Chapter 51: Crossroad (2)
Chapter 51: Crossroad (2)
There was no need to hesitate. The moment he was given the two choices, Jo Minjoon had already made his decision.
Alan and Joseph were chefs with completely opposite styles. Joseph placed great importance on orthodox cooking, while Alan favoured originality.
That did not mean one was better or worse than the other. However, Jo Minjoon had the feeling that if he went with Joseph, the emphasis would be more on technique than on the recipe itself. It would therefore be better to choose the side where he could make the most of his recipe-building ability. After all, Jo Minjoon’s greatest strength was the recipe-design function of his system.
Jo Minjoon glanced around. Seven other contestants were leaving the kitchen with him. Kaya, Anderson, Hugo, Carlos, and the others. Chloe and Marco remained behind in the kitchen.
The unexpected one was Anderson. His cooking and personality were both rigid and meticulous. Orthodox cooking seemed to suit him better than experimental cooking, or at least that was what Jo Minjoon thought.
As he looked at Anderson with that thought in mind, Anderson continued walking and frowned.
“What? Why?”
“Nothing.”
“……What is it? Don’t make me curious. Just say it.”
“It really isn’t anything important. I just thought it was interesting that you chose Alan instead of Joseph.”
“And why is that interesting?”
“No particular reason. You usually cook pretty orthodoxly.”
Anderson smiled. “If you can make orthodox food properly, you can make anything.”
“Right. Good for you.” Jo Minjoon shook his head as though he were tired of him.
Anderson frowned at his reaction but said nothing.
Kaya, who had been watching them, clicked her tongue. “Are you kids?”
“……It feels really strange hearing that from you.”
She was the most childish and spoiled one among them.
Kaya replied with a perfectly straight face. “I’m still a teenager. I’m at an age where I don’t have to act like an adult.”
“Now that you put it that way, that’s surprisingly convincing.” Jo Minjoon nodded with a smile.
The garden of Grand Chef was as large as a decent-sized stadium. As they walked through it, Jo Minjoon’s expression grew more tense. Had he made the right choice? He did not know. There was no way to know until he actually experienced what awaited him.
Alan stood beneath a thick willow tree. A table had been placed in front of him, and on it sat a covered plate. Whenever the wind blew through the branches, patches of sunlight and shadow flickered over Alan like ripples on water. Rather than looking romantic, however, it resembled a video playing on a screen with broken pixels.
“There are seven of you? That’s more than I expected. I thought you might avoid me because you didn’t like me.”
Alan spoke in a tone that made it impossible to tell whether he was joking or serious. Jo Minjoon and the other contestants looked at him awkwardly. There was always a peculiar sense of distance around Alan. Was it because his words carried some hidden depth, or was he simply eccentric? Alan continued.
“What did you think the mission would be when you chose to come to me? Hugo. Answer.”
“Uh…… Either copying the chef’s signature dish, or having the chef serve us something he likes. I thought it would probably be one of those two.”
“Well, if I had to choose, it’s closer to the latter.” Alan looked at them meaningfully before continuing. “Before I announce the theme of this mission, I’ll ask you one question. I’ll give you one final chance to go to Joseph. Does anyone want to change their mind?”
The contestants merely glanced at one another, but no one seemed inclined to reconsider. There was little point in switching sides before they even knew what the mission was.
Alan nodded. “Good. Then I’ll tell you what the mission is.”
With that, Alan lifted the lid from the plate.
At that moment, someone laughed.
It was Jo Minjoon.
He stared helplessly at what was on the plate. Rather than anything flashy, it looked like a dish that remained thoroughly faithful to the basics. Glossy white grains of rice were visible, while the aroma carried the scent of cheese along with faint notes of onion and leek.
Risotto.
Koreans tended to think of risotto as a kind of Italian fried rice, but in reality, it was closer to porridge than fried rice. In Italy, it was treated as a primo piatto, like pasta or ravioli. At formal meals it could take the place of pasta, but ordinarily it was also something eaten as part of an everyday family meal.
