The Rise and Fall of the Last Imperial Cook

2. Never Easy to Present a Dish

Translator: Zhang Duo

Proofread by Peter Gong

This night when Mr. Weng comes to the Imperial Kitchen, it is nearly the second watch of the night. Xu Zhiwei has been waiting at the doorway. Seeing Mr. Weng in the distance, he immediately turns and goes to stoke a fire in the hearth. Then he pours oil in the pot and began to fry spareribs. When Mr. Weng comes in, he just nods and smiles instead of hailing him, and goes on frying spareribs carefully. Mr. Weng seems to have been accustomed to that. Just like Xu Zhiwei, Mr. Weng doesn’t say anything. He wipes up a bench beside the table, lifts the lower hem of his gown and sits down firmly.

Mr. Weng should actually be called Minister Weng. He is Weng Tonghe, who achieved the first place in the imperial examination in the Reign of Xianfeng and serves as Supervisor of the Right in Zhanshi House in the Reign of Tongzhi. Minister Weng is now in office by order of the emperor in Hall of Literary Brilliance, and is instructing Emperor Tongzhi. In other words, he is the tutor of the emperor. So there are only few exalted personages who are eligible to call him “Mr. Weng”, even in the palace, and others all call him “Minister Weng”. Yet Xu Zhiwei is a special one. It is Mr. Weng himself who asks Xu Zhiwei to call him “Mr. Weng”, which indicates that they are fellow-townsmen indeed and makes Xu Zhiwei feel more relaxed with him.

Mr. Weng comes from Changshu, Jiangsu Province, and Xu Zhiwei was from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. There are only about a hundred li between their hometowns so they are truly fellow-townsmen. Another reason why the very noble Weng Tonghe can be a good friend to Xu Zhiwei is that the dishes made by Xu Zhiwei are appreciated by Mr. Weng. He can greatly enjoy food and relieve homesickness at same time.

Mr. Weng himself was once a good student, so he knows it well how to teach the emperor in the best way possible, and how to regulate the emperor’s condition. Normally he won’t end the class too late so that the emperor can have enough rest. Also because the evening class ends early, he often has spare time to take a round in the Imperial Kitchen, tastes hometown specialties made by Xu Zhiwei and talks about matters in and out of the palace with Xu Zhiwei. But what they talk about most concerns gourmet food.

In fact, Mr. Weng met Xu Zhiwei the first time because of a dainty dish, Steamed Duck with Rice in Lotus Leaves, which is well known in Jiangnan (the regions south of the Yangtze River).

That day Xu Zhiwei was standing in the hall out of the Pass-through Room with Steamed Duck with Rice in Lotus Leaves on the tray held in his hands. The lady manager of the Pass-through Room squinted at him with indifference, hands cupped in front of her belly.

Xu Zhiwei used to be the head chef of Jiangnan Elysian Restaurant in Qianmen Street, and cooking Wuxi dishes is one of his consummate skills. Minister Zeng, the Supervisor of the Imperial Household Department is from Suzhou, which is beside Wuxi, so it is no wonder he likes Wuxi dishes like Mr. Weng. What’s more, Wuxi dishes are not much different from Suzhou dishes in taste. That day Minister Zeng was treating friends from afar at Jiangnan Elysian Restaurant when Xu Zhiwei cooked in person. Minister Zeng just took two bites and decided to offer Xu Zhiwei a position in the Imperial Kitchen.

In fact, it is not that Minister Zeng is so powerful in the Imperial Household Department, but it is not an important thing to add some royal chefs in the packed Imperial Kitchen. Xu Zhiwei entered the Imperial Kitchen successfully and became a royal chef, but the actual situation is completely different from what he had imagined before he entered the palace. He couldn’t take full advantage of his consummate skill.

