When the busy lunch was over, Feng Yifan finally had time to sit down and listen to his father-in-law and Aunt Liu talking about Su Lanxin's visit at noon.
When Feng Yifan heard his father-in-law tell Su Lanxin about the recipe, his expression was a little complicated.
Su Ruoxi was a little surprised when she heard her father talking about the recipe. She didn't expect her father to tell her aunt about the existence of the recipe.
However, Su Ruoxi also felt that since she had the recipe, if her husband really went to compete with her aunt and others in cooking, he would definitely be able to rely on the recipe to be invincible.
"Dad, you shouldn't tell them. Not telling them can be used as a trump card."
When Feng Yifan heard what his wife said, he smiled, took her hand and said, "There is no magic weapon. The recipe book actually only has a catalog."
Hearing Feng Yifan say this, Lu Cuiling and Su Ruoxi, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law present, were surprised again.
However, Liu Wanhua, who was accompanying Su Jinrong, seemed to know it, so there was not much surprise on her face.
Seeing that his mother-in-law and daughter were very surprised, Su Jinrong told them what had happened.
The recipe book was indeed passed down by the ancestors of the Su family, but it actually had no content. On the thin recipe book, there were only the names of the banquet dishes, but there was no record of the cooking process and the ingredients used.
Later generations of Su Ji chefs would write down their own experiences at the end of the recipe, so it can be considered as a supplement to some things.
After hearing what her father said, Su Ruoxi asked curiously, "So, then, doesn't that mean the recipe book is useless?"
If we say that successive generations of Su Ji chefs have recorded certain experiences, those things would basically be passed on when the chefs teach their students, so the things recorded in the recipes are not a secret.
The only things on the menu that were truly passed down from Su Ji’s ancestors were the dishes for the banquet, but those were only the names of the dishes.
Su Ruoxi looked at her father and was even more puzzled: "Dad, if that's the case, why did you tell my aunt?"
Liu Wanhua said at this time: "Your father wants to stimulate Su Lanxin and give her a little psychological blow, so that she will mistakenly believe that there is such a recipe book that she can't get no matter how hard she tries."
Feng Yifan understood his father-in-law's intention, which was actually to confuse Su Lanxin and make her make some wrong judgments.
In addition, telling others about the existence of such a cookbook would also put invisible psychological pressure on Su Lanxin and Chen Wei.
You know, Su Lanxin and Chen Wei did not dare to disobey Grandpa Su from beginning to end.
According to some interactions between Feng Yifan and Chen Wei in his previous life, it can be seen that Chen Wei may have coveted the old Su Ji plaque, or he has never thought highly of Su Jinrong and thought that he was just relying on the blessings of his ancestors.
But Chen Wei still has enough respect for his master, the old man from Su Ji, and it can even be said that he has always been afraid of him.
So, when Su Jinrong told Su Lanxin that there was a recipe, this put a huge psychological pressure on the two of them.
Not to mention what was passed down by the Su family's ancestors, even what was passed down by Grandpa Su was enough to make Su Lanxin and Chen Wei very wary.
Feng Yifan figured this out and was full of gratitude to his father-in-law: "Dad, thank you. I didn't expect that you would still have to worry about us in the end. You would have to help us arrange many things."
Su Jinrong waved his hand: "Giving Su Lanxin a stimulus is also an incentive for you."
Feng Yifan understood what his father-in-law meant. The recipe issue would put psychological pressure on Su Lanxin, but it would also stimulate Su Lanxin's fighting spirit.
So for Feng Yifan, he must maintain the reputation of Su Ji and be able to truly make those dishes that only exist in name on the menu.
It is also a test for Feng Yifan.
However, facing his father-in-law's expectant eyes, Feng Yifan still nodded confidently and seriously: "Don't worry, Dad, I will definitely work hard and try my best to restore the banquet dishes on the menu."
Su Jinrong nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "Are you going to participate in the competition?"
Feng Yifan smiled and responded: "Dad, didn't we agree on this? I won't participate in the competition. I've already made an agreement with my uncle that we will make a tasting video for the competition together, and do the tasting off-site."
At this point, Feng Yifan had a new idea: "Dad, since you told us the recipe, let's just do it. After each tasting, I will try to recreate a dish."
Su Jinrong looked at his son-in-law, and the expression in his eyes gradually became a little strange.
Liu Wanhua clearly saw Su Jinrong's thoughts and said with a smile, "Yifan, this move of yours is even more cruel than your father's. It's really a bit murderous."
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "No, I just want to show you our Su Ji's dishes."
