"This dish has no problems in terms of taste; it's a very traditional French Baked Snails. Your skill even surpasses that of many old chefs who specialize in this dish. Before you come to China next time, remember to learn Chinese properly. The meaning of the theme 'Beef Not Beef' is to create a dish that tastes like beef using ingredients that are not beef. In other words, you misunderstood it from the very beginning."
Picking up a fork, Dylan tasted the dish before him. The flavor was passable, with no major flaws, reaching a Special Grade level.
Logically, a chef like her, having accumulated considerable culinary experience, shouldn't have mistaken even the most basic theme of a dish. Thus, Dylan thought for a moment and re-explained the true meaning of this examination's theme to her in French.
After hearing his voice, Leah looked up, faint tear stains already on her cheeks, her expression slightly stunned. "You speak French too?"
"I got bored, read some books, and taught myself a bit. Generally speaking, that's the gist of it. Your dish has completely deviated from the theme."
Dylan shrugged, finishing all the remaining French Baked Snails on his plate. Snail meat itself has a unique sweet and slightly springy taste, neither too dry nor too oily, pairing perfectly with sauce.
The French Baked Snails before him had absorbed the essence of the sauce just right, resulting in an incredibly full overall flavor. The taste could be said to be quite excellent.
No wonder Leah was so confident, believing her dish would surely receive the highest score. In terms of taste and detail alone, her French Baked Snails were definitely the most perfectly executed on site!
"I see. So when you said 'you lacked thought' earlier, did you mean I didn't seriously try to understand the theme of this Special Grade examination and just started cooking?"
"That's right. With your skill, you shouldn't have made such a low-level mistake." Dylan quickly replied in French.
If she, with her abilities, could correctly understand the theme and create a dish that 'resembles beef but is not beef,' her chances of qualifying wouldn't be low. After all, both she and her brother had passed the Special Grade Chef examination in France.
After hearing Dylan's words, Leah silently wiped the tears from her eyes, and her whole demeanor seemed to brighten considerably.
Chinese was a difficult language; she and her brother had only grasped the basics after a year of study. This theme, "Beef Not Beef"—the moment she saw it, French Baked Snails had popped into her mind, and she had immediately started cooking without exploring the deeper meaning of the theme, which led to this major blunder.
"I understand! I will continue to learn Chinese and seriously try to understand the meaning of the themes. I will come back here next year. If I still don't pass, I'll come back the year after! Until I pass Guangzhou's Special Grade examination!"
Hearing Dylan praise her abilities, Leah's face flushed slightly. She then looked up at the young man's face, her heartbeat quickening a little. A strange thought surfaced in her mind.
"That's how a chef should be: face difficulties head-on instead of choosing to give up. You already possess the true soul of a chef. I hope you can achieve good results next year!"
Hearing Leah's words and seeing her determined expression, Dylan nodded with immense gratification. Correcting a child who had gone astray, bit by bit, and seeing the moment she improved—that sense of accomplishment, welling up from within, was truly addictive!
"Um... I have a request. I hope you'll definitely agree to it."
Patting the dust off her skirt, Leah stood up from the ground, then trotted over to Dylan. Looking at his handsome face, she subconsciously fiddled with the corner of her clothes, her face turning a little red.
"Ah? What request..."
Small lips, a high nose bridge, a head of hair as dazzling as sunlight, flawless skin, and a height of about one meter sixty—an ideal height for... making an impression. Very good!
Although he knew he shouldn't be thinking along those lines, seeing the girl's shy demeanor, a flicker of anticipation still rose in Dylan's heart. On the surface, however, he remained expressionless, maintaining his cool and aloof persona.
"I hope I can borrow your..."
"Yes!!"
"...Dragon-shaped Armband. I hadn't even finished speaking. Are you always this quick to agree?"
Tilting her head, her cheeks slightly puffed, the girl looked at Dylan in surprise, then broke into a smile. Clearly, his willingness to agree had significantly improved her mood.
