Chapter 265
Translator: penny
Chapter: 265
Chapter Title: The Spoiled Honey
As soon as I opened the door, a completely different world unfolded.
Just moments ago, I'd been savoring my meal amid soft melodies and a relaxed, leisurely vibe. Who would've thought everything could shift so drastically with just one door in between.
Chop chop chop!
The sound of knives slicing,
Sizzle sizzle,
Oil bubbling up in the frying pan,
Scrape, swish.
Even the clatter of plates being prepped.
A medley of sounds intertwined like a massive orchestra striking harmony, flowing into a unique symphony.
"Wow. You've brought in a lot of good people."
Bong Kang-min, who'd followed me in, let out a short burst of admiration. No doubt about it—the faces bustling around this kitchen were promising up-and-comers.
"You've assembled the kitchen staff smartly, haven't you?"
Jeong Ha-neul nodded in agreement.
The spacious kitchen felt cramped with chefs and their assistants darting about nonstop.
Each had a clear role, yet their movements overlapped and synced seamlessly, like a perfectly rehearsed play.
"If just one thing goes wrong in here..."
Bong Kang-min muttered under his breath.
Hearing that, pinpointing even a tiny flaw in this chaos felt like an utterly absurd challenge.
Cooking involved countless steps to completion, and in a kitchen like this, even more hands touched every dish.
Spotting a single mistake amid all those processes? It was like finding a needle in a desert.
Just as that sense of hopelessness crept up from my toes, Anderic pointed to one corner.
"That's it. The plum sauce station."
At the far left edge of the kitchen, an assistant was pouring sauce into a small pitcher and tasting a spoonful.
Whoosh!
Behind him, another chef shook a blazing frying pan, searing the duck's skin, while an unnamed assistant hurriedly mopped up spilled water from the floor.
"Chef, the plum sauce is ready!"
While my eyes had wandered elsewhere for a moment, the assistant dashed toward the center with the pitcher in hand.
I worried he'd bump into someone, but he dodged them all like some kind of circus act.
If this weren't a kitchen, I might've burst into applause without thinking.
"Hold on."
Anderic excused himself briefly and stepped inside. He chased after the assistant, took the pitcher of plum sauce, and walked back over with purposeful steps.
Slurp.
He grabbed a tasting spoon, scooped up a bit from the pitcher, and sampled it.
"......"
He stared at the sauce wordlessly, then fetched another spoon and handed it to me.
Caught off guard, I took a tentative sip of the plum sauce.
Sweet and tangy up front, with a subtle sharp sourness lingering faintly. That thick, cloying aftertaste was still there.
"The flavor's off on this too."
Anderic nodded in confirmation.
"What could it be? One of the ingredients must've gone bad. This taste is definitely..."
I'd had it somewhere before. When was it?
That distinctive thick, astringent sourness...
"Chef! Main course for table three needs to go out!"
The assistant whose sauce had been snatched ran up shouting. If they didn't hurry, all that hard work on the duck would go cold.
"It's off? I couldn't tell."
Bong Kang-min chimed in from the side.
Whoosh!
Flames shot up again to crisp the duck skin. Even that felt like pressure bearing down on me.
"What's causing it?"
"Let's taste it once more."
"Chef!"
The room seemed to spin around me. Everyone encircled me, their silent stares pressuring me like I was wasting their time over some vague hunch.
My head throbbed, and the kitchen heat flushed my face burning hot. That's when—
"Whoa, watch out!"
Someone yelled. I dodged instinctively as a chef brushed past, plate in hand.
My body twisted, vision whirling.
In that spinning view, my eyes locked on a shelf in the corner.
"...Huh?"
Was I seeing this right?
Drawn like a magnet, I headed over. At the shelf's edge sat a jar with a loosely closed lid.
I pried open the sloppy lid and peered inside: a sticky, pale lemon-colored liquid. The jar's side was tacky to the touch.
'Honey.'
Clutching the jar, I scanned around. A hot oven loomed right next to it.
