In Northern Europe, there is a Western-style restaurant named Noma.
It opened in 2003 in the Christianshavn district of Copenhagen, which was then a barren land! The restaurant's dishes, made from local Nordic ingredients, are presented in handmade tableware within a minimalist space, challenging the conventional understanding of luxury dining.
Last year, the Noma restaurant was crowned "The Best Restaurant in the World" by the WGO food organization.
This marked its fourth time winning this honor in five years!
"Let the chefs step out of the kitchen and into the woods to gather ingredients long forgotten by mainstream culinary culture."
This restaurant's business philosophy aptly describes the essence of Nordic cuisine:
Eco-friendly.
Back to basics.
Pursuit of the true flavors of ingredients.
Such concepts inevitably clash with Chinese cuisine.
But the curiosity and appreciation for nature, the spirit of creativity in culinary arts, and long-term practice are quite similar.
Currently, the cold shrimp tower dish made by Leonora is a good proof of this!
...
In the banquet hall.
The lights shone brightly, like a dream.
The crystal chandelier on the ceiling emitted a soft and warm light, like stars in the night sky, adding a touch of romance and mystery to the entire space.
On the dining table, dishes with rich colors and aromas were arranged in sequence.
Everywhere you looked, there were distinctive Nordic dishes:
Grilled trout.
Icelandic lamb chops.
Puff pastry.
Cold shrimp tower.
Seafood chowder.
Charcoal-grilled reindeer meat.
At this moment, Alice, dressed elegantly, looked on with expectation and curiosity, marveling at the food feast unfolding before her.
"Pop."
A soft sound.
Leonora, equally elegant and noble, was seen pulling the cork out of a wine bottle, releasing the long-sealed aroma!
Pouring the wine into a glass, it flowed smoothly along the glass wall, as soft as a thin thread.
"Come, let's toast."
"Alice, congratulations on your excellent performance in the preliminary competition!"
Raising her glass, Leonora spoke joyfully.
"Thank you, Mom!"
Alice quickly picked up her teacup and returned the toast.
Then, in a cheerful atmosphere, the mother and daughter began to use chopsticks to taste the delicious dishes in front of them.
...
Cold shrimp tower.
The ingredients, as the name suggests, are simple and straightforward.
Apart from the shrimp, the fruits are made up of blueberries, mango, and avocado, with small mousse molds used, making it easy for one person to eat.
The shrimp is light and refreshing.
Chopped, it still has its enticing fresh fragrance!
In the usual way of making shrimp towers, many people place the shrimp directly on top of the fruit tower as decoration.
However, to achieve the effect of red, yellow, green, and blue, Leonora used chopped shrimp as the top layer.
Whether it's shrimp, mango, or avocado, they are all diced and made part of the fruit tower.
Mango dice.
Placed in the middle layer.
Because yellow is bright and vibrant.
This way, the color of the whole dish can spread out.
Moreover, mango is quite sweet, and when you lightly taste it, each spoonful gives you the delicious taste of mango, sweet and enticing.
The avocado is placed at the bottom layer, not only because its light green color is a basic color, giving a stable feeling, but also because it is softer than mango and shrimp, with stronger adhesion, matching harmoniously with the blue-purple of the blueberries!
Lastly, speaking of blueberries, they are small in size and don't need to be diced again.
Presenting them around creates a three-dimensional look for the shrimp and fruit tower.
On the tower top, just decorate with a blueberry and two or three mint leaves.
Decoration!
Indeed, it's simple.
But it carries a more natural beauty.
And the taste of shrimp and avocado is generally mild, just add pepper flakes, and Thai salad dressing to the avocado pieces…
Then, the final taste will be greatly improved!
...
"Mm, a light bite, and you can hear that crisp sound."
"And the shrimp inside is tender and juicy, with a very delicate texture, the fresh taste of shrimp perfectly combined with the crispy outer layer, leaving a lasting impression."
