Chapter Ten: Pomegranate and Yam Purée

After leaving the Pear Blossom Brigade, they happened to run into an ox cart. Lin Xiang was fretting over how to pay the fare when the waitress pulled out twenty cents, generously handed it to Old Man Sun, the cart driver, and grabbed Lin Xiang to pull her onto the cart.

Once they had found a place to sit, the waitress whispered to Lin Xiang, "Originally, our state-run restaurant was notified that the foreign guests wouldn't be arriving for a few days. Who would have thought that the town leaders would suddenly bring them in today? They ordered us to prepare several Western-style dishes to host them. Chef Shen only knows how to make steak, so we had to find you to save the day."

Lin Xiang understood. "Do you know which country they are from?"

This question hit the waitress's blind spot.

"They all have white skin, are tall, have blonde hair, blue eyes, and high bridges on their noses. They look different from our compatriots, so does it really matter which country they're from?"

China had been closed off for many years, and ordinary people had no way to access information about foreign countries; most people assumed that "the West" was just a single country.

Lin Xiang didn't ask further, figuring she would be able to judge for herself once she arrived.

About half an hour later, they reached the entrance of the state-run restaurant, and the waitress pulled Lin Xiang through the back door and into the kitchen. As soon as she entered, Chef Shen put a chef's hat on her, and the waitress, Yang Rong, tied an apron around her waist. Lin Xiang felt like a rag doll, handled by everyone else.

Finally, Chef Shen handed the spatula to Lin Xiang. "Comrade Lin Xiang, the moment of truth has arrived. You must host these foreign guests well and save face for our state-run restaurant! Rest assured, our restaurant will not treat you unfairly!"

Lin Xiang hadn't even seen the guests yet, so she couldn't judge where they were from. "Did the leadership say what kind of food they wanted?"

Chef Shen shook his head. "The leadership only said we needed to prepare a sumptuous Western meal and ensure the foreign guests felt at home."

Western cuisine is generally divided into six major culinary systems, and every country has different taste preferences. Without knowing their specific tastes, Lin Xiang had to choose dishes that were foolproof. Furthermore, many ingredients required for Western cooking were not yet common in China, which narrowed her options.

Lin Xiang surveyed the available ingredients in the kitchen and finalized the menu. Foreign pigs were different from those raised in China and tended to have a gamey odor, so most foreigners didn't care for pork. Fortunately, there was still plenty of beef left in the freezer from the last slaughter, so today's menu would be beef-focused: Italian-style steak, stuffed tomato beef cups, and black pepper beef cubes with golden garlic.

Chef Shen had already learned how to make steak, but he had never heard of the other dishes. Lin Xiang washed a few plump tomatoes, cut off the tops, scooped out the pulp, stuffed them with seasoned minced beef, and steamed them in a pot.

The other dish was even simpler: she cut the beef into uniform cubes and marinated them. While waiting, she fried garlic in cold oil over low heat until both sides were golden brown. Then, in a separate pan, she stir-fried the beef using the garlic-infused oil and drizzled it with her homemade black pepper sauce.

As for dessert, Lin Xiang was in a bit of a bind. Although China is a major agricultural nation, fruit was not widely available, and most of the desserts Lin Xiang knew required fruit. Just as she was feeling discouraged, she caught sight of a pomegranate tree in the backyard that was currently bearing fruit.

"Chef Shen, may I pick some pomegranates?"

"Of course, no problem! Wait there, I'll have someone pick the sweetest ones for you!"

The pomegranates Chef Shen selected were indeed sweet, and the seeds were bright red, looking like rubies—exceptionally pleasing to the eye. Lin Xiang washed the garlic mortar thoroughly several times to ensure no garlic scent remained. She mashed steamed yam into a paste, molded it into the shape of a tree, drizzled it with juice squeezed from the pomegranate seeds, and garnished the yam with a few pomegranate arils.

It looked appetizing even before taking a bite.

"It looks quite rich, but there is no main course," Chef Shen noted.

"For the main course, let's make Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste)."

Western main courses are usually pasta or toast. Since the restaurant didn't have any noodles that could substitute for pasta, it was better to serve a signature Chinese dish than to create a poor imitation that would invite ridicule. However, Lin Xiang did prepare caramelized thick-cut French toast.

Chef Shen stood by, watching Lin Xiang knead the dough until it transformed into square-shaped buns, their crusts a golden-brown instead of white.

"Will they taste better if the buns are made like this?"

Lin Xiang explained, "This isn't a bun; it's called toast. But you can think of it as the bread that Westerners eat." She used chopsticks to pick up a piece and handed it to Chef Shen. "Try it, Chef."

Chef Shen chewed the toast. "It tastes sweet, and the texture is different from a steamed bun. I have to say, these foreigners sure know how to eat."

"Chef Shen, that perspective is wrong. If we're talking about knowing how to eat, it has to be us Chinese!" Lin Xiang gestured to the Western meal she had prepared. "Look here, I've already replicated a third of the essence of Western cuisine. Even if you combine all the signature dishes of the six major Western culinary systems, they still don't amount to the number of signature dishes in just one Chinese culinary system."

Currently, China's economy was underdeveloped, and people struggled just to get enough to eat, let alone focus on flavor. However, Lin Xiang fundamentally disagreed with the notion that Western food was superior to Chinese food.

Once the meal was ready, Yang Rong grabbed her for help. "I can't carry all these dishes by myself. Lin Xiang, will you come with me?"

Lin Xiang felt like a brick, moved wherever she was needed. "Fine." She took off her apron and hat and followed Yang Rong to the private dining room.

Inside, the town leaders were attempting to chat with the foreign guests, but due to the language barrier, the conversation was not going smoothly. One of the guests had just spoken at length, and the translator was sweating profusely, completely unable to translate.

"Can you do your job or not?" the town official asked, more anxious than the translator.

"Secretary, I studied Russian! I don't understand their language at all!" The translator had been guessing, but now that the sentences were long, he didn't dare to make things up.

When Lin Xiang walked in with the tray, she saw the foreign guests and the town leaders speaking at each other, the language barrier making it seem as if they were on the verge of an argument.

"Leader, should we serve the meal now?" Yang Rong asked cautiously.

The town official waved his hand, signaling for the food to be brought to the table. Lin Xiang was responsible for placing the steaks. The town leaders' steaks were well-done and thoughtfully pre-cut into bite-sized pieces for easy eating with a fork. As for the foreign guests' steaks, Lin Xiang had prepared them medium-rare, with faint traces of pink still visible, and she had arranged the knives and forks at each setting according to Western etiquette.