Chapter 126: In the Royal Palace (2)
Chapter 126: In the Royal Palace (2)
“Of course you can. No, even if you couldn’t, we would make it possible. You know very well how many people still want to taste Rose Island, Rachel.”
The king spoke with a calm smile.
Rachel smiled brightly and turned towards Martin. Martin did not even need to think about it before nodding vigorously. Rachel Rose cooking for the king—whatever else they might do for dinner, nothing would be more exceptional than that. He had no reason to stop her.
“Fortunately, it seems our producer is fine with it too. Then shall we do it tonight?”
“We’re always ready. I’ll notify the kitchen immediately.”
“There’s no need to rush that much. I don’t know who prepared them, but there are all these carefully made desserts here. Let’s enjoy them first.”
“Oh my…… I suppose I was a little too hasty.”
It was a reaction that did not suit a king the media often described as one of the calmest people alive.
But perhaps it was only natural.
Ten years had passed since he had last tasted Rachel Rose’s cooking. More precisely, the dishes had been made by Rachel and her husband Daniel together, but even without Daniel, Rachel was still an extraordinary chef.
Anderson cut into the crêpe in front of him and cautiously spoke.
“Teacher Rachel, may I help you?”
“Thank you, Anderson. You’re always so considerate.”
Rachel looked at him approvingly.
A smile appeared on Anderson’s normally cold face before he returned to eating the crêpe as though nothing had happened.
The cake consisted of dozens of paper-thin crêpe layers with cream between them. It was astonishingly soft and sweet, almost like eating the sweetest chilled meringue.
Anderson could not tell whether it tasted so good purely because of the pastry chef’s skill or because Rachel had just complimented him.
Jo Minjoon spoke.
“I’ll help too.”
“Me too.”
Sera immediately followed.
With the situation turning that way, Jeremy and Emily could hardly remain still.
Jeremy cleared his throat.
“My, my. I never thought I’d return to a kitchen.”
“I didn’t ask you to help me.”
“There you go again. Rachel, even if you don’t like me, remember this much. We’re being filmed.”
“I know. That’s why I’m choosing such kind words.”
“How kind.”
Jeremy smiled and shook his head.
He had no intention of continuing the argument. He was still too intoxicated by the lingering taste of the tom yum Thai to spare much thought for anything else.
Emily hesitated before looking awkwardly at Rachel.
“I’m honestly not very good at working……but should I help too?”
“Any help is welcome. Think of it as practising to become a good wife. It might be an amusing experience.”
“W-wife practice? I don’t even have anyone for that yet……!”
“I wonder. From what I’ve heard lately…… Ah, never mind.”
Rachel gave Emily a mischievous look but stopped herself because the king was present.
Then she turned towards him.
“Is there anything in particular you’d like to eat?”
“Actually, there’s a menu I’ve been longing for these past ten years.”
“What is it?”
“The two-course meal you once prepared for my wife and me.”
“……Ah. That one.”
Rachel seemed to search through her memories for a moment before nodding.
Her expression changed.
Her eyes became completely serious.
Jo Minjoon looked at the status window beside her.
[Rachel Rose]
Cooking Level: 9
Baking Level: 8
Tasting Level: 9
Decoration Level: 10
……She really is incredible.
No matter how many times he saw it, he was amazed.
Cooking level 9.
When he first saw it, he had almost taken it for granted.
Even baking level 8 had not surprised him much. Given her age, it made sense that she had spent years developing her baking skills as well.
But tasting level 9 was another matter entirely.
She was already in her sixties.
Her taste buds should have declined with age.
Yet she had maintained level 9.
That meant one of two things.
Either she had somehow preserved her palate extraordinarily well despite ageing, or her sense of taste had once been so exceptional that even age could not drag it below 9.
Perhaps, at one point, her cooking level had even been 10.
And then there was her decoration level.
Aside from Kaya’s tasting level, this was the first time Jo Minjoon had ever seen another person reach level 10 in anything.
Just how extraordinary were Rachel’s hands?
Even Anderson, whose decoration level was 7, had repeatedly produced elegant pieces of edible art that astonished people.
A kangaroo carved from lemon.
A turtle shell made from olives.
