Fix fixed point

Top professional chef competition, eight out of six

Adam's childhood dream was to travel around the world, so he left England at the age of 16 after graduating from a culinary vocational school.He has helped his adoptive father's kitchen since he was a child, and he is very good at kitchen work.He has been to many places and worked in the back kitchen of many restaurants, but he can't remember the names of those restaurants now.

The first time he heard Hong Rui's name was at the Villa18 restaurant in Montreuil, France, when he was 9 years old.

It's not far from Paris, it's like a paradise.The terrace is full of sunshine, with large white parasols and wicker chairs underneath.The surroundings were very quiet, the old chestnut trees rustled in the wind, and Vida the Lambert curled up at his feet, gnawing on a fresh lamb bone.On the table is a creamy salad with freshly picked wild cumin and anchovies from the garden, and in the center of the table is a freshly baked French country potato roast chicken.The head chef of the restaurant is a very peaceful person. He turned on the TV, and everyone used the TV as the background while eating the staff meal.

Hong Rui's voice was an overwhelming noise, reaching Adam's ears.Hong Rui speaks English in the show, and doesn't even have much French accent.The French have always hated the British, and even more the English-speaking French, so some people had to change the channel after taking the remote control, but the chef insisted on watching Hong Rui's program.

Everyone fell silent.The British Navy's active-duty submarine docked in the port and opened the closed gates.Everyone inside was wearing a neat uniform—except for the tall, thin man with black hair and black clothes.He went deep into the submarine step by step, inspecting the Navy's kitchen.The kitchen is cramped and piled high with sprouted potatoes.The cook on the submarine said they only had two supplies a month, so there were only a few days a month when they could eat fresh food.The menu on the submarine is not only monotonous, but because the ship uses nuclear power, the interior is extremely warm, and the food rots very quickly.Therefore, most of the time soldiers eat rotten or even partially rotten food.The French cooks of the time began booing and laughing at the British food supply.But the chef at Villa9 wasn't laughing.

The man went through a detailed inspection of the kitchen facilities, supply chain, budget, and communication with soldiers.At the end of the show he redesigned a supply menu for the Navy, using sous-vide to preserve ingredients.The processed ingredients can not only extend the shelf life, but also more nutritious and delicious.

"It is the responsibility of the chef to let everyone enjoy the food." The chef was sitting next to Adam, and Adam heard him explain in French: "No matter what occupation, status, and nationality, people have the right to enjoy delicious food, and a good Chefs should be able to adapt to local conditions like him, even out of nothing." The soldier on screen was not interested in the restaurant at the beginning of the show, and by the end of the show, the daily meal time became the happiest moment of the soldier's day. When Adam saw When the soldiers worked more efficiently because they ate delicious meals, he felt for the first time that cooking was a great thing.Adam was good at the kitchen job, which he took because it would help him fulfill his dream of traveling the world, but he didn't think it was a noble job.It is not respectable for a cook to serve others.Yet this man opened the gates of the foreign military fortress for him and won the hearts of all officers and soldiers.

Food turned out to be so powerful. From then on, he remembered the name Hongrui and Dukas.

When he heard Hong Rui's name for the second time, he was already 20 years old.At that time he was working in an Italian restaurant in Kyoto, Japan.His poor Japanese made him unable to communicate with the local staff. The only person who could talk to him was the Spanish guy who also came to Japan to play part-time as a chef.Adam's experience as a cook in Spain allowed him to learn some Spanish, and the two often chatted in Spanish mixed with English during breaks.

The Spanish guy loves to cook and has several Spanish cookbooks with him.Adam instantly recognized Hong Rui's face on the cover. The thin man was wearing a white chef's uniform and a pair of black-rimmed glasses.Instead of holding a kitchen knife like most chefs do, he holds a smoking conical beaker in the palm of his hand.Seeing Adam staring at the book, the young man pulled Adam to tell a lot about Hong Rui's deeds, and he was quite enthusiastic about meeting relatives in a foreign land.The moon was very round that night, and there was a soft sound of clogs on the street, and the pink cherry blossoms fell all over the ground.

Adam took a Spanish-English dictionary and translated more than 600 pages of molecular cooking into English for reading.Later, the Spaniard gave him this book before he left, and that book accompanied him to America until he bought a genuine English edition.

When he heard Hong Rui's name for the third time, Adam was 23 years old, and he had been working as the sous chef at the relatively well-known Little Pig restaurant in Los Angeles for almost half a year.The chef valued him very much, and he seriously considered whether to settle down here.He loves Los Angeles, and he can go to Hollywood when restaurants are on vacation, and he can also take short trips to Caltech, where The Big Bang Theory was filmed.Adam likes that comedy. Although he may not be able to understand many jokes, he is still willing to learn.

