Abnormal Gourmet Chronicle
Chapter 293 - 189 Chef Record (Added more for Xingchen who is still in the Iron Armor Alliance!)

Chapter 293: Chapter 189 Chef Record (Added more for Xingchen who is still in the Iron Armor Alliance!)

Unlocking a new guide is indeed delightful, but what’s for dinner tonight is more important.

Qin Huai changed clothes and went into the kitchen, finding only Wang Jun and a few others like Dong Shi prepping ingredients, neither Huang Jia nor Master Huang were present.

Upon inquiry, he learned that tomorrow evening, Huang’s will host a wedding banquet, with Huang Shengli personally cooking limited banquet dishes, currently undergoing therapy to prepare for tomorrow’s banquet.

Huang Jia, on the other hand, worried about Huang An Yao’s ability to secure the best ingredients from suppliers and took the afternoon off to oversee them personally. It’s uncertain when he’ll return; if he doesn’t make it back by dinner service, Huang Shengli will likely take over as head chef in Huang Jia’s place.

It can only be said that diners at Huang’s tonight are in luck.

"Dong Shi, do you know which restaurants Mr. Gong visited in Beiping? Why has he been gone so long? I saw his social media today, and it seems he has no intention of coming back," Qin Huai took the rare opportunity of not having to work in Huang’s kitchen to gossip by Dong Shi’s side.

While chopping meat, Dong Shi replied, "He only ate at one place, the most famous private restaurant in Beiping."

"Fen Garden."

"Fen Garden?" Qin Huai took out his phone to search and found it quite famous, with many posts available online, receiving mixed reviews.

Positive reviews mostly praised the food, saying it’s very delicious and lives up to its reputation, worthy of the skills of a master ranked in the top ten of the Chef Record.

Negative reviews mainly condemned the prices, calling it extortionate, claiming prices are crazy, and questioning if they were selling food or gold; without an advance reservation, paying extra gets you a table, which lacks the style of a true master, and the head chef is money-minded.

"What kind of skills puts someone in the top ten of the Chef Record?" Qin Huai asked curiously.

"A contemporary master, unparalleled, reaching the pinnacle," Dong Shi unusually used brief words for maximum praise, "In my lifetime, forget getting into the top ten of the Chef Record, if I just make it to the top 50, it’d be a great blessing for my ancestors, a life without regrets."

"That’s impressive." Qin Huai was a bit shocked.

He only learned about the Chef Record when Huang An Yao was explaining Xu Cheng’s ’Taste’ to him, mentioning that Xu Cheng created a system similar to Michelin, but solely for ranking chefs.

It selects the top 100 renowned chefs globally to make it onto the Chef Record, held every five years. Initially, 50 were selected worldwide, but by the second selection, thinking that 50 was too few, they increased it to 100.

According to Huang An Yao, the increase from 50 to 100 in the Chef Record was mainly because the selection period was too long, held only once every five years, and primarily featured meat chefs, with pastry chefs being rare.

The peak period for meat chefs lasts only a few years, with many getting listed near the end of their prime, and by the next selection, they are retired or semi-retired. Also, the Chef Record doesn’t require the chef to be currently active, as long as they are still alive, they can remain on the list.

This resulted in only about 30 currently active chefs in the top 50 during the second selection.

Thus, it spawned many classic jokes about the Chef Record; for instance, someone ranked third is actually the best active chef, but couldn’t become number one because the top two are retired, so he couldn’t compete with them.

Of course, a loyal fan of ’Taste,’ Huang An Yao, has clarified this rumor, saying such absurd situations are impossible. The rankings in the top 50 of the Chef Record require careful deliberation by a professional team, and the top 30 need Xu Cheng’s personal approval.

As the world’s most renowned foodie, Xu Cheng’s credibility in the matter of food is widely recognized, and it’s precisely due to this that the Chef Record maintains its high standing.

