The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 399
Changsha, Hunan.

The decoration site of the central kitchen store of Aqiao Dumpling House.

Lao Tan and Wang Shulan came here as soon as they got off the plane, Han Jun, Xiaofeng, Liu Yang, Meng Meng and the new head chef Qin Haixiao were all there.

The decoration has been roughly completed, and the remaining details will be finished in two days.The front desk attendants are clearing up sundries and cleaning, and the kitchen staff are familiarizing themselves with the equipment and organizing items.

The store looks not small, but the actual business area is not large, about [-] square meters.The first half of the first floor is the hall, and the second half is the kitchen.The eastern area of ​​the second floor is a private room, and the western area is an office area and warehouse.

As soon as you enter the door, the first thing you see is the wine counter with various health wines and old wines. The wine counter and the cash register are integrated into one, all of which are rough and bold decorations of the Northeast Baishan Heishui.

The white birch log counter with bark is hung with red lanterns, red peppers and corn cobs are hung on the wall, and the red hanging money paper-cuts of the Eight Great Monsters of Northeast China are pasted on the window lattice, which is vivid.

On the left hand side of the wine table are dumpling and stew stalls, and on the right hand are cold dishes, hot dishes, and casserole pot stalls.The entire bright stalls are lined up 40 meters long, with extraordinary momentum and grandeur.

Xiaofeng and Qin Haixiao reported the work situation to Lao Tan respectively. At present, all the kitchen staff are in place, and there are still eight waiters and two food handlers at the front desk.

The training work started a week ago, and now it is training in the morning, cleaning in the afternoon, and the actual drill for one hour in the evening.

Lao Tan asked about the food and accommodation of the employees, and Han Jun said that everything has been arranged, the dormitory is better than that of the old store, and the employees are very satisfied.

Then Lao Tan came to the kitchen and chatted with Meng Meng for a while.Meng Meng said that her master Wang Hong had given her the method of making dumplings stuffed with mushrooms, and she was trying to make them these days, and she wanted to ask Lao Tan to try them.

Lao Tan called the head chef, Qin Haixiao, and asked him if he had any raw materials in the kitchen, and if he could arrange some dishes, and try dumplings by the way.Qin Haixiao said yes, and will try the dishes in the next two days, and there are ingredients.

So in the evening, a table was set up in the private room. Meng Meng made dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut and mushroom stuffing. The master of cold dishes, northeast dishes, Hunan dishes, clay pot dishes, and stewed dishes made two dishes respectively, and the table was full.

Present here are Lao Tan, Wang Shulan, Xiaofeng, Han Jun, Meng Meng, Qin Haixiao, Liu Yang, the bosses of each stall and the two front desk supervisors, all of whom are from their own family.

Decoration preparations and training are the hardest work. Lao Tan wanted to reward everyone, so he asked Han Jun to take the wine and prepare to have a drink with everyone.

Lao Tan first expressed his gratitude to everyone, and after drinking the first cup, everyone followed suit.Then I tasted a dumpling stuffed with mountain mushrooms, which tasted the same as Wang Hongbao's. I couldn't help but praised Meng Meng: "Your level is almost catching up with your master now."

"Why, I did it according to my master's teaching, and I can't adjust it myself." Meng Meng said.

Seeing that Lao Tan praised Mengmeng's dumplings as delicious, Qin Haixiao said: "Tan Dong, try the dishes, we will improve the unqualified ones."

When Qin Haixiao spoke, he had a humble face, it was comfortable to listen to, and he could feel sincerity.But Lao Tan frowned. The reason was that Qin Haixiao spoke in the wrong place, which made people feel that he was competing with Meng Meng—you can't just praise the dumplings but not the cooking.

Qin Haixiao was transferred from Zhongqing from the provincial capital. Before that, he was the head chef of the University Town Store in North Province.The Northeast cuisine is good, the management is good, and the sales task has been exceeded for two consecutive years.

But he has a shortcoming. He loves to express himself, and he always laments that he has nowhere to use his great abilities and his talents are underappreciated.He is related to Zhongqing, and Zhongqing has spoken to him several times, although he restrained himself, the effect was not great.

