Chapter 530: Unexpected Twist (10)
Chapter 530: Unexpected Twist (10)
While the head chefs squabbled childishly among themselves, the cameramen did their best to capture the serious expressions of Minjoon and Rachel. Despite Minjoon’s undeniable talent and competence, he seemed remarkably comfortable and relaxed as he evaluated the senior chefs here. Perhaps this ease was influenced by his work on the Jotus Guide, where he had assessed nearly every major chef in and around New York. This extensive experience had clearly spared him any cold feet when tasked with judging his seniors in this competition.
As a result, they couldn’t help but agree with Daisy’s sentiment that the contest would have been much better had Minjoon participated.
At that moment, one reporter murmured, “Why is Rachel trying to choose her successor so soon? It seems like Minjoon is too valuable for her to let go at this point.”
“You’re right. There have been plenty of rumours that Minjoon is her chosen successor. Sure, it’s symbolically significant to have him as a judge, but isn’t a successor supposed to be someone who takes the top spot?”
“Well, I think Rachel has a plan,” Angela said, her eyes fixed on Rachel and Minjoon, ignoring the other reporters. “Like you said, he’s too precious for her to use only as a judge.”
“Have you heard anything about him?” another reporter asked Angela.
“It’s just my guess. A very basic and sensible guess that Rachel won’t merely use him as the poster boy for this competition.”
Angela felt that Minjoon’s role as a judge might already be more than sufficient. Standing on that platform, evaluating his seniors, he looked so confident and aloof it was like he was inhabiting a different world. When others took one step, he took ten.
Unwittingly, she muttered, “Maybe this competition itself is a way for him to prove himself to the world.”
Her fellow reporters burst into laughter at her words. It was natural—they found it absurd to think Rachel would host this event just to showcase Minjoon to the outside world. Yet Angela was puzzled by their reaction. She asked one, “Do you think what I’m saying is ridiculous?”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course, I don’t believe it completely. It’s not too costly or wasteful to hold this event merely to promote Minjoon.”
“What do you mean?”
“But I think Rachel might regard his judging role as a secondary purpose.”
If her sole aim had been to publicise and market Minjoon’s name, there were countless easier methods than hosting a competition. Yet she might have judged that this event could achieve a dual purpose: benefiting the participants and helping Minjoon grow.
The contest’s purpose was to decide Rachel’s successor, as well as the head of Rose Island. In that sense, it was perfect for drawing attention.
“In any case, everyone will naturally focus on Minjoon. The head chefs at each branch get noticed for only one day, but Minjoon continues as a judge throughout the contest. The cameramen will capture every word he says, every dish he analyses.”
“So, you think this alone will become a big deal?”
“Let’s wait and see,” Angela replied confidently.
Having watched Minjoon for a long time, she believed he would make headlines at this event whatever happened. In her eyes, he was a superb chef destined to draw attention through his innate gift.
After the scallops and Iberico ham dish, a sorbet arrived as the palate cleanser.
It was an ordinary sorbet but not quite ordinary—vanilla and banana, combined with a sorbet featuring a corn emulsion. Usually, palatal cleansers between courses are sour and refreshing, but few could argue that this sweet-savoury harmony was the right approach.
Why did Deborah choose this? Why skip the typical sourness? Was there a purpose behind that combination? Many questions ran through Minjoon’s mind. It seemed he could easily find the answers with a little more scrutiny, but he deliberately chose not to. Rather than resolving the mystery in advance, he wanted to discover it purely through taste.
When he finally put the sorbet in his mouth, he was glad he had trusted that instinct.
“Yeah, this tastes good,” he muttered softly.
Rachel smiled at him. Although she had brought him here to judge, Minjoon appeared more interested in enjoying the food than merely evaluating it. She didn’t mind. In fact, she hoped not only for his assessments but also for him to feel the dishes. She believed that his happiest moment would come from experiencing the best dishes.
“I feel great,” Rachel added quietly.
The cameramen filming the scene were somewhat frustrated. They wanted the judges to draw out the evaluation longer to create drama and publicity, but Rachel and Minjoon’s comments were brief. Though this wasn’t a broadcast event, the crew hoped these two would make the competition more of a spectacle.
Noticing their frustration, Minjoon said, “Maybe viewers just watching this won’t be impressed. But I want to say this: every dish Deborah has prepared is perfect, and this sorbet, in particular, has truly impressed me.”
He paused to catch his breath. He wondered how many would grasp the sorbet’s value from his words, but that was beyond his control. His job today was to judge, evaluate, and acknowledge the chefs. For the contestants, this competition was a challenge that could make or break their careers.
Could they overcome it?
“When I ate the sorbet, I first thought it was incredibly sweet. But then I realised the sorbet itself wasn’t very sweet at all.”
He guessed it probably contained the least sugar ever used in a sorbet. The reason it tasted so sweet was simple: the lingering salty flavour of ham and savoury scallops from the previous course amplified the sorbet’s sweetness. Deborah had clearly become a much smarter cook. She could compose dishes more strategically, taking her culinary skills to the next level.
Minjoon didn’t explain all this explicitly. It wouldn’t matter if he told everyone she had vastly improved. Instead, he tried to convey more clearly the impression he’d had tasting the sorbet.
“It’s the first time I’ve realised that banana and vanilla essence—and their natural flavour—can taste so sweet. If you bought sorbets from any ice cream shop on the street, you probably wouldn’t get this kind of flavour. But I felt it only after tasting the scallops and ham. It was really delicious.”
“Thanks,” Deborah replied.
“Good job!”
Deborah was choked with tears at his praise. Perhaps she had longed for such recognition. Turning back towards the kitchen, she fought back the urge to cry. She knew she wasn’t finished yet; she still had to prepare the middle course, main course, and desserts.
For the middle course, she served cod accompanied by mushrooms and cauliflower. The cod was seasoned with a sauce blending soy sauce, brown sauce, and beef stock, then dipped in a transparent celery purée. Minjoon kept tasting the cod repeatedly, forgetting he was already full.
The final course was simple—duck seasoned with Moroccan spices, served with rhubarb grass, turnips, and yoghurt. The combination of fatty duck meat with a sauce made from steamed wheat and herb blends was familiar to him, yet the taste was surprising to all who tried it.
Perhaps because of that, by the time dessert arrived, not just Minjoon and Rachel but all the head chefs wore expressions of surprise and uncertainty. Deborah’s dishes were exactly the game-changers she had hoped for—the reason she wanted to have them evaluated early was to get the homework done quickly and put it behind her, but the dishes she served astonished everyone, including Minjoon and Rachel.