Chapter 685 Cooking together, never ending

Yi Ya has an absolute sense of taste, the so-called "Emperor's Tongue", which can distinguish the finest and most exquisite flavors of ingredients, which is why he is good at seasoning.

 Those with this talent are born chefs.

Yi Xiang told Zhang Dongguan that Yi Ya's descendants had inherited this talent, but because of what their ancestor Yi Ya had done, they were all ashamed to work as cooks.

 But even if they are engaged in other industries, Yi Ya's descendants often develop excellent cooking skills.

 Because it is difficult for them to eat ordinary food, they can only cook it themselves.

However, even if they have cooking skills, Yi Ya's descendants will not be engaged in the cook profession.

Including Yi Xiang himself, even if he sells medicinal candies on the streets, he will not enter the cook's profession.

It’s just that Yi Ya left a last wish before his death, asking his descendants to take over the position of chief cook and inherit it from generation to generation.

 As a descendant of the Yi family, even if they were unwilling to do so, they could not disobey their ancestors' orders, so the position of cook was passed down from generation to generation.

 By Yi Xiang's generation, it has been passed down to the 108th generation.

 Due to the famine, Yi Xiang’s parents, wife and children all died.

 After witnessing the death of his family members, he originally wanted to live out his life, but due to some strange combination of circumstances, he was unable to do so.

So he went to a foreign country and made a living selling medicine and candy, hoping to die in a foreign country.

However, due to fate, he met someone who had the same absolute taste as him, that is, Zhang Dongguan.

After hearing Zhang Dongguan commenting on dishes in Deyuelou, he was sure that Zhang Dongguan, like him, was a person with an "emperor's tongue".

 Therefore, he made a decision to accept Zhang Dongguan as his apprentice, and after he returned to the west, he passed the position of cook to Zhang Dongguan.

 Just after accepting Zhang Dongguan as his disciple, he never found a suitable opportunity to mention this matter to Zhang Dongguan. He was also a little hesitant, not knowing whether he should do so.

Later, when Zhang Dongguan entered the palace and served as the chief chef of the imperial dining room, it became even more difficult for him to say.

This position was equivalent to that of a cook back then. He believed that if Zhang Dongguan learned about his culinary heritage, he would inevitably feel guilty when facing the emperor.

If any clues are discovered, it may lead to death for Zhang Dongguan.

 It wasn’t until Zhang Dongguan’s parents passed away that he suddenly had a premonition that his end was coming.

 So he found Zhang Dongguan and told Zhang Dongguan exactly about his life experience and the purpose of accepting Zhang Dongguan as his disciple.

He asked Zhang Dongguan if he was willing to accept the position of chef. If Zhang Dongguan was not willing, he would take the position in the coffin, and from then on there would be no more servants in the world.

After learning everything, Zhang Dongguan comforted Yi Xiang and said that Yi Zu had violated morality and it would be okay if future generations could change their past mistakes.

At that time, Qin Ju, the great-grandson of the traitor Qin Hui, resisted the Jin Dynasty and defended the country. All seven members of his family sacrificed their lives for the country. After his death, he was named a righteous marquis and was praised by the world.

What’s more, it’s already a hundred generations later, so why should we bear the responsibility for the sins of our predecessors?

 Therefore, Zhang Dongguan expressed his willingness to take over the position of chief cook on behalf of Yi Xiang to share his master's worries.

Yi Xiang was overjoyed and cried bitterly, and then passed a bronze medal representing the chef to Zhang Dongguan.

After returning home, Yi Xiang fell ill and died within three days.

Zhang Dongguan buried Yi Shi and observed mourning together, but he also contracted the cold and died in the second year.

After he fell ill, he asked people to contact several of his direct disciples in the capital, intending to hand over the bronze medal of Si Bao to them for safekeeping.

 But before several of his direct disciples could come back, he passed away.

With all his memories peeled off, Li Yi raised his gaze and looked at the wooden monument in front of him.

 Golden inscriptions appeared one after another, and Zhang Dongguan’s life also appeared on the monument.

