Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 209 The "Limits" in the Eyes of the Production Team: The Contestants' Time Is Running Out (First Update)
Of course, it doesn't matter to Xia Ming how many people the production team wants to eliminate.

Xia Ming's goal was to travel the world on free flights under the guise of wilderness exploration, broaden his horizons, and legally obtain blood.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to release the "saltwater crocodile."
"Drawing blood through the skin has a very low conversion rate. The key to breaking through the fifth gate still relies on the bloodline of the saltwater crocodile itself."

Xia Ming knew that he needed to rationalize everything in front of the camera, but he wouldn't have to go through that trouble if he turned his back on the camera.

Fei Ji's "Saltwater Crocodile" has already been marked in his mind. Such a suitable place for tourism, he will naturally come back many more times in the future.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Ming stopped paying attention to the difficulties deliberately created by the program team.

Anyway, he took all the black goats to exchange for contributions, so the high tide had no effect on him.

At this moment, he first fetched some seawater to wash the mud crabs, then rinsed them with the fresh water in his hand, and then opened the coconut he had picked in advance and soaked the crabs in it.

Then, in front of everyone, he roasted the "kava peppers" over a fire and ground them into powder, seemingly preparing to make "kava" on the spot.

After seeing his performance, the local judges waiting behind him also became curious.

The judge in the middle, wearing blue, shook his head.

"Cava made using roasting tastes very different from the traditional kind, so it doesn't seem like it would work."

Another woman wearing a yellow flower stood to the side, pondering for a moment.

"Perhaps they're just using cava to enhance the flavor of the crab meat."

The man standing next to him nodded in agreement.

"Under normal circumstances, using kava to replace pepper oil can be effective, but I personally think that galangal is more useful for crabs."

It was clear that the local judges supported what the man said, and they all nodded in agreement.

On the other side, the judges from various countries were also discussing the matter.

Grant glanced at Maca and Seizo Koyama, then shook his head.

"They're on a tight schedule. Even if simmering only takes an hour, starting a fire and preparing the ingredients might take time. I don't know if they can finish before the tide comes in."

Tommy looked on with amusement.

"I think everyone should learn from that kid Xia Ming and make a hat first!"

"This is Fiji. Although March is the transition season between summer and autumn, the temperature here will still remain around 30°C."

"Furthermore, the air is humid near the sea, and the perceived temperature may reach 35°C due to the high humidity."

"In this situation, people can't stand the heat for even an hour."

Tan Zhifeng, who was standing to the side, also nodded.

Tommy was right. At this temperature, the first challenge all the contestants faced was not cooking, but their own water reserves.

It's important to know that while the production team provided seasonings, they did not provide fresh water. In this situation, there are only three types of liquids that can be used.

One: sea water.

Second: The fresh water collected by everyone.

Three: Coconuts!

Seawater is clearly unsuitable for use as cooking water.

Putting aside health concerns, the salt content becomes noticeably higher when heated.

Even if you only use a small bowl, the saltiness will be very noticeable.

Then there's freshwater.
In the wilderness, people only have so many ways to collect fresh water.

It comes either from jungle streams or from rainwater.

In this respect, teams 3 and 4 can be considered to have benefited from misfortune. Although the heavy rain hindered their hunting trip, at least these people did not lack fresh water.

After all, rainwater only needs to be simply filtered, then boiled at high temperature, and then settled before it can be used with minimal effort.

But streams are different. Putting aside the issues of feces and rotting plants, the parasites alone are enough to give many contestants a hard time.

Therefore, apart from the people in teams 3 and 4, everyone else carried coconuts as much as possible.

There are indeed many coconuts on the island, but the weight is also considerable. Without bags, relying only on straw nets or straw ropes, even if you can carry them, you won't be able to carry too many.

Thinking of this, Tan Zhifeng narrowed his eyes as he watched the contestants busily preparing the ingredients.

"Coconuts don't carry much to begin with, and most of it has to be used for cooking, which inevitably reduces the amount that people can drink."

"There is no shade on the beach. Under such a scorching sun, even if you don't move, you will start to dehydrate in about an hour, not to mention that the contestants also need to cook."

"When there is a water shortage, it is inevitable to need to replenish water. Since contestants cannot trade with each other, they can only drink their own water, which will inevitably require a trade-off with the water used for cooking."

"Eleven dishes, according to Fijian custom, unless it is a staple food like sweet potato, will definitely require a lot of coconuts. For most contestants, this in itself is a test."

As Tan Zhifeng spoke, he turned his gaze to Xia Ming.

He knew that Xia Ming must have seen through the program team's design, otherwise he wouldn't have immediately made a hat to block out the sun.

"Inside the competition venue"

While the judges were discussing, Xia Ming had already finished preparing the first batch of ingredients and started boiling coconut water.

Xia Ming casually fanned himself with his hand and looked up at the other contestants.

About ten people, like him, made hats or chose other forms of sun protection; the remaining 30-odd people, however, chose to race against time. Xia Ming smiled; he knew what the remaining 30-odd people were thinking.
"Most of them live in coastal areas, so they are the first to be affected by the tides."

