Chapter 168: The Friendly Judge (4)
Chapter 168: The Friendly Judge (4)
The reason Jo Minjoon was critiquing each dish so closely was not simply because he hated seeing ingredients go to waste. It was also for the applicants’ sake. If they were going to lose points anyway, it was better to lose them now and still finish with a proper dish than to discover the problem only after producing a complete failure. And if his criticism helped them recognise the mistakes they were making, then they could correct them in the future. In that sense, the audition was also functioning as a form of mentoring.
In the end, Jo Minjoon continued circling the counters until every applicant had finished cooking. Watching him made it easy to imagine what kind of demi-chef he would become—and perhaps, later, what kind of sous-chef or head chef he might be.
Javier muttered under his breath.
“I’m glad I’m applying for demi-chef. If I had to work under him as a prep cook, my ears would probably fall off.”
“To be precise, you’re not a demi-chef. You’re a demi-chef applicant.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to be selected anyway. Do you plan on staying an applicant forever, Janet?”
“I’m only talking about the prese—”
“Are you fighting?”
Ella suddenly looked at the two of them with a stern expression. Janet stopped mid-sentence and sighed. Ella opened the pink leather children’s backpack on her back, took out a small bag, and pushed it towards them.
“Eat this and stop fighting.”
“…What is it?”
“Jelly my uncle made. Don’t eat the yellow ones. Those are my favourite.”
Food made by Jo Minjoon. It might only be jelly, but it still counted as food, and Javier’s eyes immediately began to sparkle. He took one with great anticipation and popped it into his mouth. The one he had chosen was clear.
“Apple flavour. Oh… it isn’t very chewy. He probably didn’t use much gelatin.”
While Javier was analysing it, Janet casually reached into the bag. A moment later, Ella’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“I told you not to take the yellow ones!”
Janet did not appear particularly concerned. She calmly put the jelly into her mouth and chewed. Javier had been right. Perhaps Jo Minjoon had been thinking about a child’s teeth, because the jelly was soft and sweet rather than tough, and even something as simple as that showed how much care he had put into making it.
“It’s good.”
“…She says it’s good after stealing someone else’s!”
“You gave them to us.”
“The lemon ones are mine.”
Ella clenched her fists tightly, her little body trembling with indignation. Janet’s lips curved into such a faint smile that it would have been easy to miss unless someone was watching closely.
“I’ll make some for you. Lemon jelly that tastes even better.”
For a moment, Ella looked tempted, but she quickly puffed herself up and spoke in a sulky voice.
“It’s not like you’ll come back if you fail. Even I know that. I’m an adult too, you know?”
“An adult?”
“I am an adult. I can even wash my doll’s hair by myself now.”
Ella spread her shoulders proudly. At the sight, even Janet could not maintain her usual cold expression. She actually found herself considering whether she should reach out and pat Ella’s head.
Before she could, Javier spoke.
“Oh, the judging is starting.”
Janet immediately turned towards the kitchen. Rachel stood at the front and addressed the applicants.
“This test was a little more difficult. Minjoon did intervene to help you at certain points, but considering that this was the first time any of you had attempted these dishes, I think you all did very well. That makes it even more unfortunate that we can only bring four of you onto our team.”
Jo Minjoon, meanwhile, was silently staring at the half-finished dishes.
One thought dominated his mind.
…Do we really have to throw all of that away?
His parents had been fairly strict when he was young. If even a single grain of rice remained in his bowl, they would tell him to scrape it up and eat it. They had never looked kindly on leaving food behind or being picky either. Remember the sweat of the farmers who grew this rice. It was a cliché, but the words had stayed with him.
His attitude had changed somewhat as he grew older. If he were already full, forcing himself to overeat would only harm his body, so there were times when throwing food away was unavoidable. Yet after becoming a chef, he had somehow grown even more conscious of the value of ingredients than his parents had been. At times, it almost felt as though the ingredients themselves were whispering to him.
Are you really going to throw us away? Even after we grew so well?
“Minjoon?”
“…Yes? Yes?”