Just standing nearby, the oven's warm air made sweat bead on my forehead.
Turning with the jar in hand, I spotted the assistant who'd made the plum sauce.
"You left honey here?"
I heard the assistant flinch.
"Uh, yeah. We were gonna use it right away, so just for a sec..."
"And the lid wasn't even shut properly."
"I only set it down for a moment."
I picked up the jar for another look. Sugar crystals dotted the rim, tiny bubbles forming on the surface.
"The honey's gone bad. Because of the heat."
I pointed at the oven.
"Honey's sensitive to heat."
As soon as I finished, Bong Kang-min snatched the jar and peered in.
"Eh, yeah. Look at those bubbles—it's no good. Honey doesn't spoil if you store it cool and dry."
He clucked his tongue and passed it to Jeong Ha-neul, who shook his head.
Anderic checked the honey too, then asked the assistant.
"Any spares left?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Probably in the storeroom."
"Grab a fresh one and remake the plum sauce with it. Right now."
"Yes, sir!"
The assistant bolted off.
Phew. Watching him go, a sigh of relief escaped me.
'Good thing we caught it quick.'
I trusted my palate, but no one else had noticed that subtle difference. If we hadn't nailed down the cause, it might've blown over.
'And if a Michelin inspector had been here, this could've tanked their score big time.'
Those evaluators had razor-sharp senses of taste.
"Glad we caught it before it hit the tables."
"Yeah, seriously."
"It's not like it was totally spoiled or anything. But you never know."
Bong Kang-min patted his chest, muttering in relief.
He was right. We'd stopped spoiled-ingredient sauce from going out, end of story.
"How'd you even spot this, Chef Song?"
"I picked up a faint sourness. Turns out it was from the honey fermenting."
"Plum sauce already has some acidity. You distinguished that?"
Bong Kang-min looked stunned.
It was hard to believe, but with the evidence right there before his eyes, he couldn't deny it.
"Plus a slight bitterness too. Subtle, but there. When honey's exposed to high heat for too long, fructose and glucose break down—the sweetness dulls, and a bit of bitterness creeps in. That must've been it."
I explained at length, and Bong Kang-min asked again.
"Bitterness? In plum sauce? I didn't notice."
"There was bitterness. Very faint."
No matter how they pressed, I could only repeat myself.
I said it was bitter because it was. If they asked why...
To my answer, everyone clamped their mouths shut and stared.
A brief silence fell, the mood turning awkward, until Bong Kang-min burst out laughing to break the tension.
"Our Chef Song's got real talent! Hey, Song Chef, wanna work under me? I'll make you my prized protégé. What do ya say?"
Protégé, my foot. There'd already be a line of chefs dying to apprentice under him.
I knew it was a joke, but a hollow chuckle slipped out anyway.
"Nah, I'm good~. Chef life isn't for me."
"Why not! Think it over real careful-like. Looks like your true calling to me."
"Reproducing mass-appeal flavors is about my limit. My hands aren't delicate enough to layer subtle tastes."
Why had I never considered chef life before my regression? Warm bed, full belly—prime conditions for self-actualization urges.
But there were too many geniuses around me.
After seeing the industry's top talents up close, I realized my minor gift wasn't worth getting cocky over.
Tasting dishes and developing new ones had honed my palate sharper over time, but that was it.
'Perfect for overseeing franchises, though.'
Places skimping with bad ingredients got busted the second I showed up. Eventually, I barely had to do inspections myself.
"Skill grows with practice..."
"Bong Chef, enough already."
Bong Kang-min kept muttering with endless regret, until Jeong Ha-neul finally cut him off.
Seeing Anderic's success probably sparked his protégé dreams.
Bong surely had plenty of trainees under him already.
'I don't remember well, but none seemed to hit Anderic's level.'
Then again, great chefs don't always make great mentors.
With so few rising to fame, it wasn't all that strange.
"It's just a parlor trick, really."
I brushed off their high praise—grateful, but it was exactly that and no more.
Bong Kang-min looked exasperated.
"No way!"