(Translator’s Note: Primo piatto —The first substantial course in the traditional Italian meal sequence, generally served after the antipasto and before the secondo piatto, or main meat/fish course. Pasta, risotto, gnocchi, and soups commonly occupy this position. The formal multi-course structure developed over centuries and became firmly established in Italian dining culture by the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.)
(Translator’s Note:Ravioli — Stuffed pasta consisting of a filling sealed between layers of thin pasta dough. Fillings vary widely and may include cheese, meat, vegetables, or seafood. Filled pasta recognisable as ravioli is documented in medieval Italy, with written references dating back to at least the fourteenth century.)
In Italy, risotto was as familiar and beloved as pasta and pizza.
A sudden question occurred to Jo Minjoon. Was Alan Italian? Truthfully, he had never been particularly interested in Alan, so he did not know where he had been born. Fortunately, his question was answered almost immediately.
Alan spooned some risotto onto each of the seven small plates before him and said, “I was born in Italy. Pasta goes without saying, and risotto was also something I ate as an everyday meal. That’s why I can judge its flavour more accurately. You need to make a risotto that respects the standard cooking method while also satisfying my palate. You may use whatever ingredients you want. Just don’t forget what risotto is.” Alan’s voice was stern.
Jo Minjoon glanced at the other contestants. Three looked extremely confident, while the other three did not. Anderson and Hugo were among the confident ones.
Come to think of it, Hugo had once made the Italian dish ossobuco perfectly.
When Jo Minjoon had asked him what his secret was, there had been nothing particularly special about it.
Experience.
Hugo’s Italian grandmother had cooked many Italian dishes for him since he was young, and he had made them himself several times as well. He had also said that ossobuco was one of his specialities, so Jo Minjoon had understood how it had earned eight points.
When skill level and experience come together, you can get results beyond what you expect……
Truthfully, Jo Minjoon was envious.
He had never had the chance to eat properly made food regularly while growing up because his mother was such a poor cook. Lee Hyeseon’s food was always either too salty or under-seasoned, and there had been plenty of times when it was not cooked properly at all.
That was precisely Jo Minjoon’s problem.
His cooking lacked a foundation.
He searched the internet or watched cooking programmes and copied recipes for dishes that looked delicious. He was not bound by any particular culinary tradition, and as a result, he became capable of cooking all kinds of food. Even so, it was difficult to call any of those dishes truly his own. His food did not have Jo Minjoon’s colour. It was transparent and faint.
He had worried about that before, but there was little he could do about it. It was a problem rooted in the experience he had accumulated throughout his life—or rather, something closer to identity than experience.
At that moment, Alan looked at Jo Minjoon. “Minjoon. You showed us your absolute taste before. Can you identify every ingredient in this risotto?”
Jo Minjoon had not expected the question, but he understood why Alan was asking. It would have been a waste not to make use of such an ability on a television programme.
Jo Minjoon took a bite of the risotto, then slowly began to speak.
“The shallots and onions are mixed in a one-to-one ratio. There’s minced garlic, and the rice is Arborio. Since it’s an Italian dish, I suppose using Italian rice makes sense. There’s salt, obviously, and dry white wine as well.”
(Translator’s Note: Arborio rice — An Italian short-grain rice variety named after the town of Arborio in Piedmont, northern Italy. It belongs to the japonica group and is especially suited to risotto because its relatively high starch content produces creaminess while the centre of the grain can remain firm. The Arborio cultivar was developed and became established in Italy during the twentieth century.)
Jo Minjoon took a breath.
The contestants were staring at him with expressions that were difficult to read. He continued.
“There’s Parmigiano Reggiano in it. A little pepper for seasoning, olive oil of course, and the stock is made from clams. I think that’s everything.”
(Translator’s Note: Parmigiano Reggiano —A hard, long-aged cow’s-milk cheese produced in designated areas centred on Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and neighbouring parts of northern Italy. Cheeses recognisably ancestral to Parmigiano Reggiano are documented from the Middle Ages, including the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The name is now legally protected in Europe; generic “Parmesan” produced elsewhere is not necessarily authentic Parmigiano Reggiano.)