 Zhang Dongguan (from the 13th of August in the 50th year of Kangxi to the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the 52nd year of Qianlong)

Male, a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He learned cooking from Yi Xiang, a descendant of Yi Ya, at the age of twelve. At the age of twenty-two, he entered Songhe Tower as the chief chef, ranking first in Suzhou and Hangzhou. In the 16th year of Qianlong's reign, he was rewarded for going to Suzhou to weave and prepare meals for Emperor Qianlong. In the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, he was appointed by Emperor Qianlong and came to Beijing as the chief chef of the imperial dining room. In the fiftieth year of Qianlong's reign, he was ordered by Emperor Qianlong to organize a banquet for thousands of old men, with Manchus and Han people at the same table. In the fifty-first year of Qianlong's reign, he took over as the chief cook, and died of cold the next year.

 Looking at the lines of inscriptions appearing, Li Yi felt a little complicated.

This time, he did not receive a clear mission. In other words, he received the last main mission.

Before Yi Xiang died of illness, he called Zhang Dongguan to his death and told him that since he was appointed as the chef, he should strive for excellence, bring forth new ideas, study cooking skills, and benefit the world.

Yi Xiang said that there is no end to the journey of cooking together.

Chefs in the past have tasted all kinds of flavors from all over the world, but now, there are still new things like chili peppers that can be added to dishes to add more flavor to the chefs.

He heard that there are white-haired countries and yellow-haired countries overseas. Barbarian lands are good at producing new flavors, and the chefs there should also have their own unique features.

 In the way of a chef, the most important thing to avoid is complacency and arrogance.

In ancient times, the position of chef had the ability to order the chefs all over the world, and it also had the responsibility of creating and developing delicious dishes.

Now, the position of chef has become vacant, but now that he has taken over this position, he will take on the responsibility of creating and researching the taste.

He told Zhang Dongguan to remain humble and eager to learn, to devote himself to adding delicious food to the people's meals, and to open up new territories for his cooking skills.

This is not a specific task, but an expectation.

Boom!

A tremor struck, and Li Yi felt that the entire space around him was shaking.

Behind the wooden stele, the fog wall that blocked the wooden stele and the eight-sided stele gradually dissipated with the vibration.

 As the last trace of mist submerged into the wall, the two spaces were no longer blocked and became one.

 Seeing this scene, Li Yi realized something.

 He looked back at the bottom of Zhang Dongguan's inscription. There was a blank space there, but it could only accommodate one person's life inscription.

 He understood that that area should be reserved for him.

 And he finally extracted all the cooking skills from the wooden tablet, and he may never be able to enter the wooden tablet space again.

Li Yi raised his hand and patted the wooden monument gently. Li Yi felt a little complicated.

 A few months ago, he was just a small stall owner.

 But now, he has become a nationally famous chef, thanks to this wooden tablet.

 This wooden tablet also represents the essence of various Chinese cooking techniques.

But just like the blank space at the bottom of the wooden monument, this is not the limit of Chinese cooking skills.

 The reason why Chinese food is so broad and profound is that it can be inclusive, learn from each other's strengths, and always maintain progress.

 This is also a characteristic of Chinese culture. It is the reason why Chinese civilization has maintained strong vitality and has been passed down to this day for thousands of years.

As soon as the thought came to his mind, he turned around and looked.

On the metal plate behind him, in the occupation column, [Cooking Master] was gradually disappearing, and then replaced by [Cooking Master].

 Seeing this scene, Li Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

After passing on his skills at the Gaoyou Food Festival and adding Zhang Dongguan’s skills, his career as a chef finally reached its limit.

From now on, if he wants to go further, he will have to work hard to become a chef.

 The teacher means to spread the branches and spread the leaves, passing on the art to benefit others.

 Jia means to establish a sect and become a self-contained entity.

 If he wants to become a generation of [cooking masters], he must find a new path.

A way of cooking that is unique to him.

  3

　　

　　

 (End of this chapter)