[Red Mansion] A little chef came to the Grand View Garden

The next day was the day when Jiamu held a banquet in the Grand View Garden.

Early in the morning, Mother Liu went out of the garden first, and probably brought over the jar of eggplant that Sister Feng had asked for.When Liu Mei came to the small kitchen, Mother Liu had already rushed back and whispered in Liu Mei's ear.

"Mei'er, mother, please ask Aunt Zhang to inquire about it outside. I heard that Xie Xiaochuan, who was hired by the Xue family, is a very good young man."

Liu Mei listened to Liu's mother speak one by one, and then realized that this Xie Xiaochuan, although he looked young, he didn't show his mountains or waters, but he was a teacher of a famous master, and he was the closed door of Mr. Bai, the retired chef of Taibailou. disciple.

"When the Xue family hired him, they compared cooks from several well-known restaurants in Beijing, and finally decided on him. I heard that this person's salary is [-] to [-]% higher than others."

Liu Mei let out an "oh" and nodded, with a look of indifference.

Mother Liu looked at her with worry on her brows, and said, "I heard that this Xie Xiaochuan was originally from a wealthy family, and he had studied at a young age. Later, when his family was in trouble, he had no choice but to enter the profession. Cuisine is very talented, when he left the teacher, Mr. Bai said that there is really nothing to teach this person. Meier, Meier...why don't you serve dim sum?"

Liu Mei smiled and said, "Mother, I'm worried!"

She was indeed listening to the gossip very carefully.

Mother Liu hated iron for being weak, shook Liu Mei's shoulders, and said, "You are so powerful, you know a few small dishes... If you lose later, what should you do?"

Liu Mei hurriedly comforted her mother, and said with a smile: "If you lose, wives and grandmas, you won't do anything to me!"

She was the one who survived even the threat of "personal injury", so why would she be afraid of these things?

Mother Liu was comforted by Liu Mei, thought for a while, and said: "Yes! The old lady is a benevolent person, and she will not punish you at will just because you are no match for that little brother Xie. Maybe she will reward you with a purse for seeing your hard work." , some clothes."

Mother Liu recited a sentence of Buddha, and said by herself: "Mother will save everything for you later, just waiting for you to find a little son-in-law..."

Liu Mei was depressed, "Mother..."

Hearing Mother Liu's three words never forgetting to urge the marriage, although Liu Mei knew that this mother had good intentions, she was still a little annoyed and didn't know how to deal with it.

Just as I was talking, Aunt Zhang's voice sounded outside, "Aunt Liu, brother Xie is here. Is your little girl here too?"

This willow mother has just urged her to get married, and at this moment, with habitual thinking, she looked up and down Xie Xiaochuan, who followed Zhang Cai's family, with the eyes of a son-in-law. Remembering that the man was his daughter's opponent today, he quickly stared at him twice.

I only saw that Xiao Chuan was still wearing a blue cloth shirt today, with his signature buffalo leather apron on his hands. Seeing Mother Liu's eyes sweeping over, he nodded slightly and said hello in a lukewarm way.

He did not forget to take a look at Liu Mei.

"Aunt Zhang, Aunt Liu, have the materials for today been dispatched by your superiors?" Xie Xiaochuan's voice was clear and polite, but people always felt a little distant.

Zhang Cai's family liked Xie Xiaochuan very much, nodded and smiled and said: "The dispatch is here, the dispatch is here! It is in the big kitchen, and someone will send it over in a while. The grandma above sent a message, saying that the small kitchen is ready. All the ingredients, the two of you can take it as you like."

Liu Mei nodded secretly after hearing this.

Today's main battlefield must be this small kitchen.

Mother Liu had thought of this possibility yesterday—after all, Mother Jia had a banquet in the Grand View Garden, so it was more convenient to have a small kitchen.So Mother Liu picked out a lot of ingredients that she had accumulated in her daily life yesterday, took out the best ones, and put them outside, ready to be used by Liu Mei.

But at this moment, Xie Xiaochuan was pacing, walking back and forth in the small kitchen in his spare time, inspecting all kinds of accessories that Mother Liu had prepared in advance, nodding repeatedly while looking at them, Tsk tsk praise.

This time Mother Liu was furious, and stared at Xiao Chuan several times.Liu Mei hurriedly pulled her away, lowered her voice and said, "Mother, it's nothing. Doesn't it depend on the main ingredients?"

