Chapter 520: Overcoming One’s Limit (6)
Chapter 520: Overcoming One’s Limit (6)
“Wow, this is the best of her cooking!”
“Yeah, I think she poured everything into this dish and pushed her skills to the limit.”
Examining that dish itself, it was not surprising at all to say it could easily have been Daniel’s creation, worthy of a perfect cooking score of ten. It was ironic that Minjoon discerned the limit Rachel had reached only after tasting the very best dish she had made.
Now, the desserts were served. At the same time, Rachel—no longer required to prepare the dish for tasting—approached them. She looked at Minjoon and Kaya, and he wasn’t sure if there was an expectation in her tired eyes.
He greeted her, “Chef Rachel!”
“Did you enjoy the food?”
She didn’t ask if there were shortcomings or what the outcome was, because she didn’t speak as a chef seeking critique. Her foremost concern was whether the guests had truly enjoyed the meal. He appreciated that attitude.
So he smiled brightly and said, “I’ve found the answer.”
“Answer?”
Rachel looked a little surprised. She had never expected that he would perceive her problem simply by tasting her dishes once. But she soon folded her arms and nodded.
“Okay, tell me what it is.”
“Well…”
He found it hard to speak when she demanded an answer. He was about to point out her shortcomings and felt sorry having to pinpoint Rachel’s weaknesses as her student. Naturally, he hesitated.
He glanced at Kaya. As if understanding his gaze, she nodded.
Then he said, “You’ve got only one problem, Chef Rachel.”
“I’m listening.”
Kaya shrugged and said, “Well, you just don’t cook well.”
“Cough!”
The moment Kaya said that, Minjoon spat out half the water he was drinking, choking as it went down the wrong pipe. Rachel stared at Kaya in disbelief. No one had ever criticised her cooking like that—never in her life. Even as a rookie chef, people had praised her; they never said she didn’t cook well.
But Kaya had just said she didn’t cook well.
“You’re saying I don’t cook well...?”
Her voice trembled with embarrassment. Such a reaction was natural; she had never imagined facing such a question and could not figure out how to respond. It was the first major shock of her longstanding career.
Minjoon hadn’t expected Kaya to speak to Rachel like that either and looked at Kaya, puzzled, as if silently asking how to handle this awkward situation. But Kaya seemed entirely unaware of its seriousness.
She nodded sullenly. “Of course, you’re better than most chefs, but you’re not showing your full potential in your dishes. Am I right if I describe it as ‘you are not cooking well,’ Rachel?”
“Oh, I don’t get your point, Kaya...”
“Just think about it this way. There’s a spaceship and a plane. When a plane flies in the sky, no one’s surprised—it’s made for flying there. But if a spaceship flies in the sky, that’s dumb, because it’s designed to fly in space, not the sky. Why? Because it’s only using part of what it’s capable of.”
“Do you mean I’m that spaceship?” Rachel asked with a complicated expression.
Whether she took Kaya’s comment positively or negatively was unclear. What mattered was not Kaya’s intent so much as the point: Rachel was staying in the sky when she could be flying in space.
Kaya continued, “The most delicious dish you made today was the stewed oxtail with corn purée. To be honest, it was so good it made me forget all the other dishes I ate.”
“Really?”
“Actually, he was just cold feet until a moment ago,” Kaya said, pointing at Minjoon.
Embarrassed that she mentioned him, Minjoon turned his gaze away. Of course, she did not mean to embarrass him.
She continued calmly, “In fact, he was afraid he wouldn’t find any problems in your cooking until just now. I understood because I found it difficult to fault your dishes myself. And the only reason I didn’t get cold feet was because I didn’t care if I found no problems.”
This time, Minjoon spoke. “But when we ate the corn purée with the steamed oxtail, we had no choice but to find the answer. Your cooking showed us what your problem was, what the answer was, and what the ultimate cooking should be.”
Rachel remained silent, simply looking at them for a moment. At that instant, the dessert arrived: cream-rich, topped with vanilla beans encrusted over cinnamon-flavoured cookies. A thin vanilla film, with a texture between pudding and jelly, covered it, and a bean-sized chocolate perched on top.
As soon as the dessert appeared, Kaya picked it up with a fork and tasted it. She opened her mouth wide, biting into the cookie. The cream’s soft flavour and vanilla scent matched the cinnamon perfectly. As she savoured it, the chocolate she had just chewed added a savory depth to the taste.
Marco has done a great job!
Kaya nodded in satisfaction, thinking of Marco, who had made this dessert in the kitchen.
It was no exaggeration to say Marco was responsible for the bread-style desserts on Rose Island, since Lisa had not yet returned to work.
Rachel was amazed at Kaya’s confident, carefree attitude. Her personality was not meek enough for Kaya to mess with, yet Kaya remained relaxed even after delivering such a bombshell. She was clearly a woman of considerable guts, Rachel thought.
“Chef Rachel?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Actually, I’m not comfortable with this situation either. I hoped to see your problem, but I also hoped I wouldn’t. You know why, right?” Minjoon said.
“You don’t have to feel that way,” Rachel shook her head, smiling. “I’ve never thought of myself as the best chef, so criticism isn’t new to me. Besides, I know you want to make me better by pointing out my problems, so don’t be uncomfortable. Just go ahead and tell me everything.”
“When I tasted the corn purée and steamed oxtail, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the purée’s flavour. It tasted more like corn than corn itself. You brought out the corn’s unique taste as much as possible, then naturally paired it with the steamed oxtail. It reminded me a lot of Daniel’s cooking.”
Rachel groaned and nodded. That dish certainly resembled Daniel’s style. In fact, she wasn’t even sure it was right for her to think so. If her dish resembled Daniel’s just because it fully expressed the ingredients’ character, it might seem as though Minjoon was speaking on Daniel’s behalf.
So, he said simply, “It was perfect.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. That word had been on her mind all along. Yes, the steamed oxtail was perfect—so perfect she was surprised herself.
“You need to revive the sense, feeling, and idea you had when you made it. How did it come about? I’m guessing some kind of inspiration must have led you.”
“Well…” Rachel laughed awkwardly. “I just happened to make it.”
“Uh?”
“While using ingredients that came to mind, I accidentally hit upon it. I didn’t think it would be anything fantastic. I only wanted to devise a basic dish before putting it on the menu. But the dish I made without calculation ended up ridiculously delicious.”
He didn’t know how to respond. Was it her talent or misfortune? The clue he had found studying and analysing her dishes today had turned out to be something she created by accident!
No, I shouldn’t let her think it was coincidence.
Anyway, he had found the clue to what was missing in Rachel’s cooking. And if that was the case, he had to fix it so she could reach cooking level 10 by any means.
“Let’s keep in closer contact from now on.”
“Closer contact?”
“I told Korean chef Hong the same thing. He’s always asking me for advice. My advice isn’t great, but he taught me something valuable—seeing other people’s cooking and analysing problems. As for your problem Kaya mentioned, saying someone ‘doesn’t cook well’ is too vague. It’s not perfect because of this...”