God of Cooking

“What’s up? Is there anything weird?”

“What are you talking about? It’s weird!”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

Even when the white guy was surprised, his Asian friend could not reply properly because he enjoyed the taste he had expected. Gyukatsu. It wasn’t difficult for him to guess its taste. He knew what taste it was, but the thing was, it was much more savory than he expected.

“Wow, how come beef can feel so soft?”

“You are surprised, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, absolutely. I know the meat becomes very soft when cooked with Sous vide. But this is much softer than I think. I can’t figure out how to express its taste.”

As always, one was supposed to feel so proud when someone praised the restaurant where one invited one’s friend. A broad satisfied smile was on the white guy’s face. His Asian friend once again carefully picked up the sous vide-treated Gyukatsu and put it in his mouth.

‘It tastes so…’

“… I just envy the chefs here…”

“About what?”

“Customers want them. No matter how good you are as a chef, you are useless if you don’t have customers, which is so sad.”

“Hey, do you know you are very good at adding salt into my wounds sometimes?”

“Well, I’m not doing it casually, with a firm determination. It’s time you need to be alert. It’s already been two months since we didn’t make any profits. If this trend continues, we might have to close the shop.”

When she pointed it out, Serhi scratched his temple awkwardly. She tapped her heart in frustration at his carefree look. Her hand that was holding the Gyukatsu trembled as if it was about to fall off anytime. Startled, Serhi took away the Gyukatsu box in her hand.

“You might drop the Gyukatsu box, Emma!”

“Hey, just focus more on your own cooking before you meddle in my affairs!”

“I think I have no problem with my cooking.”

“But customers’ feedback is not good. Besides, we lost our Michelin stars. You know that our sales were down after that, right? I wish we had kept even one Michelin star, but we don’t have one now. We had two stars, but we don’t have even one now. Don’t you think you need to work harder?”

“The reason my food was delicious wasn’t because we had two Michelin stars. It was because I was a cook who could make delicious dishes. So I wasn’t that happy because I got two stars, and I’m not so discouraged yet, Emma. Just trust me and wait. Delicious dishes get recognized anyway.”

“I hope so, too.”

“Good!”

Grinning at her, Serhi put the last piece of Gyukatsu in his mouth. It was a piece of Gyukatsu made with sous vide beef. Watching him enjoy it casually, Emma frowned a bit.

“Isn’t it mine?”

“Oh, really? Sorry. I forgot because it was so delicious. Sorry, I even took Gyukatsu from you when I couldn’t even make much money.”

“Hey, Chef!”

Serhi pointed at the food truck with a smile.

“Shall we wait in lines again? I don’t think we’ll wait longer than before.”

***

Just like the Asian man and his white friend, Serhi and Emma praised the Gyukatsu so much. Min-joon and Anderson’s Gyukatsu drew so good response from the customers compared with what they had cooked previously. Was it because of that? At the restaurant where everyone gathered that evening, Rachel tapped the two on the shoulders. She smiled more softly than they expected and said, “It seems you guys have realized how important harmony between the staff is in the kitchen.”

Neither Min-joon nor Anderson could respond properly at that.

She continued with a smile, “Apart from your reconciliation, the way you cooked Gyukatsu this time is quite interesting.”

“In fact, I made it the way I cooked Cho Reggiano. At that time, I could bring about five flavors and textures of one ingredient. This time, me and Anderson brought out five flavors with one cooking method.”

“There are a lot of chefs who can’t even do it like you. Rather, they avoid it. The way you look at one ingredient from multiple perspectives is more sophisticated than you think. It’s also very popular these days.”

Min-joon nodded at her remarks silently. Certainly, this approach was very sophisticated, he thought. It was especially so when it was mixed with molecular cuisine. But it was by no means easy. It was easy to say various tastes and textures with one ingredient, but the ingredient was not the same. To make various dishes with the same material required more effort and devotion than ordinary people thought.

“To be honest, I was quite worried about you when I put you two as a team, but I think I can trust you now.”

“Thank you.”

“So, it’s my wish that you guys learn quite a bit here today.”

Rachel looked around, saying so. A middle-aged man with a shaggy beard looked at them with a funny smile.

“I don’t think I can teach you anything, but I can cook something delicious enough to touch you.”

“Hey, Serhi, don’t try to get on your high horse!”

“Isn’t it me who goes about my life in my own way?”

“That’s why you lost the Michelin stars, right?”

“Oh no! I don’t take them seriously. I don’t think my cooking skills are dependent on those stars,” Serhi replied with a smile.

Min-joon was amazed to hear that. He had never seen anybody like Serhi who kept a detached attitude toward Michelin stars. As if he read Min-joon’s mind, Serhi smiled and looked at him and Anderson.

“I stopped by the food truck and ate Gyukatsu. It was so delicious that I ate twice, waiting in lines. Do you remember me?”

“Oh, I wasn’t at the cashier’s desk. I’m sorry, but I can’t remember.”

“Okay. I understand. Anyway, since you served delicious food, let me make something delicious, too.”

“I look forward to it,” Min-joon replied with a soft smile.