Liu Mei herself doesn't care: when it comes to competitions, it must be fair——

In fact, the real reason for her generosity is that she had cheated others yesterday; however, today everyone is on the same starting line, if she cheats on the accessories again, Liu Mei will not be able to get past this level in her heart.

Who said that if she was a little girl, the other male cook would have to give in to her?

While speaking, Mother Liu was called out by Zhang Cai's family to speak.

Xie Xiaochuan lowered his head, took off the buffalo leather apron on his arm, unfolded it carefully, and put it on his body.

While slowly tying the apron, he raised his head and asked Liu Mei: "Your surname is Liu?"

Liu Mei didn't make a sound, just nodded.Then Xie Xiaochuan turned his head away.

"Master Shang from Hongshunlou, do you recognize him?" Xie Xiaochuan seemed to always be in a state of being neither cold nor hot, neither dead nor alive, and he asked such a question in a neutral manner, but Liu Mei's heart rang alarm bells.

It turned out that not only Mother Liu had inquired about Xie Xiaochuan's background, but Xie Xiaochuan had also found out about her.

It seems that the person in front of him came prepared, at least he shouldn't be let down by his little girl's appearance.

"Master Shang? Hongshun Tower? I seem to have heard it mentioned before." Liu Mei looked at the sky, ambiguous.Xie Xiaochuan didn't ask any more questions.

After a while, the materials handpicked by Mother Jia and the others today were sent to the small kitchen—all packed together in a burlap bag.

Mother Liu's face was a bit ugly, and she smiled awkwardly at Liu Mei.

"Mom, are these?"

"Hehe," Mother Liu nodded, "Yes!"

At that moment, Liu Mei took a step forward, wanting to open the bag to see the materials inside.Unexpectedly, Xie Xiaochuan was faster than her, he opened the bag one step ahead of her——

"What are these...all?"

"what is this?"

Xie Xiaochuan and Liu Mei spoke in unison again and asked such a question together.After the two finished speaking, they looked at each other, and seeing that the other had exactly the same expression as their own, they frowned.

Mother Liu continued to smile awkwardly: "Mei'er, these are local vegetables brought by guests from the countryside, look at the gray ones..."

As soon as Mother Liu said this, she was interrupted by Zhang Cai's family, "Aunt Liu, didn't your superiors tell you to stop talking and let them figure it out on their own. If you tell me the origin of these local vegetables, Maybe it also restrained them, so they couldn't make the taste that the higher-ups wanted."

Hearing what Zhang Cai's family said, Liu's mother felt a little helpless, she glanced at Liu Mei, and stopped talking embarrassingly.

Xie Xiaochuan next to him seemed a little agitated. He stretched out his hand and pulled the burlap bag, and all the contents inside were poured out immediately, and fell on the clean water-polished blue brick floor of the small kitchen.

I saw two small pumpkins inside, and several bundles of dried vegetables tied with straw ropes. The dried vegetables were of different shapes, and there were clearly several kinds.In addition, there were about two catties of fresh jujubes, which were thrown all over the ground by Xie Xiaochuan.

Seeing this, Liu Mei's eyes showed a slight joy, and she nodded to her mother quickly, signaling that she had a solution.

In fact, it was also thanks to Liu's mother's hint of a few words just now that she suddenly understood what these were all about.

The things poured out of the bag were not leftovers, but were brought into Jia's house by Grandma Liu to give the wives and grandmothers a taste of fresh melons, fruits and vegetables, which are the most down-to-earth ones.

The "guest" mentioned by Mother Liu just now naturally refers to Grandma Liu, and the "gray" that she didn't finish talking about, which seems shriveled and tied into a bundle, is a kind of dried vegetable made by the farm. , called "gray strips".

With this as a guide, Liu Mei recognized everything else at once: except for the gray striped vegetables, the gray-green curly ones should be dried cowpeas; and the sliced ​​ones, dark brown, soft The collapsed ones are dried eggplants; the last one is thick and thick chopsticks, very long strips, which are tied in circles with straw ropes—Liu Mei remembers that they are called dried gourds, but they are actually zucchini of later generations. Turned and turned into strips, and then dried into dry children.

