Chapter 81: The Unfamiliar One (3)
Chapter 81: The Unfamiliar One (3)
Alan shook his head as though he were already sick of the thought. This was one of the ingredients he had opposed using for this mission. More precisely, it was an ingredient he personally disliked. He understood that it would make for good television, but he simply did not want to eat it. Even though he was a chef, he was still a man. There were plenty of delicious things in the world, so he had no desire to put something like that in his mouth.
None of that mattered to Martin, however. When the ingredient had been proposed, Martin had strongly advocated using cow phallus. He argued that, for a mission this awful, it was exactly the sort of ingredient that would produce memorable footage and a strong audience reaction. Alan had to admit there was some merit to his reasoning. But...
That thing is going to end up in my mouth.
He could not help feeling miserable at the thought. It was not as though he had never eaten dishes made with cow phallus before, but every time he did, his only thought afterwards had been, Let's never eat that again. Would Kaya be able to produce a flavour impressive enough to change his mind?
Alan put the thought aside for the moment and looked towards Jo Minjoon's workstation. Minjoon was already making the dough with eggs, salt, and the potatoes he had cooled and mashed earlier. As he watched the dough being rolled into a long snake-like shape, Alan found himself impressed. The characteristics of gnocchi dough made by an experienced cook were clearly visible. Its surface was smooth and soft like pudding, while the dough itself had a slightly sticky elasticity. At the very least, it followed the fundamentals perfectly.
He's definitely improving.
It would be difficult to call the improvement dramatic. Still, Jo Minjoon was steadily developing his skills without ever seeming to stop. Alan knew that Minjoon had not originally been capable of making dough like this. Perhaps he was being influenced by the chefs around him. Whatever the reason, his fundamentals seemed far more solid than before.
Alan glanced at Emily with a confident expression, only for her to look back at him in confusion. He spoke in a gentler voice than usual.
“The dough is in good condition. Putting aside how well it pairs with the truffle, I'm looking forward to the flavour of the gnocchi itself.”
“Thank you.”
Since Minjoon had seen him constantly passing by his workstation, Alan did not take offence at the brief response. He smirked and moved on to another station. Emily lowered her voice as though sharing a secret before following him.
“I'm looking forward to it even more than Alan is. Good luck.”
Once the judges had moved away, Minjoon sighed inwardly. To be honest, every time they came over, he felt as though his concentration was being disturbed. But that, too, was something he needed to overcome. A kitchen was not a place where one could focus solely on cooking without distraction. Customers piled up, orders piled up along with them, and sometimes dishes were sent back. Only someone who could remain unshaken in that environment could truly be called a complete cook—a complete chef. Of course, how many people actually possessed the mental fortitude to withstand all of that?
Minjoon continued working with the dough he had set aside. After rolling it into a long rope, the next step was to cut it into pieces about an inch long. After that, he needed to let them rest for ten minutes, briefly boil them in water, transfer them to an ovenproof dish containing the cheese cream sauce, sprinkle mozzarella over the top, and bake everything in the oven.
He placed the dough in the refrigerator and checked the cheese cream sauce. The gorgonzola had already melted. Minjoon strained the sauce through a sieve and poured it into an ovenproof dish. When he checked the time, about twenty-five minutes remained. Still, there was no need to panic. Once the dough had rested a little longer, all he had to do was bake the assembled dish in the oven for seventeen minutes.
With a moment to spare, Minjoon looked around. Kaya's stew was already boiling. Chloe was reducing the shark fin in a soy sauce-based sauce, while Anderson had fried the sea anemone and was making a purée. Ivanna appeared to have stuffed the tripe with spring onions, garlic, bell peppers, mushrooms, and several other ingredients before putting it in the oven, and now she seemed to be making a blueberry purée to serve as a sauce.
Joanne had seared the deer liver like a steak and appeared to be using balsamic sauce as a dressing. Sasha's octopus was already in the oven, so Minjoon could not tell exactly what he had done with it. Hugo seemed to be simmering the calf brain in a sauce.
