King of the Wilderness

Chapter 415: Chapter 236: Power Chosen by the Ancestors

Aliya grinned mischievously, directly pointing the knife and fork at the giant roast turkey.

The sharp knife cut precisely along the turkey leg joint, accompanied by a crisp sound, and a whole large seemingly succulent turkey leg was sliced off completely.

She firmly placed this impressively sized trophy on Lin Yu’an’s plate and scooped a large spoonful of golden, crispy traditional stuffing next to it.

"Start with this," she said, pointing with her chin at the turkey leg, her eyes twinkling with a slightly playful smile.

"Try our family’s chef’s masterpiece and see if she has completed the ’make the turkey not taste terrible’ epic level challenge."

Lin Yu’an couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this. His impression of roast turkey still lingered on the dry, tough, sawdust-like texture he previously encountered at parties.

To him, its greatest value was as a holiday mascot; no one really expected it to be particularly delicious.

With a bit of skepticism, he picked up the knife and fork and cut off a large piece of the turkey leg with its crispy skin.

He thought he would encounter stubborn resistance from coarse fibers, but as the blade cut through, he felt unexpected smoothness.

He speared the piece of meat, dipped it generously in the thick, hot gravy in the gravy boat beside him, and then somewhat perfunctorily put it into his mouth.

The moment it entered his mouth, Lin Yu’an’s chewing paused momentarily.

The dry, sawdust texture he expected was entirely absent. The turkey skin was roasted crispy and aromatic, with a complex scent of rosemary and garlic. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

And the leg meat beneath was not only firm in texture but surprisingly not that dry, with every fiber infused with a light salty and spiced aroma.

In disbelief, he cut a small piece of breast meat to taste, the part of the turkey most prone to failure.

The result was that the breast meat was equally fresh and juicy, completely overcoming the dryness of poultry white meat with the help of herb-infused butter.

However, amidst the rich flavor of herbs and butter, a very familiar wild gaminess stubbornly emerged.

This taste had been very gently dealt with but was still present. It was the primal mark of a large fowl like a turkey that could not be completely erased by civilized cooking methods.

Lin Yu’an slowly swallowed the food in his mouth, put down the knife and fork, and didn’t speak immediately but instead gently tapped the table with his fingers, producing a series of rhythmical sounds.

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaned back in his chair, and showed an extremely serious expression, as if he were judging a top-level cooking competition final.

Aliya, watching his pretentious posture, couldn’t help but roll her eyes: "Hey, there you go again."

Lin Yu’an’s demeanor instantly brought Aliya back to their university days when she first tried making a Chinese dish of tomato scrambled eggs, and he had to put on a show like this after tasting it.

Disregarding Aliya’s eye roll, his gaze was fixed on Emily, who was struggling to hold back laughter and looking at him expectantly.

"Ms. Emily," he deliberately lowered his voice, imitating the imposing tone of a food show judge, "please step up to the judges’ table."

Emily very cooperatively stood up from her chair, walked up to him, and put her hands behind her back like a contestant awaiting judgment.

Lin Yu’an cleared his throat and began his critique: "First, I must congratulate you. In the ’moisture’ category, you’ve scored full marks."

"To handle turkey, a ’disaster-level’ ingredient in the culinary world, so it’s tender and juicy; technically, I have no critique."

"Honestly, this is better than what I’ve had in many so-called Michelin restaurants."

Lin Yu’an paused, and suddenly his tone became sharp: "However..."

He leaned forward, meeting Emily’s eyes one by one, and said, "Your biggest challenge lies in flavor control."

"You tried to mask it with loads of herbs and butter, but that inherent, primitive gaminess of turkey is still there."

"No matter how grand your stage is set, I can still taste it; you haven’t completely driven it out."

"Was it intentional, or was it accidental?"

Faced with this "cutting" critique, Emily not only didn’t appear nervous at all but actually showed a confident and composed smile.

"Yes, Mr. Judge, I intentionally didn’t remove it completely," she admitted nonchalantly.

"Because I know that’s impossible, the gaminess of turkey is written in its genes, and any chef attempting to erase it completely is defying God."

Her aura instantly reversed the roles, starting to articulate her culinary philosophy to the "judge": "So, my strategy wasn’t to eliminate but to tame."

"I used a whole two-day herb brine soak, with plenty of juniper berries and bay leaves, to suppress its wildness to the lowest."

"Then I dressed it with a complex herb butter. Made it a respectable, acceptable turkey."

Aliya couldn’t help but comment from the side: "You two, enough! Can we enjoy the holiday properly?"

Lin Yu’an didn’t heed Aliya’s protest but continued immersing himself in the role, imitating the judge’s tone, "Contestant Emily, about this dish, I also have a historical story."

Emily very cooperatively blinked her eyes: "Please enlighten us, Mr. Judge."