Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 464 - 376: Durian Pizza – Clash of Eastern and Western Cultures

"Can you make it with flavors from other countries?"

John pondered for a moment, "Like a curry chicken pizza..."

Before he could continue, Jonathan raised his hands in surrender.

"If you make that, you might as well kill me."

"Pizza can only be pizza, any other way is an insult to pizza!"

"How could that be?"

John seemed a little surprised.

"Isn’t Hawaii pizza very popular worldwide?"

"Don’t mention that name! Damn it!!"

Jonathan’s expression turned red instantly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, glaring at him fiercely.

"Putting damn fruit on pizza is a cult! It’s defiling pizza!"

"Pizza shouldn’t have fruit flavors!!"

"...Are you Italian?"

"No, I’m a pure Romantic Country person."

"Then why are you reacting so strongly?"

"When I learned to make pizza, that’s what my teacher taught me!"

"Aha, so that’s how it is."

John laughed, shook his head, eyes full of pity for him.

"No wonder you can’t innovate like Lin, because you resist innovation from your heart, there’s nothing that can be done, no one can help you."

After saying this, he stopped talking, lowered his head and continued eating his grilled oysters.

Jonathan didn’t expect John’s expression, which was full of smiles just now, to change instantly, turning cold as if exuding a chilly aura.

He blinked, tentatively asking, "Mr. John, are you angry?"

"Because you couldn’t help me?"

"No," John snorted coldly.

"Then what is it?"

"Hawaii pizza is my favorite! And you are belittling it!"

"......"

Jonathan’s mouth twitched twice, forcing a smile: "Uh, haha, well, I may not be able to accept putting fruit on pizza, but I can’t deny that fruit pizza is indeed very popular."

"Personally, I actually have no opinion on it, mainly because my teacher warned me repeatedly that if I dared to make strange pizzas, especially fruit pizzas, he’d disown me and wouldn’t acknowledge me as his apprentice."

"Hmph, damned old Italian stubborn."

Hearing this, John’s expression softened a bit.

But then he thought, why should he put up with this?

"No, I have to prove the importance of fruit pizza! Just wait, if you don’t want to make it, I’ll ask Lin, he will definitely be willing to make it!"

Slapping the already prepared bills on the stool, John grabbed his bags of grilled oysters and headed towards the food truck.

What?!

Let Lin make fruit pizza????

Jonathan’s face changed dramatically, a shadow instantly covering his heart.

If he made a fruit pizza, would it still be appropriate for him to ask for his help...?

John walked briskly toward the food truck, not giving him a chance to react, already at the window.

"Lin!"

"Hmm? Oh, it’s John, when did you arrive... Wow, you’re already eating??"

Lin Chen looked up, about to greet him, when he saw the bag of oysters in his hand.

Blinked, quickly went through his mind, confirming he definitely hadn’t seen this guy recently.

So where did his oysters come from??

"Jonathan bought them for me!"

John seemed a bit anxious, quickly explained.

"Never mind that, I have something to ask you! Very important, extremely important!"

"Do you Great Xia people eat fruit pizza, like Hawaii?"

"Yes, we love it!"

Lin Chen blurted out without thinking, "Hawaii has been out of fashion with us, it was popular twenty years ago, we have tastier options now!"

"What?! There are fruit pizzas tastier than Hawaii pizza in the world?"

John was stunned, his face full of disbelief.

If anyone else said this, he might be skeptical for a while, but coming from Lin!

He believed unconditionally, one hundred percent!

"Yeah, Hawaii is just a tomato and ham pizza with some pineapple, what’s so tasty about it."

"In Great Xia, the current popular fruit pizza, although still includes pineapple, the more popular one now is durian pizza, and you can also mix durian with pineapple."

"Durian... Durian? That stinky, sweet one?"

John frowned, unable to understand why such a smelly fruit would hold a higher status than Hawaii pizza in a big culinary country.

Is pizza made from that really that good?

"Yes, exactly that, but it’s mashed into a puree and spread like a sauce on the pizza base."

"Of course, the development of fruit pizza in Great Xia has gone beyond just putting a layer of something on top. We’ve even improved the pizza base, making it stuffed, and with rolled edges as well!"

"For instance, the stuffing in the base is a buttery cheese flavor, the rolled edges are sweet pineapple cheese, a layer of durian puree is spread in the middle, and the surface is sprinkled with a lot of mozzarella cheese."

"Gulp."

Jonathan just imagined that scene in his mind and his throat instinctively rolled.

Stuffed pizza? With rolled edges?

Oh my God!

