“Were we?” The orc’s words attracted a lot of attention from the other chefs who were eating.
“The main kitchen has always been in charge of all the banquets in the tribe regardless of scale. This has been the rule for so many years. How could it change just like that? We have so many impressive chefs in the main kitchen. How can those from outside be better than us?!” a middle-aged chef said furiously.
And that aroused a wave of angry agreements.
The chefs’ ego made it difficult for them to accept such an arrangement.
“What’s this ruckus about? Don’t you know yourself? If the things you make could be put on the table, Lord Jeremy wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble to invite Mr. Mag over from Chaos City.” Heyman walked into the dining area, and looked at the chefs with exasperation. Heyman took a step to the side, and introduced, “Let me introduce to all of you. This is Mr. Mag from Mamy Restaurant in Chaos City. He will be in charge of tomorrow night’s main banquet.”
“And why was he chosen? It’s because Mr. Mag’s dishes were titled the best at the Roth Empire’s royal banquet, and he was even praised by many well-known gourmets. Are you all convinced?” Heyman swept a glance at all the chefs in the dining area.
The dining area suddenly fell silent. The chefs all looked at Mag with a complicated mix of resentment and skepticism.
Mag glanced across the dining area. It seemed like no one prepared dinner for them. He couldn’t be bothered to be calculative with them over that, so he said, “We’ll settle our own dinner. May I know which kitchen we can use to prepare our food?”
“Mr. Mag, this way, please. Your kitchenware has been transported to Kitchen One. If you need to make dinner, I can bring you over,” Heyman said with a smile before bringing Mag over to Kitchen One.
“Let’s go take a look too. We’ll see if this guy is really that impressive and has what it takes to replace us.” The short and skinny chef, who incited the anger, put his bowl down and followed them out.
“Let’s go, let’s go take a look.”
The other chefs also followed along.
The news of Mag’s arrival had spread across the main kitchen. The news that they were going to be replaced caused quite a commotion.
More and more chefs started gathering at Kitchen One the moment they heard the news because they all wanted to see for themselves if this newly invited chef was that impressive.
“Father, why do all these chefs seem so unfriendly towards us? Are they baddies?” Amy asked softly because she could not understand why the chefs were so hostile.
“I don’t suppose they are considered baddies. Every chef has their pride. If you cannot convince them, they will not be happy about it.” Mag shook his head with a smile. He could understand the reason behind the resentment.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Mag. I didn’t manage them well,” Heyman said apologetically.
“It’s alright. As a chef, I can understand what they’re feeling.” Mag shook his head. Of course, understanding didn’t mean that he should just let them do whatever they wanted to.
Kitchen One had the largest area in the main kitchen. It had the most complete and the best kitchenware. Other than the existing facilities, Mag’s kitchenware was also moved to the kitchen. The other chefs had not seen most of it, so the kitchenware was not arranged.
Mag confirmed that all his kitchenware was around before instructing Miya and the rest to put it in places that would be convenient for them to use.
“So this is the new chef? He looks so young, just like an apprentice.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t look like he can cook up any delicacy. All our chefs have decades and even centuries of experience in cooking. How can such a young human whip up anything good?”
“Is the kitchen a place for women? He actually got a group of women as his helpers. How lavish.”
“I’m just curious how a chef can find so many beautiful ladies…”
There were more and more chefs gathering inside and outside the main kitchen, conversing softly. There were voices of doubt, jealousy, and envy.
Mag ignored the noise calmly, and asked Amy, “What do you want for dinner, Little Amy?”
“I want grilled fish and rattle off,” Amy answered without even thinking.
“What about the rest? Any other dishes you want?” Mag asked as he looked around.
“I want eggplant with garlic sauce,” Miya said.
“I want beggar’s chicken,” Gina replied softly.
“Actually, I’m not really craving for beef kebab,” Babla said arrogantly.
“Alright. Hold on for a while. I’ll make dinner,” Mag said with a smile. He took out the ingredients from the fridge, and got started.
The chefs started to quiet down as they watched Mag.
Mag started by preparing the ingredients. He washed, cleaned, and cut them in a series of smooth actions. Although he was cooking alone, he was highly efficient, and was not flustered. That made the other chefs start to see him in a new light.
Efficiency was important in the main kitchen. The different chefs were in charge of the different parts of the cooking process. Although those were all very basic work, it was from the details that one could tell how strong a chef’s basics were.
The fish was sliced into even slices of identical sizes, and the preparation of the side dishes made the chefs in charge of cutting ingredients shut up.
Firis stayed back in Chaos City, while Camilla was not involved in the mission, so Mag could only do the cutting and chopping himself.
Mag first put the red braised pork into a pot to stew before putting the cleaned fish into the oven to grill. After that, he put the beggar’s chicken, which was covered in mud, into the other oven to bake in medium-high heat. Then, he started to skewer the beef in preparation to grill it.
“Why did he put the fish into that rectangular container? What kind of kitchenware is that? Does he really not need to heat it up with fire?”
“He wrapped the chicken up with mud. Can the chicken still be eaten? It doesn’t look clean. How can the food we serve to our distinguished guests be so dirty?”
“Just look at the stewed meat. Most of the chefs in our kitchen can make a dish of that standard. His meat is chopped in such huge chunks. The food that our royalty eats is way more exquisite.”
After Mag started cooking, the chattering from the chefs increased. They were all critiquing Mag’s strange way of cooking, and they did not even try to hide their disdain.
“These fellows are so noisy,” Irina said as she pulled out a high stool from somewhere, and glanced at the chefs.
“Do you need them to shut their mouths?” Amy rubbed her hands together excitedly.
“Only real delicacies can conquer a chef.” Mag shook his head with a smile as he placed the skewers on top of the flaming charcoal grill.
Ding!
Just then, the oven rang to signify the end of the cooking.
Mag put on a pair of thick gloves, and opened the oven.
The strong scent of the spicy grilled fish suddenly wafted out.
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