Chapter 926 - Its You! (1/2)

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

Taoxi Road was as boisterous as usual. Yuan Zhou was sculpting and practicing his knife skills earnestly at the door. The onlookers were also watching while holding themselves back. Of course, there were also some who were shooting the scene.

However, they all turned off the flash. Since Yuan Zhou was already used to that, he just held the kitchen knife steadily and continued sculpting.

On the other side, Zhou Shijie had brought the people back to the conference hall to prepare for this activity.

They got seated one by one. The one seated at the center position was naturally Zhou Shijie. On the right of him was the chairman of Sichuan Cuisine Alliance, Zhang Yan. Seated next to him was Hu Yue. On the right of Zhou Shijie was Lee Yanyi. The remaining two advisers were seated at both sides of them.

“Please make your comments now.” Zhou Shijie said first.

In front of them, the video camera was recording the scene dutifully.

After Zhou Shijie said that, several people looked at each other and said nothing. For an instant, the conference hall fell silent.

About one minute later, Hu Yue gave a cough and began to say.

“Let me start first to point out the better ones. I personally feel the dishes served in Chengdu Cuisine, on the whole, are really not bad, especially with that novel plate presentation,” Hu Yue said.

Hu Yue referred to the plate presentation of the Kung Pao Chicken served today. The chef creatively used a tree root and dug six holes on it to put the dish inside.

The dark brown tree root contrasted with the yellowish chicken slices and glossy peanuts as well as pieces of green onions. This novel plate presentation indeed looked tasteful.

“That was just flashy without substance. It doesn’t make the cuisine itself taste better and besides, also destroys the sense of wholeness. I think it is an aspect that deserves a deduction,” Lee Yanyi said immodestly.

“What do you think, Chairman Zhang?” Zhou Shijie didn’t jump to conclusions, but turned to ask Zhou Shijie who kept silent at the side.

“In my opinion, since it’s the new faction of Sichuan Cuisine, there’s no ground for blame. Though it doesn’t make it taste better, it does look new and original. Among the color, fragrance, and taste, the color is very nice.” Zhang Yan obviously agreed with Hu Yue.

“Okay. Then what do you two advisers want to say about it?” Zhou Shijie didn’t omit anybody. He looked at the two advisers at the end and asked them.

The two advisers were both sous-chefs. One was the sous-chef of Shu Restaurant, Cao Le. He was dressed in Tang attire and in his forties. He was as broad-shouldered and solidly-built as Cao Zhishu and used the frying pan very well.

The other was the sous-chef of Palace Cuisine. He looked ordinary with a big stomach and was dressed in casual clothing. His name, Bai Qi, was a little rare.

Hearing Zhou Shijie asking them, they looked at each other. Then, Cao Le from Shu Restaurant first said, “Leaving others aside, I think the taste is good. But Chinese food tastes best when it’s hot and this cuisine is a little cold when it was served. I think it deserves a deduction.”

“That’s right. The Yuxiang Shredded Pork is dried in the air on the bamboo shelf. Though the gravy is thick, it’s no longer hot when served up. On this point, it isn’t so perfect,” Bai Qi nodded his head and said.

“Okay. Now that everybody gave their opinion, let’s start to give scores,” without saying anymore, Zhou Shijie looked around and said.

“Let me start with scoring,” Zhang Yan said first.

“I’ll also start now.” Hu Yue said right after Zhang Yan.

“The cuisine is cold and gaudy. This score is good enough. I can’t give more.” Lee Yanyi wrote the score and directly handed it to the production team at the side.

“Am I the only one left now?” Zhou Shijie said with a smile.

“Yes, chairman. You can write now,” Hu Yue said smilingly.

“Um.” Zhou Shijie lowered his head and wrote it quickly. Then, he also handed it to the production team.

That’s right. The several judges wrote the score respectively and then packed them in an envelope, which would then be sealed with sealing wax and handed to the production team to preserve it. When the appraisal was completed, they would open the envelope again to check the scores in order to decide who was the ultimate winner.

“Good. So now, the appraisal of Chengdu Cuisine is finished. And so is the work today,” Zhou Shijie declared.