Chương 49: Chapter 49
Ch49 – Drafting the Menu
Early the next morning, Ruan Tang called a suspended car and set off for the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building was both the tallest building of the Blue Star Empire and its administrative center. It was very representative of the Blue Star Empire. Entertaining the Rutes here meant that they were giving them a very high standard of treatment.
Despite preparing himself mentally, Ruan Tang was still greatly shocked when he stood in front of the Empire State Building. He had never seen such a tall and grand building. It was a literal manifestation of the saying "towering over the clouds". It was more magnificent than any high-rise building that he'd seen in his past life.
Government personnel were coming and going in an endless stream. Through the various gates, they entered the Empire State Building in an orderly manner. Ruan Tang simply followed the crowd into the building.
The security facilities for entry into the Empire State Building were more rigorous than he had imagined. Though there were four large gates for entry and exit in each of the cardinal directions, each gate was actually followed by 16 smaller doors, each of which was an independent security gate. Each person by themselves would need to pass through one of the smaller gates.
When he walked up to the gate, he pressed the palm of his hand on the smart terminal at the door. After his biometric information was verified, the automatic door opened and there was a small compartment in front of him. He walked in slowly, and the automatic door also closed behind him. Then there was an infrared light that scanned him all over, confirming that he wasn't carrying any suspicious items. Only then did the door in front of him open.
At the gate's reception desk, Ruan Tang received an elevator card and he rode the elevator to the banquet hall on the 55th floor.
"Xiao Tang, you're here!" President Gu was sitting in the banquet hall with several chefs, discussing the menu. After seeing the Ruan Tang coming out of the elevator, he immediately revealed an amiable smile.
"President Gu, good morning." He smiled and walked over.
"This is Xue Ning, Cai Wenjie, Qian Bin and Tao An, all of them are outstanding chefs from our association." President Gu smiled and introduced the other people with him. "This is Ruan Tang. I don't think I need to introduce him, do I?"
Xue Ning was the only female chef in the group. Her face was beautiful but her temperament was cold and she didn't look very approachable. When President Gu introduced them, she almost didn't even look Ruan Tang's way. Cai Wenjie and Qian Bin were both veteran chefs of a certain age and experience. They had mature and stable temperaments. When President Gu introduced them, they politely nodded and said hello. Tao An was President Gu's apprentice and was probably the youngest among them. He had been staring at Ruan Tang ever since he entered, making Ruan Tang unable to not pay attention to him.
"Hello." He turned and smilingly called out to him. Seeing those big, bright eyes staring intensely at him, he couldn't help but have second thoughts. He shouldn't…have done anything for the other to hate him, right?
"Oh… thank you."
When Ruan Tang thanked him, Tao An became even more excited. His appearance was fierce like a prehistoric behemoth. Ruan Tang had no way at all to connect with his expression and language.
Noticing his 'at a loss' expression, President Gu couldn't help laughing. He shook his head and finding the situation both funny and extremely embarrassing, explained: "My apprentice is like this… Although he looks quite ferocious, his character is actually very easygoing and naive. He really is your fan. Usually, Tao An is careful to control his expressions, but when he saw you, he might have gotten a little too excited, and he lost control over it… You'll have to bear with him."
Tao An kept nodding his head up and down. Even his voice was rough like a tiger's roar. While using his strong hand to hold onto Ruan Tang's, he growled out, "Mr- Mr. Ruan! I started watching your live broadcasts from your third one. I even watched the recordings of the two previous ones. I haven't missed a single one since then. Although I have never said anything in the live chat, I send gifts every time! But I don't have a lot of money like room manager HE…"
He got his mood under control, wiped his tears and continued to growl: "I think that you're really amazing. You can turn any simple ingredient into delicious food. You're like a god of creation! No, like a god of food!"
"Right, my ID is Wang Shu." This King Kong boy was a little embarrassed and he bowed his head slightly. His whole face was red with excitement and his black big eyes were staring intensely at Ruan Tang, "Does– does it seem familiar?"
"En… it does seem a bit familiar, thank you for your support!" Ruan Tang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he really did have an impression of Tao An's ID. After all, the number of viewers during his earlier broadcasts were relatively few. The chances of making an impression then was a lot higher.
At first, he thought that Tao An was a fan of the film emperor and that was why he was so excited to see him. Ruan Tang did not expect the other was actually a fan of his live broadcasts. Although Tao An looked to be a bit too chatty and excitable and his image and personality were completely at odds with one another, still, Ruan Tang had a good impression of him.
This kind of gap moe was very amusing. Tao An's contrast was much bigger than He Yun Chen's.
