Food customizer.

The first banquet.

These are three very intriguing words. Anyone who loves food or has studied domestic food stories knows that among China’s state banquets, the most famous one is: the first banquet after the founding of the country.

The state banquet was held at the Beijing Hotel on the evening of National Day in 1949. The attendees came from all over the world, with different nationalities, identities, tastes and cultural differences.

Therefore, in order to be able to "take both into account", the banquet decided to choose Huaiyang cuisine with moderate taste. This was also an important reason why Huaiyang cuisine appeared frequently in state banquets later. At that time, there were only Western food in Beijing hotels, so Mr. Zhu from Yuhuatai, a very famous Huaiyang restaurant in Beijing, and nine Huaiyang cuisine masters under his company were invited to prepare this "first banquet of the founding of the country."

These Huaiyang masters naturally tried their best and brought their skills to the best of their ability, so the dishes for this banquet were: eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, one appetizer, and four kinds of dim sum.

The banquet consisting of twenty-one dishes was set up on sixty tables and received positive reviews from all walks of life. Huaiyang cuisine became a hit.

But what made Su Chen a little suspicious was.

"Brother Shang, as far as I understand, most foreign reception banquets are now seated, which is really inconsistent with the situation of the first banquet, and if I remember correctly."

In fact, Su Chen didn't know these stories at all. These were just the knowledge he read in the history of world cuisine when he had nothing to do.

"Although the banquet was very well prepared, it was too sumptuous. After the banquet, the Prime Minister set the standard of four dishes and one soup for banquets in the future. So what does it mean that the Culinary Association chose the first banquet as the theme?"

If it is about eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes and four dim sum, then there is really nothing much to say. It is basically made according to the standards of Huaiyang cuisine, and even the dishes that can be chosen are strictly set.

but if.

It would be much more interesting if we did it according to the Prime Minister's instructions.

Four dishes and one soup.

People who know the business must not only match meat and vegetables, but also alternate between hot and cold dishes. In addition, it must be colorful, and it is best to include poultry, livestock, meat, and eggs.

This test is no longer about the chef's skills, but more about the chef's understanding of food, such as "what kind of dishes to serve in what occasion".

Shang Mingke pinched his chin and thought for a moment, "This proposition is really a bit complicated. If you are not careful, you will fall into the trap of the Cooking Association."

He looked up at Su Chen, "Didn't the State Guesthouse do it first? You might as well see how they deal with it first, and then decide to do the same as them, or find another way."

After all, he is a layman, so Shang Mingke is not in a position to give any advice.

However, this [First Banquet] seemed to have some small traps in it. Su Chen felt a little uncomfortable. He decided to make four dishes and one soup, which seemed a bit shabby. It was the 21st century now, and it was no longer the era of food shortage and clothing shortage.

Making eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes and four dim sum dishes would go against the original intention of the first banquet.

It's really a headache.

Following Su Chen's usual practice, he would not think about things that he couldn't figure out for the time being. Since he couldn't determine which approach to follow to deal with this proposition, he would just prepare two plans!

By then, it won’t be too difficult to use any of them.

"Brother Shang, let's go back and rest first, and then go out to eat together when Shu Yu comes. It's my treat today, so don't grab it."

Shang Mingke nodded. "Now you are a wealthy man, much richer than me, so I don't feel guilty about eating your meals. I have arranged a room for you in the guesthouse. You can go and rest after a busy day. I will arrange the pick-up."

When you are away from home, it is easier to have someone to help you and you don’t have to worry about anything. Su Chen exhaled, closed his eyes slightly, and began to rest in the car.

In fact, although Su Chen did not enter the practice room directly at this moment, he had already opened the two books "Fragments of Chinese Famous Recipes" and "A General History of World Cuisine" in his mind.

While reading the history, slowly look for the dishes.

"The twenty-one dishes in this first banquet are really something."

When Su Chen read that period of history, the content of the general history of food seemed to take shape and began to form scene after scene in his mind, giving him the feeling of watching a movie.

Su Chen followed Teacher Zhu in the picture and shuttled through the kitchen of the Beijing Hotel.

"Hey, hey, hey! You can't use that rapeseed!"

"Didn't I tell you that all rapeseed should be three and a half inches tall, with thick green leaves, and the stems should be removed, leaving only the three tender leaves!"

"Hey, you, please cut some vegetables and leave an extra portion for the lab technician!"

From processing ingredients to starting cooking, Su Chen walked around each chef and looked at them, until Shang Mingke's voice sounded, and then he pulled himself out of this immersive "reading".

"Then go back and rest first?"

When Su Chen opened his eyes, the car had already stopped in the backyard of the Urban Construction Group.