"I didn't expect it~"
"Here at Totsuki Academy, I can still eat mom's cooking again!"
Chewing, closing her eyes to savor, Alice was deeply impressed.
Not to exaggerate, when it comes to culinary skills and understanding of traditional cooking, her mother Leonora is definitely far better than Alice!
Although it's just a simple cold shrimp tower, this unique Nordic flavor made Alice admire it.
"Alice, who is your opponent tomorrow?"
After taking a sip of red wine, Leonora looked at her daughter with a smile and asked.
"Megumi!"
"A student with poor grades."
Alice responded without thinking.
After the top four participants from both A and B zones were determined, the list of the quarter-finals was quickly announced.
The quarter-finals consist of four matches, with each match having two randomly selected participants to compete in a cooking duel, the winner enters the semi-finals.
And the four matches are held over two days.
The first match will take place tomorrow morning, between Hisako and Ryo.
At noon, it will be Alice and Megumi's match!
...
Soft-shelled turtle.
Not a tortoise, but a turtle!
In Wuhan dialect, it is called "jiao fish," meaning a fish with feet.
In folklore, people refer to soft-shelled turtles as "five-flavored meat," because they have the characteristics of chicken, lamb, beef, pork, and deer meat, tasting delicious and not greasy.
According to research, the history of eating soft-shelled turtles in China can be traced back to the Zhou dynasty.
At that time, the land of Chu was already rich in soft-shelled turtles.
The book "Mozi" records that the state of Chu was "rich in fish, turtles, and crocodiles."
And in the Spring and Autumn period, the Duke of Zheng, Linggong, angered the minister Zisang by not sharing turtle meat with him. Zisang, enraged, dipped his finger in turtle soup and sucked it, then raised an army to kill Linggong.
The story of a kingdom falling over soft-shelled turtle meat is widely talked about.
...
People over forty experience a decline in "yin."
From the perspective of traditional medicine, as age increases, the "yin" in the body slowly decreases.
Through medicinal food therapy, timely and reasonable supplementation can balance yin and yang, enhancing the functions of various organs.
At this moment, in a brightly lit kitchen.
Hisako flipped a soft-shelled turtle over, making its back face the ground, belly up.
With its four feet in the air, the turtle's limbs flailed wildly, trying to find stable support.
And its turtle, cough, turtle head slowly extended from the shell, eyes filled with fear and unease, as if saying, "Where is this? Why am I here?"
"Good! Now!"
Seeing the turtle struggling hard, stretching its neck to the fullest.
Hisako's eyes tightened, she pressed down with her left hand, and without further ado, raised her right hand holding the chef's knife, and chopped down.
Snap!
One cut.
Directly severing the turtle's neck.
Blood splattered instantly, even splashing onto her delicate face!
Such a bloody scene, if someone were watching, they would be stunned.
Knowing that under Erina's strong "heroine" aura, Hisako seemed relatively weak.
But now, killing a turtle, she didn't even blink.
After dealing with the turtle, Hisako continued preparing fresh herbs like Schisandra and daylily.
Next, she added ginger and Shaoxing wine, along with the chopped turtle meat, and even the turtle shell, all into the pot to simmer.
Then, she mixed the chopped turtle meat and innards with pork, seasoned with salt and black pepper.
Wrapping the meat with pork caul fat and placing it on an iron plate to steam and roast.
The reason for using pork caul fat instead of butter is that pork caul fat is the net-like fat from a pig's abdomen, including:
The mesentery and omentum of the pig.
In cooking.
Often used as an ingredient.
Its unique animal fat aroma can enhance appetite.
Usually, it's used to wrap ingredients, then fry or braise to prevent the loss of moisture during cooking, keeping the food tender. For example:
Caul fat liver roll!
It uses pork caul fat to wrap stir-fried wood ear, bamboo shoots, pig kidney, pig liver, etc.
After frying, the outer layer is crispy and smooth, with a certain pork flavor.
