My Stunning Beauty Special Agent Wife

Chapter 1330: Chapter 1328: Elder Gao’s Wrath

"Yes!" Yang Chen’s expression changed slightly, finding Gao Zhenggen’s words quite interesting, feeling like he had hit the nail on the head.

"Speaking of your roasted lamb, it’s the one dish among these three that I’m actually somewhat satisfied with. Because it has highlights. I think you know what the highlights are, it’s your recipe, your clever use of barbecue seasoning. But do you know where the flaw is?"

Yang Chen respectfully said, "I seek your advice."

"Whether it’s a whole roasted lamb or a roasted lamb chop, or roasted beef, pork, or camel, there’s one unavoidable point: the outside is salty and the inside is bland!" Gao Zhenggen said.

Yang Chen nodded.

This is a matter of texture. Whether marinating or grilling, salt penetrates from the outside in. Even if you apply seasoning on both sides, the inside will still taste bland. If you use too much, the outside becomes too salty, and handling this perfectly is quite difficult.

Gao Zhenggen said, "So I say, a chef must learn to use their brain and think more about how to make dishes taste better, not just imitate what others do without improving. How can we progress? If humans hadn’t progressed, we’d still be pushing handcarts today instead of driving cars!"

"You’re right!" Yang Chen thought to himself. He never considered this aspect when cooking before; this is the gap between someone who can cook and a real chef.

"Without this mindset, you won’t find a way and won’t be able to create truly good dishes. Look, your knife skills are good, why not apply them to the grilled meat? With your knife skills, I believe you can cut open the lamb and apply the seasoning inside evenly, elevating the taste to another level."

Yang Chen suddenly realized.

If he could cut open the meat during marination and apply seasoning inside without ruining the shape of the lamb, wouldn’t the flavor be more even?

Gao Zhenggen, worthy of being the golden knife chef, hit the key point with a single comment, giving Yang Chen a eureka moment.

"Lastly, your bamboo mushroom stewed goose, if I have to comment, I can only say... it’s a complete mess!" Gao Zhenggen said coldly.

Yang Chen was taken aback; he didn’t expect Gao Zhenggen to rate it like this.

The bamboo mushroom stewed goose was the dish Yang Chen spent the most time on, thinking it would be the best, but it turned out to be the worst according to Gao Zhenggen.

Ye Xin couldn’t help but defend Yang Chen, "But it’s obviously very tasty!"

Gao Zhenggen looked at Ye Xin and sighed, "But it’s only tasty. To become a good dish, a masterpiece, being tasty isn’t enough. It’s like singing; you may have technique but lack emotion — it’s just a song, hard to be memorable. Even if it’s your original song, it might be overshadowed by someone’s cover. You have seasoning skills, the soup is delicious, but it lacks soul, which technique alone can’t cover."

"You mean..." Yang Chen did not fully understand Gao Zhenggen’s meaning and asked.

Gao Zhenggen glanced at Yang Chen, sighed, and said, "I mean, from selection to cooking process, even technique, everything is wrong. You barely made a dish that tastes okay, but didn’t grasp the essence. You only imitated the appearance."

Yang Chen was taken aback, thought for a moment, and slowly said, "I truly haven’t learned this dish, only tried it once. I roughly looked at the required ingredients and methods and tried making it."

Gao Zhenggen nodded, "Overall, your aptitude is good. But learning to cook isn’t done overnight. Do you want to stay with me for systematic learning, or do you want to pick it up quickly?"

Yang Chen hesitated a bit, feeling reluctant.

"Of course, I recommend you learn systematically with me. I also encourage you to follow a system learning approach since wasting your talent is a pity. If you truly have no time, we can quickly learn a bit. Staying with me for a while will be sufficient."

"So how long would it take?" Yang Chen asked.

"Systematic learning, considering your talent, I’d say at least two years. I’m confident I can elevate you to bronze knife chef within two years, perhaps even silver knife, if you work hard." Gao Zhenggen said confidently.

"For quick learning... well... a month maybe! I’ll teach you what you need as quickly as possible within a month, but you need to be fully committed, otherwise, I can’t help you." Speaking of the second approach, Gao Zhenggen seemed not to agree, almost uninterested.

Yang Chen looked embarrassed, hesitantly said, "Um... Mr. Gao, could it be done in a week?"

"What!" Gao Zhenggen stared at Yang Chen, eyes wide like he was ready to eat someone, "What did you say? Say it again!"

Yang Chen, embarrassed, gritted his teeth, "I really don’t have time, I can only spare a week..."

"Get out!" Gao Zhenggen waved angrily, "Get as far away as you can!"

"Mr. Gao..."

"Get out!"

Gao Zhenggen almost exploded like he had taken gunpowder.

Yang Chen wanted to explain, but Gao Zhenggen wouldn’t listen at all.

Ye Xin tried arguing with Gao Zhenggen but was pulled away by Yang Chen, leaving sheepishly.

"Why are you pulling me!" Ye Xin said irritably. "If he doesn’t want to teach, why tell you to get out! You’re my husband, don’t I deserve some face?"

Yang Chen felt fine about the first part of the sentence but not the second, "So you’re just unhappy because it makes you lose face?"

"Isn’t that so?" Ye Xin looked at Yang Chen.

Yang Chen chuckled bitterly, helplessly said, "Alright! He’s an old chef, his skill is already at the pinnacle, can truly be called art. An artist, you know? It’s normal to have some temper. Plus, he tasted my dishes and gave me so much advice, he’s really intending to take me as an apprentice."

"But he can’t insult people!" Ye Xin was still unhappy.

Yang Chen comforted, "Think about it, he’s thinking of accepting apprentices, but runs into me who is just playing around. How could he not get mad? Plus, Mr. Gao devoted his life to the chef profession, with very strict demands. In his view, no matter how talented, to master cooking, two to three years is essential. Didn’t you hear him say, even the minimum standard for apprenticeship is bronze knife chef, shows how strict it is! I told him a week at most, who wouldn’t he get angry with if not me!"

Ye Xin glared at Yang Chen, "Since you know that, why provoke Grandpa Gao!"

Yang Chen shrugged helplessly, "I honestly want to learn, but I have no time. If I had time, I’d definitely stay and learn cooking from him obediently."

Listening to Yang Chen, Ye Xin’s eyes rolled, not knowing what she was thinking.