“Your Majesty, we are in big trouble!”
The King, unhappy that his father-daughter bonding time was
disturbed, glared at the messenger and asked with an unpleasant tone, “What is
it?”
The messenger, slightly gasping from running across the
palace to the garden, answered, “Your Majesty, King Leopold from Juna wants to
visit our Harvestfest and participate in the bakery competition.”
Upon hearing that name, King George became even more
unhappy. He still remembered the
humiliation he and the kingdom suffered last year. Due to failed wheat harvest, Rafflesa did not
have enough wheat for the festival and the king had to import wheat from the
neighbouring Kingdom of Juna. In return,
he allowed Juna’s bakers to enter the bakery competition, the first time
foreigners were allowed to participate.
In a shock, Juna’s bakers did not just capture the golden mitt, they
also placed second, leaving Rafflesa’s best baker third. The jubilant King Leopold announced that Juna
was the NEW patisserie kingdom.
“I suppose their champion from last year will enter again,”
said the king worriedly.
“Yes, your majesty.
So will last year’s runner-up,” replied the messenger.
“Oh! This won’t do. We’re doomed!” The king wailed as he started to walk back to
the palace. “We can’t have Juna win beat
us two years in a row! “ Suddenly the
king had an idea. “Let’s bar them from
the competition. The arrangement was
only for last year. We did not buy wheat
from them this year.”
“Father, we can’t.”
Patricia, who also followed her father back to the palace, reminded
him. “They have the golden mitt. And the whole world will laugh at us if we
are afraid of them and they will surely recognize Juna as the patisserie
kingdom.”
“What should we do?”
The king asked as they entered the palace hall.
“Let me enter the competition, father. I know I can win.” Patricia said.
“Patty, this is a serious matter. You are just a child. Remember, you have to be sixteen to enter the
competition. And you should really be
focusing on your studies, not baking.”
The king replied. He then turned
to his messenger. “Get Chef Laura. She’s the only one who can beat the bakers of
Juna.”
“Sir, Chef Laura has retired for several years. She has said she didn’t want to enter these
competitions anymore,” the messenger said.
Patricia knew all about the legendary Chef Laura. She won the Harvestfest bakery competition
twenty times, more than any other baker in the kingdom. Her cupcakes and éclairs were famous
throughout the land and she owned ten patisseries, including two in Juna. The princess had been inspired since Chef
Laura herself provided the birthday cake for her fifth birthday party. Secretly, Patricia started to learn how to
bake without her father’s permission.
“Father, let’s visit the chef. Maybe we can convince her to rejoin the
competition.” Patricia was excited at
the prospect of visiting Chef Laura’s place.
It usually meant free cupcakes and éclairs.
“Very well,” said the king.
“Prepare the carriage.”
*
The gilded royal carriage pulled over in front of a small,
one bedroom house. For someone who didn’t
know better, one would think the house was inhabited by a fairy tale
character. The walls were painted pink
and the roof purple. Green dots decorate
the roof like stars in the sky. The
chimney was white and shaped like a chef hat.
Apple and orange trees gleefully welcomed visitors from the front yard.
Patricia quickly stepped out of the carriage and ran into
the house without waiting for her father.
“Chef, are you home? It’s me
Patricia and the king.”
An elderly, plump woman stepped out of what looked to be the
kitchen. “Hello, Princess. What brings you here?” She took off her apron. She was no stranger to the young lady as she
often visited the Royal Primary School that the princess attended. One of her patisseries had become the
official caterer of the school.
“The king wants to speak to you about Harvestfest,” said
Patricia as the king finally made his way into the house.
“The king’s here? Oh
dear. I must get properly dressed.”
“At ease, chef,” said the king. “We are not here on an official visit. We would like you to reconsider your
retirement and enter this year’s bakery competition.”
The experienced dough manipulator smiled softly. “I have no desire to enter any competition,
your majesty.” Then she suddenly
remembered. “Oh, but your timing is
perfect. I just finished baking a new batch
of cupcakes. Let me get them for you.” She disappeared into the kitchen and
reappeared one minute later with a tray full of cupcakes.
“Oh, wow! Those looked delicious!” Patricia immediately picked one up and took a
bite. “This is amazing!”
The king, having taken one himself, agreed. “This is why we need you, chef. Remember how Juna beat us last year. We don’t want to lose twice in a row.”
“Oh yes. Their
beignets and bread puddings were delicious.” Still, Chef Laura refused. “It is time for the younger generation to
shine. But if you really want to beat
the Juna chefs, I recommend that you let one of my students enter the
competition. She is the next big thing,
I promise. The problem is, she’s not yet
sixteen.”
The king sighed. “This
won’t do. The rule says you need to be
sixteen to enter.”
“Then remove the age limit,” the chef suggested. “She’s your
only hope to win back the golden mitt.”
The king saw that he had no choice and agreed. “Very well.
I will remove the age limit and your student can register.”
“This should be fun,” said Patricia. “We take our leave, chef. Thank you for your suggestion.”
As the carriage headed back to the palace, the king couldn’t
help but feel uneasy. “I hope she’s
right. We are putting our honor in the
hand of a child.”
“Don’t worry, father.
I know her student. I’m sure she
will win,” said Patricia trying to calm the king.