Strictly speaking, these are not Red House dishes, but they are indeed the ingredients mentioned in the Red House.Although Liu Mei hadn't done it specially, she had tasted it, and she roughly knew what these things were, which was much better than Xie Xiaochuan who was next to her.

As for student Xie Xiaochuan, his eyes were darkened, his brows were tightly locked, and he was looking at the dried vegetables poured out on the ground.I saw him take a step forward, then squatted down in front of the ingredients helplessly.

This opponent, Xie Xiaochuan, came from a wealthy family, and later studied under a famous restaurant chef. The ingredients he has seen in his life are all exquisite.Now seeing these local farm vegetables that ordinary people don't recognize very much, I am naturally confused.

As a chef, you need to have a thorough understanding of the ingredients in your hands.Even Liu Mei, she clearly knew what the dried vegetables in front of her eyes were made of, but the local vegetables in the Red Mansion era were too far away from her later life, and Liu Mei was not fully sure that she could use these things to cook Bring out the most delicious dishes.

——It seems that this proposition composition, the title is really tricky!

Liu Mei couldn't help but wonder if this was the handiwork of Sister Feng's old man; if so, it really had an effect.

After Liu Mei signaled to her mother, she helped Mother Liu and Aunt Zhang pick up the scattered jujubes, and also went to pick up the dried vegetables and pumpkins in front of Xie Xiaochuan, dividing each into two portions.One was taken away for personal use, and the other was pushed to Xie Xiaochuan.

After receiving the ingredients, Liu Mei thought carefully about what to make and what ingredients to match.

And when she was thinking, she was used to looking around, and in a blink of an eye, she saw Xie Xiaochuan knelt on one knee, reached out and tore a gray strip of vegetable, put it directly in her mouth, and tasted it slowly.

This gray striped vegetable is actually long-stalked Chinese cabbage. When it grows, it is harvested, blanched in a boiling water pot, and then the leaves of the whole cabbage are separated and hung up to dry.The dried cabbage is extremely ugly, dusty and shriveled.It can only be used for cooking after soaking in warm water, but it is far more delicious than fresh cabbage when cooked properly.In terms of the tip of the tongue, this kind of thing will "have a taste conceived by time".

But before soaking in warm water, the gray strips look ugly and taste quite unpalatable.At this moment, Liu Mei had to admire, this classmate Xie Xiaochuan dared to taste this gray dish with empty mouths, it was really brave.If he can come up with cooking methods and side dishes that are suitable for gray strips, then this person should be a genius.

Xie Xiaochuan's brows continued to tighten after tasting the Huitiaocai.

But he let go of Huitiaocai, stretched out his hand and pulled a small piece of dried cowpea, chewing it slowly by his mouth like a snack.

Next, Xie Xiaochuan tasted the local vegetables that Liu Mei pushed to him one by one, eating them raw, chewing empty... Then he stood up shyly, and suddenly turned to look at Liu Mei.

Liu Mei peeked at the opponent's expression, and was suddenly caught by someone, even though she belonged to the thick-skinned type, she couldn't help but feel hot at this moment.

But Xiao Chuan smiled at Liu Mei gently and asked: "Miss Liu, do you know what these are? Would you like me to show you how to do it?"

"What?" Liu Mei almost didn't think she had heard it wrong, "You... point me?"

The person in front of him just tasted these rare farm dishes in empty mouth. Could it be that he already knows how to cook them and has come up with matching dishes?

If it is true, then Liu Mei can only say that this person, above the cooking journey, is true, very, very talented.

Xie Xiaochuan nodded indifferently: "After all, you are just a young girl, and I'm afraid it's not your wish to meet me."

Liu Mei doesn't like to hear these words. She has always believed that a cooking skill has different levels of skill and experience, but what does this have to do with the gender of the chef himself?

"If the opponent doesn't even know what these are, then Xie will naturally win." Xie Xiaochuan smiled lightly.

Now, it was Liu Mei's turn to be confused - what this person was thinking in his heart was that he was invincible, how confident he was...or rather, arrogant!It's the first time I've encountered the ingredients, and I don't even know what it is, but I'm thinking about the invincibility of victory?

Liu Mei, a pair of delicate willow leaf eyebrows, naturally frowned tightly, and her pretty face also turned cold.

——The other party is a proud cook, she can feel it.But if Xie Xiaochuan didn't offend her pride, she might be able to forgive Xie Xiaochuan's pride.

