Jessica spread her hands: "I don't want to be biased against Chinese food, but the Mingfu family banquet I went to a few days ago did not meet my expectations at all."
Elena was also a little helpless: "I told you long ago that it is not the best Chinese food in Jingzhou."
Jessica: "But you're also disappointed aren't you?"
Jia Nuo smiled and did not participate too much in the topic of the two people. He just served the dishes one by one according to the schedule according to the previous plan.
It started as a small appetizer, cold cuts in all seasons.
Four Seasons Cold Appetizers include four kinds of appetizers, namely pickled cucumber, vegetarian goose, braised bamboo shoots and candied plums.
Followed by lettuce wrapped shrimp floss, with fresh shrimp, onion, celery and other ingredients diced and stir-fried, and finally tossed with golden crispy fritters, then wrapped in lettuce.
Then there is a very famous traditional dish, pagoda meat.
Elena is very skilled at using chopsticks, while Jessica is a little clumsy, but it doesn't prevent her from enjoying the food.
Giano introduced the features and details of these dishes in English before serving them.
All introductory words are already prepared and very condensed.
If it is too short, there is no way to explain the details contained in the dish; if it is too long, it may affect the appetite of customers.
After all, most Chinese food is served with a mouthful of steam, and it will not taste good after time, and customers have no time to listen to these complicated processes and steps when they are enjoying the food.
The result of double-mindedness is often neither taste nor remember details.
Therefore, the content introduced by Jia Nuo has been repeated many times, and the time is controlled very accurately to ensure that the guests can understand the characteristics of the dishes without affecting the taste.
As Elena listened, she touched the edge of the plate without making a sound.
For high-end restaurants, the details will directly determine the experience.
Some high-end restaurants that don't pay attention to detail, even after washing the goblet, don't pay attention to whether all the water stains are wiped off.
If the water stain is not wiped clean, even if there is only a very small amount of dust around, the water stain will leave marks on the cup after it dries up.
Of course, there are not many fancy restaurants that make this mistake.
Another very common problem is the temperature of the plate.
Use cold dishes for cold dishes and hot dishes for hot dishes. Once the serving is slow and the plate of the hot dishes is cold, it must be removed and redone.
Elena gently touched the edge of the plate where the three dishes had already been served, and she could immediately feel that the temperature of the dishes was within the optimum range, and everything was just right.
In addition, setting the plate is also the focus of Elena.
The matching of shapes, the harmony of colors, the types of tableware... Like painting, the chef gives the dishes an artistic conception and soul through the arrangement of the dishes, and the arrangement of these dishes can be regarded as works of art, which makes Elena very satisfied.
As for Jessica, she didn't know so many ways, but she just felt that the Chinese food she ate today seemed to be completely different from what she had eaten in the past.
The appearance is almost the same, but the mysterious feeling is difficult to describe in words.
Jessica said in surprise while eating: "This so-called pagoda meat should be one of the two most complicated dishes we ordered, right?"
Elena shook her head: "Obviously not."
She looked at Jano: "Lucas, although the first few dishes are also excellent, I have also eaten them in other high-end private chefs, such as the Four Seasons Cold Cuts at the front. I once served in a top restaurant in Silicon Valley. I have eaten it in a restaurant; and I have eaten pagoda meat in a top private chef in Ludao. From the taste, each has its own merits, although you are not inferior to the previous two places, but I have not completely convinced me.”
Jia Nuo smiled slightly: "Then you should have eaten the following western dessert. Its name is verjus in egg."
Elena and Jessica looked at the new dishes in front of them.
That's... an egg.
Jessica was a little confused: "So, is it verjus topped with boiled eggs? Lucas, I remember you said it was a dessert."
Verjus is a sour and strong juice made from raw grapes, which is not common outside the UK and does not meet the taste of ordinary people, but it was very pleasant for Jessica and Elena.
To use an inappropriate example, it is probably like the feeling that the people in the imperial city drank the Arctic Ocean soda in Silicon Valley.
Elena showed a surprised expression: "Yes, it is a dessert, and everything on this plate is edible."
Jia Nuo introduced with a smile: "Miss Elena should be no stranger to this dish. It has nearly 100 processes and more than 70 kinds of ingredients, and finally makes such a small 'egg'."
Elena reminded: "Jessica, you'd better eat its 'egg shell', 'yolk' and 'white' together, the taste is the most perfect blend."
Jessica tried to eat a small spoonful, her eyes lit up instantly.
"Oh, that familiar taste! What are these eggs that look like eggs?"