"So, right now, they have two ways to counter the disadvantages brought about by this environment."

"Either you take a gamble and hope you can finish cooking just before the tide, or you honestly choose to compress the cooking time to within one and a half hours."

Based on the recipes we've tried before, theoretically, there are only three dishes that can be condensed into an hour and a half.

Dessert "Udivaka"

"Quarriva Caso" is similar to "Hibiscus Crab Casserole".

There's also a staple food like "potatoes and sweet potatoes".
The desserts require coconut milk and bananas, and "Quarriva Casu" also requires coconut milk.

"The common way to make coconut milk is to open the coconut, take out the coconut water, scrape out the coconut meat with a hard object such as a spoon, soak it in warm water for more than an hour, and then grind it with a high-speed blender."

"But the problem is, where can you find a high-speed blender in this kind of environment?"

"Without a high-speed blender, you have to chop it by hand, which inevitably consumes a lot of energy."

Xia Ming glanced in the direction of the production crew and smiled slightly.

Because it was a joint production, three directors were listed on the show, so he didn't know who the real director of this season was.

But he knew that the person who came up with this question on purpose.
"During the first New Zealand game, the feeling wasn't that obvious."

"Because neither the time required to collect the ingredients nor the difficulty level is high."

After all, collecting all the ingredients in 8 hours is difficult for most contestants.

Therefore, as an adaptation challenge, the production team not only provided basic seasonings and fresh water, but also tacitly allowed the contestants to make transactions.

With mutual exchange of resources, many people actually have no shortage of ingredients and seasonings for the first round.

"And compared to the terrain of this round, the terrain of the first round was significantly more stable."

"As long as it doesn't rain and the shed doesn't collapse, the venue will have virtually no impact on the contestants' cooking."

"In that situation, if they hadn't been tricked by me, most people would have performed quite normally."

Thinking of this, Xia Ming picked up a bamboo strip he had whittled in the wilderness and stirred the coconut water in the pot.

"But starting with this 'Fei-Ji' episode, the production team completely revealed its 'cruel' side."

"Although the production team didn't play word games with the rules, they did manipulate the competition process."

When Xia Ming disembarked, he saw the ingredients that others had collected. On average, most people only had enough ingredients for one or two dishes while ensuring their basic needs were met.

"The reason there are so few ingredients is because of the combination of 'no trading' and 'no map'."

"For contestants unfamiliar with the terrain, once they get ashore, they basically rely on luck to explore, and they try to make whatever dish they can find."

"In this situation, most contestants are limited by the availability of ingredients, which in itself will affect the completion of the dish."

"But this still doesn't reflect the show's cruelty, so they further narrowed the contestants' choices by using the competition arena."

"Select score" or "Select time"

"This perfectly corresponds to the 'extreme' element in the program's title!"

Thinking of this, Xia Ming reached out and slightly adjusted the angle of his hat.

"Therefore, the core of the show's title, 'Extreme Wilderness Kitchen,' isn't really about 'wilderness,' but rather about 'extreme'!"

Whether it's "foraging for ingredients in the wilderness, pushing the contestants to their limits" or "setting up a kitchen with numerous natural elements," the essence is to showcase the "extreme."

This theme is significantly different from the first two seasons of "Extreme Wild Kitchen" that Qiao Ruoning had shown Xia Ming before.

Previous episodes focused more on showcasing "wilderness flavors," and the "extreme" in the title actually refers to "the limits of traditional flavors from around the world."

During the filming of the show, the guests and the resident chefs were not actually made to spend the night in the wilderness and struggle to survive.

Essentially, it's more like a program about "exploring local delicacies".

But the new director clearly doesn't think that way.

He likely believes that the poor ratings of the first two seasons were related to the show's lack of variety show appeal.

After all, most of those who come for the wilderness are viewers of the "Man vs. Wild" series, whose core focus is on survival and competition.

As a show that uses cooking as the final scoring criterion, focusing on "extreme survival" clearly goes against the grain. With that effort, it would be better to just make another season of "Man vs. Wild".

"Therefore, from the perspective of the Chef Association, this variety show actually tests the contestants' ability to adapt to extreme situations."

"That is, even when there are not enough ingredients, not enough kitchen utensils, and the environment does not allow it, you still need to cook dishes that fit the theme."

Recalling the rules and environment of previous "domestic and international exchange competitions" that Qiao Ruoning had told him, Xia Ming instantly understood everything.

"No wonder that after entering variety shows, you have to meet the list of participants for the exchange competition and be ready to accept arrangements at any time. The core of the two is indeed similar!"

Just as Xia Ming understood the program team's intentions and was considering how to benefit from these rules...

A "whoosh" sound came from far to his right front.

Xia Ming looked in the direction of the sound and found a thin white athlete lying on the beach. Judging from his condition, he had fainted due to fever and sun exposure.

As medical personnel quickly arrived and took him away, the other contestants' expressions turned grim.
Because they've realized that under these rules, they don't have much time left.
(End of this chapter)