Jo Minjoon had been impressed by his work more than once.
So what kind of things could Rachel create?
He could hardly wait to see.
On the other hand……
[Jeremy Bennett]
Cooking Level: 6
Baking Level: 5
Tasting Level: 9
Decoration Level: 4
In Jeremy’s case, his levels were not particularly high apart from tasting.
He had said he once worked as a chef, but by his own admission, he had never been exceptionally skilled. Perhaps years away from the kitchen had also dulled what ability he once had.
Still, an food critic only needed to know how to taste.
And Jeremy’s tasting level was 9.
Considering that he was even older than Rachel, his standards had to be incomparably higher than those of an ordinary person.
The trick he had shown Jo Minjoon that morning was proof enough. By adding Thai vinegar and chilli seasoning to pad Thai, he had instantly raised the cooking score from 6 to 7.
There were undoubtedly many things Jo Minjoon could learn from him.
I’m going to take in everything I can.
That was what this trip was for.
Of course, the appearance fee was another reason.
But the greatest reason Jo Minjoon had agreed to travel with them was precisely this opportunity to learn.
And now, a chance to work in a kitchen beside Rachel was standing right in front of him.
He was hungry.
And his greed for satisfying that hunger ran deep.
“Ah, I really enjoyed the meal.”
In the kitchen, Jo Minjoon thanked all the palace chefs politely.
Unfortunately, none of them could speak English. When they repeatedly heard him saying, “Aroi. Aroi,” meaning “delicious” in Thai, they simply smiled and replied, “Thank you.”
As the chefs began leaving the kitchen for them, Jo Minjoon watched the head chef’s retreating back.
She was fifty years old that year, yet her cooking level was not especially high.
Of course, level 8 was still extraordinary.
What surprised him was not that someone with cooking level 8 had become head chef of the royal kitchen.
It was that the tom yum she had prepared—judging from the king’s reaction—seemed to maintain that extraordinary quality consistently.
How could someone with cooking level 8 reliably produce a 10-point dish?
Jo Minjoon could not help thinking about it.
Of course, the recipe had been refined over decades, and she must have accumulated countless techniques and tricks……
Even so, it was remarkable.
If I had a perfectly refined recipe and enough experience, could I do it too?
It would not be easy.
Children who inherited restaurants from their parents did not usually need decades to recreate the same flavour.
Perhaps the palace chefs had spent an enormous amount of time mastering only that one tom yum Thai.
“We’re making a two-course meal today. A starter and a main. Only two dishes.”
“I was curious about that. Why only two courses?”
Emily asked curiously.
Rachel answered calmly.
“When the king first visited our restaurant, he was exhausted by long course meals. Which was understandable. In Thailand, people don’t generally spend that much time eating one meal. So I thought I should serve something short but substantial.”
“What kind of dishes were they?”
“It was simple. The starter was avocado soup, meant to settle the nerves. And for the main……we grilled beef back ribs once on the outside, then simmered them gently in tom yum. On top of that, I mixed steamed crab meat with starch……then coated the ribs with breadcrumbs and fried them again.”
“……That already sounds complicated.”
“It still isn’t finished. We’ll mix apple cider and white wine with sugar and pickle onions, cucumbers, and cabbage in it. Then I’ll peel the potatoes and fry them……”
Rachel began explaining enthusiastically, only to notice everyone staring at her.
She clasped her hands together, suddenly embarrassed.
“I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since I stood in a kitchen, so I suppose I’m both nervous and excited.”
“We understand.”
“For now, shall we practise? We need to bring the dish as close to perfection as possible before tonight. Shall we begin?”
The cooking started.
Since they were working in the palace kitchen, there was no shortage of ingredients.
Rachel did not rest for even a moment.
She moved from one station to another, showing Sera how to stir the avocado soup before approaching Jo Minjoon, who was simmering the beef back ribs in the already prepared tom yum stock.
“Do you know why we aren’t marinating the ribs and are instead cooking them quickly?”
“Mm…… Is it because tom yum has such a strong aroma? Even without a long marinade, enough flavour will penetrate the meat.”