This was not the first time he came to this place. Su Chen stood up and got out of the car. "Excuse me, Brother Shang. I'll take a rest first. We'll take action after the two of them arrive."

Shang Mingke patted Su Chen's arm and said, "Why are you being so polite to me? You should take some time to rest. I'll take care of some work. After I'm done, we can go out for dinner tonight!"

Shang Mingke sent Su Chen to the prepared room, and told Su Chen to tell the front desk of the guesthouse directly if he needed anything, and then returned to the office building.

Su Chen, who was lying on the bed, did not sleep, but continued to read immersively with his eyes closed.

Whether it was the first banquet after the founding of the country, or the ordinary state banquet that was later changed to four dishes and one soup, after Su Chen read a lot of history from beginning to end, he had a feeling in a trance.

"What is a banquet?"

"Just food."

No matter what kind of banquet it is, a family banquet, a state banquet, or any other type of banquet, in the final analysis, we are all doing one thing: eating.

Nowadays, the Great Hall of the People or State Guesthouses in Beijing all provide dining services. You don't need to be a big shot at all. As long as you bring money and walk in to order food, you can enjoy the state banquet meals that only leaders of various countries can eat.

Here, it is divided into seated meals and ordinary meals.

If it is a standard meal, then it is an ordinary meal.

If it is a customized meal, it will be in the form of a seated meal.

If it is a seated meal, you just need to sit there and the waiters will start serving the dishes one by one. If the VIP likes the food, he or she can eat more. If the food is not to your liking, the waiters will take the dish away and move on to the next one.

However, in state banquets, seats are not usually used for dining. At most, meals are served separately. If it is just a meal after some national conferences in China, the meal is basically served according to the standard of "four dishes and one soup".

If there are many people, we can add more dishes as appropriate, and the main point is: absolutely no waste.

So after watching many state banquets, Su Chen opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, his thoughts drifting into outer space.

"After all, it's just a meal. Some people give these meals various names based on the different identities of the diners. State banquets sound very grand, but are they really delicious?"

When he was a host, Su Chen had actually been to the Great Hall of the People for dinner.

If you have to say it.

The food, texture and taste there are not even as good as those in the top hotels in first- and second-tier cities. After all, the kitchens of those hotels are mostly run by state banquet chefs.

And they really do business based on taste.

"So this so-called state banquet is not because of any kind of meeting or something like that, because the focus is on the exchange of food, so the banquet itself is the focus."

"So."

In a trance, Su Chen seemed to have found the true meaning of this banquet.

That is: delicious, extremely delicious!

"Of course we must keep the Prime Minister's instructions in mind. Although this assessment is related to the selection of the state banquet in the future, we must not be extravagant or sensational. We must focus all our attention and focus on the quality of the dishes themselves."

This is just an evaluation, and Su Chen still believes that when that day really comes, the association will not sit idly by.

At least they will give some tips on the choice of dishes.

It's like this with everything; once the tone is set, the rest will be much easier.

Su Chen immediately opened the Chinese Cookbook in his mind and began to read it.

Four dishes and one soup does not mean that it is simple or not grand. As long as it is cooked well, Su Chen believes that even four dishes and one soup can make people linger over and over again.

Most of the evaluators this time are from Beijing.

The tastes of Beijing residents have changed a lot over the years. Because Beijing itself is a gathering place for delicacies from all over the country, their dining choices are very diverse, and both their acceptance level and preference are easy to grasp.

“But Huaiyang cuisine should still be the main focus.”

The time spent flipping through recipes always passed quickly, and it was almost ten o'clock in the evening when Ling Shuyu and Fang Chang finally arrived in the capital.

The moment he saw Su Chen, Fang Chang's knees went weak and he almost fell to his knees.

"Boss Su! You can give me this kind of order. You will be my second parent from now on!"

Su Chen was a little confused, "No. What are you doing?"

Fang Chang excitedly grabbed Su Chen's arm and said, "From now on, we can add a sentence under the sign of our Fang's Meat Industry! Specialized meat for state banquets!"

Su Chen:-_-||

As expected, when you go out, you give yourself an identity. If this deal is done, there is really no big problem with Fang Chang writing like this, but the profits that can be brought by writing like this are not comparable to simple advertising.

Moreover, for someone like him who is in the real industry, especially the meat industry, it is not easy to advertise.

Su Chen had no idea before, but now he has reacted.

Judging from Fang Chang's excitement, let alone spending money to find someone to buy the ingredients for him, I'm afraid there are many people who are willing to give him the ingredients for free, or even offer him benefits, right?

But Su Chen didn't care. He looked down on these small favors.

Pulling away the hand that was grabbing his arm, he said, "So, the reason I asked you to come here this time is to let you see how the State Guest House selects ingredients, and you can learn from them."