"We Chinese people are very generous. We generally don't refuse such small matters. If you want to wear it, just take it..."
Dylan turned his head away, a deadpan look on his face. He had guessed it long ago. She coveted China's Dragon-shaped Armband so much, it was only natural she'd come to borrow it.
Just as he had predicted. Yes, that's right, that's what he had been thinking just now.
"That's great! Thank you, you're such a good person!" Leah said from the bottom of her heart. Dylan had both cleared up her doubts and lent her the Dragon-shaped Armband; he could definitely be called a great person, and handsome too.
"You're welcome." After saying this, Dylan averted his gaze from Leah's face and looked towards Granny Clever Hands in the distance, who immediately understood the cue.
"The judging continues. It's now Chao Taste Pavilion's Amu's turn."
At the same time, Amu immediately stood up to prepare his introduction upon hearing Granny Clever Hands' words, and Leah smoothly sat down beside Dylan. However, Dylan's attention was no longer on her; his gaze was fixed intently on a plate of something that looked a bit like beef jerky.
"The name of this dish is Hand-torn Mock Beef Jerky. I rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, tore them by hand into small strips of roughly equal size, then trimmed off the excess parts and squeezed out the moisture. I added soy sauce, salt, sugar, five-spice powder, chili powder, and cumin powder, mixing them evenly. After marinating like this for 10-15 minutes to allow the rehydrated and squeezed shiitake mushrooms to fully absorb the flavors of the seasonings, I then put them in the oven and baked them for 40 minutes, flipping them periodically to ensure even heating. The hand-torn mock beef jerky produced this way is indistinguishable from real beef jerky in both texture and taste! This is my answer to 'Beef Not Beef.' Please, everyone, have a taste."
Iron Arm Amu said, extending his large, fan-like hand and gesturing for them to try. The moment his voice fell, Dylan picked up the mock beef jerky from the plate. After observing it for a moment, he put it directly into his mouth and began to chew.
"The taste is quite good, with a slight spiciness amidst the straightforward flavor. Because it uses shiitake mushrooms, a good quality ingredient, it has a certain toughness in texture, giving the sensation of chewing real beef. And with every chew, you can feel its thickness and fullness, giving a satisfying feeling of eating a hearty piece of meat, and it doesn't get stuck in your teeth!"
Sensing the taste in his mouth, Dylan nodded. Although the method for making this hand-torn mock beef jerky wasn't complicated, the taste was surprisingly good, truly showcasing that chewiness characteristic of beef jerky.
"During the baking process, the edges of the mock beef jerky become slightly crispy, contrasting with the toughness of the interior, which greatly enriches the overall texture."
Swallowing the mock beef jerky in her mouth, Lanyu Jin also gave a favorable evaluation. Simple cooking didn't mean the resulting food would be bad. This mock beef jerky was a very good snack.
"Shiitake mushrooms, as a vegetarian ingredient, inherently possess a certain aroma. After baking, this aroma becomes even richer and blends with the flavors of the seasonings, forming a uniquely fragrant and robust flavor."
Pressing her fingers to her chest, Taki Kakuzaki opened her eyes and described everything she felt, her cheeks looking a little flushed.
"It feels slightly different from real beef jerky, but overall, the imitation is very close. It really suits this theme." Leah commented.
After Dylan's earlier explanation, she now completely understood the meaning of this examination's theme: to create a dish that tastes like beef using non-beef ingredients.
It turned out she had made such a huge mistake earlier. No wonder the chief examiner had been so angry; directly competing with snail meat had been way too far off topic! Darn it, they were just a few Chinese characters, why were they so hard to understand!
"Are all the contestants using soybeans and mushrooms to make mock beef... Even if mock beef is the best solution for tonight's theme, if all domestic chefs think this way, isn't it a bit too rigid?"
