Chapter 7: On 92nd Street in New York (3)
Chapter 7: On 92nd Street in New York (3)
The first thing Jo Minjoon felt was neither surprise nor happiness. He was annoyed. He had been concentrating on the food and did not want to be distracted by the notification.
“Does it suit your tastes?”
“At first, it was unfamiliar. But the more I ate, the more I started to enjoy it. It’s the first dish I’ve eaten in the US.”
“Then whenever someone mentions the US, the first thing you’ll remember will be my cooking. It’s an honour.”
Jane laughed as she said it. Jo Minjoon smiled back at her, then concentrated on the food again.
What had been used on the meat? It did not seem to be something as ordinary as plain salt. In the ingredient window, the herbs and salt had been listed separately, but he wondered if herb salt had been used. The saltiness and herbal aroma blended together so thoroughly that they seemed inseparable. When he noticed that subtle difference, he felt unexpectedly pleased. It was as though his tongue itself were being trained.
[You noticed that the salt and herbs were mixed together and discovered herb salt.]
[Your Delicacy Experience increases.]
When the notification appeared, it confirmed his suspicion. After identifying the herb salt, he could distinguish its flavour more clearly. Its distinctive taste seemed to stand out on his tongue.
Jo Minjoon slowly savoured the hot meat juices in his mouth while quickly reading through the recipe.
It was more ordinary than he had expected. Fried onions, beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, and minced beef were mixed together. The use of minced beef differed from the hamburger steak commonly made in Korea. Because the meat had been minced rather than finely chopped, its texture felt looser when chewed, while the beef juices seemed more abundant.
The absence of pork was another difference. In Korea, chopped pork and beef were often mixed at a one-to-one ratio. The softness of the pork tended to moderate the strong flavour of the beef, but there was no pork in this hamburger steak. Perhaps that was why the flavour felt so unfamiliar to him.
The rest of the recipe was fairly ordinary. The hamburger steak was fried in an oiled pan, then served with brown sauce seasoned with pepper. There did not seem to be any secret technique or unusual preparation behind it, yet it had still earned six points. Perhaps that meant it was simply an exceptionally well-executed basic dish.
After eating half of the hamburger steak, Jo Minjoon moved his fork towards the macaroni and cheese. He had deliberately eaten the less heavily seasoned hamburger steak first because he was not sure what the final flavour would be like if he ate two strongly seasoned dishes together.
To be honest, macaroni and cheese was not something Jo Minjoon particularly liked. More precisely, he disliked dishes that felt too heavy. He preferred simple flavours to complicated ones, and a single straightforward sauce or even just salt to sauces made by combining many ingredients.
Because of that, Jo Minjoon usually found macaroni and cheese, especially when additional salt was added, far too rich. Cheese alone could already become heavy once melted down, and adding milk on top of that did not exactly make it an easy dish to eat.
Strictly speaking, mac and cheese was simply short for macaroni and cheese. Put simply, macaroni was cooked with butter, cheese, and milk until the mixture thickened. In that sense, it was somewhat like an American version of tteokbokki, only greasy rather than spicy.
(Translator’s Note: Mac and Cheese — A popular American dish consisting of cooked macaroni pasta mixed with a cheese sauce, usually cheddar-based. Its origins trace back to 18th century Europe but became a comfort food classic in the U.S. during the 20th century.)
(Translator’s Note: Tteokbokki —A Korean dish of chewy rice cakes cooked in sauce. Earlier forms were non-spicy, but the now-familiar red version made with gochujang became popular in South Korea after the Korean War, particularly from the 1950s onward.)
However, when Jo Minjoon took a bite, it was not nearly as heavy as he had expected. The flavour was also different from the versions he had tried in Korea. There was a slight spiciness to it, along with a fresh aroma.
“This mac and cheese is really delicious,” Jo Minjoon said with a hint of admiration. “It’s the best I’ve ever had.”
“It’s one of Jane’s own recipes. Our daughter really loves it,” Lucas said with a smile.
The recipe notification appeared, but Jo Minjoon continued analysing the flavours in his head instead of looking at it immediately. He frowned slightly at the taste of pepper, because there was not a single speck of black pepper visible anywhere in the dish.
“…Did you use white pepper?”
(Translator’s Note: White pepper — Pepper produced from ripe pepper berries after the darker outer layer is removed, leaving the pale seed. Its flavour differs from black pepper, and it is frequently used in pale-coloured soups and sauces where visible black specks are undesirable.)
“Yes, that’s right. Your sense of taste is really sharp. Most people don’t even notice.”
