Xu Yanxia replied, "These two belong to the same genus, but they are not exactly the same. The scientific name of the local thyme is Mongolian thyme. European thyme has a richer flavor with a hint of sweetness, while our local variety has a more refreshing and cooling scent. However, they can be substituted for each other."
"I see."
The host nodded in sudden realization, then continued to ask the judges, "Then what do the judges think of the other dish from Director Xu's team, the Golden Thread Jujube Paste Roll?"
"Exceptionally good,"
Judge Qiao quickly added. "It's lightly sweet, soft and glutinous, and not greasy at all. It's very palatable. In both appearance and taste, it rivals imperial pastries!"
"Yes, I also really like this pastry."
The usually cautious Dr. Hui also smiled and said, "Its sweetness is much better than that of a regular jujube paste roll, and it's not cloying at all. It even carries a hint of wine aroma. Was this originally an imperial pastry?"
"You are absolutely right,"
Xu Yanxia explained with a smile. "This is actually a recorded imperial pastry from the Tang Dynasty. However, they used dried red dates back then, whereas we used fresh winter jujubes, a local specialty, for this time. During the boiling process, we added a bit of rice wine to give its flavor more layers. The reason we used winter jujubes is because their flavor is lighter and sweeter, and the sugar content isn't as high, making the texture and taste much better."
"That really shows a lot of thought!"
Judge Qiao said, giving her a thumbs up. "Both dishes are excellent. I'm giving a perfect score again."
With that, he revealed his score.
Immediately after, the other three judges also commented from their respective perspectives, and all awarded her perfect scores.
Combined with the seventy-eight votes from the public judges, she once again undoubtedly achieved a high score of ninety-eight votes.
The team members hugged to celebrate, then turned their attention to the creations of the other teams.
After all, today was an elimination round. Aside from them, who had secured absolute safety with their consistent first-place advantage in every match, one of the other three teams would have to leave today.
Either the challenger guest would fail, or someone from Jin Jiexiang's team or Brother Song's team would have to leave.
The atmosphere was still a bit tense.
Next up for review were Jin Jiexiang's team's Red Sheep Branch Skewers and Imperial Jujube Paste Yam Cake.
It had to be said that just hearing the names of these two dishes gave off a premium and sophisticated vibe.
From the presentation, they also passed the test.
The lamb ribs, braised first and then roasted, were skewered together with red willow branches, gleaming with a date-red hue, and the skin was slightly charred;
The ivory-white yam cake was cut into neat squares, with dark red jujube paste sandwiched in the middle.
But after tasting each of them, Xu Yanxia and her teammates quietly frowned.
"The jujube paste is burnt and tastes bitter. The skin wasn't removed cleanly either, so it scratches the throat a bit."
Taking advantage of the fact that the cameras weren't pointed at them, the pastry chef Xiaoxian quietly complained.
Suisui also whispered, "The lamb is way too sweet. You can't even taste the lamb anymore."
Exactly.
Xu Yanxia also nodded gently.
If even her teammates could taste it, it went without saying for the expert judges.
Sure enough, Judge Qiao was the first to speak up again, "I feel that the sweetness of the lamb is too heavy, and there are too many different seasonings. It somewhat overpowers the aroma of the meat."
Jin Jiexiang quickly explained, "Judge Qiao, you might not know this, but this dish was passed down from the Tang Dynasty. The cooking method back then favored a sweeter taste, and we basically recreated it one-to-one."
"That may be so, but what we are competing on today is taste,"
Judge Qiao tried his best to tell him tactfully. "With such good ingredients, preparing them like this feels like a bit of a waste to me."
"That's right,"
The local specialty Chef Guo also said. "Our competition is about how the food tastes in people's mouths, not about gimmicks. To be honest, the Tang Dynasty was over a thousand years ago. Many seasoning and processing techniques back then weren't as mature as they are now. I suggest that if you want to recreate a dish, recreating the appearance is fine, but the taste should be appropriately adjusted according to people's current habits."
Saying that, he pointed to Xu Yanxia and her group. "Just like what these young people made earlier. Replacing dried red dates with fresh ones makes it less cloying and more suited to what people want nowadays."
"Right,"
Hearing this, Judge Qiao immediately added, "The same goes for this yam cake. The jujube paste is burnt, and it scratches the throat! I almost started coughing just now."
He then asked him, "Is Teacher Jin a bit nervous today? Logically speaking, with your qualifications, you shouldn't be making such amateur mistakes."
"..."
This left Jin Jiexiang and his team members speechless.
His gaze quietly swept past Lu Jingming, who had been sitting behind the director off-stage, and he could only smile awkwardly and say, "Maybe I'm not too used to the stoves in this venue. The fire was a bit too high."
Since that was the case, the judges didn't say anything more and proceeded to give him their scores.
