Emergency meeting

At the emergency meeting, the heads of her PR team were sitting opposite of Eira. They looked tired and worn out. Malicious news and comments had been circulating in the net while the cooking competition was still ongoing. But those weren´t that much and they could handle them. After the competition ended and the identity of Mr. YX was revealed a whole shitstorm broke out. A lot of female admirers from George Henning had spread not so nice comments all around the internet.

And in the past days, they were getting more and more. They had to work overtime to look through them all and make countermeasures. It´s no wonder that they are all tired and worn out.

"I´ve read the report so keep it short and simple." Eira looked at them and waited for them to propose their plans.

"We thought of capturing this Fernando Mayers and get him to commit to his crimes of slandering your name. And we will give out a warning to everyone who spreads false rumors to stop their activities or we will get our legal team to handle them."

Eira nodded but at the same time furrowed her brows in satisfaction.

"That takes too much time and resources. Our image got a good boost because of the competition. A lot of people were surprised that George Henning was the amazing cook behind the Mr.YX mask. Let´s use that to our advantage and get them something else to gossip about." Eira suggested.

The PR team looked at her surprised.

"How will you do that?" They asked. Eira laughed.

"You guys are the ones responsible for the image of this company. You are responsible to advertise our products. But this simple thing you can´t think of? Why do I even pay you?" She mocked them and then continued.

"Let´s give our head developer the chance to show the world what he is capable of. That it was his talent that got him into our company. That it was his own choice to pursue his long lost dream to be a master chef. That was why he had gifted our school project a large amount of money. Let the ladies swoon about his gorgeous face and over his amazing skills. Let them forget why they wrote these comments." Eira revealed her plan.

The room went silent. The idea was truly simple. Divert the attention. And on top of all that it would help the company a lot. Why didn´t they think of that? They were all busy suppressing the bad comments that they forgot about that possibility.

"That is a wonderful idea. We will handle the matters no worries." The PR team said with confidence.

"Mhm, I am sure you can do that. Don´t forget to give me a daily update. And now to you, chief of security." Eira looked at the mid-forty man that had leaned back while the others had exchanged their ideas.

"There is a huge mob outside the door and some even dared to dirty our walls. I want you to get them away from there. The ones who left their signature on the walls, I want to find them and charge them for destroying private belongings and they can help the cleaners to get it all spotless clean again."

The head of security had sat up straight while Eira gave her instructions and nodded of understanding.

"Yes, Miss Morgan. I´ll get it done. I have already found some of them and will take action against them."

"Good. You all are dismissed then." Eira ended the meeting.

Eira saw that it was almost lunchtime so instead of going back to her office, she went to the 12th floor. When she went out one of the food developers greeted her when he saw her and quickly went back to his work. She looked around to see how the others were doing. Some of them already head their lunch before them and began to eat.

When George´s desk came into her view she saw nothing but a mess. Papers are flying around. Books were lying randomly everywhere. Sticky notes are littered all over the wall.

"What the hell is happening here? What kind of mess is that?" Eira exclaimed.

A head popped out behind the desk.

"Oh, you´re here? Didn´t hear you coming." George greeted her.

"What are you doing?" Eira asked him in utter shock.

"I am working. I found some great ideas in your dad´s notebook and thought I could do something about them. I also brainstormed and thought of some ideas so I had to look it up if it works." George explained.

Eira nodded. At least he is working, right?

"Good. I had an emergency meeting a while ago. We´ve decided to use you to resolve this situation."

"Really? So, I will talk to my father to stop bothering you?" He asked her.

"No. You will divert the attention of the public. You have a great opportunity to show them your amazing skills again." Eira answered him.

"Are you being sarcastic here?" George looked at her.

"No. I am serious." Eira assured him.

"Okay. Tell me, what do I have to do?"

"Finish your ideas here. Give me a result from your brainstorming here. Develop with the others some good products. I´ll give you a small incentive. We have focused on frozen foods for a couple of years now, to bring healthy and quick food to all the households and I plan to keep that concept. Fast food chains had always got a great result because people love food, it´s cheap and it´s quick. And most importantly they don´t have to cook it themselves. That´s what people like. Quick food, with less effort but healthy at the same time."

George furrowed his brows. He took a notepad and made some notes. He then looked at her.

Without saying anything he ran off to his computer and typed something into it. Then he jumped up to the kitchen and took out some ingredients.

The others who were in the kitchen to have their lunch looked at him in surprise. When they saw that he was up to something they made some space for him. Eira had followed him out of curiosity.

George jumped around the kitchen like a maniac and made something.

[NOTE: Here is a recipe for one of my favorite dishes my mom always makes for me. It´s simple and delicious. Try it for yourself.]

First, he took out a big piece of pork belly and rubbed it in sugar, pepper, and salt. The whole piece is put inside the refrigerator.

He then got some rice flour and added some coconut milk. He whisked them together and then slowly added some mineral water. He added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of turmeric. The turmeric gave the whole liquidy batter a yellow color. When he was done mixing, he wrapped the whole bowl in plastic wrap and then put it in the refrigerator.

Then he started prepping the shrimps and the other ingredients. The shrimps were deshelled and cleaned. He got a carrot and kohlrabi (radish is also possible) and thinly sliced them in strips.

Together with the shrimp and the vegetables he lightly sauteed them and put them aside.

For the dipping sauce, he sliced some chili thinly and added them to the fish sauce with some sugar and some lemon juice. You should taste the spiciness of the chili, the saltiness of the fish sauce, the sweet note of the sugar and the sourness of the lemon juice. Nothing should overpower the other.

Now he took the pork belly out and put it in boiling water to cook it until it´s done.

After all of that is assembled it was only a matter of minutes.

He took out the batter and preheated the wok. After the oil is sizzling, he put in a ladle of it into the wok and turned it around to create an even and thin layer. It resembled a crepe. Then he put in the vegetable, the shrimp and the pork belly. He then put a lid on it for a few seconds to let everything cook through. He then folded it in half and put it on a plate. He then went to get a big leaf of salad and rolled the crepe inside the salad leaf. After that, he put a paper towel around it and put it in front of Eira.