Chapter 654 -652 Artistic Flavor
How delicious can barbecue really be?
Is it the grilled vegetables, the staple foods, or the meat dishes that are the most delicious?
Is it the grilled beef, grilled lamb, grilled pork skewers, or the mixed meat skewers that are the most flavorful?
Jiang Feng found it hard to give an answer to these questions; he could only say that they were all delicious!
As long as the chef had the skill, not to mention vegetables, meat, and staple foods, even grilled durian tasted great!
Peng Changping didn’t lie to Jiang Feng; he truly excelled at BBQ, all thanks to his great-grandson—a young BBQ enthusiast.
...
The lamb skewers, fat and lean intertwined, sizzled with oil, were covered in cumin to mask the gamy smell.
The beef skewers were tender, also in large chunks, with clear grain, repeatedly brushed with a salty sauce to let the flavor penetrate more deeply.
Larger chunks of pork skewers, alternating fat and lean with some crunchy cartilage, made a crisp sound when chewed; the meat was juicy, marinated, and sprinkled with chili powder on the surface.
Perfectly grilled, extremely crispy, sliced to an ideal thickness, the slightly salty but still full-flavored toasted wheat bread was sweet from being toasted.
There’s no need to go into the other dishes; needless to say, all kinds of meat skewers and the unbearably delicious toasted bread from Taste were incomparable. However, they were still extremely tasty and unforgettable, just smelling them would make your mouth water.
Jiang Feng felt that if the skewers by his elementary school entrance had been of this level, he would have caught up to the Jiang Family’s standard long ago, not ending up outmatched by his two younger cousins.
Peng Changping grilled the skewers in sequence, from meats to staples to vegetables, grilling a few skewers of each type depending solely on his mood. Jiang Feng and Xu Cheng just stood beside him, holding the skewers—those closest to the water got the moon first; whoever picked up the skewers first, ate first.
Because the supply was less than the demand, the two of them basically ensured they tasted a bit of everything before passing on the rest. As to whether or not the others got to taste a bit of each, that wasn’t their concern.
Perhaps it was the mood of the moment, but Peng Changping grilled the skewers and asked Jiang Feng about the Jiang Family’s affairs. These matters were no secret, so Jiang Feng was an open book.
As they talked, Peng Changping couldn’t help but turn the topic to himself.
After emigrating, Peng Changping opened a Chinese restaurant overseas, but now it was mostly managed by his disciples. It had been many years since he last cooked.
He had three sons and a daughter; only his eldest son and youngest daughter learned his skills. After his daughter married a lawyer, she no longer worked as a chef. The eldest son, expected to inherit the restaurant, died young from cancer, leaving the elder to grieve the younger.
As for his other grandchildren, each had their own pursuits and ambitions in different professions, but none were chefs.
Although Peng Changping claimed not to be regretful, saying that with disciples to carry on the Tan Family Cuisine, his culinary arts wouldn’t be lost, and that he had sampled several of his apprentices’ dishes at Yonghe House today and felt they hadn’t tarnished the reputation of the Tan Family Cuisine, Jiang Feng still detected a sense of regret in his tone and expression.
“Times are different now, and everyone has more choices,” Peng Changping said, feeling a bit tired, and stopped grilling. He found a chair nearby to sit down, and Jiang Feng brewed him a cup of hot tea.
Peng Changping blew on his cup twice, sipped a little tea, and then slowly said, “When I was young, we had no choices. If your father was a carpenter, you were a carpenter; if your father was a cook, you were a cook; if your father was a tailor, you were a tailor. Whether you liked it or not, these were good jobs, crafts that could feed a family and secure a livelihood, generally unattainable if you wanted to learn them. Going to school was a good way out; if you did well, you could become a journalist, write articles, even work in the government. But in those days, even if you wanted to study and learn to write, most families didn’t have the means, no one to teach them.”
“Now it’s different. Everyone can go to school; everyone can write. With broader horizons, there are more choices. If you’re not willing, then you’re not willing. We had no choice back then, but now you all have so many options, of course, you should choose what you’re willing and happy to do.”
