BXBX NOVEL Chapter 112 - 112: Mountain of Meat
Not only local Spirit Chefs were invited to Fu Hang’s Zhen Niu Pavilion Beef Tasting Banquet.
In the past, many Spirit Chefs like Lei Ke, who came from other places for the exchange and enhancement of their culinary skills or for the Second-Level Food Recommender Badge, intersected with Dongxia City.
Fu Hang always included them on the invitation list.
Zhen Niu Pavilion Beef Tasting Banquet held great allure for the Spirit Chefs. Many of them, even if they were far away, would choose to participate.
People who didn’t know Qin Lang before, now had a preliminary understanding of him after querying their companions.
As Qin Lang arrived at the entrance of Zhen Niu Pavilion, a young stranger hurriedly walked towards him.
“Hello, I am Wang Yi from Yutu City.”
“Hello, I’m Qin Lang.” Qin Lang shook hands with Wang Yi, looking surprised.
Yutu City was also within Tianhua State, just like Dongxia City.
However, Yutu city and Dongxia city were not neighboring cities, they were quite far apart.
It seemed that the influence of Zhen Niu Pavilion Beef Tasting Banquet was bigger than he had imagined.
“I just heard that you are the champion of this year’s Dongxia City Cooking Competition?” Wang Yi said with a friendly smile, “1 traveled to Dongxia City half a year ago and was also the champion of a cooking competition, two terms before you.”
The champion from two terms ago?
Qin Lang expressed his respect, “Impressive.”
“You’re more impressive.” Wang Yi shook his head humbly, “I arrived in Dongxia City yesterday and tried out the famous Wen Si Tofu Challenge which is very popular here.”
“My knifework is still far from that level,” he scratched his head with a smile, “I still need to participate in various culinary exchanges to improve myself as soon as possible.”
“To get the five Second-Level Food Recommender Badges required for the Provincial-level Cooking Competition, I still have a long way to go!”
“Can I ask, how many badges have you already gotten?” Qin Lang asked out of curiosity on hearing this.
“Three,” Wang Yi didn’t hide, “At first, I got the Ling Yue Badge awarded by my hometown, Yutu City. Then I went to Qingyang City, which is adjacent to Yutu city.”
“It’s too difficult to get a Second-Level Food Recommender Badge in Qingyang City.” After stating his complaint, Wang Yi continued, “Then 1 came to Dongxia and participated in the Cooking Competition. I was lucky that the tasks I drew were what 1 excelled in. I won the championship and received the Distant Light Badge.”
“I received my third badge a while ago in Miredi City, south of Dongxia City.”
“As for the remaining two, I plan to try my luck in the eastern part of Tianhua State after this Beef Tasting Banquet in Zhen Niu Pavilion.”
There was a hint of anticipation in Wang Yi’s eyes, “There are five months until the annual Provincial-level Cooking Competition. If I want to participate in this session, I need to speed up.”
“Good luck.” Qin Lang led out his sincere blessing.
So the Provincial-level Cooking Competition is in five months…
He quietly remembered this point.
After chatting with Wang Yi for a while, Wang Yi spotted another acquaintance and quickly excused himself to go towards that person.
Qin Lang wasn’t idle either.
After Wang Yi left, many Spirit Chefs from other cities took the initiative to chat with him.
Through these exchanges, Qin Lang had gained some more hands-on understanding of the surrounding cities.
He found it quite beneficial.
As the start time of the Beef Tasting Banquet at Zhen Niu Pavilion approached, Lei Ke finally arrived.
In front of the closed Pavilion door, he walked up to Qin Lang and candidly asked.
“Will you be going on the stage for the beef cooking exchange this time?”
Upon hearing Lei Ke’s question, Qin Lang nodded, “Yes.”
At his reply, Lei Ke showed a content smile, “I’m looking forward to it.”
He didn’t continue the conversation and moved aside. He crossed his arms, leaned against a pillar and looked thoughtful.
In the past two days, having wrapped up the cooking contest, he had not slackened, hoping to secure victory in his match with Qin Lang to prove himself.
Learnt from Qin Lang’s experience of preparing Twice-Cooked Pork in the finals, This time, Lei Ke’s dishes were not as complex as Citrus Embrace, the cooking process was straightforward, but it brought out the unique features of the ingredients fully.
He believed that he would not lose this time.
As time trickled by, more and more invited guests arrived.
Not only were they highly-skilled Spirit Chefs approved by Fu Hang, but there were also Food Recommender from various places who had personal connections with Fu Hang, as well as numerous well-known social elites.
Soon, the time for the Beef Tasting Banquet to begin came.
The tightly shut doors of the Zhen Niu Pavilion finally opened.
Blasts of chilly mist issued from the interior as the door was opened.
Out from the embracing mist, came Fu Hang, dressed in chef’s whites.
This was a dress that he, as a Food Recommender, rarely wore in public.
But everyone’s eyes were fixed behind him.
A food trolley, occupying an area of over ten square metres, came into view.
On the trolley was a pile of shattered ice formed into a two-person tall iceberg, the surging cold mist had been gushing out from it.
The icy mountain was piled high with beef from various cuts, the stunningly intricate marbling on every cross-section of beef could impress anyone.
This sight was visually overpowering.
Seeing the reactions of the crowd, Fu Hang nodded in satisfaction.
“The Zhen Niu Pavilion’s Beef Tasting Banquet this year, commences!”
“This time for the tasting, we have top-class Karls Cattle from Lotlan region and Crescent Moon Pattern Cattle bred from the local Samiya region, harvested after 6oo days of grain feeding and unveiled for the first time!”
Fu Hang stirred up anticipation with just one sentence.
The Karls Cattle needs no introduction, its quality is well-recognized as it has been imported from the Lotlan region all the way to the Samiya region.
The Crescent Moon Pattern Cattle, originated from the Xiyue State in the Samiya region, is also one of the top breeds of beef.
The new breed, a hybrid of these two cattle breeds, has stirred the anticipation of the entire audience instantly.
Every year, new breeding cattle breeds would be unveiled during the Beef Tasting Banquet.
This is the charm of the Food Recommender Fu Hang!
“The savoring of fine food lies in eating, not talking.”
Laughing heartily, Fu Hang said, “I am going straight to the cooking!”
He is indeed not one for long speeches.
On the makeshift outdoor cooking platform, Fu Hang, with his robust arms, lifted a huge, oblong piece of meat with sparse marbling patterns and placed it on the counter.
The moment it hit the chopping board, the piece of beef bounced back rapidly, even appearing to jump, showing its extraordinary elasticity.
It was from the tail end of the sirloin, a part that wrapped the beef tenderloin.
Although it contained a lower fat content – just like the tenderest beef tenderloin – it offered a different taste.
Those who were invited to this Banquet would naturally be familiar with the different parts of beef, so Fu Hang did not provide an introduction and picked up his slender deboning knife.
The expression of everyone in the room instantly filled with anticipation.
The quality of this new breed of beef, the answer would soon be revealed.
Quick Links:[Monthly Ticket][Recommended Vote]