The Heartbeat at the Tip of the Tongue

Word count: 1920

The Chance Encounter Of Fragrance And Taste

“It’s through the mini pressure cooker.” Lin Ke Song felt a burst of happiness, it was rare for Iris to take an interest in her thoughts.

“Mini pressure cooker?” Iris was stunned for 2 seconds before she reacted, “you added water and vanilla, then stewed them.”

“Yes, but the timing is very important, if its too long, the pressure will spoil the smell and taste of the vanilla, so when the water boils, I cut the heat off, and slowly wait for the pressure in the pressure cooker to return to normal. And in this period of time, the vanilla will blend sufficiently into the water.” Lin Ke Song explained.

The corners of Iris’ lips lifted, laughing to herself.

“Jessica, so you have any other thoughts or opinions?” Winston asked.

Jessica shook her head saying: “No matter if it’s the cake or the chocolate ganache, even the amount of matcha powder is just right. The texture if fluffy and not crumbly, and the level of sweetness is intricate too, you can say that this dessert was reproduced perfectly.”

Since things have come to this point, it would be better to take on an open mind to praise the other party than to look for bones in an egg.

And the word she used was “reproduce”. Which was to say that no matter how great Jiang Qian Fan and Lin Ke Song made the matcha opera cake, it was but an imitation of her work.

“Alright! Both parties are praising each other, not allowing me to see any sparks of a fight, is just so disappointing. When it’s time for the next set of dessert, please don’t be so ‘lovey-dovey’ anymore!”

With that, Winston received the card that a staff passed to him, and lifted his eyebrows saying: “Ah ha, this round of voting is very close! There are a total of 13 judges who have voted for Jessica and Iris, and Jiang Qian Fan and Lin Ke Song have received the remaining 12 votes! Let us look now at the total number of votes! The 2 Quentin chefs have a total of 70 votes! And Chef Jiang Qian Fan and Lin Ke Song have received 75 votes! There are still 2 more desserts, there is still a chance of a twist! No one knows if one party will suddenly make a mistake, or do something beyond expectations!”

At this time, the staff had served the second dessert, vanilla ice cream hawthorn.

LIn Ke Song looked at the work that Jessica and Iris had completed in front of her. They had a uniquely feminine and detailed beauty and elegant concept presented on the plate. This kind of dessert, no matter the taste, will give people a wonderment of enjoyment just through the visuals.

They had dug a little slit in the middle of the carrot, a creamy mash potato pad holding the carrot in place, a red wine glass leaning on the indented slit if the carrot, and inside it were a few balls of hawthorn that had on a sugar coat. A few tender pieces of mint leaves and chamomile petals dotted the top, it looked astounding.

“Try it.” Iris’ gaze was locked on Lin Ke Song.

Instead of talking about the pressure from Iris, why not just say that it is a form of a test. She wanted to test if Lin Ke Song’s tongue was really that sensitive, whether she was Jiang Qian FAn’s shadow in cooking, or had her own opinion.

Lin Ke Song swallowed, she lifted her spoon up a little nervously, and scooped up a ball of hawthorn to put into her mouth.

With a bite down, a crisp sound of a crunch sounded, the sugar coat shattered into pieces in her mouth, then the sourness and tartness of the hawthorn came through, but this tartness did not last for long, the softness and sweetness of the vanilla ice cream quickly coated her tongue.

“How is it, any thoughts?” Iris asked with her arms folded.

She never shifted her gaze to Jiang Qian Fan, keeping her stare on Lin Ke Song.

“Very delicious, the thickness of the sugar coat is just perfect, and it is sufficiently frozen. You guys have added a tiny amount of lemon zest in the sugar coating, this freshness and slight sourness blending with the sweetness of the sugar coat, gives a liveliness to the original flavour of plain sugarcoat. The hawthorn chosen is also very perfect, the middle of the hawthorn was hollowed intricately. The texture of the vanilla ice cream is very smooth, the milk and vanilla flavour did not in fact totally snatch away the sourness of the hawthorn, instead blending together well, to whet an appetite. The most important thing is, that I can taste passion fruit in the ice cream… … very refreshing!” Lin Ke Song commented seriously.

“It is ground passionfruit. Because the middle of the hawthorn is already not big, if the whole seed of the passion fruit is squeezed in, there will not be enough space, and the ice cream will not be able to be evenly combined with the passionfruit.” Iris explained in a smooth voice, “But Ms Lin, what I want to hear is not only the praise and acknowledgement. We have changed or upgraded this dessert, don’t know what other suggestions you have towards this upgrade?”

after all, for now, LIn Ke Song was only Jiang Qian Fan’s student, can she really give Iris, a well-known head chef suggestions?

Jiang Qian Fan too had a piece.

“Chef Jiang Qian Fan, you probably won’t be like Lin Ke Song and give comments this way ba.”

