Chapter 518: Overcoming One’s Limit (4)
Chapter 518: Overcoming One’s Limit (4)
He tried the paprika jelly with mushroom purée first, feeling that eating something strongly scented like carpaccio might overwhelm his palate for the next dish. Gripping his fork tightly, he noted its cooking score was a solid 9. Setting aside the recipe flashing through his mind, he struggled to pinpoint the precise taste.
It felt dreamlike. Not that it was fantastically delicious—though it was clearly good, making him happy—it was just impossible to recall its flavour afterward. So vague was the impression that he glanced at the paprika jelly in front of Kaya. She immediately popped it into her mouth, noticing his look.
“Man, there’s a reason they call Rachel a living legend…”
One bite was enough for Kaya, known for her discerning palate, to admit Rachel was a master. She didn’t need to finish the amuse-bouche.
Right after they ate it, they both felt something never before experienced. The cooking score was 9, yet the taste was far more overwhelming than some perfect 10-point dishes.
The simple purée revealed the full breadth of Rachel’s culinary skill built over years. The puree’s softness overwhelmed them. They wondered if any other purée could match it, realizing that their previous notions of cooking skill were far from enough.
Especially when Minjoon tasted the lobster mousse, he was stunned. Countless times he had seen Janet make it beside him, but it was his first time tasting it as a customer, not a chef. And he couldn’t deny that Rachel, as a chef he’d known, was indeed great. But as a customer, she seemed even greater.
Do I really want to find fault with her dish?
He realised again how arrogant and hollow that question was. With cooking level 8 and gastronomic level 9, having won the Paris International Culinary Competition, it might seem he was close to catching her. He had, in a sense, caught up. But he was reminded sternly that he still hadn’t moved beyond cooking level 8. In other words, he remained far behind Rachel.
Before entering Rose Island’s main restaurant, he told himself not to be nervous. But now that assurance was void. He was indeed nervous. His former ease around her came from frequent contact. The reality was she was a giant chef, and he would never get used to that.
By the time they finished the amuse-bouche, ten years seemed added to his face. He had no clue where to find a flaw. All he could do was heap praise.
He glanced at Kaya, who happily enjoyed the dishes without a hint of fear.
Finally, he asked, “Is it okay?”
“What do you mean? Food? Of course it’s okay. It’s great. Don’t you think so?”
“Oh, it’s great. That’s why I’m worried. I don’t know what to point out.”
“Gosh, you idiot! Why worry? If you think her dish is great, that’s it. You only point out problems if you find something wrong. If you try to critique from the start, you’re not evaluating but trying to find fault. Got it?”
He fell silent at her sharp rebuke. She was right—focusing solely on shortcomings blinded him to the dish’s essence.
“But what if we find nothing lacking?”
“Well, then accept it. Although, we need to edit our conversation—I’m afraid it won’t make it into the Jotus Guide.”
“I guess not…”
Minjoon understood her. In fact, her attitude seemed more fruitful than his now. But it wouldn’t solve his question: What part of Rachel’s dish isn’t as good as Daniel’s?
Can’t I figure it out at my current gastronomic level 9?
Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he fully comprehended Daniel’s dishes. The gap between what he saw and felt now and what he might observe after advancing further was probably huge.
Yet he couldn’t give up evaluating Rachel’s cooking. Nor would he, for to quit now was to abandon Rachel, not his stubbornness.
He couldn’t leave Rachel as she was. He had to start with the basics: besides uncovering her cuisine’s faults, he needed to understand fully how she made her dishes and extracted those flavours—the fundamentals of her cooking.
Daniel, what would you have done…?
Minjoon recalled Daniel’s notes and thoughts from his cooking journal, stepping into Daniel’s broader and loftier culinary perspective.
Before him now was hemp cream soup with spinach oil and anchovy cream pastry. Also on the table were paprika and parmesan breadsticks and sweet potato chips.
He grabbed a sweet potato chip and dipped it into the soup, then lifted it to his tongue.
I don’t have a perfect palate now, nor will I in the future.
That was why he needed full control of his tongue today. He had to accept every sensation without missing the slightest detail, sensing all components perfectly.
Perhaps because of this focus, he clearly detected a unique sweet potato scent clinging to the dried chip, holding the delicate tastes of hemp and spinach together. The blending of flavours flowed through his mind like an endless film. Though at the end of the tasting, suddenly it became clear.
[The possibility of obtaining gastronomic level 10 is set at birth. Since you have glimpsed it, the possibility is already yours.]
[You have realised the first and last requirement to reach gastronomic level 10.]
[Use all your senses to feel cooking.]
[The condition for gastronomic level 10 is 'perfection.']
“Perfection…”
Minjoon murmured as Kaya asked softly, “What’s perfect? The soup? Or the chip pairing?”
“Both…”
He answered vaguely, then read the message again appearing before him: Perfect.
The condition for gastronomic level 10 was unusually simple—perfection.
Well, easier said than done.
A sudden emptiness came over him. He needed to meet one condition, but that ‘one’ meant meeting all possible conditions.
He looked at Kaya, aware that her gastronomic level 10 was phenomenal. No one he had seen reached that level except her.
Only now did he grasp the weight of that number 10, convinced his earlier assumptions were right: gastronomic level 10 wasn’t accessible to just anyone, nor simply earned by effort. Only a perfect union of luck, talent, and other factors could attain it.
Who is this Kaya, already at that level before even turning twenty?
“What? Why are you staring at me like that?”
“Well, because you’re enjoying the food.”
“I haven’t gained weight!”
“Hey, don’t change the topic! I wasn’t asking about that,” he said, smiling at her unexpected reply.