Director Fang didn't have time to care about this. He just nodded excitedly, "Okay, okay! Everything is up to you! I will study hard, visit carefully, and complete the task, and not embarrass our delicious food!"

Su Chen didn't say much.

Whether or not we can get the hosting rights is another matter, and it is too early to say that now.

Then he briefly explained the current situation to Ling Shuyu, "So this time, you have the most important task! You must remember all the procedures of the State Guesthouse from the beginning of preparation to the end of the banquet!"

"Although we don't necessarily have to copy their process, they are more experienced in this area after all. It's good to have a reference."

It's very comfortable to talk to Ling Shuyu. You don't need to say much at all, she can understand most of what you mean.

The girl nodded, "I see."

"Okay, why bother to come here so late at night? Now hurry up and go out to eat. We have to go to the State Guesthouse early tomorrow morning."

Also traveling with them was Shang Mingke.

Although he said that Su Chen would treat them, Shang Mingke actually took everyone to a small restaurant near the company.

"This is the restaurant I often go to when I work overtime. Let me bring you guys to try it."

Su Chen said apologetically, "It should have been my treat."

Shang Mingke waved his hand to indicate that it didn't matter.

It’s already past ten o’clock. I don’t know what time it will be after dinner. We all have to get up early tomorrow.

But it must be said that Shang Mingke had been in contact with Zhang Maolin for a long time, and it was finally Lu Yongliang who said some good words to him, and Mr. Maolin finally agreed to take Shang Mingke with him.

Dinner was also relatively simple. We just ordered a few home-cooked dishes and each had a bowl of noodles. That solved our dinner problem.

The next day, early in the morning.

The sky was just getting light.

Su Chen and his group are already dressed and ready to go.

Standing at the door of the Urban Construction Group, Ling Shuyu smiled for no reason.

It's hard to tell whether it's a wry smile or self-mockery, "I've been to Beijing many times, and every time I get up at dawn, but I've never seen the national flag being raised."

Su Chen also had some feelings, "I always feel busy, and I don't know what I'm busy with. After I'm done with this, let's go watch the flag-raising ceremony together."

Fang Chang laughed foolishly, "Hehe, hehe! Look, you must look! It's my treat!"

Shang Mingke shook his head and sat in the passenger seat. "It's free to watch the flag-raising ceremony. Let's get going quickly. If you leave later, the food will be ready soon."

Perhaps because they left too early, there was no traffic jam on the streets of Beijing at this time, which broke Su Chen's stereotype of Beijing.

Soon, the car drove into a mahogany gatehouse with a few large words written in gold paint on it: Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

It was Fang Chang’s first time here. He leaned against the window and looked left and right. He was so shocked that he couldn’t speak for a long time.

"This is the ancient royal garden and the current state guesthouse complex. Don't think too much."

It's no wonder that Fang Chang acts like he has never seen the world before. After all, the park area alone is as high as 420,000 square meters, and the artificial lake alone is 50,000 square meters.

It is no exaggeration to say that if you treat it as a tourist attraction, you cannot visit it all in one day just by walking.

The driver parked the car directly in front of Building No. 3.

This place is located in the center of the State Guesthouse. To the north is the club. Surrounded by gurgling lakes, the scenery is very beautiful. When seeing this place, Su Chen couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable.

'No wonder the environment and decoration of the restaurant were rated 9 or even close to full marks. Compared with the environment of the State Guest House, the 7 points for the deliciousness seems a bit high.'

I continued walking inside, and just as I reached the door, someone came to greet me.

Following the instructions, several people walked into the banquet hall.

What catches your eye are hundreds of round tables!

Each table is covered with a pure white tablecloth. There are five chairs around the table, all wrapped in white cloth. At first glance, it gives a very clean and tidy feeling.

"Building No. 3 is a comprehensive reception building. It has banquet halls of various sizes, enough to meet all kinds of reception needs." Shang Mingke said in a low voice.

Before the others could say anything, they saw Zhang Maolin and a few others sitting on a sofa nearby, chatting about the day.

Someone noticed the arrival of Su Chen and his companions, and after moving their mouths, several people over there stood up one after another.

Li Wenkui walked in front, and the others followed behind.

"Boss Su! Would you like to sit down first or go directly to the kitchen?"

After Su Chen shook hands with Li Wenkui, he smiled and said, "Let's go directly to the kitchen! I am looking forward to watching so many state banquet chefs cook."

Li Wenkui didn't waste any words, turned around and said to everyone, "Then please move to the kitchen!"

Su Chen gave Ling Shuyu a look, and she wisely stayed in the banquet hall.

He and Director Fang followed the leaders into the kitchen.

This is the kitchen of the State Guesthouse!