The kitchen in Zhixian Pavilion is second to none even in the whole city.
In terms of "hardware", needless to say, all the good things that can be used are used; the iron in the iron pot is better than the iron used in the weapons of some poor people; the wood of the chopping board is better than that in ordinary people's homes.
The wood used for furniture is still expensive.
In terms of ingredients and condiments, you can find everything you need - from the southeast, northwest, delicacies from mountains and seas, and even materials not found in Dashu, you can find them here.
Take the fish just now as an example. You must know that that era was different from today. In modern society, even if you live in an inland city, you can still eat seafood that has been flown in under low temperature; but at that time, you
In a city far away from the sea, if you want to eat sea fish, let alone impossible... it is definitely extremely difficult.
In other words, in ancient times, if a person living in Sichuan never left Sichuan, he would probably never taste or even see any fish in the sea.
Luoyang is actually similar; Luoyang is adjacent to the Yellow River in the north, and it is not uncommon to get freshwater fish. But among the fish that Yuan Fangzhi just brought out, anglers and mackerel are both marine fish, and anglers usually move in the deep sea, so they need to be caught.
It's not easy to get there, let alone transport it to the interior.
From this alone, we can see that the boss here is not only rich, but also has great powers.
And the "software" in this kitchen, that is, the "people", is even more powerful...
The kitchen on the first floor of Bugui Building is already very large. During business hours, there are more than a dozen cooks and helpers working in the kitchen. The kitchen on the second floor is almost as big as the one on the first floor, but only three people are employed in it.
.
One is Yuan Fangzhi, the former imperial chef and known as the "King of Southern Chefs".
One is Yuan Fangzhi's deputy, an old eunuch named Zhang Ergui who left the palace with him.
There is another one who is a helper named You Jing.
Yuan Fangzhi is undoubtedly the core figure in this kitchen. As early as the age of twenty-five, he has already become famous. The dignitaries who go to the restaurant where he cooks every day are full of praise for his craftsmanship. As time goes by, even
Li Qian, the eunuch who was the Supervisor of Shangshan at that time, also heard about Yuan Fangzhi.
One day, Li Qian went incognito and went to the restaurant where Yuan Fangzhi was staying. He intentionally ordered a few rare dishes that the waiter had never heard of, hoping to try Chef Yuan's skills. Yuan Fangzhi heard the names of the dishes in the back kitchen.
, knew that the identity of the visitor was extraordinary, so he also came with fighting spirit. Not only did he make every dish ordered by Li Qian the icing on the cake, he also presented an original dish of his own - "Spring Tide Brings Rain and Comes Urgently at Night"
.
This dish is a seasonal dish. The main ingredient is spring bamboo shoots, and they must be freshly dug out of the soil for less than half a day. You can eat fresh bamboo shoots even if they are eaten raw. There are also 17 kinds of auxiliary ingredients, all of which are delicious.
It is a unique fresh vegetable and fruit in spring.
These eighteen kinds of ingredients need to be cut and peeled with eighteen kinds of knife skills, then cooked, and finally tasted with soup stock, so that these ingredients with different textures and flavors can obtain an overall sense of coordination.
The final product, no matter the color, aroma, taste, meaning, or shape, is already in a state of perfection, especially Yuan Fangzhi's superb knife skills are vividly displayed.
Li Qian only took one bite and already made up his mind to recruit this cook into the palace.
In the same year, Yuan Fangzhi was naturally promoted to the imperial kitchen, and fifteen years later he was personally named the "King of Southern Kitchen" by the late emperor, as famous as the "King of Northern Kitchen", also known as the "King of Folk Kitchen" Chen Jiurong.
However, as time passes, people will eventually grow old one day, and it is impossible not to accept old age.
In this era when the average life expectancy is no more than sixty, Yuan Fangzhi, who has been doing high-intensity physical work, began to feel that he was a little out of his depth at the imperial kitchen when he was fifty-six years old.
In addition, at this time, sixteen years have passed since he was named the Kitchen King, and his most prosperous years have long passed; the current Emperor Yongtai is not very particular about eating... Imperial Food
He didn't know who was who in the room, and he didn't care.
Yuan Fangzhi felt that there was no point in staying any longer, so he applied to resign and return to his hometown, and his superiors agreed.
As for Zhang Ergui, he is half of Yuan Fangzhi's apprentice. He has been studying with Yuan Fangzhi since he entered the palace. In fact, he is only two years younger than Yuan Fangzhi. The two of them are both teachers and friends. They have been friends for decades.
There was also a tacit understanding at work, so as soon as Zhang Ergui heard that Yuan Fangzhi was leaving, he decided to go together.
