give him credit, with his smooth talking and good attitude, he actually managed to win back quite a bit of goodwill.
So much so that during the scoring, two of the four judges gave him four points, one gave him three points, and the last gave him five points.
The public judges also gave him sixty-eight points.
This gave him a total score of eighty-four points.
Although it was far lower than Xu Yanxia's, it was still significantly higher than the other two contestants.
As the scores of the four people were displayed on the big screen, the recording of the first round came to an end.
Xu Yanxia ranked first with a high score of ninety-eight points.
The descendant Jin ranked second with eighty-four points.
Mrs. Zhuang ranked third with seventy-six points.
Brother Song was at the bottom with seventy-five points.
Compared to Mrs. Zhuang and her husband, who were clearly quite unhappy, Brother Song looked completely unbothered. He cheerfully bowed along with everyone else and generously delivered a speech to the camera:
"Actually, as an amateur who hasn't received professional training, I am very honored to be able to cook alongside several professional experts today. I have memorized the experiences and teachings of the teachers just now, and I hope to reduce my mistakes and continue to grow in the upcoming stages of the competition."
As his voice faded, he received another round of applause and nods of approval from the judges.
And as the host finished the closing remarks, the recording of the first round officially came to an end.
Xu Yanxia took off her headset and was about to leave when she saw Master Jin walk up to her and strike up a conversation with a smile:
"You are quite impressive, my young colleague. I didn't have the chance to ask earlier, but where did you learn your skills?"
Xu Yanxia told him, "I'm from Qingcheng, and I learned my craft from my family."
"Qingcheng..."
He nodded and said, "Your hometown is a place that produces great chefs. In the past, many chefs in big restaurants in Jingbei were your fellow townsmen. By the way, a good friend of mine despite our age difference, the veteran of Decui Restaurant in Jingbei, Mr. Bao Deshun, his ancestors were also from your area."
"Oh."
Xu Yanxia nodded. Forgive her for not knowing much about the catering industry in Jingbei, she could only politely play along and say, "That's very impressive."
The other party then asked her, "Does your family run a restaurant locally? What is the name? I also often go there on business trips, and I have some friends in many large restaurants in your local area."
Xu Yanxia didn't really want to hear the other party show off his network of relationships anymore, so she just said simply, "We used to run a small restaurant, but we're not doing it anymore."
She intended to end the conversation.
Who knew that Mrs. Zhuang would come up to her with a smile and say to this Master Jin, "Master Jin didn't hear it just now. Miss Xu now has two big brand restaurants in Rong City in her hands, so she definitely won't be doing it in her hometown anymore."
As she spoke, she smiled all over her face, "Seeing is truly believing. I finally tasted the dishes cooked by Miss Xu today. President Lu really has a good eye."
"There is a saying that to capture a man's heart, you must first capture his stomach. This saying is indeed true, and you are indeed worth President Lu's investment."
This caused Xu Yanxia to pause.
Not far away, Ye Shu also quietly said to Xiaozhen, "Is this Mrs. Zhuang sick? Why mention President Lu for no reason? Today's competition was clearly won by Director Xu based on her own abilities!"
"Exactly,"
Xiaozhen also said in a low voice, "The intention behind these words is a bit too obvious."
Immediately after, that "Master Jin" asked, "May I ask which President Lu?"
Mrs. Zhuang then smiled and said, "Master Jin often stays in Jingbei and may not know much. Miss Xu is the girlfriend of the famous President Lu of the Lu Group!"
"I heard that President Lu also invested in this program! The two of them are a talented man and a beautiful woman, and their relationship is really good."
As her voice fell, Ye Shu couldn't bear it anymore, "Oh my god, this woman is so damn green tea. I have to say a few words for Director Xu."
She was about to step forward.
Who knew Xu Yanxia spoke first, smiling at the other party and saying, "You flatter me. When it comes to a talented man and a beautiful woman, you and Mr. Zhuang truly deserve the title."
Saying that, she deliberately glanced at the other party's "protruding front and back" husband not far away, and said to Mrs. Zhuang, "The program hasn't aired yet, and the sponsorship channel shouldn't be closed yet. You can also ask Mr. Zhuang to sponsor it, the producer shouldn't refuse."
