Who gave this heretical practitioner permission to cook?

Chapter 260 Food bloggers team up to order "turtle jelly ice cream" makes a comeback~ (First update)
Inside the banquet hall

The food bloggers greeted each other and then found seats.

Due to the nature of their work, the organizers spaced the participants' seats apart.

This results in more people queuing at once, and the third round of entry will have a larger group of people than the previous rounds, but the actual number of people remains the same.

Moreover, the equipment these food bloggers are using is also differentiated.

Those carrying mirrorless cameras or action cameras are generally food bloggers who primarily post videos.

Those who use tripods to stabilize their equipment are usually bloggers whose main content is "food making videos".

Bloggers who use mobile phones are generally those who mainly conduct live-streamed or video-based store visits.

The first two types will provide gentle, one-sided commentary during filming based on their own habits, while the last type will actually start a live stream on the platform.

Among them, "Tang Renjie" started a live broadcast on the Douyin short video platform, with the account ID "True Detective Tang Renjie".

He took the menu and immediately delivered his classic opening remarks.

"A lot of money wasted on restaurant reviews, and the chefs, real or fake, said today we're in the Beijing area~"

"I attended the 'Level 3 Chef (Level 5 Chinese)' competition and had the opportunity to sample the top-notch dishes prepared by various chefs."

"Chef's Hall in the Kyoto area, all by myself, free!"

"As soon as I came in, I smelled lemon. I wonder if the audience judges who ate the food in the last round ordered something lemon-flavored. It smells really nice."

After saying that, he opened the menu and then took his phone to give everyone a quick look through it.

"Before we came in, the host didn't really tell us anything, and we didn't know who was in front of us or who was behind us."

"So this time, I'll approach it with the mindset of an average tourist and do a more casual exploration."

"First, let's look at this first menu. It's marked with number 44, and there's a little figure of Xia Ming printed on it."

"I know this chef. He's been really popular lately. After winning the 'New Chef Competition,' he's become quite famous in our circle."

"Let me see... 'Chrysanthemum Glaze Cup'—I've received countless private messages from friends asking me to make this dish."

"Hehehe, it's not that I'm a coward, but even for Teacher Wu Bai, this thing would be a struggle. I can't do that kind of knife work."

"I was originally going to give everyone a sample to try, but the price is a bit high."

"Actually, it's not that expensive, it's just that the organizers didn't give us that much of a quota. Let's look at the next ones."

There are some obvious differences between "restaurant review influencers" and "food and cooking" bloggers when they go offline.

The former talks more, has more jokes, and their style varies from person to person, ranging from those who talk a lot to those who don't.

Tang Renjie is clearly a prime example of someone who talks a lot, unlike Nanxiang, who sits to the side.

"Nanxiang" is a blogger on multiple platforms. He started by making food tutorials, then transitioned to making ancient recipes, and is now the most well-known intangible cultural heritage blogger on the entire internet.

His videos are humorous and lighthearted, with a good sense of realism and narrative. Although his videos have been controversial in recent years, his viewership remains very stable.

Compared to Tang Renjie, who kept talking non-stop, he used a pre-recorded format, speaking in a gentle voice and at a slower pace.

Of course, what netizens are more concerned about is why "Jiuyue" wasn't sitting with him.
Although the two were at the same table, "Jiuyue" sat diagonally opposite him, seemingly intentionally keeping their seats separate.

Unlike "Nanxiang", "Jiuyue" filmed this journey in the form of an experience vlog, so it is not so serious in nature. While others are still introducing the menu, "Jiuyue" has already started ordering.

Her ordering logic is also very simple. First of all, as a "Chinese chef competition", authentic Western food is not within her scope of consideration.

"Since everyone is here to compete in Chinese cuisine, it's natural to use some of our techniques. However, if you use cooking methods from other countries entirely to appear special or to fake exquisiteness, it's essentially an opportunistic act."

Even if you cook Western food perfectly, it goes against the theme. If you are really confident in both Chinese and Western cuisine, why not just make "fusion cuisine"?

Dishes like "Wellington steak" and "French slow-cooked foie gras" shouldn't even be on the competition stage in Jiu Yue's eyes.

Especially the "dessert section".
Jiuyue admits that the ingredients used in Chinese pastry cooking are more complex than those in Western cuisine, so maintaining both refinement and taste is inherently very difficult.

This has led to inconsistent quality in the taste of many chain Chinese pastries on the market.

Desserts like "Soufflé" and "King Cake," which haven't been modified and retain the Western-style preparation, are perfectly fine to sell in a store as commercial products. However, they are somewhat inappropriate as competition dishes.

After much deliberation, she finally ordered a pastry. She had done extensive research on it in her previous videos, so she wasn't entirely unable to offer her opinion after actually eating it.

Unlike "Jiuyue," the "Daoyue Society Duo" next to them didn't have a clear goal at this moment.

They were suddenly thrown 48 menus in front of them, as if they had been thrown into a noisy market, where everything looked pretty good.
Unlike others, the Daoyue Society duo's account was operated by "Mushang" and "Yangshu". Initially, the competition organizers actually awarded qualifications based on the accounts.

So the two initially agreed to use the "350 yuan" limit together, but this greatly increased the possibility of them disagreeing on the spot.

Since a competition is not a variety show, such foreseeable disagreements can be avoided. As a result, the two were split up, with each person receiving a consumption voucher of 350.

Although the rules separated them, the two of them actually stayed together. After entering, they sat down together and began to discuss the dishes they wanted to order.