Su Jinrong still spoke up and said, "Don't go too far."
Hearing this, Feng Yifan could see that his father-in-law still had feelings for his sister. So he didn't want Su Lanxin to be too upset, so he asked his son-in-law not to do things too harshly.
Feng Yifan naturally nodded and agreed: "Okay, Dad, don't worry."
On the other side, Su Lanxin called Chen Wei to go find her uncle together.
It's just that Zhuang Daozhong is not in the hotel. He went to visit some friends today. And he may go to other cities in a few days, which is also the more important thing for his trip.
Zhuang Daozhong came here not simply because he was invited by Su Lanxin, nor did he come here just to take a look at Su's business.
His more important purpose in making a special trip from Beijing to the south was to find top chefs from all over the country and participate in a grand event in the national culinary world.
That is to release the "national cuisine" brand to the world.
This is the first time in China that a "national cuisine" brand that encompasses the essence of Chinese cuisine has been officially released to the world in a nationwide unified manner.
The brand is temporarily named "Chinese Cuisine".
Since it is Chinese cuisine, which encompasses various cuisines and local dishes from all over China, it is necessary to select dishes with local characteristics from various places, and at the same time, select banquets that are representative of the local area.
The focus of Zhuang Daozhong's trip was Jiangsu Province. Not only did he have to select representative dishes from Jiangsu Province, but he also had to restore some banquets, so he was actually very busy.
The reason why Huaicheng was chosen as the first stop was, on the one hand, because Su Lanxin had invited us before.
On the other hand, Jiangsu cuisine is considered to be the successor of Huaiyang cuisine, so Huaicheng and Yangcheng are considered to be the source of the cuisine.
Huaicheng and Yangcheng are very close, so Zhuang Daozhong chose to settle in Huaicheng as a favor to Su Ji. Then he expanded from Huaicheng to the surrounding areas, collecting the food culture from all over Jiangsu Province and finally summarizing it.
Su Lanxin didn't find her uncle in the hotel, so she naturally called him to ask where his uncle was.
Zhuang Daozhong was originally discussing with people from the catering associations in Huaicheng and Yangcheng, as well as representatives of the provincial catering association, how to compile the classic dishes of Jiangsu Province and report on the banquet.
After receiving Su Lanxin's call, Zhuang Daozhong did not hide it and answered the call directly in front of everyone.
After the call was connected, Su Lanxin still said very politely: "Master, where are you? Chen Wei and I have something to talk to you about. It's about our competition."
Zhuang Daozhong thought for a moment and said, "Well, since you guys are talking about the competition, then come over. I just happen to have something to tell you."
Su Lanxin agreed immediately: "Okay, Uncle Master, please tell me the address and I'll have the driver drive over now."
Zhuang Daozhong told Su Lanxin the address and hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said to everyone present: "This call came at a very timely moment. I believe you have heard about it. Do you know that Huaicheng is going to hold a cooking competition?"
When Zhuang Daozhong mentioned this, everyone present looked at each other in confusion, and then all said they knew about it.
Zhuang Daozhong continued, "You may think that what I am going to say next is a bit biased towards my niece who organized the competition, but I think this Huaicheng competition may also be an opportunity."
Zhuang Daozhong didn't hide anything and expressed his thoughts after receiving Su Lanxin's call.
In fact, the purpose is to use this competition to recruit cooking masters from Jiangsu Province and let everyone present classic dishes in the competition.
"In addition, instead of discussing here which banquets should be recommended, it is better to see the results in the competition and see what classic banquets the chefs in Jiangsu Province can present to us."
At this point, Zhuang Daozhong looked at the people from the Provincial Catering Association and said, "Of course, we may need your support here."
Several people from the Provincial Catering Association looked at each other and discussed the matter among themselves.
Finally, the vice president of the Provincial Catering Association who led the team said, "Okay, since Mr. Zhuang said so, we will fully support it. Next, we will promote this competition throughout the province."
Another person from the provincial catering association also said: “Well, we will also invite famous chefs from all over the province to participate.”
Zhuang Daozhong smiled and said, "I think those chefs who already have status don't need to participate in ordinary competitions. They can come and present banquet dishes. They don't need to compete, but present those banquets as a promotion for Su Province cuisine."
Zhuang Daozhong's words were recognized by everyone present.
Asking those already famous chefs to come and compete does lower their status a bit, and those famous chefs may not be willing to come and compete.