Jo Minjoon turned around in surprise at Rachel’s voice. Anderson clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. She asked you something. Do you have anything you want to say to the applicants?”
“Ah…”
Jo Minjoon looked towards them. A variety of expressions met his gaze. Because he had nagged them throughout the entire cooking process, some looked mildly uncomfortable with him, while one particular applicant had been staring at him with gratitude from almost the beginning.
Still, their gazes were different from when they had first entered Rose Island.
That was inevitable.
They had now seen Jo Minjoon cook with their own eyes. The value attached to his name was not something created entirely by television or exaggerated because of his absolute taste. They had witnessed for themselves that he was a real chef.
Even those who had initially dismissed him because of his lack of professional kitchen experience could no longer take him lightly.
With everyone’s attention focused on him, Jo Minjoon thought for a moment before speaking.
“I ended up criticising all of you quite a lot. I may even have raised my voice at times, so if anyone felt uncomfortable because of that, I want to apologise.”
No one answered, so Jo Minjoon continued calmly.
“Four of you will become part of my family today, while the rest will not. But even if we end up working in different restaurants, I believe all of you will continue working in kitchens. In that broader sense, I think we’re all travelling on the same road. I hope we can all enjoy that journey together.”
Two or three people began clapping softly before the sound quickly faded. Rachel stepped forward.
“I’ll announce the successful applicants.”
“…It’s finally our turn.”
The apprentice and prep cooks had been selected. Meanwhile, the baker applicants were undergoing their own test with Lisa near the ovens. Now it was finally time for the demi-chef candidates.
Javier looked towards Janet.
“What do you think the test will be?”
“I don’t particularly care. Whatever it is, I’ll be selected.”
“…Now I’m jealous of that confidence.”
If Javier had noticed Janet’s hands, trembling ever so slightly, he would not have said that.
He did not notice.
Ella did.
She let out a small grunt, swung her dangling legs, and hopped off the chair. Then she walked over to Janet and held out her pinky.
“Will you really make me lemon jelly?”
“…Huh?”
“You said you would. You said you’d make me lemon jelly. Although it probably won’t taste as good as my uncle’s.”
Janet quietly stared at her. Ella kept her eyes wide open and stared straight back, almost as though challenging her to a contest.
Eventually, Janet extended her own pinky and hooked it around Ella’s.
“I’ll make it for you. One that tastes even better.”
Her hands were no longer trembling.
Janet released Ella’s finger and stood. It was quite a sight when all twenty-seven demi-chef applicants rose at once.
Rachel stood in front of them.
“Because of the size of the kitchen, it’ll be difficult to test all of you at the same time. The fourteen people on this side, come into the kitchen first. Everyone else, please wait in the office. You won’t be told the theme until immediately before you begin cooking.”
Rachel indicated the middle of the group.
The dividing line fell directly between Javier and Janet.
Janet watched Javier’s back as he headed into the kitchen, then followed Isaac towards the office.
…I should’ve stood one step further over.
She simply felt it would have been less nerve-racking to go first. Of course, the first group would still have to wait while the second group cooked, but at least they would have some idea of how well they had performed.
Janet sat down on a sofa in one corner of the office and leaned back.
Her heart was pounding.
Of course it was.
Rachel Rose.
That name held enormous meaning in Janet’s life. At a time when she had struggled to find a reason to keep going from one day to the next, Rachel’s name had given her hope.
The reason itself was not particularly grand. If anything, it was obvious and somewhat childish.
Rachel Rose had proved that a woman could stand at the very top of the culinary world.
A kitchen was like a small country filled with dangerous things—knives, fire, scorching pans—and populated largely by rough men. Yet Rachel had forced her way through that world and risen above them.
To be honest, when Janet had first dreamed of becoming a chef, she had not cared much about Rachel Rose. There were plenty of chefs in the world, and she had not thought it made sense to become someone’s fan simply because there were relatively few women in the profession.
But once she experienced professional kitchens for herself, her thinking changed.
