NOVPUBChapter 1237: Chapter 1237: Don’t be reluctant_1 Chapter 1237 -1237: Don’t be reluctant_1 Other students were used to it, but Cindy Clarke did not mind at all.
She is Samson Zhekova’s sister-in-law after all.
So whatever Samson Zhekova said, it would never be against Cindy Clarke; Cindy Clarke felt no pressure at all.
Even if Cindy Clarke confronted Samson Zhekova right in front of everyone, Samson Zhekova would just have to bear it.
Otherwise, Adrian Zhekova would have to deal with him.
As for the competitors from outside the school, they certainly were not used to this.
It really had a significant impact on their mindset.
...
Samson Zhekova finally cleared his throat and quieted down.
Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke watched everyone’s cooking process.
Cindy Clarke was seen preparing the beef tongue, cleaning and removing the skin off it, cutting it into a long piece, then using a rope to wrap it into a cylindrical shape.
She rubbed salt and black pepper on the surface of the beef tongue, then seared it in a frying pan until it turned a crisp, brown color.
She added water, peppercorns, onions, and bay leaves into an electric pressure cooker, then put the seared beef tongue in for high pressure stewing.
If she had enough time, she could stew it slowly in a pot, which would allow it to marinade better.
But given the time constraint, Cindy took this somewhat shortcut approach.
Speaking of which, one hour was really too short.
Normally, even for a main course, one hour is not enough.
She had to find a feasible substitute method.
However, Cindy actually preferred the more delicate method of slow stewing.
But a pressure cooker is indeed a quick and effective method; in no time at all, the beef tongue was stewed until it was very tender.
Due to being secured by a rope, even though it was tender, the beef tongue still maintained its cylindrical shape, with no deformity.
Cindy Clarke placed the beef tongue aside to cool.
She then heated oil in a pan, added fatty beef tendon and beef tendons, and stir fried them together.
The fatty part of the beef was fried until it oozed fat, the resulting aroma of butter was intoxicating, and the beef tendons became increasingly soft and glutinous, with it’s fat being stir-fried out.
She then added onions, garlic slices, celery sticks, radish chunks, minced bacon, and tomato chunks.
When all these ingredients were fried until they were soft, brown and tender, Cindy mashed increasingly soft onions, carrots and tomatoes with a wooden spatula until they turned into a paste.
The paste was so thick it seemed like it had been thickened with starch, akin to thick cream or melted ice cream.
After sieving, all the vegetable bits were filtered, leaving only the thick sauce.
Finally, she added red wine.
In another pot, she heated and melted a chunk of butter, added wheat flour and stir-fried it until golden brown color, then added the just prepared sauce, and simmered it until it was so thick it almost solidified.
When the sauce was scooped up, it gradually thickened in the middle.
She did not require too much sauce, therefore Cindy just dished out a portion.
The remaining portion was added to the slightly stir-fried fruit radishes, broccolini, broccoli, asparagus, then seasoned with a little salt and pepper.
When the vegetables had not yet changed color and still retained their original colors, she quickly dished them out.
She then cut the cooled beef tongue in half, shaped it neatly into a rectangle and simultaneously searing it in the pan, she added red wine to deglaze the pan and allowed the beef tongue to absorb the aroma of the red wine.
Finally, she placed the beef tongue in a dish.
Next, she arranged the vegetables beside it as garnish.
She poured the prepared sauce evenly over the beef tongue.
The sauce had turned a dark brown color and looked like a thick chocolate sauce.
Last but not least, she cleaned the surrounding sauce with a cloth to make the plating neat and tidy.
Cindy just managed to finish within the deadline.
As Wesley Gordon announced the end of the time, Cindy had just finished.
With Samson Zhekova leading, followed by Wesley Gordon and Hunter Clarke.
Starting from the first cooking station, they tasted each dish.
Because Chinese Cuisine was not allowed.
So among the contestants, some chose to make French cuisine, while others chose to make Italian cuisine.
There were even some who made Tacco and so on.
“Your ravioli incorporated elements of Chinese cuisine.
If it was served in a Western restaurant in our country, it might be very well-received by our compatriots.
But this is a competition, and authentic taste is required,” Samson Zhekova said.
“The judges come from all over the world, each with their own preferred taste.
But there is one thing that remains consistent.
They will definitely judge based on the most authentic taste of the originating country of the cuisine.”
Samson Zhekova has been paying attention to Quentin Woodridge.
Finally, he came face-to-face with Quentin Woodridge.
Quentin Woodridge made Tacco.
“The cuisine you chose is good.
It’s interesting and quite clever,” Samson Zhekova affirmed.
Quentin Woodridge stood a little straighter, a proud expression appeared on his face.
He even looked around with a smug expression.
Samson Zhekova picked up the Tacco, examined it and said, “You didn’t manage your cooking time well.
The two sides of the pancake are still a bit over cooked, but the middle part, due to the stuffing, has softened and even soaked up the oil.”
Samson Zhekova pointed at his hand, “Now my hand is full of oil.
Maybe you thought the one-hour timeframe was too short, and were worried about not having enough time, so you chose this recipe.
This ended up with you finishing early, which led to the oil from the stuffing separating from it.
And the pancake isn’t crispy enough.”
Samson Zhekova tasted it: “It lacks a bit of spiciness.
Maybe it’s because it’s been left out for too long, the taste is not ideal.”
Samson Zhekova pointed out the top layer, “Look, there’s a layer of oil floating on top.”
Samson Zhekova put down the pancake, picked up a tissue, and wiped the oil off his fingers.
“It’s just because I have to critique and point out your shortcomings, that I have to eat this.
But in a real competition, the judges can be strict, they can choose not to taste your dish.
This is a failure of a dish, the judges can totally believe that serving this kind of unacceptable dish for tasting is an insult to their professional standards.”
Quentin Woodridge’s face turned red, feeling a slight sensation in his heart, as if Samson Zhekova was deliberately suppressing him.
His dish couldn’t possibly be as bad as Samson Zhekova made it out to be!
“Don’t be dissatisfied.
I’ve said it before, the work experience you have won’t help much in the competition,” Samson Zhekova said, “The most ideal state in a competition is to finish your dish right as the competition ends, in order to maintain the freshness of the dish to the highest degree.”
“Just like dining in a restaurant, the chef serves the dishes immediately after the cooking is completed and presents it to the customer for tasting than letting it sit for a while and lose its best taste.”
“Since you finished preparing your dishes early, you must have had time to observe the status of other contestants.
You might as well think about whether the students of Pingla all finished right at the deadline.”
“It’s not that they are panicking or running out of time, but they are effectively allocating the preparation time of the dishes.”
“There are many competitors but few judges.
Everyone is in line waiting for the judges’ evaluation.
Some people have to wait a long time.”