The top 50 holds significant weight, whereas ranks 51 to 100 are relatively less impressive. The latter doesn’t require Xu Cheng’s approval, and the evaluation team differs from the top 50, making it easier to exploit for newcomers to gain fame.

This fame-building has its intricacies.

How can a new chef make a name in the chef circle?

The answer is getting onto the Chef Record.

It’s challenging for regular chefs to make it to the Chef Record; there are so many restaurants worldwide, and the selection team can’t notice every chef in every restaurant. One must gain fame first to capture the attention of the evaluators, who will then visit their restaurant and evaluate their skills, thus earning a spot on the Chef Record.

Typically, ordinary chefs aim for the Chef Record by spending money to create buzz, buying ads, and securing interviews with food magazines to accumulate enough fame to attract the evaluators’ attention. Subsequently, leveraging their decent skills to barely squeeze into the 90s in the rankings, earning entry to the next evaluation.

This evaluation approach leaves room for loopholes and manipulation, allowing some mediocre chefs to climb the rankings through money, while skilled chefs may miss out due to obscurity.

Therefore, recognition beyond 70 in the Chef Record is not high, with only the top 50 generally acknowledged in the industry, the top 30 recognized as masters, the top 20 as industry benchmarks, and the top 10 as leading figures.

When Huang An Yao previously explained this to Qin Huai, he had no concept of rankings, masters, or skills, treating it more like a tale that quickly faded from memory.

Now, hearing Dong Shi’s recognition and learning that Gong Liang is enjoying the culinary talents of a top-ten-ranked chef’s private kitchen in Beiping, Qin Huai became somewhat interested in the rankings and checked them out.

Based on the names, two chefs appear to be Chinese, with Peng Changping ranked first and Xia Mubing ranked tenth.

Sun Mao Cai at fifteenth probably is also a Chinese chef.

Qin Huai had heard of the twenty-fourth rank, Pei Shenghua, a distant uncle of Pei Xing.

Chinese chefs increased in the latter ranks, with Qin Huai noticing carefully; Huang Shengli ranks forty-fourth, acting as a sort of gatekeeper to the top 50.

Huang Jia fared worse, ranked seventy-eighth, a subpar ranking according to Huang An Yao’s standards.

Neither Zheng Siyuan nor Zheng Da appeared on the list.

"Why isn’t Master Zheng Da on this list?" Qin Huai asked.

Given that Huang Jia managed a ranking of 78, Zheng Da should easily rank around 50. In Qin Huai’s view, Zheng Da’s culinary skills only trailed slightly behind Huang Shengli, and since he wasn’t a chef by trade, ranking 50 on the Chef Record would be quite an achievement.

"Junior Master Zheng refused to participate in the rankings," Dong Shi said, looking around and whispering an explanation, "He participated once, ranking fifty-third, just below Master Tan of Zhiwei Restaurant. Junior Master Zheng thought this was too low and believed his skills were no worse than Master Tan’s, so participating only to be overshadowed by Master Tan didn’t sit well with him, leading to his refusal to join."

"But I think that’s an excuse; the real issue was his unhappiness with ranking far below Master Zheng."

"Master Zheng’s first ranking in the Chef Record was thirty-seventh, and falling to forty-fourth now is due to his performance being affected by back injury."

"Is Fen Garden’s head chef Peng Changping, ranked first, or Xia Mubing, ranked tenth?" Qin Huai asked.

"It’s Master Xia; Master Peng Changping has been retired in the U.S. for many years now."

"How exorbitant are Fen Garden’s prices to earn such criticisms of being black-hearted, despite ranking tenth?" Qin Huai was even more curious.

Huang Shengli’s peak rank of thirty-seven involved exceptional culinary skills, leaving Qin Huai hesitant to imagine what culinary wonders a tenth-ranked chef could create.

Dong Shi thought for a moment before saying, "I haven’t eaten there, but it’s said their prices are ten times ours at Huang’s."

Qin Huai:!