...Most of them are roasting their ingredients.
Actually, when you did not know how to handle an unfamiliar ingredient, roasting it was one of the easiest options. Pair it with béchamel sauce, fruit, vegetable purée, or whatever else seemed suitable, and it was relatively easy to produce something that was at least not bad. Of course, that did not mean the resulting dish would necessarily receive a high score.
Time passed. Minjoon took the dough out of the refrigerator and dropped the pieces into boiling water. Normally, gnocchi needed three to five minutes to reach the proper texture, but since he was going to cook it again in the oven, one or two minutes would be enough.
From this point on, every minute mattered. Minjoon lifted the gnocchi from the water with a sieve and transferred it into the ovenproof dish containing the cheese cream sauce. After sprinkling mozzarella over the top, he put the dish into an oven preheated to 170 degrees.
Now all he could do was wait. Minjoon stared impatiently at the clock. The first ten minutes passed quickly enough, but the next five, and then the final two, seemed to crawl by. When exactly seventeen minutes had passed, he removed the dish from the oven and smiled.
Even an experienced chef could only tell by looking that the mozzarella had browned properly. Minjoon, however, could see more than that.
[Potato Gnocchi Gratin]
Freshness: 93%
Origins: (Too many ingredients to determine)
Quality: High
Cooking Score: 7/10
It was seven points even without taking the truffle into account.
Maybe...?
No. He did not think so. The cooking score was exactly what he had estimated it would be from the beginning. Simply grating truffle over the top was not enough to raise a dish's cooking score from seven to eight. It was too simple an action to require any real skill. Perhaps if the truffle created some extraordinary harmony with the potato gnocchi gratin... but that did not seem to be the case either.
In truth, grating white truffle over the cheese did not change much. Still, that was fine. At least the combination did not diminish the flavour, and therefore did not lower the cooking score.
He could not taste the dish yet, so he settled for smelling it. The distinctive aroma of the truffle, carrying hints of vinegar and earth, mingled with the smell of the cheese. To be perfectly frank, it was certainly unusual, but he did not find it overwhelmingly appealing.
Why do people like this so much?
He had felt the same way when the judges ate foie gras, one of what Koreans and Japanese sometimes called the world's three great delicacies. He had wondered whether the title existed simply because of how expensive it was. Foie gras, after all, was essentially a liver rich with fat. Its flavour was certainly deep, but precisely because it was so rich, it could also be difficult to enjoy.
Even with a tasting level of eight, does that mean I still can't appreciate every kind of food?
But perhaps the reason he struggled to appreciate those ingredients had nothing to do with any flaw in his palate. They were simply unfamiliar. They were foods most people rarely had the chance to eat, and relatively few people grew accustomed to enjoying them. Even something like Korean Pyongyang naengmyeon could be difficult to properly appreciate without eating it several times.
Fundamentally, Minjoon possessed an unusually sensitive palate. He could perceive flavours more clearly than an ordinary person, but even he could hardly compare with Kaya.
“Everyone, hands off!” Joseph's stern voice rang through the kitchen.
Chloe, however, could only stare in bewilderment. She seemed to have lost track of the time, and her shark fin was still inside the pot. She looked towards the judges with tears threatening in her eyes, but they calmly shook their heads.
“Chloe. Bring the food over in the pan. Rules are rules.”
“...Yes.”
The other contestants looked at Chloe with regret. Emily spoke in a calm voice.
“It must have been a difficult mission. I'm not a chef, but I know you've all done the best you could. You've done well. We'll begin the judging now. Kaya, come forward.”
Alan was the sort of person who, if given ten apples, would eat the worst one first. He stared dejectedly at Kaya's stew. Pieces of vegetables and meat protruded only halfway above a red broth that looked intensely spicy. At first glance, it actually seemed appetising... but Alan still sighed.
