Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 592: The Disappearing Coconut

The public jury watching the judging on site became displeased.

Clearly, the last four judges hadn't even tasted the dish, yet they all gave it a 5. This underhandedness was simply too obvious.

Therefore, the audience started to express their unfairness for Qi Shanzhu, who ranked last.

Olette Yu Pei'er, representing the judges, first explained why Qi Shanzhu's dish only received 3 points.

"Chef Qi Shanzhu's dish was quite innovative, and the flavor balance wasn't bad either, however, the theme, coconut, wasn't prominent enough; it was overshadowed by the red snapper and even by the taste of fennel.

"After all, this competition is about theme creativity, and if you stray from the theme, no matter how good the taste is, it's hard to score high.

"As for why Chef Ma Lu once again received full marks, it's because his dish was ingeniously crafted. He used the sense of smell to interpret the theme. Not only did he stick closely to the theme, but he also had overwhelming advantages in creativity and technique."

Although Sun He had said that the most important thing is that the food tastes good, and strictly speaking, Ma Lu's dish didn't serve actual food.

But just with the aroma alone, he made all the judges recall the delicious food they had eaten before, deceiving their brains and giving them the illusion as if they were eating.

This was also the reason why the four judges ultimately decided to give him full marks.

Plus, the difficulty of the dish was extremely high. Ma Lu had single-handedly recreated the aromas of his five competitors' dishes and found a way to preserve them, no wonder he waited until the last to submit his work.

This courage and confidence also left the judges with no choice but to award full points.

They all wanted to see what kind of surprise Ma Lu could bring next.

As the commotion on-site subsided, Qi Shanzhu also left the cooking station.

However, she did not return to her room but chose to stay in the banquet hall to continue watching the upcoming competition.

Without any rest, the remaining five chefs entered the third round of the battle.

The director deliberately gave each chef a close-up shot, and as it turned out, except for Ma Lu, the other four were all frowning.

On-site creation is very mentally and physically exhausting, and the organizing committee had also come up with a very peculiar theme this time, giving them only two hours in total.

One could say that from the beginning of the competition, everyone had switched into overdrive mode.

Not only were their hands non-stop, but even during the judges' commentary, they had to keep their brains running at full capacity, thinking about what to make for the next round, not slacking off for a moment.

Under such terrible pressure, it was easy to feel fatigued.

By the end of the second round, Fan Yixin was already sweating non-stop, feeling it was more exhausting than a whole day of cooking.

When the third round of the competition started, she went to pick up a knife but almost failed to grasp it securely, almost dropping it to the floor.

The other competitors weren't faring any better; Luo Junkang, usually known for his stability, actually made a mistake during cooking and even made two in a row.

Chuan Ye Zhengming had forgotten to pick up some ingredients, forcing him to make another trip to the ingredients area and wastefully consuming his already limited time.

Only Sun Mei and Ma Lu still maintained their stability.

Although Uncle Sun did not participate as a judge today to avoid conflicts of interest, he came to watch the competition and was to be responsible for the awards ceremony after the first, second, and third places were decided.

Next to him, Qiu Lele said, "Is it my illusion, or does Xiao Mei's cooking seem to have improved again?

"Although her dishes were already very good, she seemed to imitate you in everything, like a copy of you.

"Now, although I can still see your influence on her, more of it is as 'Chef Sun Mei.' She seems much more composed and self-consistent compared to that time."

"'End of the World' is her silent proclamation to you, isn't it?" said Sun He with a snort. "Her culinary talent has always been superb, even surpassing mine when I was young. That's why I didn't agree with her pursuing painting—it's simply a waste of her gifts.

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"Having everything that every chef dreams of but not cherishing it, squandering her youth and looking down on everything.

"Claiming she values freedom, passion, and all that, she ran off abroad. But what has she achieved after all these years? It's nothing but fooling around."

"But..." Qiu Lele cautiously interjected, "Although Xiao Mei was always winning, she seemed to be really struggling.

"People should do what makes them happy. You must want her to be happy too."

Sun He fell silent for a long moment before sighing, "If she really didn't like cooking at all, how could she have created a dish like 'End of the World'? And why would she agree to come back to the country to participate in a competition?"

"Wasn't it you who had Uncle Sun call her back? Xiao Mei thought that if she won this competition, according to the agreement, she could repay the gratitude for your mentorship and afterwards continue to do what she likes."

"But look at her now, so engrossed in her task. Is it really just for that agreement with me?"

"......"

Sun Mei no longer paid any attention to what was happening around her, focusing entirely on cooking the dish in front of her.

This time she planned to prepare duck breast, using Jiaji ducks from Hainan.

These ducks are initially fed on fish and shrimp and later raised in cages for forced feeding; ducks raised this way have a rich and succulent meat quality, ideal for pan-searing and roasting.

Sun Mei took out the prepared duck breast and also sliced a few pieces of duck fat to cook as the accompaniment to the morel mushrooms and the combination of potatoes and onions.

When the final dish was served, the four judges were all stunned.

Gaggan Anand even used his fork to poke around but couldn't find even a trace of coconut in the dish.

"Chef Sun Mei, have you forgotten something?" Rocky Chen reminded. "Your duck breast seems to be missing sauce."

Sun Mei replied, "I haven't forgotten, this dish is not supposed to have sauce."

"But then, hasn't it completely omitted coconut?" Olette Yupper said. "Your duck is seared well, but please remember our competition has a coconut theme."

"I haven't forgotten," Sun Mei calmly replied. "You'll know after you've tasted it."

The four judges exchanged glances and then took up their knives and forks, cutting a slice of duck and placing it in their mouths.

Yoshikazu Yoda exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, this coconut aroma... it's smoked. Did you use smoking to treat this piece of duck breast?"

Sun Mei nodded. "Correct, I used coconut shells as the fuel to smoke the duck breast."

"But to prepare this dish you used less than 15 minutes, surely that's not enough time for the smoke to permeate the meat?" Gaggan Anand frowned.

"Indeed it's not enough, which is why I started handling this piece of duck breast while preparing the first dish."

"Ah?"

"Ah?!"

Sun Mei's revelation shocked the four judges and the audience.

They all thought that this was tantamount to admitting a violation, wasn't it? Continuing to cook after the timer ended is not allowed in the competition.

As if knowing what everyone was thinking, Sun Mei explained, "I haven't violated the rules. The rules were very clear from the beginning: after the timer is snapped, one cannot touch any kitchen utensils, but that does not prohibit any cooking actions.

"For this, I specifically asked the staff and obtained permission before doing so."