*
The Harvestfest was a success. Every citizen was out in the streets singing
and dancing. Every food and drink stand
was always filled with customers. King
Leopold had arrived the day before along with the two chefs, the previous year’s
champion and runner-up. As they were
enjoying some food at the meat stand, King George and his daughter passed by to
say hello.
“Leopold!” said the king.
“I hope you enjoy this year’s festival.”
“Hello my friend!
Thank you for your hospitality.
You remember my chefs, James and Calvin,” replied Leopold.
“Of course! How can I
forget the champion! Chef James, are you
ready to defend your title?” King George asked.
Chef James, who was slightly taller than his friend, bowed
slightly. “Your Majesty, no disrespect
to your kingdom but I am sure we will take the top spots again.”
King George started to look nervous but Patricia stayed
calm. “Are your bakery as good as last
year, Chef James and Chef Calvin?”
“Yes, princess. We
are happy with our results,” replied the shorter chef.
“I can’t wait to taste them,” said the princess.
The bakery competition was judged by a panel of six trained
judges. Each chef prepared their
creation in secret and submitted them anonymously. This was to prevent preferential judging by
the judges. The top three winners would
be announced at the end of the fair and only then did everyone know the
creators of the winning food.
“Looks like they’re ready to announce the winners,” the king
informed the others. “Let’s go to the
bakery stand.”
The bakery stand was already crowded once they got
there. The king and princess proceeded
to the seats specially reserved for them.
In front of them, 36 delicious-looking pastries were laid out for
everyone to see. They ranged from
cupcakes to soufflés to crème brulees.
One food caught the king’s attention.
“Those cupcakes!” The
king pointed to plate of cupcakes topped with a white cream and a banana
slice. “That looks like a Chef Laura
cupcake. That must be her student’s.”
“Those beignets look similar to last year’s winners. Must be Chef James’”, said Patricia while
observing all the servings. Each
contestant must serve six of the same pastries to the judges and another six
for display.
Suddenly a loud voice was heard from near the pastries. “Ladies and Gentlemen! The pastries had been judge! It is time to announce the winners!” Loud murmurs could be heard from the crowd as
they listened to the Master of Ceremony.
Everyone was hoping neither of the Juna chefs’ entries would win
it. “The top three are…The Mouth
Watering Buttermilk Beignets, The
Irresistible Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding and The Beautiful Banana Cupcake
with Vanilla Cream!”
“Just as I thought,”sighed King George. “The beignets and the bread puddings must be
James and Calvin’s. They’re serving the
same thing from last year.”
“The cupcake will win, father. It is Chef Laura’s student who made it,” said
Patricia assuringly.
“Third place goes to….Chef Calvin’s Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Pudding!” There were boos in the crowd
but they were generally supportive of foreign competition. Chef Calvin went to the podium rather
disappointingly and received his third place medal.
“Second place goes to….”
King George fiddled his fingers nervously, hoping Chef James’
food would be announced.
“Buttermilk Beignets by Chef James of Juna!”
“Hurray!” Exclaimed the king, knowing his kingdom had
reclaimed the golden mitt. The crowd
echoed the king’s reaction and huge cheers filled the festival arena. Chef James made his way to the podium as King
Leopold, clearly disappointed, just sat motionless.
“And this year’s winner of the bakery competition is…..Banana
Cupcake with Vanilla Cream! It is the
creation of a student of Chef Laura.
Please welcome to the stage…”
The crowd suddenly became silent as they waited to see who
their new champion is.
“Princess Patricia!”
A shocked reaction was followed by even wilder cheers. King George was surprised as he never knew
her daughter took lessons from Chef Laura.
“You?! You’re Chef Laura’s
student?”
“Yes, father. I’ve
been taking lessons for several years. I
know you wanted me to focus on my studies, but I really love baking.”
The king just smiled as he hugged the princess. “Then go get your price. We’ll talk about it later.”
The princess was grinning from ear to ear as she took her
place at the top of the podium. She
received her golden mitt from the head organizer and prepared to deliver her
winner’s speech.
“Everyone, thank you.
I am so happy to have won back the golden mitt, OUR golden mitt.” She stopped as the crowd cheered. Then she turned to the king. “Father, I have a proposition. We are known as the patisserie kingdom of the
land. People know we have the best
patisserie chefs. So let us prove it by
opening the competition to all kingdoms.
We shouldn’t be afraid of competition.
Our loss last year had cast a doubt.
Maybe we are no longer the best.
That is why we should allow ourselves to be judged alongside the chefs
of every kingdom in the land. If we win,
then we know we are still the best. If
we lose, we should look to improve ourselves to reclaim our title. We shouldn’t be afraid to lose. Losing allowed us to get better. So how about it, father?”
The king was stunned.
He never realized that by closing the contest to foreigners, he had lost
the only way to measure that Rafflesa still had the best patisserie chef in the
world. By removing competition, they had
no resolve to improve themselves. A
decision had to be made. The king stood
up and spoke to his people. “People of
Rafflesa, the princess is right. In
order to show the world that we are still the patisserie kingdom of the world,
we should not be afraid of competing against foreign chefs. From now on, the bakery competition of
Harvestfest is now an international competition!”
The crowd responded positively as they chanted Patricia’s
name. Delighted, Patricia rushed down to
meet her father. “I’m going to beat them
all, father!”
