At the eastern end of the Kubuzi Desert, a snake-like red runway splits the soft, undulating yellow sand and stretches out towards the giant white sphere device. Walking on the runway is like walking in the gushing red sea that Moses raised his staff in Exodus.
In a short time, the crowd gathered at an unprecedented density in the middle of this usually sparsely inhabited sea of sand for a grand celebration. On the night before the National Day, the major social platforms were screened by the same Chinese red screen. When the twilight gradually rises, the hot sand also falls silent, the models emerge from the middle of the illuminated sphere device, and people, nature, and fashion reach a unique resonance at this moment, interpreting it into the purest Chinese romance - this is Ordos's ERDOS blazing love show for everyone on the occasion of the 40th anniversary.
The 40th anniversary of Ordos and the ERDOS Blazing Show, the rolling runway space is decorated with huge red sphere devices. © Ordos
The development of technology has allowed the impactful image extension network of the fashion show scene to expand to the whole network at an almost synchronous rate, and those of us in it, after enjoying the visual feast, there is a surprise exploration of the taste follows.
The show came to an end, the night was still dark, and the celebration continued. Descending the makeshift boardwalk, an even larger, yurt-based transparent house with 10 lines of cooking, 100 chefs, and a catering team of more than 400 people is fully assembled. The warm breeze baked, dispelling the last section of the physiological shiver that was the opposite of the surging mood, and sitting in the middle of it, it was like crashing into a glass greenhouse with warm spring flowers, and outside the house, because of the terrain, the blazing red sphere device grew out of the sand, like watching a never-ending moonrise sunset.
In the transparent house modeled after a yurt, a catering team of more than 400 people is fully prepared. © Ordos
Earlier in the day, we chatted with Fu Yongjun, the catering planner of the 1436 dinner and the executive chef of Unilever Food Planning, how to solve the problem of a 600-person brand dinner, Fu Yongjun provided us with a set of cooking models with regional ingredients and international techniques.
As early as the beginning of this year, Ordos invited Xibei, a catering brand also from Inner Mongolia, to customize this dinner for the 40th anniversary of Ordos. I believe that for many people, the Xibei brand is a distinctive symbol of the regional food culture of Inner Mongolia, and the depth and breadth of the Xibei chef team's understanding of the cooking of local ingredients in Inner Mongolia are beyond doubt, and Fu Yongjun was invited by Mr. Jia Guolong, the founder of Xibei Restaurant Group, to join, which is like the icing on the cake, providing a more international vision and more diversified expression for the whole dinner.
1436 Fu Yongjun, Dinner Catering Planner and Executive Chef of Unilever Food Planning.
In Fu Yongjun's view, this cooperation is a natural success - Ordos's national treasure level boutique brand 1436, named after the world's highest cashmere specifications, only selects small cashmere produced in Inner Mongolia Albas, each cashmere fiber is on average less than 14.5 microns, longer than 36 mm, such a diamond-grade small cashmere boutique specifications, which means that for every 1 kilogram of raw cashmere, only 2 grams can reach the selection standard of 1436. Through 1436 craftsmen in 120 delicate processes, each piece is born as an art. This strict control of product quality and the spirit of craftsmanship that always adheres to and focuses on it coincides with the concept that Unilever Food Planning and Xibei Restaurant Group have always upheld.
1436 Dinner Scene.
Seasonality, cleverness, integration and creativity are the key words in the design of the 1436 dinner menu. Presenting inner Mongolia's vast land, rich products and ordos brand's values of warming the world with Chinese cashmere to the guests through the art of cooking is the original intention of Fu Yongjun and the Xibei team to serve this dinner together. And how to choose the most suitable ingredients under the season, so that guests from all over the world "have the same appetite", in Fu Yongjun's view, from light to strong taste balance in line with most people's taste habits, a satisfactory dinner party should be like a melody, high and low, fascinating.
The connection between each dish is a vivid and grand performance wrapped in strong national characteristics. © Ordos
Looking through the menu, the four folk songs of Shule, Long Tone, Golden Cup, Pastoral Song correspond to the first plate, main dish, staple food and dessert. From the details of the naming of the menu, it can already be seen that this dinner party is undoubtedly full of praise for the local history and culture of Inner Mongolia, and the connection between each dish is a vivid and grand performance with rich national characteristics brought by the choir of inner Mongolia Art Theater, the black horse combination, and the actors of Inner Mongolia Ordos National Song and Dance Theater.
The dinner menu consists of Lao Niu Wan ice vinegar cold powder, goat Bavaro yogurt cake, air-dried lamb and salad tomatoes, which are visually blooming.
Lao Niu Wan ice vinegar cold powder served in a glass cup, together with goat Bavaro yogurt cake, air-dried lamb and salad tomatoes, formed the dinner menu, which was already visually blooming. Millet cold powder made from millet and artemisia seeds is widely popular as a local snack in Ordos, poured with sweet and sour Lao Niu Wan millet ice vinegar, combined with the commonly used Kombu bonito juice in Japanese ingredients, just the right acidity and umami complement each other, and the taste buds have been gently awakened. Air-dried lamb is one of the indispensable foods on the table of herders, according to Mr. Jia Guolong, the air-dried beef and mutton selected by Xibei are handmade by long-term cooperative herders to ensure the purest flavor and quality; and the goat Bavaro yogurt cake on the side is believed to evoke many people's memories of the TV series "Tokyo Grand Hotel", but the Bavaro here is a solid "regional limit", the milk source is taken from the locally farmed Saneng dairy goats in Ordos, with Moston sea salt and a few drops of olive oil, the entrance is fragrant but not greasy, The lips and teeth gently sniffed and melted in the mouth. The selection of local seasonal food for cooking not only promotes the purest taste and charm, but also implies the brand's sincere promotion of local food in Inner Mongolia.