When he came home from get off work one night, the neighbors were already asleep, and the darkness tightened the strings of silence.He turned on the TV, snapping through the deadlock.

The TV broadcast happened to be Hong Rui's interview.Hong Rui still speaks English, but his accent has softened a lot. If you don't listen carefully, you can hardly tell that you are a foreigner.

The female anchor asked: "Dr. Dukas, your restaurant Alimentum is a pioneer in the industry, but you have no formal training as a chef, have you?"

Hongrui's voice was low and hoarse, but it didn't prevent Adam from hearing clearly: "Yes, I have a Ph. The restaurant where I worked. I learned by doing, from observation and mistakes, from my intuition. My mother taught me to taste the good food that can be seen everyday, architecture taught me aesthetics and rigor, and I follow the basics The traceability of the character made me interested in molecular gastronomy. These factors made Alimentum."

Adam couldn't believe that such a person was self-taught and had no cooking foundation.

He stood up, paced around the room in situ, he walked around and around.He no longer remembered what else Hong Rui said.Adam stared at the face he'd seen countless times, panting.He can't think about it, I have to meet him, I have to cook him a meal, I have to cook him a meal, I have to go!Every time he walked around, the voice in his head beat higher and higher like a wave, and finally he said it, the voice echoed in the apartment and shook his own chest: "I have to go and cook him a meal! "As for why, he has no time to think about it.

There is always such a moment in life, when a sudden desire arises in my heart.Just like when he was young, he watched pirate movies and made up his mind to travel around the world.

Before the age of 23, his dream in life was to travel around the world. After that night, his dream became to cook a meal for Hong Rui Dukas.

Adam resigned with the chef the next day, simply packed his luggage, took Hongrui's two versions of molecular cooking, and flew back to London with a plane ticket.

He took over the appointment from his adoptive father.When he saw the competition of Top Professional Chef, he thought: Maybe if he won the title of Top Chef winner, he would have the opportunity to cook a meal for Hong Rui.He knew that the three finalists would be eligible for an internship at a Samsung restaurant.And maybe, just maybe with a little bit of luck, he could make it to Alimentum.

In fact, he was really lucky, he cooked a meal for Hong Rui earlier than expected, but he messed up.

Adam pinched his apron, a little absent-minded.For him, his dreams were shattered that night.

This time the topic was to cook a dish for referee Simon in two hours.Simon and Tino have always been their referees.Even without doing homework in advance, I learned about Simon's tastes from Simon's previous evaluation along the way.Simon is a round fat guy with a sweet tooth, very sweet.But Ting Nuo is not good at sweets, Ting Nuo eats salty food.

If you want to match what you like, you will definitely make it too sweet.This is a problem for all players.

They are told the topic in advance, so they have already thought about the dishes to make.After Simon announced the start of timing, the contestants put on their aprons and concentrated on their preparations.Adam looked through the process he had written before, he hesitated for a while, and finally decided to make it according to the original plan.He remembered the words of the French chef who let him know about Hongrui when he was 18 years old: "It is the responsibility of the chef to let everyone enjoy the food." And he likes Simon and Tinno, and he hopes that Simon can serve him for a taste. Delighted with desserts specially designed by Simon.

After walking around and asking around, Tinno and Simon chatted while standing out of the camera's reach.

Because Adam was the tallest, he was assigned to the last table and became the closest person to them.

"I heard about the debate between Hong Rui and Alice." Simon did not deliberately lower his voice, obviously thinking that the contestants would not be distracted to listen to them.The scene was filled with the noise of the camera working, the sound of cutting vegetables, the crisp sound of the shovel hitting the pot, the sound of the flame burning-it is not without reason that the kitchen is called hot, and even the egg beater in Adam's own hand is humming ring.Adam paused when he heard Hong Rui's name.Eventually he slowed down the rev so he could hear better.

"You know, it's a good thing it's only broadcast on the radio, and there is no picture. Alice stared at Hong Rui as if she wanted to tie Hong Rui to death on the stake as a heretic." Ting Nuo sighed, "Who do you support?"

"Theoretically, Hong Rui is right, but it is very difficult for people to accept that cooking is just a chemical reaction. After all, many people have romantic fantasies and memories about cooking." Simon did not forget Ting Nuo's position, and he quickly added : "But hey, I don't really care about technique that much, taste is the most important thing."

"I can understand."

Simon didn't want to talk too much on this dangerous topic, so he changed the topic: "Did you ask about going to Alimentum for an internship?"