Granny Clever Hands looked at the scene before her, sighing inwardly. She actually wanted to see some 'Beef Not Beef' dishes that were different from the traditional approach. It seemed unlikely to happen this year.
"Well then, let the last one come up. Japanese chef, Taki Kakuzaki."
Seeing that everyone had finished tasting, Granny Clever Hands turned her gaze to the final contestant, Taki Kakuzaki. What kind of dish would this young lady from Japan bring? A surprise? Or a shock?
"Go on, let me see your skill." Seeing Taki Kakuzaki was slightly nervous and taking deep breaths, Dylan patted her on the back, his inner energy circulating through her body. Instantly, the feeling of nervousness vanished.
"This dish of mine is called Spanish Nut-based Mock Beef Stew. It's made by mixing crushed walnuts, crushed almonds, flaxseeds, and chia seeds, then adding a starch slurry, okara, and seasonings, allowing the mixture to bind together slightly and form a texture similar to beef chunks."
Taki Kakuzaki stood beside Dylan, talking effusively. She had pondered this dish for a long time, finally thinking of using various nuts, adding starch slurry and seasonings, to create mock beef with a taste and texture similar to real beef.
However, she later found that this method didn't work; the texture of starch slurry mixed with nuts was worse than she imagined. Just when she was at a loss, she noticed Lanyu Jin using okara.
On a whim, she ran to the ingredient area, got a basin of soybeans, quickly extracted soy milk, and added the okara to her nut-based mock beef. The texture improved visibly! So she adjusted the proportions and created the second generation of her nut-based mock beef.
"To make the mock beef chunks neat, I pressed them slightly with a mold during preparation, then cut them with a knife into small, one-centimeter-wide pieces of nut-based mock beef. The rest was cooked using the Spanish stew method. I heated olive oil in a pot, sautéed chopped onions and garlic until fragrant, then added paprika, rosemary, thyme, and other spices to enhance the overall flavor. Subsequently, I added chopped tomatoes, red peppers, and green peppers to the pot and stir-fried them. After the vegetables softened slightly, I added potato chunks and continued to stir-fry. Once this part was done, I added vegetable broth, salt, black pepper, and a little red wine for flavor, then added the previously prepared nut-based mock beef cubes, spreading them evenly over the vegetables, covered the pot, and turned to low heat to simmer slowly. I stirred occasionally during the simmering process to ensure the nut-based mock beef could fully absorb the flavors of the broth. When the broth thickened, the vegetables were cooked through, and the nut-based mock beef became soft yet chewy, I turned off the heat and plated the dish. This is the Spanish Nut-based Mock Beef Stew, and also my interpretation of the 'Beef Not Beef' theme. I hope everyone can give it a fair evaluation."
Because it was her first time participating in such an examination, Taki Kakuzaki directly explained her entire cooking process, finally bowing deeply to everyone. After doing all this, she looked at Dylan, her eyes full of anticipation.
"Using nuts to make mock beef is a very good idea in all aspects. Firstly, nuts can bring a unique texture to the mock beef cubes. Secondly, different types of nuts have their own unique flavors—the sweetness of almonds, the richness of walnuts. These flavors intertwine and fuse within the mock beef cubes, significantly enhancing their overall flavor and making them more delicious."
Dylan didn't disappoint Taki Kakuzaki, speaking up for her very proactively. However, he wasn't just making things up; using nuts to make beef was indeed unique here. If nothing else, it was full marks for creativity!
Scooping a spoonful, the nut-based mock beef mixed with the characteristic Spanish stew base entered his mouth. The sweetness of onions, the acidity of tomatoes, the spiciness of red and green peppers, and the softness of potatoes had melded together during the stewing process, forming a harmonious balance of flavors.
"The unique crispness and chewiness of nuts, properly processed, have been integrated into this mock beef. The nut particles have formed a structure similar to beef fibers, bringing an incredibly rich and captivating textural layer."