Some people may ask, can the eunuch leave the palace if he wants to?
I have to explain here that "eunuch" is not all "eunuch"; before the Qing Dynasty, "eunuch" was an official position. Although eunuchs and eunuchs are both eunuchs and can be collectively called eunuchs, eunuchs are eunuchs who lead eunuchs.
If you don’t understand, let me give you an example and you will understand: In the unit, your department managers are part-time workers just like you. They can be collectively referred to as employees, but managers are the ones who lead employees, and employees cannot all be managers.
After the Qing Dynasty, the two words eunuch and eunuch were completely confused, and then the so-called "little eunuch" came into being.
Zhang Ergui is not a eunuch, he is an eunuch. If an old eunuch who has not been promoted to Zhang Ergui's age wants to leave the palace... no one will keep him.
In fact, in a few years, people will kick him out even if he doesn't want to leave, because his body is no longer qualified for the physically demanding position of serving people like a low-level eunuch.
As for... that worker You Jing, he doesn't have a close relationship with these two, because he has always been the one who never returns to the building. They only got to know each other when Yuan and Zhang came here a few years ago.
Sometimes, not a single guest comes to this "Zhixian Pavilion" all night. In this case, their kitchen on the second floor only needs to be responsible for the food of the boss who lives on the third floor; and that food is provided by
You Jing sent it up.
There is no doubt that the dishes prepared by the combination of these three people are even better than the royal meals in the palace.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But... today, Sun Yixie, who works in the fish market, actually wants to come in to "teach Yuan Fangzhi how to cook". Isn't this a strange thing in the world?
But they saw Sun Yixie leading everyone into the back kitchen of Zhixian Pavilion in a swaggering manner.
Zhang Ergui and You Jing, who were waiting inside, were stunned when they saw them walking in. They had no idea what the battle was about.
Just as they were hesitating, Sun Yixie had glanced around the kitchen and walked towards the sink...
At the same time, Yuan Fangzhi came to two of his colleagues and whispered to them what happened outside just now. The expressions of the two of them changed a lot after hearing this, and they kept glancing at Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, as if they were not too worried.
Trust your ears.
On the other hand, Sun Yixie took a moment to get all the ingredients and then started cooking.
As for Sun Yixie's cooking skills...it's not bad, roughly the level where he can make decent home-cooked meals; of course, in Dashu, except for professional cooks, most men don't know how to cook.
Yes, among non-professionals, there are really not many people who can have his skills.
It's just that in Yuan Fangzhi's eyes, his little weight is nothing but child's play...
"Master Sun..." After watching for a while, Yuan Fangzhi couldn't bear it any longer, stepped forward and interrupted, "The way you cut the shallots (i.e. onions)...isn't right."
"Don't worry, I have my own routine." Sun Yi listened, but replied impatiently without raising his head.
Yuan Fangzhi said heartily: "I reminded you with good intentions, but it turned out to be asking for trouble, okay... anyway, you didn't give me any advice when I was cooking, so I'll shut up."
In this way, he silently watched Sun Yixie tinkering there for a long time. He didn't see anything in the "fire skill", because how to use fire varied from dish to dish, and he saw nothing about the dishes Sun Yixie cooked.
I don't understand... But Yuan Fangzhi has figured out the "sword skills" aspect - this kid's sword skills are not very good. With this basic skill, he still wants to be a better silverbait than me? Where did it come from?
confidence?
The time of a stick of incense passed quickly.
Sun Yixie's hands and feet were quite nimble. In less than half an hour, he brought out a plate of brightly colored and fragrant whitebait dishes.
On the plate, the outer ring is red, and it is made of chopped tomatoes, shallots, pickles, pickled cucumbers, etc. These ingredients... are not cut very neatly and are in a mess; they are piled up in the middle.
The hill-like pile of white things is whitebait, not to mention... quite beautiful. On top of the "fish mountain", there is a pile of light yellow sauce; and before putting it on the plate, Sun Yixie was still there at the end.
The dish is sprinkled with some chopped spices.
From top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, the four colors are distinct: green, yellow, white, and red. The unique and rich aroma is wrapped with the elegant fragrance of the fish itself... Judging from the two items of color and fragrance, this
The dish seems to be really good.
So what exactly is this dish?
It's actually a French dish - French marinated beef.
However, Sun Yixie substituted fish for beef, vegetable oil for olive oil, and also used peppers, onions, garlic, honey, dry mustard powder and oil and salt wine to create a deviant version of Dijon mustard.
In short, this is a "copycat cuisine" in which several ingredients and spices are substituted with genuine ones.