He knew that the people of Great Xia are absolutely unbeatable in the realm of gourmet food!

"Lin, I’m asking you a favor, can we make some pizza? Let’s make the kind of fruit pizza that Italians can’t accept the most!"

"Did the Italians provoke you?"

"No, it’s not even Jonathan causing trouble..."

Quickly explaining the cause and effect, Lin Chen nodded with a smile.

"Sure, I have no problem with that, but aside from fruit pizza, we also have many other delicious flavors in Great Xia, do you want to try them?"

"Of course I want to, but if we make too many flavors at once, won’t we be able to finish it all?"

Jonathan wasn’t bothered to ask what specific flavors there were, he was just waiting to taste them.

"Of course, they can be combined in flavors. Apart from having a lot of delicious options, the most important thing in Great Xia is our customer-friendly service. As long as it’s requested by a customer and it’s not too difficult, we will try our best to satisfy."

"That’s fantastic! Now I finally believe that all the Western media reports are fake news. Great Xia must be very advanced!"

"Hey, don’t say that, we’re a developing country, always in development~"

[Ding, special request detected, conditions met, cultural clash challenge task has been initiated]

[Cultural Clash Challenge Task—Pizza Edition: Please create pizzas with fusion flavors and capture the customers’ taste buds]

[No content requirements for food during the challenge. The only requirement is that the original flavor pizza must not be made]

[Serve 200 customers and achieve a satisfaction rate of over 80% to succeed in the challenge. The more types of pizza flavors created, the higher the settlement bonus. The basic reward is a Recipe Exchange Coupon*1 and a Food Truck Challenge Card*1]

"The basic reward is already a Challenge Card? Could it be that the rewards have been upgraded too?"

Lin Chen wasn’t surprised by the sudden task pop-up, instead, he felt a kind of comforting reassurance.

After so many times triggering missions, he had long figured out the unlocking method of hidden tasks.

Basically, as long as someone makes a request to him, and the request itself is challenging, there’s a high chance a mission will pop up.

It makes sense, the lately released tasks all require challenge cards. If the reward chances aren’t increased, those tasks wouldn’t make any difference.

But it doesn’t matter. He’s in a good state of mind now. Whether to do the tasks or not, depends on what he wants to sell that day.

If there’s an interesting task, he’ll do it casually. If not, so be it. Everything goes with his mood.

After all, work shouldn’t feel too much like a chore.

"Alright, arrange for someone to pick a few dozen ripe durians, and preferably help me open the shells. We only need the flesh, that shell is really space-consuming."

"As for other ingredients, I’ll think about it later after I’m done here."

"Okay, okay, you carry on, I won’t disturb you. I’ll head back to oversee and definitely get you the best quality durians! Oh right, you need pineapples too, right?"

"Yes, make it about the same amount as durians. If there’s extra, we can always make juice."

Jonathan left in high spirits, taking care of the oysters in his hand as he left.

After exchanging a few words, the oysters had cooled down to a point where they wouldn’t burn the mouth. He could confidently stuff them in now.

As he walked past Jonathan, he flashed him an eerie smile without saying a word, and just walked right by him.

"?"

Jonathan shivered all over, feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

Could it be that Lin is really going to make fruit-flavored pizza?

Could it be tomorrow?

"Oh NO!!"

He clutched his head in agony, momentarily unable to accept this reality.

With Lin’s skills and creativity, the fruit pizza he makes would definitely taste great.

Rationally speaking, as a cook, he should have a taste of it.

But...

Damn Jonathan!!

"Tomorrow there’s going to be durian pizza??"

Hearing their conversation, Raphael and Nagishiro Sho were also taken aback.

Yesterday, when tasting durian, they heard Lin Chen mention that this thing was popular in Great Xia. They initially thought it was only popular in the dessert industry, never expecting it would extend to pizza.

Nagishiro Sho was fine with it since he’s Asian, and fruit pizza is common.

But Raphael’s expression looked a bit troubled.

Though he’s not Italian and doesn’t have a strong obsession with pizza, he can deeply understand this feeling.

Putting fruits on pizza or breaking pasta in front of Italians are behaviors that make people just as crazy as putting apple cider vinegar into a creamy soup or stir-frying salad.

He really couldn’t imagine who came up with these bizarre combinations, but the problem is, they taste quite good.

If that stinky yet sweet and tasty durian were to be made into pizza...

He simulated the flavor in his mind and inexplicably felt it might actually taste better than pineapple pizza?

"Looks like we can’t go back tomorrow either, I wonder if the kitchen staff can handle it."