Seeing the conversation drift towards a slightly melancholic direction, Xu Cheng quickly changed the subject: “Master Peng, isn’t it about half an hour until your medication time? I remember you didn’t bring your medicine when you came out, and left it at the hotel. Shall I accompany you back to the hotel now?”
Slapping his forehead, Peng Changping said, “Look at my memory, I forgot about that. When I came out, my grandson had even set an alarm for me a couple of days ago to remind me to take my medicine on time. I set the alarm but didn’t bring the medicine, so I won’t bother you any longer and head back now.”
As he spoke, Peng Changping stood up to leave.
Jiang Feng saw him to the door and helped him open it.
“By the way.” Peng Changping had already walked out of the barbecue restaurant when he suddenly turned back and looked at Jiang Feng, “Since my junior sister’s grandson and you are university classmates, please do me favor and get in touch with him and talk to Zhang Chu. If it’s possible, could he come to Beiping for a gathering?”
“If he really doesn’t have time, then let’s set a date and I’ll visit him. I haven’t seen him in many years, and I’d always like to meet these old friends.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll send him a message tonight,” Jiang Feng quickly promised.
After seeing Xu Cheng and Peng Changping off until they both got into a car, Jiang Feng pushed the door open and returned to the restaurant, where he found that the atmosphere had changed.
Wang Xiulian was being picky about Jiang Jiankang’s barbecue, and Jiang Jiankang was also being picky about his own barbecue; Ji Yue was looking at Zhang Guanghang’s barbecue full of wonder, and Zhang Guanghang himself was grilling while feeling puzzled about his own barbecue.
Peng Changping single-handedly raised everyone’s standards for barbecue.
The only exception was Sang Ming, who was frantically sending WeChat messages to his sister, raving about how delicious the barbecue they had just eaten was. After sending the messages, he even wanted to post on Moments, not just post, but post with pictures.
Now Sang Ming was asking around whether anyone had taken photos earlier.
Earlier, everyone was busy eating, who remembered to take photos?
Jiang Feng did.
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Jiang Feng lifted his smartphone and waved it at Sang Ming: “I took some.”
Sang Ming immediately rushed over to Jiang Feng like a delighted little pony, smiling happily, and asked, “Boss Jiang, will our company outings always be like this from now on?”
Jiang Feng: ?
Are you dreaming?
Jiang Feng didn’t respond; instead, he sent the photos to Sang Ming.
“Right, Boss Jiang, who was that master who helped us grill earlier? Did you specifically hire a barbecue chef from outside? His barbecue was really too delicious. In my whole life, I’ve never tasted such good barbecue, really! I saw that the master was quite old; is he a very famous barbecue chef? Do you know his name? Can I include his name when I post on Moments?” Sang Ming shot a rapid-fire barrage of questions at Jiang Feng.
“The master just now was Peng Changping,” Jiang Feng said.
“Who’s Peng Changping? A particularly famous barbecue master?” Sang Ming asked.
Jiang Feng: …
He had forgotten that Sang Ming was someone who didn’t even know what Wharton was, how would he know who Peng Changping was?
“Do you know the ‘Chef’s Record’?” Jiang Feng asked.
“I know of it,” Sang Ming nodded, although he didn’t know who was on the ‘Chef’s Record’, he knew what it was, just like how most people know about the Forbes rankings but don’t know who the top 10 are.
Who cares who it is, I’m not going to make it on there anyway.
“Master Peng is a successor of Tan Family Cuisine and currently ranks first on the ‘Chef’s Record’. And he wasn’t someone I invited; he just happened to be eating at Yonghe House across the street today and came to have a look,” Jiang Feng explained.
Sang Ming’s eyes widened, and just as Jiang Feng expected, he let out an astonished “wow”.
Then Sang Ming began to update his Moments, halfway through he even handed his phone to Jiang Feng, “Little Boss, can you have a look for me? Are these three characters ‘Peng Changping’ the name of Master Peng?”
Jiang Feng: …
You think I don’t know that you don’t actually care who Peng Changping is, you just want to post on your Moments.
