Chapter 201
Chapter 201 God of Cooking
Name：God of Cooking
The Courtship of 36 People (5)>
“Then it appears Minjoon is in a much difficult situation than thought.”
“Although I am not sure if he understands it…. In fact, there is no need to understand it. Ultimately, what he needs to do is to continue his own path, rather than trying to meet our expectations.
There is no need to be adding new burden to him.”
“But he will realize it in the end. Once this interview makes public, there is no way that Minjoon won’t know.”
“Even though there is no need to inform him, it isn’t something that he will go on not knowing it indefinitely.”
Dave responded in a nonchalant voice. If that much pressure cannot be tolerated, it probably wasn’t worth for them to be waiting for it in the first place. However, Jo Minjoon wasn’t thought to be such a weak person. Dave was about to be lost in his thoughts. There came Phillip’s voice.
“Dave. Sit down. They said dining will begin shortly.”
“Ah. Got it. I am leaving now.”
“Yes. Thank you for the interview.”
“Then I’ll have the fusilli.”
“Fusilli? That could be a difficult one to make it tasty.”
“Since she makes difficult ones tasty, our instructor is the best.”
“Someone was complaining about confit earlier. Sauce simmering was all wrong, I think. Are you sure?”
“What are you asking right now? At that time, Chef Rachel asked us to critic the bulk chefs. Besides, Chef Rachel is in the kitchen, not in the hall. Even if you had preschoolers as chefs, as long as Chef Rachel was around, anything prepared will taste much better than earlier.”
Such compliment demonstrated how much trust was given to Rachel. Dave opened up his shoulders.
“There wasn’t any objection even though the expression seemed severe. Ah, I will have the steamed beef. Is it OK to choose desert after finishing the main dish? Wait. It may be a bit late. I will order when I start on the pasta. Is that OK?”
“Definitely. Also, we have basic mineral water, carbonated drinks and mineral water with lime juice. Which one would you like?”
“I will have the carbonated drink. No. I think lime juice would be good. I’ll order that one. Thank you.”
“Yes, of course.”
The server gave a big smile and slowly turned back after taking the order. Everyone there was slender and handsome. In fact, there was no position, where the appearance was as important as in being a server. It was especially true for an upscale restaurant like Rose Island. By having a model like person to take orders, whenever possible, would certainly help improve the guests’ moods as well.
It was after when the server returned to place carbonated drink and mineral water with lime juice and left. Deborah opened her mouth as she was observing the bubbles in the carbonated drink.
Translations by AsianHobbyist Website
“When I went to a restaurant in New York last time, they charged me $30 each for carbonated drink and mineral water. Of course, it was served in a very expensive looking bottle… In fact, if I was asked to assess their values, I am not sure that I can say that they were worth $30 each even now.”
“Did you get upset?”
“I did get upset. Not as a guest, but as a cook. And as a friend. I couldn’t accept it. To charge the guests for something basic like that. He wasn’t like that. In fact, he certainly loved cooking and was elated to be able to have his own restaurant….”
“Owner chef?”
“Yup. Maybe because of that. He probably saw either the weakening financial situation of the restaurant or profits piling up. He got greedy I suppose. I can understand it. It’s possible to be swayed. But, even if one gets shaken, he shouldn’t fall down.”
Then, the servers came with smiles and placed yellowish ciabatta and accompanying sauces on the table. There were three kinds of sauces. Then a server spoke.
“From the right, there is butter, flavored with dried clove buds, tapenade mixed with feta cheese and foie gras paste. Spread them liberally on the bread. But for the first bite, I recommend trying it plain, so that you can savor the taste of the bread itself.”
Deborah paused momentarily, tore a piece of the bread and placed it in her mouth. Unconsciously, she nodded her head.
“Patissiere was old Jack’s daughter, right?”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Taste this. It is just like it. It preserved the chewiness of flour and grain flavor. It’s a perfect ciabatta.”
“Someone without the right knowledge may even think that butter was added to it upon tasting it.”
“Anyway, where did I stop?”
Deborah was about to speak after coming out of a deep thought. Upon approaching, the servers placed spoons. A small round ball shaped fried dish was placed on top of powdered green sauce. One of the servers began to speak.