Next, Hisako thickened the turtle broth, glazing the sauce over the meat patty, and finally spread a thin layer of butter on the steamed round bun, stuffed with a large amount of fresh lettuce, ginger shreds, and lettuce!
Thus, a rare soft-shelled turtle burger was completed.
...
Behind every dish.
There is a long, story-filled development history, including everyday foods like:
Burgers!
Two pieces of bread, a meat patty.
This combination took nearly two centuries to develop.
Originating on the European continent, burgers began as minced meat and bread patties, similar to Chinese meat sandwiches.
Later, when burgers arrived in Germany, they changed from raw to cooked!
In 1850, German immigrants brought this burger-making method to America. After some time of development and evolution, the taste, ingredients, patty shape, etc., gradually became standardized.
Of course, the global spread of burgers resulted from globalization and the development of the fast-food industry.
In 1954, a retired salesman, Ray Kroc, decided to start a business.
He believed that by applying sales techniques to the fast-food business, combined with low prices
and clean operations, he could build a global fast-food company.
So, he found a hamburger restaurant and collaborated with operators Dick and Mac McDonald, and seven years later, bought their restaurant for $2.7 million.
Under Kroc's management, the business quickly grew, not only capturing the American market but also establishing a fast-food empire with about 32,000 stores in 119 countries across six continents today.
Possibly because of the importance of burgers in the culinary world, the theme for the quarter-finals of this autumn's competition was set as burgers.
...
After making the turtle burger.
Hisako quickly left the kitchen.
When she arrived at Erina's room, she found her engrossed in a manga.
"Miss, could you please taste this soft-shelled turtle burger for me? You know, tomorrow morning is my quarter-final match against Ryo, so I want to find a strategy."
Saying this, Hisako decisively placed the turtle burger on a nearby table.
Erina was taken aback.
Then, a delicious aroma hit her nose.
She looked at the turtle burger in front of her and listened to Hisako's words, nodding involuntarily.
...
Standing up and straightening her clothes, she reached for the turtle burger.
What followed was a special softness, like jelly.
Even Erina, with her divine tongue talent, was suddenly a bit surprised: "So soft, how... how is this bread so soft, yet with strong resilience?"
The factors affecting the softness of bread are many.
Like the amount of water, dough temperature control, precise mixing time, normal dough fermentation, baking techniques, etc.
If these factors are fully understood, the resulting bread, when lightly pinched, would feel very soft.
But to achieve this comprehensively.
How easy is it?
Then, realizing something, Erina's eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth wide to take a bite.
...
"Huh?"
"Can't bite?"
Erina was puzzled.
It was quite amazing that something so soft was hard to chew.
But Hisako's turtle burger was too soft, making it difficult even for Erina to bite.
Helpless, she increased her bite force and finally bit through the burger.
Boom!
The delicious taste of the turtle burger.
At that moment, it finally hit her soul!
The moment she bit into it, the rich flavor of the turtle meat kept emerging, and the sauce made from the turtle broth tightly wrapped the meat patty, bringing out a rich taste.
Even without swallowing it all, Erina felt warmth spreading through her body.
"Is my body heating up?"
"So, the warmth inside the body comes from the fresh blood in the meat patty warming the body from within."
"Also, powdered turtle shell was added to the meat patty. This powder is used as a tonic in traditional Chinese medicine, and the sauce and patty made from turtle have an incredible stickiness."
...
Exactly!
The turtle burger's biggest feature is its sticky texture.
Especially Q, especially sticky, the collagen-rich turtle meat patty gives a warm, nourishing feel with every bite.
The rich collagen in the sauce is even thick enough to coat the walls.
After eating, your lips remain sticky.
"The turtle meat patty and broth contain rich gelatin dissolved from the turtle."
"So with every chew, the sticky patty and sauce continuously stimulate the taste buds."
"It seems the amount of stickiness."
"Directly affects the burger's texture and taste!"
Opening her eyes, Erina simply analyzed.
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