Xie Xiaochuan saw that Liu Mei didn't reply at all, so he turned his head naturally, and said with a smile: "It seems that the girl doesn't need me to explain someone's advice."

He immediately greeted Zhang Cai's family loudly, "Ms. Zhang, I need other accessories!"

Zhang Cai's family was unprepared, "Ah", and immediately responded: "The grandma above said that all the materials are in this small kitchen, and I never said that I can ask for another one."

Xie Xiaochuan ignored her, and said directly, "Aunt Zhang, go back to your house and tell me that I want ten chickens, two hooves, and a stick bone..."

He reported the things he wanted to use in one breath, while Zhang Cai's family memorized them, his face turned a little red.

With Xie Xiaochuan's appearance, it is clear that Zhang Cai's family is not in his eyes. Fortunately, she treats this young man so well.

Liu Mei was at the side, listening to Xie Xiaochuan's reports, and he understood Xie Xiaochuan's intentions in his heart—the local vegetable dishes he planned to cook were very consistent with the "eggplant" in Jia's mansion.

The eggplant in Jia's house, in the words of Grandma Liu, is just one eggplant, but ten chickens are needed to match it.

As for Xie Xiaochuan, at the moment, he is actually asking for ten chickens in one bite, and there are many good things that can greatly enhance the umami.

As far as Liu Mei knows, there are two iron rules in Chinese cooking: "Let what is tasteful let it out, and let what is tasteless let it in."No matter how ordinary farmhouse vegetables are, such as Huitiaocai, absorb the umami flavor of these good things, it is delicious even if it is not delicious.

Xie Xiaochuan finished the report in one go, staring at Zhang Cai's house.

The board member of Zhang Cai's family put on a face and said: "Brother Xie, I can only go back for you for the whole list you mentioned. But I really don't know if the superiors will agree to it or not."

I only saw Xiao Chuan smiled, and said with great confidence: "You can go back to... the superior of your house, there is no way you won't agree!"

Liu Mei couldn't help but look sideways.

She also vaguely thought: It is impossible for the Jia family to let the two of them cook authentic local dishes; and this is the villa of the royal family, it is absolutely impossible for them to do it on purpose like she did in the Beijing Bieyuan. The title of "wild interest" is presented with some rural flavor.

Mother Jia invited Grandma Liu into the Grand View Garden for a banquet, which was actually similar to Baochai's arrangement yesterday, it was just a disguised display of wealth.

Therefore, Xie Xiaochuan's method must be the most suitable one.

Based on this inference, Liu Mei, like Xie Xiaochuan, was almost certain that Xie Xiaochuan's request would never be refuted by his superiors.

Zhang Cai's family didn't have such confidence as the two of them, and turned around hesitantly to leave, but was pulled back by Mother Liu.

Mother Liu quickly winked at Liu Mei several times, signaling her not to be stupid, since the opponent asked for additional materials, Liu Mei should also speak, at least it was better than nothing.

But Liu Mei was like a gourd with its mouth sawn off at this moment, as if two villains were fighting in his heart.

A villain naturally suggested to Liu Mei as Xie Xiaochuan said: using ten chickens to match an eggplant is the cooking method that a family like Jia's mansion should have; But it's much weaker: These local dishes actually have their original taste, although it is faint, but the job of the cook should be to magnify these slight delicacies, rather than cover up the original taste with other things.

Seeing that Liu Mei didn't speak, but Zhang Cai's family turned around and was about to leave, Liu's mother became anxious, and urged Liu Mei, while holding Zhang Cai's clothes, "Wait a little longer, wait for Mei'er to think clearly. "

Liu Mei still didn't speak, but bowed her head and meditated deeply.

At this moment, for some reason, she was actually thinking—if Prince Zhongshun Shiqing was here right now, how would she cook the gray strips and dried gourds.

The author has something to say: I will work harder today, but the time for adding updates is uncertain, so I dare not set a flag.I can only say that at night, try not to be too late.

In addition, the native vegetables brought by Grandma Liu mentioned in the article were given by Pinger in the second chapter of No. 40. She only told her to send these dried vegetables to Jia's mansion next time, which is considered to be repaying Sister Feng's favor.The interpretation and explanation of these farm dried vegetables originally came from Mr. Deng Yunxiang's "Red Mansion Customs".