Iron Arm Amu savored the taste in his mouth, his expression slightly surprised, seemingly not expecting nuts to be able to form such a beef-like texture.
"Not only that, the oil content of the nuts makes this mock beef more moist in texture, not dry at all. During the stewing process, these oils have permeated the entire stew, blending with everything else, making every mouthful of the rich soup full of the mellow aroma of nuts."
Sensing the richness of the soup base, paired with the incredibly unique texture of the nut-based mock beef, a look of enjoyment appeared on Lanyu Jin's face.
"These two pair together wonderfully! It feels like they mutually enhance each other." Leah nodded while tasting.
The flavor of this dish was impeccable; the nut-based mock beef's flavor combined perfectly with the soup base, influencing each other to achieve a 'one plus one is greater than two' effect!
Dong~~
A drumbeat sounded, and the venue instantly fell silent. Granny Clever Hands strolled to the front of the crowd, glanced at the dishes on the plates, and said, "All tasting is now complete. We will immediately proceed to the scoring phase. Please score the works of two opponents other than yourself, out of a maximum of ten points, and write the scores down."
At the same time, several staff members came forward, placing scrolls and calligraphy brushes in front of Lanyu Jin, Amu, and Taki Kakuzaki, for them to score each other's dishes.
As for Leah, because she had misunderstood the theme from the beginning, she would not participate in the scoring and was directly disqualified from the competition.
Logically, she should have left after failing, but Dylan had just promised to lend her the Dragon-shaped Armband, so she chose to stay and leave after the competition ended.
Dylan, needless to say, these people were not qualified to evaluate his dish. As for evaluating others? Honestly, it didn't mean much.
This examination was more about testing the mutual evaluation among the contestants – to see if they could correctly recognize their own standing and possess the ability to accurately assess others' work. This was very important for a Special Grade Chef.
"Scoring..." Looking at the scroll before him and the brush dipped in ink, Amu leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, a conflicted expression on his face.
"Correctly evaluate others' work... Both of their dishes are outstanding. If that's the case, then I think this score should be the most just..."
Taki Kakuzaki didn't hesitate much. She closed her eyes, savored the taste of the dishes she had just tried, then opened her eyes and began to write on the scroll.
"If that's the case, then..." Lanyu Jin closed her eyes and thought for a long time, finally picking up the brush in her hand and writing a six for one and a four for the other on the scroll.
"Alright, now hand in your scores." Seeing the three of them successively finish writing on their scrolls, Granny Clever Hands instructed the attendants nearby to collect all the scores and place them in a small box.
"Please wait here for the results to be announced." After saying this, Granny Clever Hands left the competition venue with two attendants, leaving the few of them looking at each other.
Just these few scores, did they really need to go to the back to tally them? Could it be for a sense of ceremony?
"Kakuzaki-senpai, there shouldn't be any problem, right..." As Granny Clever Hands left, Sonoka Kinokuni, who had been watching from a distance, walked up, looking towards Taki Kakuzaki with a worried expression.
Although Kakuzaki-senpai had performed well at Totsuki Academy, this was Guangzhou, after all, where the Special Grade examination was the most difficult! All who could stand here were top-tier chefs; defeating them was incredibly hard.
"Gulp..." Taki Kakuzaki swallowed, feeling very nervous internally, even more so than when she had competed for the First Seat of the Elite Ten.
The others felt the same; despite being very confident in their own dishes, the waiting process was undoubtedly agonizing.
And this was Granny Clever Hands' intention: to allow them to recognize themselves during the wait, to recall the shortcomings in their dishes through anxious anticipation. This way, after the recollection ended, they could achieve a certain degree of progress, which could be considered the final gift of this Special Grade examination!
On the other side, Dylan was also resting with his eyes closed. However, compared to the others, he appeared relaxed and at ease, because he already knew the final winner.
Possessing a Hyper-tasting ability, he could naturally easily discern the quality of a dish's flavor, and the gap between these three individuals was not small.
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