The work was harder than she had imagined, and her physical stamina was weaker than she had believed. Whenever she showed even the slightest sign of exhaustion, men in the kitchen would start saying things like, Are you acting like a girl again?
Janet had hated those words enough to grit her teeth and keep moving. When she felt as though she might collapse, she told herself, If I’m going to die, then I’ll die working, and kept lifting boxes and preparing ingredients.
Whenever things became unbearable and she felt she could not continue, she would think, How did Rachel endure this?
There was no way for Janet to know the answer.
But she knew one thing with certainty.
Rachel had endured.
So Janet had to endure as well.
She refused to use the hostility and dismissive treatment female chefs often faced as an excuse. However difficult her experience was, she believed it could not have been worse than what Rachel had faced in an earlier generation.
Janet remained at the same restaurant until she eventually earned promotion to demi-chef. By then, everyone in the kitchen was already saying she would probably become the next sous-chef.
The reward for her perseverance had been sweet.
Yet she had resigned for a very simple reason.
When she heard that Rachel was gathering a new family, Janet had felt unable to stay where she was. She wanted to become part of Rachel’s kitchen while Rose Island began writing a new chapter in its history.
That was all.
…So that’s Minjoon.
Janet thought about the jelly she had eaten earlier.
It had been good. Even from something as simple as jelly, she could sense the strength of his fundamentals. And the way he had cooked during the prep-cook demonstration had been polished, efficient, and almost completely free of wasted movement.
Still, I’m going to become her favourite disciple.
Rachel had unknowingly given Janet the strength to survive her career. In Janet’s heart, Rachel had already been her teacher for years.
That was why she wanted Rachel’s acknowledgement.
You’ve grown into a wonderful chef. I’m impressed.
She wanted to hear those words from Rachel herself.
That was why, when Janet finally entered the kitchen an hour later, her expression was unusually fierce.
Jo Minjoon glanced towards her.
Janet did not avert her gaze.
She simply stared back at him.
Jo Minjoon flinched and leaned towards Anderson.
“That woman keeps staring at me.”
“…Fix that prince syndrome of yours. Otherwise, I’m telling Kaya.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. She really keeps staring at me. Did I do something wrong?”
“How would I know when even you don’t know?”
Anderson answered dryly.
Even so, Jo Minjoon continued glancing towards Janet every so often.
It was not only because she was staring at him as though she wanted to challenge him.
Cooking Level… 8.
She was the only applicant that day with Cooking Level 8.
If she managed to show her true ability, there was an extremely high chance they would end up working together.
Beyond that, Jo Minjoon could not help being impressed.
He knew exactly what Cooking Level 8 represented.
Janet did not look older than thirty, even at the highest estimate.
Of course, Anderson and Kaya had also reached Cooking Level 8 at young ages, but neither was a fair standard for comparison. Anderson had received elite culinary training from famous chef parents since childhood, while Kaya possessed natural talent so extraordinary that even the word ‘genius’ barely seemed sufficient.
Compared with ordinary chefs, reaching Level 8 this young was remarkable.
Rachel addressed the applicants.
“I’ll announce the theme first. Your signature dish. Oh, judging from your expressions, I suppose none of you are surprised.”
That was understandable.
Demi-chef was the point at which someone began to be regarded as a chef in their own right. By that stage, their individual style and culinary philosophy needed to have developed to a certain degree. It did not have to be complete, but they needed enough vision and knowledge to discuss recipes with a sous-chef or head chef rather than merely follow instructions.
That was why many restaurants asked demi-chef candidates to present a signature dish during hiring.
They wanted to see a plate that reflected the cook’s individuality.
Jo Minjoon stepped forward.
“You may use anything in our storeroom.”
The moment he said it, Isaac, standing out in the dining room, began making some sort of hand signal towards Rachel.
Rachel watched him for a few seconds before suddenly realising what he meant.
“Ah.”
She leaned over and whispered into Jo Minjoon’s ear.
Jo Minjoon’s expression turned awkward. He cleared his throat and corrected himself.
“…Ahem. Apparently, you may use anything except the caviar and foie gras.”