Zheng Da said if he’s going to help, he really means it.
In the kitchen, there’s basically every kind of ingredient needed for snack making, and things like red bean paste, green bean paste, and coconut filling that can be stored ahead are in the freezer.
Zheng Da took a broad tour around the kitchen, getting familiar with the ingredients and utensils, and then rolled up his sleeves to get started.
The first thing he made was flaky pastry.
In Zheng Da’s words, his son Zheng Siyuan’s signature pastry is flaky pastry. Sometimes when his son has something on, he has to step in, he would go and muddle through making a bit.
Of course, if Zheng Da is asking Zheng Siyuan for something, like encouraging him to skip work for a blind date or something, he would make it seriously. How seriously depends on how likely the blind date is to succeed.
Today, Zheng Da wasn’t too serious.
Mainly because he couldn’t be, as he had to watch Qin Huai making locust flower buns while doing his own snacks, it was good enough that he wasn’t distracted.
Qin Luo was beside them, holding a plate of Four Happiness Dumplings, eating and watching.
It’s quite a rare sight to have two pastry chefs making snacks in the kitchen at the same time.
"Luoluo, is that Four Happiness Dumplings you’re eating?" Zheng Da could not only work and watch but also care about what Qin Luo was eating.
"Yes, my brother made them. Uncle Zheng, do you want one? I can share one with you." Qin Luo nodded.
Zheng Da shook his head, refusing. It’s not like he hasn’t eaten them before, there’s no need to take food from the little girl.
"But your Four Happiness Dumplings have quite beautiful ingredients, is this your family’s recipe, too?"
Zheng Da’s eyes were on Qin Huai’s hands kneading dough while his own hands continued kneading, talking to Qin Luo, demonstrating extreme multitasking.
"It’s my brother’s recipe," Qin Luo said, "My brother says the online recipes don’t taste good, so he researched it himself."
Zheng Da paused for a moment from kneading, asking, "Xiao Qin, which style of pastry did you learn?"
This time, it was Qin Huai’s turn to pause in kneading and asked back with a soul-searching question, "Is there such a thing as pastry styles?"
Zheng Da was bewildered.
"Yes... There’s Beijing style, Suzhou style, Guangzhou style in the major categories, and more detailed divisions like Ning style, Sichuan style, Jin style, Shanghai style, Yang..." Zheng Da rattled off a list, seeing Qin Huai still looking at him perplexed, raised his voice, "You didn’t know?!"
"I know the Green Bean Cake has a Beijing style, I saw it when I searched for recipes online," Qin Huai said.
This left Zheng Da completely dumbfounded. He was speechless for a while before finally squeezing out the words, "Your dad is too casual with this."
"At least teach a bit."
Even if the family tradition is dwindling, and can only open a community cafeteria in a high-end complex, you can’t just pass on the craft without teaching anything else. If he knows nothing, like a rookie, and ends up going out for chef exchanges, wouldn’t others make fun of him?
Zheng Da looked around the kitchen and glanced at the décor of the hall.
No, this isn’t declining at all. This location, this size, this renovation.
Ample enough to open a restaurant.
"Uncle Zheng, it has nothing to do with my dad," Qin Luo stood up for Qin Congwen, "My dad runs a Breakfast Shop, he only makes buns, shaomai, wontons, he can’t even make buns well, so he couldn’t teach my brother."
Zheng Da let out a long sigh of relief, it seemed the family craft had declined so much that it had to be learned from others: "Who is your master?"
Qin Huai was silent for a while, then slowly spat out four words, "Snack Encyclopedia?"
Commentator Qin Luo spoke up again, "My brother didn’t have a mentor. Back when my brother was in high school, I suggested he could go someplace in Hangzhou to learn from a master. My dad thought the college entrance exam was more important and didn’t let my brother go."
"Our family has a Snack Encyclopedia. My brother basically makes snacks by flipping through the recipes there. If they’re not in the Snack Encyclopedia, he searches online."
Zheng Da took a deep breath, thinking he needed to calm down.
Ha ha, this kneading technique, this level of fermentation, this snack completion rate, this method, this strength, this skill, turns out to be completely from the wild!
No, this isn’t even the wild way. Usually, the wild way means not having properly apprenticed, learning a bit here and a bit there. This didn’t even have any learning here, it’s all just...
Since when did the culinary world have martial arts manuals???
Which proper family’s chef didn’t learn from a master hand-in-hand, but learned to make snacks by flipping through recipes themselves!
The basic skills? Learned from flipping through recipes too?!
Zheng Da squeezed out a smile, "Luoluo, can you tell me properly, how did your brother learn to make snacks these years?"