Giano replied: "The egg whites are actually coconut-flavored custards, the yolks are spiced verjus, the shells are chocolate, the 'bird's nest' at the base is a dessert made of honey and syrup, and the surrounding embellishments are kabosu jelly, a citrus fruit native to East Asian islands."
"This is a very complicated dish. Every process is like a chemical experiment. It requires precision from the preparation of materials to production. Many details, such as the proportion of materials, temperature, heating time, etc., need to be carefully carried out with laboratory standards. Otherwise, a small oversight, maybe just one or two degrees higher in temperature, or one or two more grams of material, will lead to failure.”
Elena added: "Even in the UK, it's extremely rare for a restaurant to do it."
The dessert clearly exceeded Jessica's expectations, and she said in surprise: "It's so delicious, thank you for bringing me such a surprise! But... This dish also made me stand firmer in favor of Western food. side."
If this dish is eaten by Chinese people, it may not feel very delicious, but will be surprised by the complexity of the craftsmanship and the exquisite appearance.
The eggshell, egg white and yolk of this "egg" are completely fake, especially the eggshell is very thin, which is no different from the real eggshell.
However, Chinese people can't actually adapt to its taste very well, because verjus will appear too sour, and most people do not adapt to it.
But the flavor has a hometown flavor to Jessica.
Originally, there were two dishes with complicated craftsmanship at the end, but the first dish had already raised Jessica's taste threshold indefinitely, and Elena couldn't help but worry about whether the next dish could calm down the scene.
If not, it will not help to reverse Jessica's stereotype of Chinese food. Although she has eaten a good meal, in Jessica's heart, it is obviously the western food of verjus in egg that impressed her the most.
The waiter brought a bowl and placed it in the middle of the table.
Elena's eyes widened slightly.
In the pot, four or five spread out leaves stand out like a large water lily... cabbage
The stems and leaves of the vegetables have no traces of being boiled and simmered, and they look like raw cabbage.
In the basin is clear soup, without any oily threads or color, but it can be seen that it is steaming, which seems to be no different from ordinary boiling water.
At first glance, this dish seems to be like peeling a raw cabbage into the shape of a water lily and placing it in a pot, and then pouring boiling water.
Elena was a little surprised, because she knew that cabbage was one of the cheapest ingredients, so much so that to describe a thing as cheap, she would call it "cabbage price".
Jia Nuo did not rush to introduce it, but raised his hand to indicate: "This dish is called 'Boiled Cabbage', please taste it first, and I will explain it later."
Elena picked up a small piece of cabbage leaf suspiciously and put it in her mouth.
However, the imaginary cool and crispy taste did not appear. Instead, it was a kind of soft and tender articulating and ironing. It is obviously fully cooked, but it has an unexpected freshness. This refreshing and fresh fragrance is completely different. Like anything I've ever tasted before!
Elena gently scooped up another spoonful of the soup. An indescribably wonderful taste stimulated the taste buds, and it was so touching.
Jessica's expression also froze, obviously she couldn't imagine the taste of this dish could be so good.
Jia Nuo explained with a smile: "This dish was originally made in the late autumn season, after the ground began to be frosted, to use freshly rolled cabbage, and leave the soil on the same day. Although the season is not right now, through precise control of the ambient temperature, It can do that too.”
"Remove at least two layers on the outside, leaving only the inside with tender leaves and stems and the size of a fist. Soak the roots of the vegetables in the prepared soup to soften the stems. Peel off four or five pieces like water lilies bloom, and place them flat on the ground. On the top of the net leak, use a silver needle to repeatedly stab the cabbage deeply, so that the cabbage is filled with pores that are invisible to the naked eye from the inside to the outside."
"When making soup, choose chicken that is neither fat nor tender. It should neither be too oily nor overcooked. Tick off the whole chicken to remove all the fat from the abdomen and wash the blood and water repeatedly. Boil it in boiling water first, then add the abalone slices. , shredded white mushrooms and other ingredients, simmer for four or five hours, when the soup is fresh and strong, take out the whole chicken, then add the chicken stalks into the soup to collect the oil, put the meat puree made of chicken breast into the soup and boil, and finally Strain out the soup with a fine gauze."
"The combination of soup and cabbage is the most important step. There are two pots on two fires. One pot is placed with a net drain of cabbage, and the other is prepared soup. Under the pot with the net drain, the heat is kept warm. The fire for the soup should be smaller, so that the soup is always kept at 70-80 degrees Celsius, and no mistakes can be made. Then use a large spoon to pour the warm soup on the cabbage repeatedly. When the soup is almost finished, change the pot and pour it again. , until the outermost layer of cabbage stems are completely cooked and soft, you can put the cabbage into the pot, and slowly scoop into the hot soup. Only in this way can it be called a real boiled cabbage."
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