Chefs stir the pot of tradition

Five things that matter

For Zhang Yong, the question is what allows a chef to keep moving forward.

He evaluates dishes on five dimensions: ingredients, flavor, heat control, presentation and the ability to change. The first is not about expense but understanding; the second is seasoning; the third is precision. Presentation reflects aesthetic judgment, while change depends on mastering the fundamentals well enough to adapt and integrate, Zhang explains.

A Sichuan chef approaching 70, Deng Huadong impressed Zhang with his "extraordinary" fundamentals and ability to make changes under pressure.

A young Chaoshan chef offered a completely different example, using only lily bulbs, without additional seasoning, to create what Zhang called "a bowl of plain 'congee'".

For Zhang, both demonstrated the same principle: innovation does not necessarily mean abandoning tradition. It can mean mastering tradition so thoroughly that a chef can use it freely.

Since the first season, Zhang has also treated judging as a learning experience. He wants to understand what younger chefs are thinking and trying to express.

More young people, he observes, now enter the profession out of genuine passion. But moving from apprentice to head chef requires more than talent and effort. It also takes learning, exposure and experience.

"The pressure of a competition like this is enormous. It is an opportunity for them to train and grow," he says. "Chefs from different culinary traditions become friends on the stage, and it also creates opportunities for them to exchange ideas."

Once filming ends, the chefs return to their kitchens. They continue preparing ingredients, adjusting flavors and refining dishes, now with new experiences to draw on.

For Zhang, this continued learning is essential. He hopes young chefs can "start from their own hometowns and reach all of China, and then go from China to the world".

"Chefs who return after gaining that kind of experience are completely different," he says.

Zhang does not see a single model for the next generation of Chinese culinary masters. He expects a future in which "a hundred flowers bloom".

"As long as young people today have this passion and are willing to put in the effort," he says, "I believe many Chinese chefs will eventually step onto the world stage."