“That’s part of it. But the other reason is to make the meat softer. Some people prefer a strong chew, of course, but our guests are elderly. Their teeth aren’t as strong as those of younger people. Small considerations like that create the biggest difference. For the chef, it might be no more than a little kindness, but for the person receiving it, that kindness can feel warm enough to bring tears to their eyes. The difference between a first-rate chef and a third-rate one isn’t technique. It’s how much they think about the customer.”
Rachel looked directly into Jo Minjoon’s eyes.
“In the end, a chef exists for the customer. A person who cooks without considering the customer is merely someone who makes food, not a chef. Remember this. Among chefs who ignore their customers, I’ve never seen one last for long. At least, that’s the conclusion I reached after sixty years of life.”
“I’ll remember it.”
“I expect you to.”
Rachel smiled gently.
Anderson arrived after separating the meat from a giant crab and mixing it with starch.
Rachel nodded.
“Now coat it and fry it. I’ll take care of the potatoes.”
The crab mixture clung to the top of the beef ribs.
They covered everything with breadcrumbs again.
The moment it entered the boiling oil, bubbles rose around it like lotus blossoms.
Jo Minjoon stared at them.
Lotus blossoms.
Lotus.
Kaya Lotus.
……This is becoming a disease.
By the time the ribs were fried to the proper degree, Rachel returned.
Jo Minjoon froze.
The potatoes in her hands had been carved into all kinds of shapes.
Some were eagles with their wings spread wide.
Others were tigers.
What was astonishing was the detail.
Every feather on the eagles was distinct.
Every stripe and contour on the tigers had been carefully carved.
And Rachel had not spent a long time on them.
Only a few minutes.
Jo Minjoon stared as though mesmerised.
“Your decoration skills are incredible……”
“Honestly, my husband was better at cooking than I was. And I didn’t want to disappear in his shadow. I thought that if Daniel took responsibility for flavour, then I could capture people’s attention with their eyes. I practised that way my entire life, and eventually carving became easier for me than cooking.”
She said it calmly, as though it were nothing.
But how much time and effort had it taken before she could speak about it so lightly?
A married couple.
Lovers.
The most precious person in the world, yet also the person you least wanted to fall behind.
Feeling inferior to the person you loved most had to be a terrible thing.
The potatoes went into the oil.
As they removed the fried ribs, Sera approached carrying the pickled apple cider mixture with cabbage, cucumbers, onions, and the other vegetables.
It seemed she had not been lying when she said she enjoyed cooking.
Otherwise, she could hardly have been smiling with such obvious excitement.
“I’ve finished the pickles. What should I do now?”
“One moment. This pickle……the aroma is a little dull. Was the apple cider or white wine stored at room temperature?”
“Yes. I think so.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, but you’ll need to make it again. The proper flavour only comes through when it’s chilled while pickling. You can remake it, right?”
“Of course. I’ll do it now.”
Sera did not show the slightest irritation at being sent back to redo her work.
She nodded and walked a few steps away before turning around.
“But what should I do with this batch? Can I eat it?”
“Of course. Just don’t fill yourself up. I’ll make you something even better later.”
“Yes!”
Sera grabbed the container of pickles in one hand and pumped her other fist into the air.
Jo Minjoon smirked.
She really was full of energy.
Anderson spoke.
“I’m taking it out.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
The tongs lifted the fried ribs.
The crab meat and beef enclosed beneath the coating had taken on reddish patches where the tom yum had stained what had originally been white and translucent.
Sera arranged the freshly prepared pickles beside them, while Rachel added bok choy and the fried potato carvings.
Jo Minjoon looked proudly at the system window that appeared.
[Fried Beef Back Ribs with Crab Meat, Rested in Tom Yum Sauce]
Freshness: 97%
Origins: Too many ingredients to display
Quality: High
Cooking Score: 9/10
Nine points.
He had not made the entire dish himself.
He had merely participated in one part of the process.
Yet simply by following Rachel’s directions, they had produced a 9-point dish.
For the first time, Jo Minjoon truly felt how important a head chef was.
The same cooks could produce food on an entirely different level depending on who led them.
Only now did he begin to understand what that really meant.
His eyes filled with admiration.
But Rachel took one bite of the ribs and shook her head.
“Let’s make it again.”