“……Correct.” Alan stared at him with an expression that suggested he still could not get used to this.
There were occasionally exceptional gourmets who could identify every ingredient in a dish as Jo Minjoon had just done. Even they, however, could not usually name each ingredient with such absolute confidence.
He could distinguish shallots from onions?
Unless a person already knew both had been used, they were ingredients whose flavours would be extremely difficult to separate once cooked together. It might be different if someone tasted the dish while already knowing what was in it. After all, ordinary people could not always distinguish one type of cola from another.
That only made Alan more eager to see what Jo Minjoon would cook.
A picture drawn by someone who was colour-blind, one drawn by an ordinary person, and one drawn by someone capable of seeing colours beyond the normal range could hardly be the same. The worlds they perceived were fundamentally different.
Alan believed Jo Minjoon’s world of taste was different in exactly that way.
He believed that if Jo Minjoon created a flavour entirely his own, it would be so refined and delicate that comparing it with anyone else’s would be difficult.
The other contestants looked somewhat embarrassed.
They already knew Jo Minjoon possessed an almost genius-like sense of taste, but seeing it demonstrated so plainly was something they could never quite get used to.
Anderson frowned as he tried to pick out every ingredient Jo Minjoon had named.
It was difficult.
Once flavours had been mixed together again and again, most of their original character had already disappeared.
How can he distinguish all those flavours like that?
Putting talent aside, Anderson was envious.
He imagined Jo Minjoon’s world of taste must be more beautiful and more pleasurable than their own.
Of course, reality was slightly different.
“All right. Now that our little diversion is over, let’s return to the main point. If you look at the ingredients Minjoon named, there’s nothing particularly unusual among them. They’re all basic, ordinary ingredients. But the flavour…… It’s a little embarrassing to say this about my own cooking, but I believe you were satisfied with it.”
The contestants nodded.
Alan’s risotto had been delicious enough to make them momentarily forget they were in the middle of a mission.
Alan continued. “There’s only one thing I want from you. Risotto must remain risotto. Don’t burden it with excessive ambition. If you can remember that, I believe you’ll be able to make an excellent risotto.”
“……Risotto.” Kaya muttered under her breath.
Her voice sounded almost irritated, which told Jo Minjoon that she was nervous. She had a habit of putting up her spikes whenever she felt uneasy.
Even at a glance, it was obvious Kaya did not have much experience making risotto.
The same was true of Carlos. Both of them looked so pale that Jo Minjoon almost felt sorry for them.
Do I look like that right now too?
Jo Minjoon raised both hands and felt his face. Of course, there was no way for him to tell what expression he was actually wearing.
Alan spoke again. “One of you and one of the contestants who followed Joseph will be eliminated. Of course, if your dishes are all so perfect that I can’t justify eliminating anyone, today could end without a single elimination. I’d like to see that happen as well. Now, let’s move.”
Considering that they had gone all the way out into the garden, the mission announcement itself had been surprisingly simple.
Of course, once it was edited for broadcast, they would probably make it look as though everyone had been trembling with tension……
“Are you good at making risotto?”
At the unexpected voice, Jo Minjoon turned his head.
It was Kaya.
He shook his head. “Honestly, it isn’t my speciality. But I’ll have to do my best.”
“You don’t seem to have any specialities.”
“……Now that you mention it, I suppose I don’t.”
At her words, Jo Minjoon laughed, some of his tension easing.
Kaya seemed embarrassed that she had made him laugh, and she forced herself to suppress her own smile before saying, “Even so, your food is good.”
“……Was it?”
“Yes. It is.”
“Oh, wait. Let’s stop. They’re going to edit us like that again.”
After saying that, Kaya glared at the cameraman following behind them. The cameraman gave a silent, awkward laugh, and Kaya grumbled, “You only film things like this, don’t you?”
The cameraman did not answer.
Kaya had not expected one anyway, so she turned back towards Jo Minjoon with a cold expression.
Behind her, the cameraman grinned.
Would that little lady ever realise that this side of her only made her look more charming on screen?