Chapter 600: Cosmic Highway

Sun Mei raised her eyebrows.

"It's disgusting when you say that."

Malu did not flinch, and continued, "Didn't you realize why we were only given two hours for this game?"

"Why?" Sun Mei asked.

"Although I'm not... well, from the perspective of an ordinary chef, two hours is obviously not enough time to create six dishes. I know that in many high-end restaurants, the team responsible for developing new products may have dozens of people."

“Everyone brainstorms for a month, but in the end only one or two dishes may actually make it to the menu.

“Most of the chefs who come to compete have very high requirements for themselves.

“The reason why the competition format is set up like this is not only to test everyone’s improvisational ability, but also to give everyone a chance to get to know themselves again.

“Because of time constraints, I have to give up some things when cooking, and I can no longer achieve perfection.

“The further you go, the tighter the time, the more things you have to give up. Repeating this process every round will eventually force you to re-recognize what is most important to you.

"In other words, what makes you become a chef, those things that you can't give up no matter what, I think this is the dish that the organizing committee hopes the contestants can present in this round."

The scene fell into silence.

The main reason is that everyone is a little confused, and they don't know why two people who are supposed to be rivals suddenly started chatting like no one else.

Even the judges on the podium couldn't figure out what the situation was.

The Master of Chef Competition has a history of more than 100 years, and this is the first time such a scene has occurred.

Qiu Lele also opened her mouth wide. She asked Sun He on the side, "Ma, is what Boss Ma said true? Mr. Sun, and... the smoke bomb was released to disturb Xiaomei."

"It's true." Sun He nodded slightly, "I proposed the final round of the competition system. On the one hand, of course, it was also to increase the ratings and make the competition more intense and entertaining.

“On the other hand, like he said, I want to see what’s most important to the contestants.

"But I haven't told anyone about the second purpose, and I didn't expect anyone to see through it so quickly. Chef Ma Lu's insight into cooking is truly extraordinary."

Sun He said with emotion, "No wonder we can make all kinds of fantastic and eye-opening dishes."

When Sun Mei heard this, she pursed her lips and frowned even deeper.

Malu then pointed to her timer and said, "Your time is still running out. No matter what you want to do, you'd better make a decision quickly."

After saying this, Malu returned to his cooking table.

Not long after he left, Sun Mei also swept away his previous confusion and started to take action.

Time passes minute by minute.

Sun Mei hurriedly snapped the timer at the penultimate second before it reset to zero and finished her last dish.

After taking the photo of the timer, she breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved, and then looked at the cooking station opposite.

I saw Ma Lu, who was a little bored waiting, chatting with the female host on the side.

Sun Mei's expression was a little complicated.

Because Ma Lu completed this round first, according to the rules, he took the stage first.

This time, before the judges could say anything, Ma Lu said first, "The name of my dish is "Cosmic Highway"."

Oette Huppert looked at the large and small "eggs" on the plate and asked curiously, "Does this name have anything to do with this dish?"

"Because different universe planes are connected together through various eggs, just like highways."

"I didn't expect you, Chef Malu, to be quite childish, but indeed, children will definitely like this dish."

Rocky Chen looked at the colorful "eggs" on the plate, of different sizes, with different textures and accessories.

Then he picked up a spoon and scooped out a red egg, put it in his mouth and tasted it carefully, "Well, it's made of carrots mixed with salmon soup."

Then he picked another green one, "This is asparagus and mustard, um, and raspberry..."

"Wow, there must be fifty or sixty eggs in this. Doesn't it mean that there are fifty or sixty kinds of fruits and vegetables in this plate, and each one has a different taste? It's really a blinding experience when tasting this dish. It’s like a box of surprises.”

"And such a variety of nutritional combinations also fit the theme of nourishment." Hajime Yoneda said.

Gaggan Anand then pointed to the brown pipes surrounding the eggs and asked, "What is this?"

"Highway, if you ask what it's made of, the answer is coconut sugar."

"Coconut sugar?"

"That's right," Ma Lu snapped his fingers, "the raw materials for these highways are coconut sugar, a specialty of Hainan, which is then processed and stretched into ring roads using the sugar blowing process."

"As expected of you, coconut sugar can actually be used. The six dishes you cooked not only closely follow the dual themes, but also the development and utilization of local ingredients are amazing."

Olett Huppert praised, "What a wonderful and magnificent adventure. I see unique skills and spirituality in you."

Hajime Yoneda said, "In the six rounds of the competition, you were able to maintain stable performance from beginning to end. I have never seen this stability from other chefs."

"That's right, Chef Malu, your strength is far beyond that of other contestants." Rocky Chen said.

Although Sun Mei hadn't submitted his work yet, the four judges on the stage seemed to have determined that Ma Lu was the winner of this competition.

If it had been before, Sun Mei would probably still be unwilling to give in and hold his breath to win back.

But at this moment, she felt surprisingly calm.

Until the hostess interrupted the judges' increasingly outrageous boasts and reminded them to score as soon as possible because there was another dish to follow.

Only then did the judges write down their own scores without being satisfied.

Sun Mei took a deep breath, it was finally her turn to play.

Looking at what she presented, the four judges were slightly startled again.

"This is... custard bun?"

"Yes, coconut flavored."

"So your last dish was coconut custard buns?"

Rocky Chen couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he looked at the custard buns that were shaped into small animals on the plate.

It’s not that these custard buns are not good enough, it’s just that as the final round of works, they are indeed a bit too ordinary.

However, with a responsible attitude, Rocky Chen picked up a pig-shaped custard bun and tasted it.

After eating, he couldn't help but frown.

To be fair, this custard bun is not bad, but it is far from perfect. The dough used is obviously not fermented enough, and the proportion of fillings is also a bit flawed.

In short, this dish is a bit too rough for a chef of Sun Mei's level.