Kaya looked at him provocatively. “It's penis stew.”
“...I know what it is. You don't need to tell me.” Alan grumbled sourly and spent a long time hesitating over the dish in front of him.
In the end, Emily could no longer stand waiting. She picked up her spoon and drank some of the broth, then nodded. “First of all, the broth tastes good. I can barely detect any unpleasant smell. Did you use coriander?”
“Yes. I used coriander and a lot of garlic. I added some lime juice too.”
“Mmm... It gives a strong impression of Southeast Asian cuisine. As for the meat...” Emily picked up a large piece of meat with some vegetables and chewed it. Alan and Joseph looked at her as though she were some strange creature, but she paid them no attention. After swallowing, she smiled calmly. “You handled the meat well... and the combination with the other ingredients isn't bad at all. It's good enough that I almost want to ask Jo Minjoon what score he'd give it...”
Emily looked towards Minjoon, but he desperately avoided her gaze. He had no desire to put that thing into his mouth when there was already little left to say about the dish. Emily smacked her lips regretfully. “Well, he clearly isn't even considering trying it.”
“It can't be helped. Can a chef really afford to be picky about food?” Kaya said it with a sneer.
Minjoon felt irritation flare inside him, but he kept his mouth shut. He had a bad feeling that if he said anything, he would somehow end up having to eat it.
His instinct was only half right.
Alan's voice rang out. “There is some truth to what Kaya said. Minjoon, come here.”
“...Yes? Why me?”
“Because, just as she said, a chef can't afford to be picky about food. And because your sense of taste is particularly sensitive, you have even more reason to familiarise yourself with unusual ingredients. You may be able to perceive subtle flavours that other people can't. Consider this an opportunity.”
It was quite a speech. On the surface, it sounded perfectly reasonable and even as though Alan were genuinely offering him advice. Yet Minjoon could not shake the impression that Alan simply did not want to suffer alone and was dragging him down with him.
Minjoon tugged at the collar of his shirt. He was sweating.
Joseph chuckled. “Alan is right. Considering your sense of taste, it would be a waste to let an opportunity to experience an unfamiliar dish pass you by. Minjoon, take on the challenge. A chef can't run away from an ingredient.”
“...What about the other contestants?”
Minjoon turned and looked back at them. They stared at him with expressions of open disgust.
Joseph smiled and shook his head. “Unfortunately, there isn't enough food or time for everyone. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind sending you as their representative...”
“There's no need even to discuss it. Minjoon has the most exceptional sense of taste among us. Of course he should represent us.” Anderson spoke with a perfectly calm expression. He glanced at Minjoon and raised one corner of his mouth.
...I fell straight into their trap.
There was nothing Minjoon could do now that the atmosphere had turned against him like this. He had briefly hoped Martin might take his side, but Martin was grinning so widely that Minjoon thought his mouth might split open.
Even Chloe was smiling faintly. He had no allies.
Minjoon dragged himself forwards with the miserable expression of a cow being led to the slaughterhouse. Then he glared fiercely at Alan, his usual gentle eyes nowhere to be seen.
“Why haven't you eaten yet, Chef?”
“...I was just about to. Here, take this.”
Alan handed him a spoon. Minjoon accepted it and, after hesitating briefly, picked up the smallest piece of meat he could find along with some vegetables. At first, he could not bring himself to move his jaw. But with all the judges watching him, he eventually began to chew. He had no intention of simply swallowing it whole when Kaya had gone to the trouble of making the dish. Considering the effort a chef had put into it, he could not treat the food as though it were rubbish.
...I really can't get past the mental resistance.
Just as Emily had said, the meat was chewy and sticky, but even that texture made him uncomfortable. The strong bovine aroma spreading through his mouth was unpleasant as well. At least the sauce helped. If Kaya had simply grilled it with salt, he was not sure he would have been able to eat it at all. It was difficult to eat in an entirely different way from foie gras. Every time he chewed, he almost felt as though he could hear a cow mooing somewhere.