Compared to before, they now have twice the amount of credit, so they are naturally more daring in their selection of dishes.

Although they still can't merge the transactions, they can definitely eat them together.

"Mu Shang, should we order everything from low to high this time, or just order the big one?"

"Yang Shu, what are you saying? When have we ever eaten anything big in our videos?" Yang Shu adjusted his bangs, which he had styled that morning.

"Have you looked at the menu? In our previous videos, 100 yuan could be spent like 150 yuan. Do you have any dishes in our price range here?"

Kishiro wore a conflicted expression.

"Don't say that. I looked through them and found that there are actually quite a few dishes under 150."

"How about this, let's split it up today. One person orders the cheaper option, and the other person orders the more expensive one. Then we'll make a combined evaluation."

The poplar tree smiled.

"Just say which restaurant you like, why are you being so coy? Fine, I'll get the cheap stuff, you get two expensive ones!"

"Alright, then I won't be polite. 'Two-color yellow croaker jelly,' 'stir-fried blood cubes,' and 'two lemon drinks,' that's 24 left. What else do you want? I'll add it to the order."

Yang Shu was taken aback when he heard Mu Shang directly announce the names of the dishes.

"You planned this all along! You were trying to hide it from me at first. If it doesn't taste good, I'll hold you responsible!"

Mu Shang waved his hand.

"How could it not be delicious? Can't you see the top-rated review? If it really wasn't delicious, the previous diners wouldn't have given it this high rating. Don't worry, today we'll review what this high-end Chinese cuisine is all about!"

Just as Mu Shang had chosen his dishes, Tang Renjie was caught in a dilemma.

In most shops, there are waiters. To judge whether a shop is good or not, just ask the waiter what the shop's signboard is.

However, the staff on site had no obligation to introduce the dishes, and Tang Renjie, who already had some difficulty making choices, was overwhelmed by the menu.

"Hey everyone, don't blame Old Tang for being so slow, I just want to eat something I've never seen before, like 'Dudu Clay Pot' or stir-fried eel shreds, we've seen those all before."

"This 'Blood Tofu' thing is new to me. I'm guessing it's probably just blood tofu with a different name. But even a name change needs to be creative; otherwise, it's just a scam."

"But after ordering this blood curd, I'm really craving this hidden menu item. Think about it, I spend 350 yuan, order two dishes, and get one free—isn't that a great deal?"

Tang Renjie was conflicted for two reasons. First, he didn't think there was anything worth eating in the yellow croaker jelly. Second, he had ordered from Xia Ming's hidden menu, which meant he couldn't order from other restaurants.

Just as he was struggling with this decision, a blogger sitting next to him took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, Teacher Tang!"

Tang Renjie turned his head and saw that Old Wang was sitting next to him in a suit and tie, holding a cell phone in his hand.

It turned out that the girl who was originally sitting next to Tang Renjie and the boy who was sitting next to Lao Wang were friends. They switched seats and Lao Wang ended up sitting next to Tang Renjie.

This Old Wang isn't the well-known Old Wang next door who likes to eat melons and then gives melon rind hats to his neighbors.

The ID "Lao Wang" is actually "Lao Wang in China" and he is an Iraqi.

She grew up in a wealthy family, but experienced war when she was 9 years old. After moving to many countries, she finally settled in Ningxia, China, and began working as a model.

By chance, four years later, he went through a training course held by the organization and transformed into a food blogger, and then quickly became popular, known as "Crazy Food Master Wang".

Tang Renjie's eyes lit up when he saw Lao Wang.

"Old Wang, come sit over here, come sit over here. I've seen your food exploration videos from different places before. It's fate that we meet here. Let's get closer and broadcast together!"

Old Wang agreed immediately, as he also wanted to try more different flavors, but the vouchers offered by the organizers were too few.

So the two of them put their heads together and formed a group, which became the "Upside-Down Moon Society" model mentioned earlier.

Just like them.
We all hang out in the food industry, we see each other all the time, and we all look somewhat familiar.

In front of the camera, as they chatted, some of them leaned together and started ordering.

Bloggers with fewer followers may not have as wide a network, but if two or three of them get together to chat, they can sometimes find mutual support and comfort on the spot.

This gives everyone a lot more options.

Furthermore, thanks to Xia Ming's overwhelmingly positive reviews and the buy-two-get-one-free offer, many people have spent over 300 yuan here.

"Kitchen"

Hearing the orders coming in from the single-player game behind him, Xia Ming quickly flipped the fried blood tofu pieces in the frying pan.

Just as Tang Renjie thought, Xuefang was indeed blood tofu.

That is, the blood tofu in the "Pig Blood Curd" set meal at the beginning.
"The difference is that back then, blood tofu was only in the semi-preparation stage. To turn it into stir-fried blood tofu, it still needed to go through many processing steps."

Although the process is rather complicated, the advantage of this dish is that it can be made into multiple portions at once.

The yellow croaker jelly only needs to be plated, and the lemonade is different from the previous "starry sky lemonade"—it focuses less on visual appeal and more on taste.

So, although things look particularly complicated, in reality, only the hidden menu and the pre-processing of "Blood Cube" are a bit cumbersome. The current order volume is perfectly acceptable for Xia Ming.

Looking at "Tang Renjie" and "Old Wang" on the big screen, Xia Ming smiled slightly.

"Alright, it's decided then. If it's you guys, I'll send you 'turtle jelly ice cream'!"

(End of this chapter)