"It would be good if you two could get along. Xiao Tang, Xiao An is quite reliable when it comes to cooking. You can instruct him as you wish without any worries." President Gu said with a smile, "So should we start on that menu now?"
The Rutes' delegation consisted of 20 Rute nobles. Their entourage and fleet numbered about a thousand. While the government's key members and royal family receive the delegation in the main lobby of the banquet hall, the other Rute people would be dining buffet style in the outer hall.
Apart from Tao An, President Gu and the others had participated in the last Rute banquet. Xue Ning was an expert at making soup. During their last visit, the Rute highly praised her rich and mellow meat based soups. Cai Wenjie was good at frying and roasting. The barbecue he made was very popular with the Rutes. Qian Bin is good at steamed dishes; all the dishes he made were quite delicious. There would be no problems with them in charge for the other Rutes' food.
As for President Gu and Ruan Tang, they would be responsible for the highlight of this visit — that is the feast in the main banquet hall. Tao An was responsible for assisting them. Although the Rutes' visiting team had only a total of 20 people, they were all aristocrats among the Rute people. They must not be the slightest bit careless. Aside from that, the Blue Star Empire's royal family and other leading figures would also be in attendance. They must be very diligent in crafting this menu.
President Gu could see that Xue Ning and the others seemed to have some dissatisfaction and hostility towards Ruan Tang. It may be that they believed Ruan Tang's addition to the team robbed them of their post and their limelight. But in fact, Ruan Tang was only here because the leader of the Rutes personally asked for him. Otherwise, President Gu wouldn't have thickened his face to invite him here. Only there was no way for the president to tell this to the others. If he did, he was afraid they would be so humiliated that they would become even more resentful.
President Gu shook his head helplessly. In any case, they were divided into two mutually exclusive groups of operation. There was no need for them to interfere with one another.
"The Rutes like to eat meat but does that mean that they don't eat vegetable dishes?" Ruan Tang asked curiously.
"They most probably don't." President Gu opened the light brain and extracted the menu from the last reception. No one showed any interest in the vegetable dishes during the last reception. The Rutes were obviously more interested in those meat dishes.
Looking at this overly-simplified all-meat menu, Ruan Tang slightly furrowed his brows. During his previous life, a menu like this would only be seen at the banquet of a countryside nouveau riche…
However, in the end, it was mainly catered to the preferences of the guests, and Ruan Tang could only try to accommodate them as much as possible.
"Since the Rute people like to eat meat, then we will try to prepare meat dishes as much as possible. But we also have to consider that the empire's government officials and royal family will also be in attendance. I think it would be nice to include a few vegetable and meat combination dishes."
"We can."
"Chicken, duck and fish; pork, beef and lamb. We can make two dishes for each type, plus a few stir-fried meat and vegetables dishes and a pot of clear soup. That should be enough."
"Yes." President Gu was very clear about his ability. He continuously nodded as he listened to Ruan Tang's explanation.
The taste of the other party was obviously very simple and straightforward — as long as there is meat, and as long as it's delicious, it's good! Given this, Ruan Tang did not plan for any of those outwardly gorgeous but less filling dishes. Instead, Ruan Tang planned this like a luxurious countryside banquet. In short, the core theme would be "a big mouthful of meat."
First was chicken, this universally accepted ingredient. Stewed chicken with mushroom and honey chicken wings would be good; the duck, of course, would be the classic roast duck, and the other dish would be Soy Braised Duck Legs; for fish, they'll make Doujiao Yutou and Squirrel Perch; as for pork, he wanted to make roast suckling pig and red braised pork; for the beef he wanted to replicate his just recently broadcasted mushroom and beef roll up and stewed potatoes and beef. As for the lamb, whether braised in soy sauce or boiled plain paired with dipping sauce, both were equally delicious. Finally, for the soup, mutton soup would be extremely tasty.
Ruan Tang quickly and neatly decided on the dishes for the reception. However, he was actually having second thoughts about the vegetable and meat dish. During his previous life he had never paid any attention to the arrangement for state banquets. Now, he was at a loss as to what would be appropriate.
President Gu was his confusion and smiled, "I will be responsible for the vegetarian dishes. After all, I can't call myself a five-star chef if I let you best me too much."
"Okay, then I will have to inconvenience you." Handing the vegetarian dishes to President Gu, Ruan Tang could finally rest assured.
However, in standard banquets, before the hot dishes were served, a few cold dishes would be given to the guests to cushion their stomachs. Ruan Tang thought about it, and decided to add crystal shrimp, tender skinned fish rolls, cold tofu salad and soy braised cod.
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