There were rules for daily dishes and desserts in the Imperial Kitchen. They must be assigned by head eunuch in Dish Ordering Department, and supervised by officials in the Imperial Household Department. All the ingredients, as well as their usage and proportion are all strictly controlled, and the taste of every dish must be checked in advance. Only when it is clear that its taste is unadulterated could a dish be passed into the Pass-through Room. As a result, Xu Zhiwei didn’t have an opportunity to display his consummate cooking skill by making Wuxi dishes. In more than two years what he learned most in the Imperial Kitchen is that he saw and learned every skill and knack of royal chefs.

Though the Imperial Kitchen has strict rules, a chef like Xu Zhiwei who does have good skills can make some qualified dishes after a period of adaptation. Besides, having learned skills of many styles and combined them into Wuxi dishes, Xu Zhiwei is confident that he can take traditional dishes strictly controlled in the palace to a higher level.

However, it is very hard to come to the fore in the Imperial Kitchen, even with excellent skills. The reason is that no matter how tasty your dishes are, you have to overcome many difficulties and please a great many annoying guys if you want to present your dishes to the emperor and empress dowager.

The first difficulty is that you might not have the opportunity to cook. Though there are one hundred and twenty dishes in every Imperial Meal, as well as desserts and snacks, it is the head eunuch in Dish Ordering Department who decides which one hundred and twenty dishes are to be prepared. If he doesn’t order the dish you are good at cooking, you can never have a chance to make any one of the one hundred and twenty.

Secondly, once the dish you are good at has been ordered, it is still uncertain whether it will be assigned to you. Dishes in the Imperial Meal have a limited range. There are so many royal chefs in the Imperial Kitchen, and every one of them has some signature dishes. Some royal chefs have been praised by the emperor or empress dowager for some dishes, so they can make many signature dishes for the emperor. Others who have special techniques on a traditional dish in the palace are likely to monopolize this dish. Opportunities of other dishes which many people are good at depend on the head chef of the Imperial Kitchen. Xu Zhiwei is a newcomer and was hardly familiar to the head chef, so it is very hard for him to have any opportunity.

What’s more, opportunities for passing dishes are also quite few. Though there are one hundred and twenty dishes in every Imperial Meal which can fill up three tables, the plates and bowls are different. If dishes presented at the beginning are in big plates or bowls, those subsequent ones cannot get on the table even if they have been made. The order of dishes is controlled by the lady manager of the Pass-through Room. If she allows someone’s dishes to be enjoyed by the emperor or empress dowager, it will certainly be presented. If she doesn’t like someone’s dish, it will not even have the chance to enter the Dish Ordering Department’s door no matter how delicious it is.

The last point is that the opportunities for a dish to be enjoyed are quite few. There are one hundred and twenty dishes and many desserts. Even if a dish has been put on the table, it may not be chosen by the Emperor because he won’t taste every dish. The opportunity to be enjoyed is controlled by the maid who serves the meal. Normally, the maid who serves the meal picks some food with silver spoons and puts it in bowls for the Emperor except when the emperor or empress dowager asks for something particularly or sees what they like near them. Maids who serve the meal are all close maids of the emperor and empress dowager so they know their masters’ tastes and body condition. What they choose is mostly what their masters like most and quite suitable. On the other hand, because of such concept, they can choose dishes for their masters according to their will.

As a result, there is a series of unwritten rules in palace for royal chefs. If they want to get the opportunity to cook, they will have to bribe the head eunuch in Dish Ordering Department and the head chef in the Imperial Kitchen with “Dish Ordering Money” and “Dish Delivery Money”, and as for the lady manager of the Pass-through Room with “Dish Placement Money” if they want their dishes passed into the Dish Ordering Department and placed near the emperor and empress dowager, and those maids attending upon their masters with “Dish Serving Silver” if they want their dishes to be enjoyed by the emperor or empress dowager.