“She and I have the same sense of taste and opinion, let her say it ba.”

Jiang Qian Fan’s gaze held a kind of calm, he was very sure Lin Ke Song could say the words he wished.

“Alright ba, chef Quentin, I’ll be straightforward.” LIn Ke Song’s gaze became firm, today, she was a chef, no more need to be so-called timid in the face of authority, “even though it is a pretty good idea to add lemon zest, I think the time when it was added is a little off.”

“What?” Jessica squinted her eyes.

“When the lemon peel meets heat, its sourness will higher than normal temperature ones, and it will also carry a hint of bitterness. To let every hawthorn ball be coated with the lemon zest, you guys have sprinkled the lemon zest into just boiled sugar coating, while it is still in its liquid state, right? But at this time, the temperature of the sugar is not low, and the lemon peel gives off a sour taste stronger than normal, and it will also lose its original texture…… so when I bit into the sugar coat then tasted the lemon peel, I felt…… that it was such a waste…… ”

Lin KE Song did not continue, because Jessica’s face had changed.

“Do you think that too? Chef Jiang Qian Fan?”

“You can give it a taste now.” Jiang Qian Fan pushed his plate towards Jessica who was opposite him.

Jessica scooped up a piece too, and when she bit open the sugar coating, her eyebrow lifted slowly.

She had indeed miscounted. Even though the change in the sourness isn’t that great, the average person will probably not even mind, but she didn’t think that this little lady would actually be able to taste it.

“Ke Song has already mentioned my opinion, Chef Quentin, have a taste of the vanilla hawthorn ice cream that we have made too ba.”

The was no inflexion in the tone of Jiang Qian Fan’s voice, but it revealed a kind of certainty that victory was in his hands.

Jessica took a look at the leaf shaped plate, this plating for this dessert was very concise, just like Jiang Qian Fan’s character.

It was a crispy egg cone laid on its side, with a few slices of strawberry, paired with crumbs of mint, like light flowers that were blooming out of the soil.

Jessica lifted up a hawthorn, and just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she had a whiff of a fresh fragrance.

“Osmanthus?” Jessica was stunned.

“It is osmanthus. We were like you, wanting to let the plain sugar coating have more dimension, so we chose to use osmanthus to add an aroma. But we only added a little, because we did not wish for the osmanthus to become the lead, and overwhelm the vanilla flavour of the ice cream.”

“And rum.” Iris said, “adding rum to give the sugarcoating an extra aftertaste, is indeed a pretty sophisticated idea.”

“Rum was Ke SOng’s idea.” Jiang Qian Fan tilted his head.

Iris lifted her lips in laughter, she did not think that she would once again acknowledge Lin Ke Song: “what made you think about adding rum to the sugar coating? Did your inspiration come from wine chocolate?”

Lin Ke Song pursed her lips and shook her head: “not from chocolate, and not from any other food, but the feeling of falling in love with another.”

“The feeling of falling in love with another?” Iris found it hard to understand.

“I believe you have loved another before, even if they are far from you, you will do your best to get close. Even if the person they are looking at is not you, you will not be able to resist constantly looking at them. Even if you know that all your efforts may not be reciprocated, you still want to be by their side and moving forward beside them. This is like falling into wine that carries a sweet taste, you’re obviously going to get so drunk that you forget who you are, but you still aren’t willing to be sober.”

Iris looked long at Lin Ke SOng, then she turned to look at Jiang Qian Fan’s direction.

He would forever not know what kind of gaze she used to look at him, all the hopes and anticipation she had towards him was like a drop of rum in the sugar sauce, never able to take back, never to separate.

“This is indeed a very sophisticated, wonderful idea.” Iris’ gaze slowly returned to Lin Ke Song.

The lines of her lips were rounded and uplifted, her smile carried a relaxed feeling. It was happiness from the heart.

“What about Jessica? What are your opinions?” Jiang Qian Fan asked.

Even if the face was calm, Jessica had to admit that she wasn’t willing. No matter the ratio of the sugar coating, the sourness of the hawthorn and the temperature of the mouth-melting the vanilla ice cream to make a gush of sweetness like magma rushing out of a volcano, and even that slight osmanthus fragrance and vanilla flavour pairing with rum to create an aftertaste, it was totally like a chance encounter of fragrance and taste.

She could find no flaw.

“It is very perfect.” Jessica squeezed out a smile.

If there were no other comparison, the average person would definitely think that Jessica and Iris’ vanilla hawthorn ice cream was the most delicious, but Jiang Qian Fan and Lin Ke Song used a more intoxicating taste to cover everything.

This round, Jessica knew that the gap will be made even bigger.

She did not, in fact, underestimate Jiang Qian Fan, but she knew that she had underestimated Jiang Qian Fan’s choice.

Not everyone is able to be his student, not to mention partner.