That's it...it's actually not easy; that is, this Zhixian Pavilion has everything in it. If you change the kitchen in another place, don't even think about it; like pepper, mustard, honey, thyme, onions...
There is simply no such thing anywhere else. In the Ming Dynasty, these were all rare items, some of which were more valuable than silver.
No matter what, he made this dish.
Sun Yixie took a bite himself, and it was pretty good... Of course, the degree of completion was because this was not the first time he had made this dish.
In the original universe, he was a person who loved food very much, but after coming here, he could still eat a lot of Chinese food, but he couldn't touch Western and Japanese food at all; and this kind of food was completely out of reach for him.
If money can't solve the problem, he can only solve it by himself.
So, relying on his basic knowledge of foreign cuisine, his memories of tasting these dishes in the past, and...a lot of free time and money, he successfully recreated many "dark dishes".
The one in front of him can be regarded as his proud work.
You want to know how delicious this method can be... No, but it is enough to make Yuan Fangzhi find it delicious.
Because "freshness" can add points to the delicious taste, and it can be added a lot.
If you let a person who has never eaten curry in his life and does not know its price take a bite of curry that can only be regarded as "average delicious" in the eyes of people who often eat curry, he will be shocked.
But if you ask a person who often eats steak to eat a piece of steak that is "averagely delicious", he will naturally have a mediocre reaction.
Instant noodles, which were once very popular in the 1990s, are in a similar situation - what you thought of as a delicacy when you were a child is now available to you, but you may not even want to eat it.
In fact, the taste has not changed, it may even have gotten better, but... you have changed.
Yuan Fangzhi is like a child who has never eaten instant noodles. This bite of "French pickled whitebait" makes him beautiful.
The old man has lived his whole life, and no one has taught him what Dijon mustard is. It is also the first time for him to stew those "Western spices" with vegetables, fish and meat; and this kind of sauce is made with foreign seasonings.
It was also the first time for him to taste the delicious food.
After eating, he was satisfied.
"Okay! Okay, okay!" Yuan Fangzhi said "ok" four times before putting down his chopsticks. "Sure enough, a hero emerges from a young age. Yuan is convinced."
Master, you have the magnanimity of a master. Previously, Sun Yixie made arrogant remarks, and Yuan Fangzhi was really unconvinced. But now that someone has really made something delicious that you have never tasted and cannot make, then Yuan Fangzhi should recognize it.
Will recognize it.
The Tao means never getting tired of learning, and there is no limit to art. People with real talent and practical knowledge will not be afraid to admit that someone is better than themselves in a certain aspect, because that is a normal thing; only those who deceive the world and steal their reputation will
False reputations are more important than facts, and they often stick to their own laurels, and their skills stop there.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Haha... It's easy to say, but Sun is also doing his own thing and making a fool of himself." Although Sun Yixie walked into the kitchen with 80% confidence, there were still two or three things in his heart.
It was unavoidable that the score was still up in the air. At this moment, when he saw that the other party had been frightened, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said something polite with a smile.
This is emotional intelligence; if you don't have such tolerance and the ability to win people's hearts, how can you become the "big brother" of the fish market?
"Hmm...it's not bad." On the other side, Huang Donglai also came over to taste Sun Yixie's cooking.
His reaction was relatively dull; because to him, this was not a taste that he had no idea about. When he watched Sun Yixie cooking this dish, he already roughly knew what it would taste like through the ingredients.
As a result, everyone had a taste of this dish, and Sun and Huang themselves didn't even have to eat more than a few chopsticks before they were all gone.
The more Yuan Fangzhi ate, the more he felt that this dish was good everywhere, and he even made up his own mind, "This Mr. Sun may not be bad at knife skills, but cut it like this on purpose, because the whitebait itself is of different sizes, and the ingredients are not good."
The vegetables are also cut into different sizes so that they taste more layered." This is the conclusion to explain the reason why I made a mistake just now.
It's a pity that no matter how much Mr. Yuan admires Sun Yixie, he can't just invite them to the private room for dinner... The rules are the rules, and they still have "two hurdles" to pass.
"You two gentlemen..." After tasting the food cooked by Sun Yixie and seeing Yuan Fangzhi's reaction, Xue Tui's attitude towards Shuangxie became much more respectful, "...you are indeed not an ordinary person." He paused.
After a pause, he continued, "Not only can Mr. Sun easily pass the 'First Grade' test, but he can also be so highly praised by Master Yuan for his cooking skills. It is really amazing." He praised the other party first, and then started talking.
Turn and start laying the trap, "Come to think of it...this second level of 'one glance' is also easy for the two of you, right?"