"Without an advance reservation, doubling that again."

Qin Huai:!!

"Mr. Gong has been indulging in impromptu meals these past days, likely spending more than my annual salary in just a few days."

Qin Huai gained a new understanding of Gong Liang’s wealth.

On another note, it made him even more eager to inherit 10% of his estate; wishing the game system would release more side quests related to Gong Liang, which he’d gladly take on.

"By the way, Qin Huai, senior brother mentioned you’re switching from making Five Fillings Bun to Three Meat Buns. Why, is it difficult to handle sea cucumber? You don’t seem to be in charge of that," Dong Shi asked.

"I recently practiced making Three Meat Buns back at Yunzhong Restaurant and felt enlightened with significant breakthroughs. I believe Three Meat Buns hold more value for practice, and since I make them quite well now, I’ll stick to making Three Meat Buns in the future," Qin Huai explained earnestly.

Dong Shi: ?

Only six days off in total, how could there be such enlightenment?

Cooking isn’t like internal energy cultivation where one can achieve a sudden breakthrough; it’s built on accumulated practice, with enlightenment only at bottlenecks.

It’s evident Qin Huai hasn’t reached any bottleneck; he levels up like a game character when experience maxes out, never stuck at any level.

"Oh, I see." Dong Shi didn’t fully understand but accepted it, "Will you still make Chicken Soup Noodles tomorrow morning?"

"Definitely, Zheng Siyuan loves Chicken Soup Noodles the most. Since I can’t practice Crab Dumplings now, I’ll be making Chicken Soup Noodles in the morning," Qin Huai said.

Dong Shi was bewildered: "Zheng Siyuan loves Chicken Soup Noodles? Did he tell you this? How do you know? I’ve never heard of it. Though I don’t often talk to him—he rarely talks to us—but who passed on this information?"

Dong Shi bore a look that said, ’No one in Huang’s kitchen could be more gossip-loving or intelligence-gathering than me.’

"I guessed," Qin Huai said calmly, "I noticed long ago that whenever I make Chicken Soup Noodles, Zheng Siyuan seems a bit happier. It’s clear he enjoys it more."

"Especially when Huang Jia prepares the broth, he drinks it all up each time."

"Also, I can guess that, while Huang An Yao claims to love Crab Dumplings, he actually prefers guo’er."

"Huang Jia likes sweet-filled Crab Shell Cake."

"You like Fermented Rice with Steamed Buns."

"Your brother loves Dream Come True Sesame Bun the most, but sometimes he’s picky about my fillings, and might secretly stir-fry fillings himself to pair with the buns."

Dong Shi was stunned again, seeing Qin Huai as more skilled at collecting gossip than him in Huang’s kitchen.

"Anyway, who’s making the staff meal tonight?" Qin Huai asked.

"My brother," Dong Shi was still reeling from shock, "So that’s why my brother stir-fried meat for Dream Come True Sesame Bun; I wondered why he suddenly did that when it wasn’t on the menu."

Qin Huai nodded: "I’ll head to the Bone Setting Shop first, and come back later for the staff meal."

Dong Shi saw Qin Huai off, mumbling to himself, "Am I the one working at Huang’s for 8 years or is it Qin Huai? Why does he seem more familiar with Huang’s than I am?"

Wang Jun silently divided the chopped ingredients and said, "Didn’t you know Qin Huai observes others’ eating habits and remembers their preferences?"

Dong Shi suffered another blow.

"Otherwise, do you think Mr. Gong likes him so much?" Wang Jun said, "A chef with his skill level, habits, and willingness to act on them is hard to find."

"Not to mention, Qin Huai has a good relationship with Mr. Gong, willing to cook special dishes for him."

Dong Shi realized and put down his knife, chasing after Qin Huai: "Qin Huai, what do you want to eat tonight? I’ll have my brother cook it for you!"

Wang Jun: ...

It feels like someone is competing in a peculiar direction.

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