Chapter 542: Unexpected Twist (22)
Chapter 542: Unexpected Twist (22)
A box full of moss was placed on every chef’s table, one after another. As the chefs gazed at the boxes with bewilderment and anticipation, two plates were set before each of them. One was a wooden chopping board, the other a plate shaped like a speaker. Toast dusted with truffle powder rested on the chopping board, while a scoop of meat shaped like ice cream, topped with a jelly, lay on the speaker-shaped plate.
“What is this?” Rachel asked.
Looking to Rachel, June replied, “I made toast with oakmoss resin and truffle. On the side is a parfait of chicken liver, quail jelly, and crawfish cream. But don’t try it yet—you need to taste something else first.”
At once, her kitchen staff approached each chef, handing out something thin and translucent. It was edible plastic. Though unfamiliar, the chefs obeyed when June calmly instructed them to place the plastic on their tongues.
“You will taste the forest,” she promised.
She was right. They couldn’t quite understand how she captured it, but as her staff poured water over the moss, dry ice smoke spilled like a waterfall from beneath it. The chefs gasped, feeling the mist drift softly on their hands. This dish perfectly embodied June’s unique style—her ability to wield modern science in cooking with unparalleled elegance.
The taste of the forest spreading in their mouths, paired with the misty tableau before them, made them feel as if they had truly stepped into a fairy tale. This was exactly what June had aimed for. Food eaten in a good mood tastes different to food eaten in a bad one, and while Rachel devoted herself to cutting skills, June specialised in this sensory world.
Everyone recognised the fruits of her skill, effort, and sweat. They could see it without even tasting. Cameramen filming the scene stood agape at her dazzling techniques.
‘Viewers will likely see June as the most overwhelming chef.’
It was June who crafted a dish that could command millions of won, even with simple plating. Her determination to produce something this striking revealed her resolve to eclipse others’ plating artistry.
From that dish onwards, her cooking revealed its true worth. Her course bore no resemblance to Dave’s. His dishes were simple but overwhelmingly flavoured—a fastball; hers were more like a breaking ball. Her dishes might not be less delicious than Dave’s, but tasters found themselves confused over which was better.
‘I hope this impresses Chef Rachel...’ Minjoon thought.
Still, Rachel had to respond. June’s cooking revealed her not as an all-rounder, but as a plodding chef dedicating immense time and effort. Rachel had to appreciate, understand, and accept the beauty therein.
Next came bread, snail porpoise, and baked foie gras accompanied by crab biscuits, served sequentially. The chefs marvelled at these dishes, wondering why June was so seemingly conscious of Dave. They thought Dave might surpass her on taste alone, but flavour preference is subjective, after all. Though surpassing a certain level created unbridgeable gaps, few could say if June’s dishes paled against Dave’s.
Regarding foie gras, many felt her dish equalled Dave’s in flavour. She seasoned foie gras with barberry sauce and fruit. The seafood flavour from the crab biscuit diminished its fishiness to the fruit’s taste, while the foie gras’ meatiness exploded so strongly it almost hid the ingredient’s identity.
“Dave’s dishes are great, but June’s are gourmet food,” giggled Daisy.
Her comment was ambiguous but understood by all. They thought it boiled down to Rachel’s taste—did she prefer Dave’s simple brilliance or June’s gourmet artistry? Was she trying to differentiate the two?
After tasting foie gras, another strange dish appeared. Golden watches gleaming yellow were placed inside cases like high-end jewellery. As the chefs wondered aloud, June’s servers submerged the watches into teapots of boiling water. They melted, revealing a beef-flavoured broth resembling Bovril.
The broth was poured over a crème caramel mixture. As small mushrooms floated atop, the chefs watched in fascination. Then came the next dish, a tall creation shrouded in a veil, placed on their tables like a cake topper. At this point, they gave up trying to guess what it was. June clearly marched to a different drumbeat. Her dishes felt radical, but this was only the beginning.
When the veil was lifted, the chefs moaned involuntarily.
What appeared was no cake. Instead, two plates stacked on a pillar, each bearing sandwiches arranged at intervals along the edges.
Janet muttered, as if dismissing the whole thing as nonsense.
“Oh my God! It instantly gives the feeling of a picnic.”
Oddly, this picnic was no ordinary one. Cameras flashed from all directions; instead of grass, the “field” was filled with sous-chef-suited people.
The chefs felt a bizarre sensation. Though aware it was staged, it felt as if the meal was made for them personally. Each camera flash elevated the meal from ordinary food to something everyone worldwide admired and anticipated.
They hadn’t experienced this feeling until now. But this picnic-style sandwich, so unfamiliar, invited a unique interpretation.
The sandwich itself tasted strange: the white bread showed no charring, but chewing revealed a rich, toasted flavour. The chefs, of course, guessed why.
“Looks like she overcooked the bread then shaved off the outer part.”
“If so, the texture spoils and the taste becomes muted.”
“She’s got a great baker. Lucky as always.”
Inside the sandwiches were varied fillings—Iberico ham and lettuce, homemade mayonnaise and white truffle, semi-dried Italian tomatoes, ricotta cheese, and gold leaf.
They wondered how she brought out such a fresh, clean flavour that blossomed with each bite alongside the mug full of beef broth.
Among all her dishes, this one most clearly showed Minjoon’s influence. Whenever June asked what defined Korean dishes, he spoke of Korean soups. When he said they taste best paired with rice or noodles, she was inspired.
Of course, she didn’t pair soup and rice literally but reimagined it as tea and sandwiches, revealing her Western roots. This made the dish yet more valuable. Had the broth been served in an earthenware pot instead of a teacup, the entire experience would differ.
‘Perhaps this is the path I must follow in the days ahead,’ Minjoon thought.
He knew he needed to refine the sensibility evoked by that teacup to bring out Korean and Asian tastes properly. Though he only advised her on soup with rice, June served beef tea like this. It was proof of the importance of thinking beyond boundaries in cooking.
‘Man, I’m really curious how it tastes.’
Minjoon hadn’t tasted most of June’s dishes during preparation. He sampled some while she cooked, but once complete, she refused to have him try them again. Especially after all the chefs, including Minjoon, had been stunned by Dave’s extraordinary cooking, she wouldn’t let Minjoon sample her finished dishes.
She feared if he tasted them early, the impact would fade when he finally experienced the final version. Her concern was reasonable: first-time tastes often evoke the strongest enjoyment.