It is not difficult to see that the selection of raw materials and the use of cooking techniques in the first plate are eclectic and integrated, all of which are of course the most fundamental in order to serve a more extreme taste presentation, while at the same time, it is also hoped to echo the international attributes of the 1436 brand. Since the brand's birth in 2006, 1436 has never ceased its pursuit of materials, technology, and design aesthetics. Since 2008, 1436 has been selected as a Chinese State Guest, and has completed the diplomatic mission of diplomatic state gifts for many times in the country leaders' visits, APEC Leaders' Summit and G20 Summit, sharing the warmth and brightness of small cashmere with the world; in 2020, 1436 also launched a limited collection series as the official partner of Yabuli China Entrepreneur Forum, sincerely paying tribute to the wisdom and wisdom of Chinese leading entrepreneurs with the rarity and warmth of diamond-level cashmere.
The main course is "fish and sheep fresh" in the non-traditional sense composed of Dalian golden abalone and Albas lamb chops, highlighting the ultimate pursuit of ingredient selection in the dinner.
If it is a movement, it should be a climax. The main course is served, and Dalian golden abalone and Albas lamb chops form a non-traditional sense of "fish and sheep fresh". From the traditional concept, the combination of fish and sheep colliding into "Tianxian Match" actually alludes to the DNA of the 1436 brand - the ultimate cashmere way, which is to inherit traditional culture and create a new possibility for cashmere clothing.
Let's take a closer look at the ingenuity of this main course. "Fish", using low-temperature and slow-cooked cooking techniques, with wild sand caps (similar to sour pickles) and Italian balsamic vinegar, gives the seasonal fresh abalone a rich yeast aroma similar to dry abalone; "sheep", using Cuban Havana tobacco to smoke lamb, from the sun and the smell of the soil, the taste of the lamb is more intense and warm. In addition, it is worth mentioning that the 1436 brand pursues the ultimate in cashmere specifications, and the choice of ingredients for the dinner party is actually fully adhering to the same principle, just like the lamb in this dish, only the best rib part of the whole sheep is selected.
Considering the temperature of the desert on a late September night, a hot staple is the hottest comfort. Fish soup rice is a regular on the local table, and the difference from the home-cooked version is that the dinner party creatively chooses Clearwater Bay millet as the main ingredient, and uses one boil, one fried, two processing methods to increase the level of taste. When the millet is placed in a stone pot preheated to 200 ° C and is brought to the guests, at this time, it is poured into the thick fish soup made of Yellow River carp, crucian carp and red-eyed fish, and the stone pot grunts and sounds, the aroma is overflowing, and the senses are full. When a bowl of rice is just right, an indescribable hot paste rises in the gastrointestinal tract, and there is a sense of familiarity - if the touch above the skin is analogous, it is no different from the softness and tenderness of cashmere. I believe it will become one of the unforgettable memories of this night for many people.
The millet is placed in a stone pot preheated to 200°C and poured into a thick fish soup made from Yellow River carp, crucian carp and red-eyed fish, and the stone pot grunts.
The final finishing touch, unlike the cold desserts such as ice cream and mousse jelly commonly found on ordinary dinner menus, Fu Yongjun chose to design a warm almond tea, which vividly presents the subtle feelings of warmth, lightness and delicacy in the form of food in the evening when autumn is getting stronger in Ordos. It is reported that there is also a small episode behind this almond tea. Originally scheduled for August, the dessert was also scheduled to be a cold one, given the hot weather. And now the hot almond tea in front of us, which many people praise, is a detailed adjustment made by the catering team to adapt to the festival, and so on.
Almond tea is a special snack introduced to the folk by the court in the old days, in the early Qing Dynasty has taken shape, Zhu Yizun's "Food Constitution Hongmi", Yuan Ming's "Suiyuan Food List" have been recorded in the production method, "Dream of the Red Chamber" fifty-fourth time to jia fu lantern festival, at midnight, Jia Mu rejected fengjie's duck meat porridge, red jujube japonica rice porridge and other supper options, and finally ate a bowl of freshly ground almond tea, which shows its charm. In order to make the rich taste of almond tea, Fu Yongjun also fused inner Mongolian milk on the basis of boiling southern almonds, and then cleverly supplemented with salted egg yolk milk caps, giving this dessert a sweet and salty flavor of excellent taste balance attributes. A bowl of milk tea is the local hospitality of Inner Mongolia, and this bowl of warm almond tea is also the warmest ending of the dinner.
The feast ended, and fireworks exploded in the sky. © Ordos
The flowing feast ends with fireworks exploding in the sky. Behind everything is the common result of the coordinated cooperation and accurate execution of the entire Xibei catering team. For this dinner party that takes place in a special place and special situation, hygiene and safety are the most basic bottom line, and how to make the food cooked in the most perfect way, presented, and then transmitted to the table of each guest through the back kitchen, at the right time, in the right state, is the full score answer given to us by this well-trained and experienced team of chefs.
The above is the professional catering solution handed over by Fu Yongjun, Executive Chef of Unilever Food Planning in collaboration with the Xibei catering team, for the Ordos brand and the 600 guests present, this dinner party that took place in the desert hinterland, the one-phase dinner was also the "perfect love" he presented to Inner Mongolia food in collaboration with Xibei Restaurant Group, dedicated to China Cashmere.
We'll see for the next 40 years.