Zhongqing sent him this time to tell him to practice under Lao Tan's nose, and another reason was that he had just divorced his wife and was in a bad mood, so he was also asked to change his environment.

Old Tan knew him better, otherwise he would not have agreed to transfer him to Zhongqing.

Everyone at the table expressed goodwill towards Qin Haixiao's humility and sincerity, and he had good eyesight, so they all had a good impression of him.

Lao Tan smiled and said: "Okay, try it, and try it with your chopsticks." Then he said to the stall bosses who were still a little cautious: "You also try the dishes you make and give yourself a score."

Everyone began to pick up chopsticks and taste the dishes.

Wang Shulan tasted the dumplings stuffed with mountain mushrooms, and said after the taste: "This dumpling is good, fragrant and not greasy at all. I think it can sell well in Beijing."

"It's definitely possible. Sister Meng Meng gave it to me when she first made it. It's delicious, and Beijingers love it." Liu Yang said.

"You can give it a try." Old Tan said to Wang Shulan, who nodded.

Everyone tasted all the dishes on the table, just look at the plate to see if it was delicious or not. It was clear at a glance that there was little left on the plate and there was a lot of bad food.

Although there are differences in personal preferences and tastes, the first thing to do in cooking is to cater to the public. Only people who don’t like this dish can eat a couple of mouthfuls of the dish and express the emotion of “so this dish is also good” are qualified. cook.

There were many leftovers on the plate, and there were few leftovers. Qin Haixiao couldn't stand it any longer, but he had already said what he said just now, so he could only bite the bullet and say to Lao Tan: "Tan Dong gave a review."

Old Tan didn't look at him, and said to Xiaofeng, "You are the regional manager, so you should speak first."

Xiaofeng said without hesitation: "I'll give this dish sixty points, it just passed."

After she said this, Qin Haixiao's face became ugly, even a little gloomy.

Xiaofeng went on to say: "But it can be seen that all the masters are working hard. Although I don't know much about cooking, I have been a supervisor for two years and I know a lot about kitchen work.

There are reasons why the masters did not perform at their true level today. The first is that the notification was received a little late and the preparation was not sufficient.I saw that some dishes lacked all the ingredients, as if the condiments were not complete.

The second is that the equipment, tools, including the stir-frying spoons used are all new, and they are useless, and the master did not pass by.New equipment and new tools may not necessarily produce good dishes. It is the best time to use them smoothly and the pot is smooth.

The third is the tableware. I refer to the casserole pot. Although it has been opened, it has not been used. "

Then Xiaofeng glanced at Lao Tan, as if asking for advice.Old Tan nodded. She understood what Old Tan meant, and continued, "Today's purpose is not to test dishes. During this period of time, everyone has worked very hard. There is no day or night. What Director Tan means is to reward everyone."

"That's right—" Lao Tan took the words with a smile, "Today is mainly to reward everyone, not to try dishes. Come, drink!"

Qin Haixiao's face looked better now, and the expressions of several stall bosses also relaxed a little, and they were not so nervous.

First Lao Tan drank two glasses, and then Xiao Feng also drank two glasses. After four glasses of wine, the atmosphere became lively and started talking and laughing.

When he was half drunk, Lao Tan raised another glass, and then said to everyone: "I was born as a cook, not to mention cooking for a lifetime, and I have feelings for dishes, and I am willing to study them.

To put it bluntly, cooking is the same as being a human being. Dishes don’t matter how big or small they are, and people don’t matter how high or low they are. Just try your best.

No matter who they are, as long as they like to cook, have savvy, good character, and the dishes are not bad.On the other hand, people are bad, immoral, and no matter how good the technology is, the dishes they make are also unpalatable.

It's like being vicious in your heart, full of resentment, swearing in your mouth, washing rice in your hands, no matter how good the rice is, the rice that comes out of it is not delicious, or even poisonous.

Therefore, it is said that a cook learns to cook before becoming a human being, with three points for cooking skills and seven points for cooking ethics.

It is difficult to walk with art without virtue, but it is easy to be a man with virtue and art.

Yigao is bold, but Degao is frightened.

Shuangxin's virtues and arts travel the world, and a spoonful of them cooks a garden full of fragrance. "

(End of this chapter)