"Chef Marcus has no objections, but Chef Gray is not very happy. Gray doesn't want untrained people to enter his kitchen. I will go to Hong Rui and hope he will agree."

"Please, I know he's not easy to talk to, but I'll trouble you for this show." Ting Nuo smiled and didn't comment on Hong Rui's temper.

Adam finished beating the eggs and put the butter in the warm pan.When he heard Hong Rui, he felt mixed feelings.Adam listened to Hongrui and Alice's debate on modern cooking, and he knew everyone's prejudice against molecular gastronomy.The public always thinks that molecular cooking uses complex instruments and precise measuring tools to change the texture and taste of the ingredients themselves so as to play with the senses of guests.They believe that the lack of culinary soul in this practice only attracts curiosity seekers.Diners wish their dishes were cooked in a kitchen full of smoke, rather than in a cold laboratory.

But this is not the original intention of Molecular Cooking, at least not Hong Rui's original intention.A man who plays with ingredients does not improve menus for Marines.

Hongrui's counterattack Adam remembers clearly, "You never pay attention when you do certain things, because you just watch others do them. But those things are just abstract changes from science. Study the reasons behind this phenomenon, so The scientific conclusions obtained can make the recipes more reasonable. If you want to follow the ancient law, people once believed that women will spoil the mayonnaise when menstruation comes, do you agree?" (*Note [-])

Adam almost laughed when he thought of this, but soon he restrained his smile. He thought of Hong Rui's expressionless face, stuffing a plate of untouched food into his hand, and quickly said that he did not show any sympathy. Criticism—even using the same tone as countering Alice, it must be the same indifferent face.Hong Rui's imposing manner was overwhelming, and there was not much expression on his face to make people feel awed. Adam was completely speechless.But Adam wasn't about to argue: the truffle ham was indeed a variation on an English breakfast.Yet Adam wasn't unaware that the eggs lacked flavour, it was just that he was powerless to change it.

His weaknesses and tricks can't be hidden in front of Hong Rui, but Hong Rui dismisses them, that's all he can do.

Maybe he should have stayed in LA as his sous chef instead of rushing back to London in the heat.He's grown up and should have understood that not all dreams have happy endings.

Adam hung his head, eyes swollen.The butter in the pan gradually became transparent and began to burn after being tumbled.That process is quick, and the butter turns a black blob in seconds.Adam cursed in his heart, quickly left the fire and tried to save him, but finally had no choice but to give up.

Ting Nuo noticed the small situation here, and brought Simon over. Ting Nuo glanced at the scorched objects in the pot, and quickly understood what happened: "Adam, are you okay?"

Simon quipped: "Are you really going to use burnt butter? Then you're definitely going to be brushed off."

"Of course not. But I'm fine, thank you." Adam managed to force a smile. He knew what this looked like to the referee, either incompetent or distracted, both of which made him feel ashamed.Ting Nuo frowned, this was the first time he saw Adam after the bad breakup.Ting Nuo was very worried about Adam, but he couldn't say anything now.

Adam calmly pulled out a new pan and put it on the fire.Simon stood watching him cut the butter and asked casually, "So what are you going to do for me?"

The nuttiness of the butter comes out as it melts, and the aroma tightens, tumbles, and settles in the flames.Adam removed from the heat the instant the butter turned yellow.He poured the liquid into the prepared coffee filter paper and replied: "What I want to make is popcorn mousse. I put the mousse in a round tube made of sugar, and then put the round tube in the caramel butter. Top the cake with salted caramel sauce."

"Is this the end?"

Both Simon and Tino know Adam very well. Maybe the workload is already too much for ordinary chefs, but Adam has the ability to make more things.

"No," Adam continued, smiling with his head down, "I'll sprinkle some chocolate soil next to the main cake, with dark chocolate marzipan ganache, nougat, chocolate coated popcorn, And chocolate ribbon embellishment." His words were mixed with many nouns, and he spoke so fast that Simon and Tinno were stunned.Ting Nuo quickly realized, "You know you only have..." Ting Nuo looked at his watch and said, "One and a half hours, it sounds like three hours of work for you."

Adam lowered his eyes and replied, "I'll do my best."

Simon and Tinno looked at each other, sensing something was wrong.It's not quite like the laughing young man.

But Adam didn't try his best.He hesitated at the last moment and changed the mix of ingredients.

-

Ting Nuo opened the door of Alimentum's back kitchen and said loudly, "Hong Rui, we need to talk."

