Chapter 2439: I Give This World a Little Raw Fire

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

“System, can this fish be reared?” Mag asked internally. This fish looked pretty good. It shouldn’t be a problem to make it into sashimi.

“This fish is to be sold. Aren’t you afraid that the giant dragons will slaughter you?” the System said slowly.

“What’s there to be frightened of? The Frost Dragon tribe and Golden Dragon tribe’s princesses are in our hands. Are they going to turn the world upside down?” Mag replied calmly.

“Let me borrow some,” the System said.

Mag chatted with the System while he looked at the contestants on the stage.

The seven contestants all took out top ingredients. The worst one was the man who chose the black jade turtle.

The black jade turtle was indeed very beautiful. Its shell was smooth and it glowed a lush green under the light. It was indeed a very good quality jade.

On top of that, this black jade turtle was not small. It measured more than 20 centimeters in diameter. This shell would easily fetch an eight-digit figure in an auction, making it the most expensive thing there.

But…

This turtle shell would have to be taken away.

Under the watch of two professionals, that contestant removed the turtle from its shell carefully. After that, he watched as they brought the black jade shell away, leaving only a shell-less turtle looking around.

Mag guessed that this black jade turtle was probably borrowed by the programming division and an agreement had been made with the owner that the shell belonged to him while the turtle belonged to the programming division.

This black jade turtle made the show look good and could also fetch an even better price at an auction.

The appearance of this black jade turtle at the Top Chef Competition also brought some hype to the program. It was a win-win situation.

Everyone was busy cooking while Mag was just watching from the side. That made the audience anxious.

“Say, did Hades buy the ticket as an audience member? Is he here to watch the performance?”

“I feel more anxious than him, seeing the clock tick.”

“Don’t tell me he’s just a sacrificial lamb? This is such a nerve-racking competition. How is he in the mood to watch?”

The judges did not seem to have many comments. They saw Mag marinating the ingredients just now. He was obviously waiting for the marinating to be done.

However, contestants would usually make themselves look more professional by finding some things to do while waiting. Even if it was just a useless display of skills, they would not make themselves appear unprofessional in such a situation.

After looking around, Mag started to mix the sauce required for the roasted mutton ribs.

Mag was not a professional at making the roasted mutton ribs.

He had never gotten any recipes from the System, and neither had he been through the hell training in the test field for the God of Cookery.

However, in his travels, he tried some roasted mutton ribs and lamb shank. He even tried his hands on a whole roasted goat. Therefore, he did have some takeaways in making the sauce, seasoning, and control over fire.

He adapted the sauce from the mutton kebab and made some minor adjustments so that it would fit the texture of roast mutton better.

The marination of the mutton was very crucial as well. The Haley Goat had a very light rank odor but Mag still completed the full set of processes to remove the smell. He brought the cooking wine and also a few other special spices from the Underground City. After some meticulous massaging, the rank odor would be removed completely.

Mag deliberately slowed down his pace for these steps. Even when measuring the seasoning, he used a spoon to ensure he got the accurate proportion.

What he was thinking was simply the best way to allow a recipe to be spread widely. As long as the steps were clear and simple, and the seasonings used were accurate, the recipe would be easy to follow.

He had analyzed the various dishes that had appeared on the Top Chef Competition before. The ingredients were all expensive and the cooking methods were complicated. The chefs were all trying to show off so the audience would never be able to learn the recipes.

Therefore, after five seasons, despite every season being very popular and highly talked about, no one could actually recreate any of the dishes from the program.

Mag was here to change this tradition.

It was so difficult to get fans in Norland Continent, why not give it a shot at the Underground City?

Even if the System said there was no foundation for the path of becoming a chef to become a god, Mag still wanted to give it a try.

Mag took out the mutton ribs in the expedited marination box and brushed a layer of oil on them before putting them on the metal grill.

The other contestants had top-grade ingredients and smart kitchenware. Mag was the only one with a simple charcoal grill with two pieces of Haley Goat mutton ribs.

The charcoal fire was not big. The meat was grilled over the fire slowly. After a very long time, the oil on the surface started to bubble. The mutton that had a perfect combination of fatty and lean meat contracted on the grill. As the oil glistened, the fragrance of the mutton started wafting out.

“His way of cooking is rather primeval. Besides, the mutton ribs look quite oily. There actually isn’t any segregation between the charcoal fire and the food. The rising ashes and smoke is going to contaminate the mutton, isn’t it? Those messy seasonings added together is an even bigger disaster. I can’t imagine how horrible it would taste,” David said with a frown. As a gourmet with mysophobia, he had very strict requirements for food hygiene.

“Yes, such a dish cannot be brought to the customer’s table in Tucker Restaurant. Food safety and hygiene is the most important thing in the food and beverages industry.” Julian nodded in agreement.

“In that case, you guys haven’t seen a whole roasted goat on top of a charcoal fire. I think Hades’s cooking method is a very good display of one of our traditional cooking methods. The charcoal fire and the mutton ribs are only separated by a metal grill. The grease dripping from the mutton onto the charcoal fire will bring the flames up a little. This is the first time we see such use of raw fire on the Top Chef Competition.” Old Hunter did not conceal his admiration for Mag. He praised him instead. “Since so many chefs from various places have gathered here, we should be more embracing towards each contestant’s performance.”

“I agree with Old Hunter. ‘Raw fire’ was a phrase that I only saw in books in the past few years and this isn’t a good thing,” Nancy said with a smile.

The judges were seated not far away from the work benches so all the contestants could clearly hear the judges’ comments.

Some contestants looked at Mag with sympathy. A contestant who received such an outright negative comment from the judges would not usually go through to the next round.

Mag was relatively calm. He was here to overturn the mainstream culinary rules of the Underground City. The charcoal-roasted mutton ribs were just a side dish. There was no need to overreact.

The smart kitchenware would definitely be accurate. However, the smell of cooking would be lost.

Food that was prepared over-meticulously might be healthy but Mag felt that it would lose its soul.

As half the time passed, the contestants on stage started reaching the end of their food preparation, be it braising, boiling, or stir-frying. Fragrances of all types started wafting out from pots. There was a unique battle of smells dancing in the air.

This was something the programming division planned. The smells would not be segregated to allow the judges to clearly smell the fragrance made by each contestant while they cook. Whether or not one’s dish could get a winning start would depend on each individual’s capabilities.