“This is pork and shrimp shaped into a dumpling, battered and deep fried and served over powdered green mustard sauce. Please try the whole piece in one bite.”
Deborah stopped talking. Then upon taking in the aroma of the dish, she ate the whole thing at once. The condensed aroma coming from the taste of oil around the batter and powdered mustard and the deliciousness from the unique chewiness of mixed pork and shrimp have worked up her appetite. And strange expression, showing both frustration and happiness, came on her face.
“…Ah, frustrating. Tasting this gives me the feeling of relief from being angry. It’s something that I should say with a sense of anger.”
“What is certain is that the tasty shrimp has made me very hungry. No matter what you say to me, I feel that I won’t be able to hear you.”
“Still, listen to me. Do you think that it is OK for a chef to stimulate the vanity of the rich in order to skim money from them?”
“It does not appear to be quite proper, but… what can you do. That how he wants to sell and the customers accept it. Some people prefer restaurants for the purpose of showing off their wealth than seek out the taste. I, on the other hand, prefer to offer and have guests to enjoy the taste over such thing, but….”
“The bastard’s restaurant is not without taste. Their food is rather on the good side. So, I get even angrier. It is because of the fact that he has good cooking skills, yet he fell in to the trap of such lame sales tactic.”
“It depends on the situation. There is a cook for the art and a cook for the business. He probably falls in to the latter.”
Rather than replying, Deborah licked up the remaining powder on the spoon. Dave giggled.
“It must be really tasty. To see you eat like that.”
“Can’t let it go to waste. Think about the time and money spent on coming here.”
“It didn’t cost anything. Remember, Chef Rachel bought the tickets.”
“Anyhow. How often do we get to eat at the main restaurant to be leaving anything? It is possible at those pretentiously dignified and elegant type of restaurants, where you cross your legs while sitting, but have flat tastes. Elegance, when the food is really good? No such thing.”
The food certainly tasted different now than when it was prepared by the bulk chefs. If it was an imitation of making the best food, perhaps, I should say this is the ultimate taste this time. Deborah murmured sullenly.
“Unreal. It has already been ten years. Chef Rachel rested, but I worked. So, I thought that I had caught up to close the distance…..”
“Instead, it feels like the distance has grown. I know that feeling. I am also feeling it too.”
“I’m getting sadder, coming from a three star chef like you. The road of cooking, it seems so far.”
“If it wasn’t, do you think you’d have liked it?”
“No. Probably not.”
Dave spoke in a quiet voice. No one will put any value on a mountain if anyone can climb to the summit in five minutes. It will just be thought of as a small hill in the neighborhood. The reason for giving respect to those who climb the Himalayas is because not everyone can climb it. Cooking was like Himalaya to them. The summit hasn’t been reached yet, but…. The moment of reaching the top will certainly arrive.
The next dish came out. The new dish was a potato soup with bacon bubble sauce, topped with bacon foam. Just a moment after taking a spoonful, Deborah opened her eyes widely and gazed at the soup. She felt an enormous sensation from the dish for the first time in a long while.
Translations by AsianHobbyist Website
“Wow, Damn. I feel like swearing. This is bacon foam. How can the taste be so rich? I just thought that the whole bacon was in the dish.”
“I feel the same. Not sure if it’s the power of Raphael Yoon, or Chef Rachel’s but…. The basics of the molecular cuisine are perfectly expressed. That is, to extract the taste itself. The previous fried dish was just simply delicious but… this soup was the best tasting dish I have had this year, I mean the best in my life time….”
Instantaneously, both Deborah and Dave, no, not only Deborah and Dave, but everyone that had tasted the bacon foam topping in the potato soup had the same feeling. According to the menus that they saw, molecular cooking method was applied at least little bit to almost all course dishes. Some of them were prepared by using only the molecular cooking.
In conclusion, molecular cooking had its hand in every course whether little bit or in significant amount. Also the bulk chef that was in charge was no other than Jo Minjoon. The molecular cooking section has become the position that requires the perfect understanding of the overall flow of the cooking led by Rachel.
Could it really be a coincidence?
< The Courtship of 36 People (5)> The End