It was just after eleven o'clock, and the last two tables of guests were drinking coffee, and they were about to leave soon. It was time for the daily cleaning of the kitchen.But today is different, Hong Rui is wearing a snow-white chef uniform, buttoned up to his chin neatly.Beside him stood Chef Marcus, and Chef Gray.Little Jane was also standing there in a white chef uniform.

On the counter in front of them was a row of cooked products neatly placed, still steaming.On the other side of the table stood a long line of young chefs.Everyone turned their heads to stare at Ting Nuo, only then did Ting Nuo remember that today is the monthly experiment night.

Alimentum is a place where many chefs want to work even if they break their heads. The reason is that Alimentum has one night every month, and Hong Rui will personally taste the new dishes created by his chefs.If the dish is selected by Hong Rui and included in the menu, not only will he get a bonus, but he will also receive additional guidance from Hong Rui.So tonight everyone worked hard to make Hong Rui remember themselves.

Hong Rui slowly swallowed the food in his mouth, beckoning Ting Nuo to have a taste of this dish.Ting Nuo grabbed a spoon, and Little Jane picked up her own bowl and asked Ting Nuo to scoop a spoon from it.

Hong Rui glanced at the chef who was afraid to speak, the chef and Xiao Jian, and asked Ting Nuo's opinion: "What do you think?" Ting Nuo carefully tasted the ingredients in his mouth, mango, soft fish, what is that? fish?With a hint of metal, perch?Tomatoes, mayonnaise, crabmeat.The mango is very sweet and fragrant, the crab meat... he can't taste it, but he can judge it from the texture, the tomato is a little sour, the mayonnaise is sour and sweet, the sea bass... he can't tell.The sweet and sour of the fruit and the sauce collided powerfully, covering up the unique sweetness of the sea bass and crab meat.

"I can't quite taste it." Ting Nuo said, "The taste is too rich."

"Not too rich." With a clang, Hong Rui clapped the spoon in his hand again and asked, "Who made this?"

A young man raised his hand hesitantly, Hong Rui rolled his eyes impatiently because of his dawdling action, and asked sharply: "Do you have any opinion on my fishmonger?" answer.Hong Rui continued to ask: "How stale is the fish today that made you put such heavy seasoning?"

At the same time, Chef Gray had a look of embarrassment on his face. He said, "Chef, I think this dish is very innovative. Mangoes add a touch of tropical flavor to this dish. We rarely use mangoes as an ingredient... "

"But it doesn't mean that mangoes can steal the show. Or am I misunderstanding that mangoes are actually the main ingredient?"

No one can answer this sentence.Hongrui stared at the current chef Marcus and said, "Marcus, you need to continue to guide Gray's perception of the combination of flavors." This is another unwritten rule of Alimentum. chef.Little Jane and Marcus are both students of Hongrui, while Gray is a student of Marcus.That young man must have been Gray's student, which is why Gray defended him so much.But now Hongrui also denies Gray's own taste because of the taste of Gray's students.

"Yes, Chef! (*Note [-])" Marcus replied, and Gray clenched his fingers.Hong Rui walked up the steps and said that tonight's tasting was over.Ting Nuo remembered the purpose of coming to Hong Rui, and hurriedly chased after him.The young chefs downstairs looked up, enviously watching Tinuo step up the steps leading to the Alimentum experimental kitchen.

Hong Rui was taking out some equipment from a commercial double-door refrigerator.

"What do you want to tell me?" Hong Rui asked without looking back.

"Adam."

"Who is that?" Hong Rui asked absently, he took out a pot and started frying bacon.

Ting Nuo is angry, how can Hong Rui forget Adam?

He thinks of the young man who loves to laugh, he thinks of Adam's strong flavor combination with great personality, and he thinks of the dessert Adam put in front of him today.

When the dessert was placed in front of him and Simon, Hong Rui's evaluation of Adam suddenly broke into his mind.It's not like throwing a bunch of ingredients onto a plate, the presentation is clearly well thought out.Making sugar shells is not easy, but rewarding.Layers of mousse are encased in a transparent cylindrical sugar shell, and the mousse seems to congeal in the air like magic.Chocolate popcorn, chocolate soil, and ganache scattered around add color and interest.The chocolate ribbon wrapped around the sugar shell not only demonstrates the superb craftsmanship, but also makes the whole dish three-dimensional, which looks very expensive.

Simon smacked his tongue as he watched the mousse pour out over the buttered cake as he cracked the sugar shell, and he could tell he loved the presentation.But is this another whimsy that Hong Rui said?

No, this is definitely not whimsy, it is very practical, who said that the presentation must be static.Eating food can also be as full of changes as drama.