Xu Zhiwei, on the contrary, doesn’t know these unwritten rules in the palace, and no one has ever instructed him. Though De Gonggong and the head chef have given him some hints, he is a loyal chef who complies with chef’s principles. He always makes dishes with real ingredients and lives with true affections so he cannot understand those hints. As a result, he can only get few opportunities to prepare dishes for the Imperial Meal in two years, which were given in charity by De Gonggong and the head chef Wang to show that they are fair. Even if he was given the opportunity, they couldn’t be passed into the Dish Ordering Department, not to mention being enjoyed by the masters. All these have been predicted by De Gonggong and the head chef Wang who gave him opportunities falsely.

That day when he met Mr. Weng was exactly the time when he got an opportunity to prepare a dish but was kept out of the Dish Ordering Department with the tray in his hand. The lady manager waited for some time and found that Xu Zhiwei didn’t want to bribe her with anything. So she curled up her lips and said, “Just get back. Your work isn’t even good enough for me, not to mention His Majesty and Her Highness.”

What she said made Xu Zhiwei feel ashamed. He turned and went away without a word, but ran into Mr. Weng who happened to be passing by. The tray was not knocked over, but the White Jade Porcelain Bowl Cover was knocked down, in which there was Steamed Duck with Rice in Lotus Leaves. The lotus leaves and polished glutinous rice’s delicate fragrance and duck and fermented bean curd’s strong fragrance were poured out at the same time and found their way into Mr. Weng’s nostrils.

“This dish wasn’t chosen by the emperor?” Mr. Weng is surprised and pleased.

“I guess so.” Xu Zhiwei murmured.

Mr. Weng shifted his gaze from the duck, looked over Xu Zhiwei and stared at the lady manager. She cracked a wry smile and obsequiously nodded to Mr. Weng. “That’s okay. Let me take this dish. Follow me, let’s find a quiet place.” Mr. Weng said, and then walked ahead. Xu Zhiwei didn’t know this personage who asked him to follow, but he was well-aware that he himself was nobody in the palace. Whoever that person was, he has to follow his order. Mr. Weng ate up the duck on the stone table in Courtyard for Rest after Schooling, and kept enjoying the aftertaste for a long time, with his eyes closed. Instead of walking away, Xu Zhiyuan watched Mr. Weng eat up the duck and enjoy the aftertaste, for it was the best compliment for a chef, which made Xu Zhiwei feel satisfied and comfortable as well.

From that day Xu Zhiwei and Mr. Weng became close. This is a relationship developed regardless of identity and it transcends the emotion for fellow-townsmen. They became bosom friends, confidants, and inter-dependent friends. Mr. Weng needs to relieve homesickness and gluttony with Xu Zhiwei’s dishes, and Xu Zhiwei gets satisfaction and fulfillment when Mr. Weng enjoys his food. Besides, Mr. Weng is erudite and well-read so he can offer much help for Xu Zhiwei’s learning on dishes.

The style of study prevails in Jiangnan. It’s true that Xu Zhiwei is a chef, but he also has studied for many years. He is kind of learned so that he can learn widely and integrate what he learned into cuisine to cook his own style of dishes. Mr. Weng can associate with Xu Zhiwei because Xu Zhiwei is kind of learned as well, besides the fact that they come from the same hometown.

Of course, as a bosom friend and confidant, Mr. Weng will tell those unwritten rules in the Imperial Meal to Xu Zhiwei. He also tries to help Xu Zhiwei to judge and weigh, guiding him how to expend money for opportunities so that he can carve out a place in the Imperial Kitchen.

Xu Zhiwei, however, doesn’t agree with Mr. Weng. He holds the view that being “right” is the most important in cooking skill. The materials must look decent, taste right, come from the right producing area, and be produced according to the seasons. And the chef must be right in terms of will, action, mind and method, otherwise they cannot make authentic dishes. Likewise, when it comes to moral standards, integrity may be suppressed for some time and immorality may be rampant, but someday the sun will scatter the clouds, and that’s when integrity prevails. Xu Zhixing made the analogy from moral standards to cooking principles, which is appreciated by Mr. Weng. So Mr. Weng chose not to advise him strongly, but leaves Xu Zhiwei to his own devices to face everything with the principle in his mind.