Zheng Siyuan’s birthday peaches were the last to arrive, but instead of peaches, it would be more apt to say they were birthday buns, small and the size of a palm, looking very delicate and cute, from a distance they truly resembled little peaches.
Zheng Siyuan had ordered express delivery, and when they arrived the buns were still warm to the touch, soft and felt good in the hand, the red bean filling was mildly sweet, with a tender crust, and not too sugary to the taste. For Jiang Feng, who had eaten barbecue all evening, having such a dainty, moderately sweet, and unexpectedly greasy-cutting birthday bun at the end of dinner was a real treat.
There weren’t enough birthday buns for everyone, so except for Jiang Feng and a few others who got a whole one, everyone else shared pieces, just to partake in the joy and taste.
One of the advantages of booking a private venue at someone else’s restaurant is that you don’t have to clean up after eating, you can just leave and fully experience the thrill of being a customer.
After returning home, Jiang Feng suddenly started to longingly remember the lamb skewers grilled by Peng Changping, perhaps because it was the very first skewer he had tried, and that moment of astonishment from the very first bite was irreplaceable by any others.
While reminiscing, Jiang Feng suddenly felt a bit hungry. Although he had eaten his fill, this sudden craving-induced hunger was unstoppable. He remembered that there were some leftover noodles from breakfast, just a small amount that wasn’t enough for a bowl, but if he cooked it now, cracked an egg over it, sprinkled it with some chopped green onions and drizzled it with sesame oil, it should just satisfy the craving.
Actions speak louder than thoughts, so Jiang Feng took off his jacket and went into the kitchen to cook the noodles.
When Wu Minqi walked out of her room with the present she had prepared for Jiang Feng, she saw him cracking an egg.
“Fengfeng, didn’t you eat enough?” Wu Minqi asked.
“I did, I just suddenly felt a bit hungry just now, and since there were some noodles left from the morning, I decided to just cook and eat them.” Jiang Feng noticed the item in Wu Minqi’s hand, “What’s that?”
Wu Minqi was a bit torn, “This is a gift I’ve prepared for you.”
“A gift?” Jiang Feng was surprised, if he remembered correctly, Wu Minqi had just given him a pair of shoes a few hours ago.
“Not a birthday gift, an anniversary gift.” Wu Minqi unfolded the item in her hand, and only then did Jiang Feng realize it was an apron.
It was a simple-style apron, white, with a ‘Feng’ character on the upper left corner, and a strange pattern on the lower right corner.
Jiang Feng stared at the strange pattern, feeling it was a person, a somewhat Picasso-style abstract figure.
If one looked closely, it was presumably a man.
“What is this?” Jiang Feng pointed at the abstract little figure in Picasso style on the apron.
“You.”
Jiang Feng: ?
??
???
“I ordered this apron online,” Wu Minqi said with a bit of embarrassment, “Actually, what I drew wasn’t like this. Their aprons are said to be DIY; as long as I send them the words and the pattern I want, they can produce it for me.”
“At first, I wanted to ask Ji Yue to draw it for me, but then I thought that since it’s a gift, I should draw it myself. It didn’t look like this when I drew it, and while not pretty, it looked fairly normal, because Ji Yue even taught me a bit on how to do it. I don’t know why it came out like this when they shipped it. I wanted to return it and ask them to redo it, but there was no time. I had prepared not to give it as it was, but you made me that bowl of noodles this morning, and I felt it wouldn’t be right not to give you something, and yet if I did give it…” Wu Minqi’s voice got softer as she spoke, her words coming out faster and faster until they were just a mutter.
Suddenly, Jiang Feng felt that it was quite worth it to see Mr. Wu in this state, even if his chibi image had turned into a Picasso-style little figure.
At least… it looked artistic.
Jiang Feng took the apron from Wu Minqi’s hand and wrapped it around himself, looking down at it.
“Does it have an artistic feel?” Jiang Feng tried to lighten the mood.
“Pfft.” Wu Minqi couldn’t help but laugh.
Her Fengfeng was really cute.
Even if he was standing next to a trash can, he’d still be cute.