Ting Nuo repeatedly tortured his own thoughts to distinguish what was his own thoughts and what was Hong Rui's evaluation.

However, after taking a few bites, Simon showed a thoughtful expression, and he turned sideways to invite Ting Nuo to try it too.Ting Nuo was not the referee that night, but because he was curious about Adam's work, he picked up the spoon and took a bite.

“It’s delicious, the butter cake is rich and the caramel is wonderfully salty – it’s a smart idea to use the saltiness to set off the sweetness. The dark chocolate is also delicious, but it always feels like something is missing.” Simon thought Thinking, said: "The ganache is just ordinary dark chocolate flavor, he didn't add almonds." Tinno frowned, chewing the butter cake hard with his eyes closed.Hong Rui's previous evaluation of Adam and Ting Nuo's own feelings are once again in a mess, and Ting Nuo can't make a rational judgment.

Simon sighed melancholy with his double chin: "The taste of this dish is much inferior to its appearance. It's not that Adam's cooking is poor, but it's not as good as I expected. He is good at shocking people with bold combinations. Why did he suddenly become so conservative today? It won't work if he continues like this." Ting Nuo couldn't help but rejoice that he wasn't the referee tonight, and it didn't matter if he didn't comment.

After Ting Nuo finished talking about what happened tonight, he concluded angrily: "It's all because of you, and now I can't look at Adam's dishes fairly. And Adam, a chef with a bright future, because of your angry evaluation It's unfair to him to have doubts about his own talent."

Unmoved, Hong Rui opened the oven and took out a frying pan that had been there a long time ago, carefully placed the egg whites in the pan on a white plate, and dug a round hole in the center.He was doing the work at hand in an orderly manner, and asked without raising his head: "What does that have to do with me? Why should I care about an irrelevant person."

"You don't need to care about Adam, Hong Rui, but I'm not an irrelevant person." Ting Nuo pointed to his own chest, and mustered up the courage to say the draft that he had thought all the way: "I, Valentino, represent the Your face, your job. And I care about his future, and I care about my own conscience."

Hong Rui suddenly raised his head and glared at Ting Nuo. He felt threatened and narrowed his eyes dangerously.He put down the equipment in his hand and took a few steps towards Ting Nuo, approaching in front of Ting Nuo.Ting Nuo took a step back hesitantly, and raised his head to face his questioning: "Are you threatening me?"

"No, no, no, no..." Ting Nuo's hard-earned courage evaporated, he shook his hands, and said with a smile on his face, "Of course I won't threaten you. Hong Rui, can you go talk to Adam? Adam is really talented, and I don't want him to be buried because of your words."

Hong Rui turned and walked to another oven, and took out a mold from it.He put the egg yolk formed in the mold into the depression of the white, which looks like a freshly fried sunny egg.He took out other prepared ingredients from the refrigerator and placed them on the plate with tweezers.Ting Nuo stood where he was, insisting on waiting for Hong Rui's answer.Hong Rui finally held the matsutake and wiped it on the plate a few times.After finishing all this, he straightened up and said, "Do you want to have supper? Tinuo."

"I'm not hungry, don't try to use me as a test subject."

"From what you just described, Adam's dessert was very good in terms of presentation and taste. And my evaluation of him is not as low as you think. Do you remember that I didn't criticize him? For matching, I just pointed out the shortcomings for improvement. Although it’s just a breakfast, who said breakfast can’t be included in Alimentum’s menu?” Hong Rui pushed the plate in his hand towards Ting Nuo, “And this is my think he could be."

Only then did Ting Nuo lower his head and take a good look at the dishes that Hong Rui had been preparing just now, eggs, ham, and truffles. The ingredients looked similar to Adam's matsutake eggs, but the dishes were carefully designed and had Hong Rui's style.

Ting Nuo ran to the place where the tableware was usually stored, and couldn't wait to try it.Hong Rui took a lock box from the corner of the refrigerator and walked out the door. "where you go?"

Hong Rui shook the box in his hand: "Go find Adam. Don't forget to clean the kitchen after eating."

Tino wanted to protest, but the door was closed.

*Note [-]: This sentence is quoted from the molecular gastronomy of HervesThis, Herves is the founder of molecular gastronomy in France.

*Note [-]: YesChef.This is what you say when you obey the chef.The kitchen is a very hierarchical place.There is only one chef in a kitchen. When Hongrui is there, Hongrui is the only chef. Even the real chef should call him the chef.

Adam's dessert was adapted from episode 17 of the sixth season of MasterChef UK Division (pictured). The chef's name is Adam.I like that Adam very much.