Adding the votes from the public judges, he ultimately only received seventy-seven points.
Off-stage, Ye Shu couldn't help but exclaim, "Yes!"
"As long as Brother Song doesn't mess up, maybe this old fox can be taken down!"
"Exactly," Xiaozhen also nodded, "I smelled what Yao Yi'an was cooking and it actually smells pretty good. He might really be able to kick him out."
Next up was Brother Song's team.
As introduced earlier, their main dish today was a secretly-spiced roast lamb, paired with another dish... grilled winter jujube skewers.
That's right, it involved threading fresh winter jujubes onto skewers and grilling them just like at a night market barbecue, brushing them with oil and sprinkling on seasonings.
To be honest, when this dish was first presented, Xu Yanxia, like everyone else in the venue, looked completely shocked.
Although she had worked at night markets and knew that this kind of novel preparation would indeed have an audience and attract attention.
But one had to remember that this was a competition.
Making such a dish during a competition meant that unless the taste was flawlessly captivating, it was very easy to fail miserably.
And after she and the judges tasted it, she knew that he was probably really going to be eliminated this time.
"Before roasting the lamb, it needs to be marinated. Especially for a mature sheep like this, it needs to be marinated for at least three to five hours to absorb the flavors. For yours, firstly, the time was too short, and secondly, the heat was too high when roasting. Our local goats aren't that fat, so it tastes a bit tough and dry."
Chef Guo shook his head and said, "This method can be said to be quite unsuccessful."
"Exactly," Judge Qiao also nodded in agreement, "And these grilled winter jujubes... are really hard to understand. The jujubes themselves are crisp and sweet, but the outside is spicy and numbing. In short, it's just a bit... too jarring. I'm really sorry."
With that, she gave a score of two.
The other three judges, except for Dr. Hui who gave a three out of sympathy, all gave twos.
Added to the votes from the public judges, in the end, Brother Song's team only scored sixty points.
It was actually even lower than the score of the disastrous sea urchin fried rice that Brother Song had made himself during the first competition.
Xu Yanxia silently glanced at him, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
Thinking silently, she turned her gaze to the challenger guest who was about to be evaluated, Best Actor Yao Yi'an.
Just as he had introduced earlier, his main dish was Western-style grilled lamb chops, paired with a relatively simple dessert, a kiwi yogurt cup.
Xu Yanxia tasted it along with everyone else; the flavor was average and standard.
Although the heat was a bit too high when pan-frying the lamb chops, causing the meat to be a bit tough, it was still better than Brother Song's unflavored secretly-spiced roast lamb.
As for the yogurt cup, it went without saying. It only required slicing fresh local kiwis, putting them into ready-made yogurt, and garnishing with a few dried fruits.
It could be said that as long as the yogurt hadn't gone bad, the kiwis weren't rotten, and the dried fruits hadn't grown mold, there was basically no chance of messing it up.
And sure enough, after the final voting, Best Actor Yao obtained a score of eighty-five, successfully eliminating the heavily-failing Brother Song.
...
As the host finished the closing remarks, today's first recording session came to an end.
Ye Shu and Xiaozhen stepped forward to help Xu Yanxia take off her headset microphone, whispering to her, "I thought that old fox would be kicked out today."
"Exactly, this result is a bit surprising."
Although everyone's initial impression of Brother Song was that of an edgy influencer, after several recording sessions, everyone found that he was actually quite decent. Aside from loving to show off his muscles in front of the camera, he basically had no other flaws. He was quite humble and very loyal.
For example, during the media promotion event in Yangzhou last time, when that disgusting reporter deliberately tried to trap Xu Yanxia, he was the first to lead the applause for her.
Xu Yanxia then said, "I think he lost on purpose."
What?
This immediately brought a gossipy expression to Ye Shu and Xiaozhen's faces, and they both asked her in low voices, "Why do you say that?"
Xu Yanxia explained, "Even if he isn't a professional chef, the team members in his group are all professionals in the catering industry with pretty good reputations. No matter what, they wouldn't make such a rookie mistake."
"So..."
Ye Shu immediately opened her mouth to speak.
But unexpectedly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the very person they were talking about walking towards them.
Soon, the tall and burly Brother Song stopped in front of them. With a polite and even slightly reserved smile, he asked Xu Yanxia, "Excuse me, Director Xu, could I take up a little of your time?"
His opening words were in his familiar deep baritone.
Xu Yanxia was taken aback for a moment, then glanced off-stage at Lu Jingming, who was waiting for her.
After all, he had been waiting for her in the studio all morning, and now they were supposed to go out to eat.
However, looking at Brother Song's expression, it seemed he had something quite important to say to her.
So she nodded at him first and said, "Sure, is there something you need me for?"
