She looked relieved. ‘That I can do.’
Jay focused on making the sauce and he soon had a shiny, thick sauce that coated his spoon. He set it aside to be reheated before they served the fish, then went over to Chen, who was making the starter.
‘You okay?’ he asked.
Chen seemed calm and collected. ‘All on track. The dim sum I’ve made are all ready to be batch-steamed, and all three fillings worked, so there should be a good variety for everyone. The dipping sauces are done and now I’ve just got to put the prawn crackers in the oil so they puff up.’
‘Good man. I’ve just got my lavender cream to finish and I need to keep an eye on my shortbread, then I think we can all give you a hand plating up.’
Jay looked across to the red team, who still seemed to be working chaotically. The race wasn’t won yet, but he hoped they would at least earn points for being the most collected. They’d just have to hope that the staff at the maritime museum preferred their team’s dishes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jay was finally close to finding out if he was going to make it to the banquet. It was the last day of the head-to-head part of the competition where he was cooking the pork and apple dishes he’d presented in the earlier heats. Today was the day when everything he’d done would either pay off or be for nothing. His hands were shaking and he knew he’d have to get them under control if he was going to stand any chance of not messing up the intricate work that was needed for the perfect presentation of his dessert. This morning had gone well with his pork dish, but there was so much that could go wrong with the intricate apple dessert that his stepfather had disapproved of.
Jay took a few deep breaths. It was incredibly hot in the kitchen today, which would affect the outcome if he wasn’t careful. He would just have to keep his nerve, not make any silly mistakes through panic, and pray. Scaling it up for the number of guests at the banquet would be a completely different matter, but he couldn’t begin to think that far ahead. If things didn’t go right today, he wouldn’t even get that far.
And then they were cooking. Jay tried to fix his focus purely on the food, doing his best to ignore the distracting thoughts in his head. He needed to get the chocolate tempered and into the moulds to set before moving on to the mousse and the ice cream.
But at his first attempt, the chocolate split in the heat so he had to start again. As he told himself not to panic, the second attempt turned out much better and it was a relief to get the moulds into the blast chiller. Not wanting to push his luck, he had made more moulds than he needed, just in case any cracked when he tried to get them out. But now he was behind with the mousse and, in an effort to claw back some time, he added the cream too quickly. When he tasted it, he realised it was too grainy and not something he could use. Before he started tomake a fresh batch, he set it to chill anyway — as a last resort if he needed it.
He powered through the second batch and then concentrated on making the raspberry ice cream followed by the biscuit layer. Then came the tricky task of releasing the chocolate from the moulds. His hands were shaking so much that the first two cracked. He had to force himself to calm down and start again. Eventually, with the required number of moulds, he filled and sealed them and put them back into the chiller. Then with ten minutes left, and the cases still to be sprayed apple green, he remembered that he hadn’t yet prepared the toffee sauce. He measured the ingredients out as quickly as possible, then placed the cream, butter and sugar in a pan and gently brought it up to the right temperature. Thankfully it didn’t burn and his first attempt produced a lovely sticky and shiny sauce. Next, he grabbed the apple moulds from the chiller and began spraying them. His hands were shaking so much, his first couple of attempts weren’t as neat as he would have liked, but he carried on, hoping he would have time to give them another coat at the end. He pushed on and managed to have everything plated up just as time was up. Jay leaned against the bench. He was shaking from head to foot.That was close.There was nothing left but the judging now and, if it wasn’t enough to get through, at least he knew he’d done his best. If anything it was a relief just to get to the end.
The competitors moved back to the waiting area.
Chloe sat next to him. ‘How did you find that?’ she whispered. She was so close to him that his first instinct was to reach out and hug her. He stopped himself just in time. That would not be appropriate, but he felt like he’d known her for much longer than he actually had. He supposed that was because their experience in this competition had been so intense.
‘Terrifying. I didn’t think I was going to finish and I made so many mistakes.’
‘Me too.’ She sighed. ‘Ah, well, what’s done is done.’
Chen sat on the other side of Jay. He looked as though he was about to burst into tears.
‘You okay?’ Jay asked gently.
Chen shook his head. ‘No, I really messed up. I’ve never made that dish so badly. There’s no way I’m getting through.’
‘You just have to hope it’s not as bad as you think. Any of us could be knocked out at this stage.’ But Chen was usually so calm and collected that Jay feared for him.
‘I’ll be devastated if I go out at this stage. I’d really hoped that this was going to be a stepping stone to something better.’
‘I remember you told the judges you’re working in a restaurant in Chinatown.’
‘Yes, cooking the same old dishes day after day. The food we cook isn’t even authentically Chinese.’
‘You’ve got a lot of talent,’ Jay tried to reassure him. ‘You wouldn’t have got this far in the competition if you hadn’t.’
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Chen agreed, but he didn’t look as though he believed him.
‘Even if you don’t go through, there’s nothing stopping you from looking for a better job. You just need to believe in yourself.’
Chen nodded. ‘Yes, that’s what’s being in this competition was about. I’ve always lacked confidence.’
‘You should be proud of yourself.’
Chen smiled. ‘Thanks, Jay. Those are wise words and I’ll remember them.’
Finally they were called back to the kitchen. Jay’s stomach was churning like a washing machine, and his mouth was so dry he could barely swallow.