Of course.
If he could taste pepper but could not see any black specks, then white pepper was the obvious answer.
White pepper was made from the inner seed of fully ripened peppercorns after the darker outer layer had been removed. Its aroma was milder than that of black pepper, and it was commonly used in pale-coloured dishes where visible black specks would be undesirable.
Jo Minjoon smiled as though he had just won a quiz contest.
“I’m planning to become a chef.”
“Oh… Did you come here to try different foods?”
“That’s one of my reasons, but I also want to participate in a competition. Grand Chef.”
“I know that one. I’ve watched it on television quite a few times.”
The conversation paused for a while. Jo Minjoon put another forkful of macaroni and cheese into his mouth and concentrated on the flavour.
The rich aroma of cheese spread across the tip of his tongue and the roof of his mouth, but he did not find it unpleasant. The slight heat seemed to come from mustard, while the herbal aroma accompanying the cheese was familiar.
Parsley.
The sour note, however, left him confused. It was not vinegar.
Eventually, Jo Minjoon admitted defeat. He opened the recipe window in front of him and enlarged the ingredient list.
[Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients]
Macaroni, cheddar cheese, butter, flour, milk, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, parsley, white pepper.
Worcestershire sauce.
(Translator’s Note: Worcestershire sauce — A fermented savoury sauce developed in Worcester, England, during the 1830s by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins. Traditional formulations combine vinegar, molasses or sugar, anchovies, tamarind, aromatics, and spices, producing sour, salty, sweet, and umami flavours.)
In Korea, it was more commonly known as Worcester sauce. Only then did Jo Minjoon realise what had produced the unfamiliar sourness.
The sauce was made from ingredients such as vinegar, vegetables, seasonings, and fermented flavourings, giving it a sour, salty, deeply savoury taste. To Korean palates, its aroma could seem quite exotic, but in this dish it had been largely concealed beneath the stronger scent of the cheese.
Jo Minjoon was not sure whether this was a standard macaroni and cheese recipe. It was not a dish he normally made. Even when he did make it, he rarely followed a proper recipe, instead estimating the amount of milk and cheese or looking up a tutorial.
The roux made by cooking butter and flour together served as a thickener. When used in the right amount, it helped give the cheese sauce a smooth, cohesive texture.
(Translator’s Note: Roux — A cooked mixture of flour and fat used as a thickener for sauces, soups, and stews. It is strongly associated with French cuisine and became fundamental to classical French sauce-making during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.)
The recipe itself was simple. After boiling the macaroni, milk was combined with the roux to make the sauce. Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and seasonings were added, followed by the cheese, and finally the macaroni. It might sound complicated at first, but in practice, it was not particularly difficult to make.
“Did you make the Worcestershire sauce yourself?”
“Yes. The commercial kind was a little lacking in flavour.”
“I never thought I’d be able to taste something this deep in mac and cheese. Normally, I…”
Jo Minjoon was about to continue when he heard the front door close.
At once, Lucas’s expression stiffened as though he had been expecting this moment.
Jo Minjoon turned towards the entrance.
A blonde student had entered the house. She looked to be somewhere around middle-school or high-school age, though he found it difficult to judge more precisely. He was still not very good at estimating the ages of white people by appearance alone.
Her round blue eyes widened as she stared at Lucas.
“What… is this?”
“Jessie. Wait. Let’s talk with Mum first.”
“I’m asking you! What is that person doing here?”
Jessie’s eyes trembled with anger.
Caught in the middle of someone else’s family dispute, Jo Minjoon could only sit there awkwardly. He could already feel his stomach beginning to churn.
“Jessie, sit down first. Have your dinner…”
“I don’t want it! I’m not eating!”
“What are you doing in front of a guest? That’s enough. Jessie, go upstairs to your room!”
Jane’s voice turned stern.
Jessie glared at Lucas with obvious disappointment, while Lucas could only look back at her with regret.
Jessie bit her lip.
“I’m always the bad one.”
With that, the argument ended. Jessie stormed upstairs, her footsteps pounding against the floor. A moment later, the sound of a door slamming echoed through the house, and the kitchen fell silent.
“I’m sorry,” Lucas said with a sigh. “I dragged you into something you had nothing to do with.”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to apologise.”
Jo Minjoon waved his hands dismissively.
Jane said she would go upstairs and talk to Jessie, leaving only Lucas and Jo Minjoon in the kitchen.
Jo Minjoon let out a silent sigh.
Mac and cheese. This really isn’t the kind of atmosphere where I can keep eating.
But it was delicious.
Really delicious.