But if we don't let them come to compete, but let them come to show their true skills, and each family prepares a banquet to promote Jiangsu cuisine. If they can be selected into the menu of "Chinese cuisine", I believe those famous chefs will be willing to come.
After the plan was discussed, Zhuang Daozhong informed Su Lanxin and Chen Wei of the decision after they arrived.
Su Lanxin was really surprised after hearing this.
She originally came here hoping that her uncle could help Feng Yifan participate in the competition.
But the current result was a little beyond her expectations. Her uncle had brought her and Fujinglou a huge opportunity.
Zhuang Daozhong saw Su Lanxin stunned, and a hint of joy gradually appeared on Chen Wei's face, and he started to remind the two of them seriously.
"I want to remind you that since this competition is for the selection of Jiangsu cuisine to be included in the Chinese cuisine, then this competition naturally cannot be hosted by you alone, and the promotion of the competition also needs to be done by the Provincial Catering Association."
Su Lanxin came back to her senses after hearing this, looked at her uncle and asked, "Uncle, so, the next cooking competition will be intervened by you and the province?"
Zhuang Daozhong nodded: "Yes, we should promote this matter next, but we may still need your company's participation. After all, you still need to bear part of the publicity and some funds."
Su Lanxin immediately agreed: "Okay, no problem, Uncle Master, we will definitely cooperate with you fully."
Zhuang Daozhong looked at Su Lanxin's excited expression and suddenly said, "I think you and Chen Wei don't need to participate in the competition, but you can participate in the banquet selection."
At this point, Zhuang Daozhong paused, and then said very seriously: "Because it is a banquet, I hope you can attend as Su Ji."
Su Lanxin agreed at first: "Okay, we will use Su Ji cuisine to attend the banquet."
However, Chen Wei understood the intention behind his uncle's words and said seriously, "Uncle, do you think we can participate together with Su Ji?"
Su Lanxin was stunned for a few seconds when she heard her husband's words, and then she understood her uncle's intention.
What the uncle-master meant by participating as Su Ji was that he wanted Su Lanxin and the others to join forces with Su Ji, and both parties should participate in the banquet together and jointly deliver a banquet with Su Ji characteristics.
Su Lanxin looked serious, and there was a hint of displeasure in her eyes as she looked at her uncle.
Zhuang Daozhong continued, "You are a family after all. You and Jinrong are siblings. I also asked your senior brother why he didn't teach you cooking. Why do you have to be obsessed with the gains and losses of the past?"
Hearing this, Su Lanxin couldn't help but ask, "So, Uncle Master, do you know that Su Ji has an ancestral recipe book?"
Zhuang Daozhong was stunned when he heard this.
Seeing that the master uncle was stunned, Su Lanxin said coldly: "It seems that you don't know, master uncle, that Su Ji has a recipe that is only passed down to his son, so my brother was able to beat me back then."
Zhuang Daozhong quickly came back to his senses and looked at Su Lanxin with a complicated expression: "Do you really think that a recipe can control everything?"
Su Lanxin said without giving in: "Why not? The fact that Su Jinrong won against me back then is proof."
Zhuang Daozhong shook his head and sighed, "If such a recipe book really existed, I think only your eldest brother, who truly became the head chef of Su Ji, would be qualified to read it, right? So your competition back then was not influenced by that recipe book."
Su Lanxin was still unwilling to give in: "Who knows if my father would have shown it to Su Jinrong in private back then?"
Zhuang Daozhong kept shaking his head, and he really felt that Su Lanxin was about to go crazy.
He could only continue to ask: "Well, even if there is such a recipe book, then what did you and your eldest brother compete in back then?"
Chen Wei, who had been silent the whole time, answered: "The master asked three questions: knife skills, stir-frying sugar color, and a dish."
Zhuang Daozhong looked at Su Lanxin after hearing this: "Which of these three questions can be solved with the recipe book? So the ending is already determined, why are you unwilling to come out of it?"
Su Lanxin recalled the competition that year and the disappointed look her father gave her.
But in the end, Su Lanxin still didn't give in: "I will not cooperate with Su Jinrong. Su Ji can only have one representative, me or him, so before that, we have to decide who is better."
Zhuang Daozhong was very disappointed when he heard this, and Chen Wei was also helpless.
But they were helpless against Su Lanxin.
Finally, Zhuang Daozhong said, "Okay, if you insist on doing this, then I, your uncle, will sacrifice my reputation and let Jinrong and his son-in-law come and compete with you this time."
Su Lanxin immediately agreed: "This is the best. Whoever wins the banquet selection opportunity will represent Su Ji to prepare the dishes."