Qin Luo nodded considering the dozens of boxes of snacks yet to arrive and started from when she wasn’t even born, back when Qin Huai was in the orphanage kneading dough.
One hour later, Zheng Da was stunned.
Although his hands kept working, finishing the flaky pastry then moving on to Dingsheng Cake, then fresh meat mooncake, his heart had stopped.
Zheng Da really wanted to ask Qin Huai, if your skills can be self-taught by kneading dough in an orphanage, stepping into the right track from a flea market Snack Encyclopedia bought in elementary school. Then what about the basic skills I learned as a kid, the knife skills I practiced, the oil burns I suffered, the sweat, the hardships, and the beatings I took?
Zheng Da suddenly remembered that back when his master was still around, he often told them that a true genius only needed a master to guide them in; the rest was all about hard practice and talent. The two brothers practiced hard enough, their talent was slightly lacking, they were considered gifted, but there was still a gap compared to true geniuses.
Zheng Da always thought that was his master’s repressing style of teaching, having lived all these years, he had only seen a few pastry chefs more talented than him; his son Zheng Siyuan was one, there were some good seedlings in Zhiwei Restaurant, the rest were not up to par.
So unlike his senior brother who opened a restaurant and took on many apprentices, Zheng Da was very choosy, he wasn’t interested in those wanting to apprentice with him, those he liked weren’t interested in him, so all these years he only passed on his skills to his son.
Zheng Da looked at Qin Huai, thinking he could be the master showing him the way.
What? You say Qin Huai has already stepped in?
It’s okay, you can step in again.
Zheng Da rubbed his hands, his thoughts somewhat distracted from the locust flower buns, looking at Qin Huai.
"Xiao Qin." Zheng Da’s voice was so cordial that even he felt a bit hypocritical about himself.
"What do you think of me?"
Zheng Da cleared his throat, "Your Uncle Zheng is somewhat accomplished, no need for apprenticeship gifts, and there’s no need to give gifts to the master during the three major festivals each year. On the contrary, the master will surely give a big red envelope every New Year, at least three times more than I give to my nephews!
"In terms of reputation, before I went into business, I was also a renowned pastry chef in Gusu, featured in ’Taste,’ and made a name for myself."
"The most critical part is, I haven’t taken any apprentices. Siyuan is my son, not my apprentice. Unlike my senior brother who took in enough disciples to form a soccer team, I’m very dedicated to my apprentices, once taken, I nurture them with care, hand over all my knowledge, and prioritize resource allocation!"
"Would you consider apprenticing with me? I think there’s no time like the present, how about this afternoon! I’ll have my assistant prepare, and I’ll give you a big red envelope."
Now it was Qin Huai’s turn to be dumbfounded.
Qin Luo beside him was also bewildered.
Since the promised dozens of boxes of snacks hadn’t arrived yet, Qin Luo suspected that Uncle Zheng Da in front of her might be an unconventional scammer.
If it weren’t for Zheng Da’s assets being searchable online, and being indeed pictured as the chairman on the company’s official website, Qin Huai would also suspect the person in front of him is a scammer.
The kitchen plunged into a deadly silence.
To ease the awkwardness, Qin Huai coughed twice, looked at the dough still fermenting and said with some embarrassment, "Apprenticing...Master Zheng, sorry, I haven’t considered it."
"Do you have any thoughts on these locust flower buns?"
The transition was very abrupt, but Zheng Da found it excellent.
Indeed, in this day and age, taking apprentices can’t only be done through words. Skills, when not hands-on, are nothing; being able to demonstrate them is the real skill!
Zheng Da thought it was time to use the locust flower buns to prove his skills!
Zheng Da began to focus on researching the locust flower buns, temporarily setting aside the flaky pastry, Dingsheng Cake, and fresh meat mooncake.
The customers outside: ???
No, why haven’t the snacks been served all morning? Is the new pastry chef not up to par?
One hour later, the locust flower buns were done.
Zheng Da chewed on a locust flower bun, looking serious.
Now his thoughts were the same as Qin Huai’s, unable to find any obvious technical problems, yet the buns made clearly didn’t meet Qin Huai’s level.
Simply put, he couldn’t identify the issue.
Zheng Da pondered for 10 minutes, then took out his phone.
"Hello? Siyuan? Have you finished making the snacks? Done, right? Haven’t sold them all yet? It’s okay, have your sister help you sell them. You need to book a flight and come over to the location I send you."
"It’s not to trick you into a blind date out of town."
"It’s about pastry, involving your junior brother."
"Not that Huang... It’s me! The apprentice I’m going to take!"
"Ah, it’s complicated, but it’s crucial. Really, it’s not a blind date, it’s truly about snacks! Really, dad wouldn’t lie to you!"