Once Minjoon began eating, Alan could no longer avoid doing the same. With a determined expression, he spooned some of the stew into his mouth. Although he had hesitated beforehand, the moment he actually began tasting it, he looked every bit the professional. Alan spoke calmly.
“You parboiled the phallus first before putting it into the sauce, didn't you?”
“Yes.”
“If you hadn't, I doubt you could have achieved this flavour. The distinctive offal smell would probably have been overwhelming. But how did you know to use that method? You haven't cooked this ingredient before, have you?”
“I've cooked tripe a few times. I know how much the flavour changes depending on whether you parboil it first or not. And I know the phallus is also offal.”
Kaya wore a proud expression, pleased with herself for knowing something she considered difficult. To anyone else, it might simply have looked smug, but Minjoon could read the distinction. Was it because they had spent so much time together? It had certainly become easier for him to understand her expressions.
Joseph looked towards Minjoon. “What score?”
“...Seven points.”
By now, Minjoon's score had become a useful reference even for the judges.
Emily nodded. “Mmm. That's about what I expected too. Excellent, Kaya. Seven points for a penis stew.”
Kaya gave a faint smile, and her evaluation ended. Unfortunately for Minjoon, that did not mean he could return to his station.
“Since you're already here, let's try your dish next.”
At those words, Minjoon had no choice but to immediately bring over the dish containing his gnocchi gratin.
Emily tasted it, then opened her mouth. “What score do you think this is?”
Minjoon was just about to answer automatically when Emily grinned.
“I was going to ask you that, but come to think of it, you haven't actually tasted it yet, have you? Eat some. You need to know how your own food turned out.”
In truth, Minjoon already knew without putting it in his mouth, but there was no reason to point that out. He took a bite of the potato gnocchi gratin.
The white truffle filled his mouth with its distinctive notes of vinegar, earth, and mushroom. Its lingering aroma did not disappear as quickly as before. Even when he chewed parts without any truffle on them, the fragrance continued to linger in his mouth.
Still, it was not a bad combination. The white truffle cut through the heaviness that might otherwise have made the cheese feel greasy.
Minjoon nodded. “It's delicious.”
“...It sounds a little strange hearing you say that about your own food.”
“I can't say it isn't. It's seven points. At the very least, that's enough for me to call it delicious.”
“Good. If it weren't, I wouldn't accept the boasting, but with this dish, I'll allow it. Go back to your station, Minjoon. You've passed as well.”
At Alan's words, Minjoon silently clenched his fists. He had already completed six missions, but every time he survived another one, he felt the same rush of accomplishment.
“Chloe, you're next. Come forward!”
With a nervous expression, Chloe carried her pot to the front. Joseph looked at it before speaking.
“...You can't serve something that hasn't been plated. You understand that we'll have to deduct points for that, don't you?”
“Yes, I do...”
“Good. Then I hope your shark fin tastes good enough to make up for the mistake.”
At Alan's words, Chloe said nothing and simply rubbed her hands together. The injured part still hurt, and now that she was nervous, the pain seemed to worsen. Alan watched her hands for a moment, then sliced off a piece of shark fin and brought it to his mouth. He chewed for a while before swallowing.
Then Alan turned away without saying anything.
Chloe felt as though her insides were burning. She kept fidgeting with her apron. Joseph and Emily did the same. After tasting the shark fin, neither of them said a word, almost as though the three judges had agreed on it beforehand.
Chloe unconsciously looked back.
The other contestants gave her encouraging looks, silently telling her that everything would be all right. Then her eyes met Jo Minjoon's. At that moment, his expression softened, and the tension inside her eased slightly.
Chloe spoke silently to herself.
That's right, Chloe. You've made it this far. Hang in there. Even if you get eliminated, you've done really well. And...
She could not bring herself to finish the last thought, even inside her own mind.
Then the time came for her evaluation.
