Chapter 212: Taking the first step (3)
At Chinese restaurants, they often mixed pork and shrimp to increase the elasticity of the meatb.a.l.l.s. Apparently, the chewy texture of the meatball every time he moved his jaw stimulated his tongue and palate. When the broth inside the meatball percolated the breadcrumbs, he felt like he was eating the best chicken in the world. Besides, the green powdered mustard sauce tasted good. Contrary to the common perception of molecular cuisine, the taste of the powdered sauce was heavy and rich.
Joseph said, deeply moved by the great taste, “The taste is really rich. I can’t dare to evaluate it. Incredibly rich.”
The powdered sauce was surprisingly difficult to make because its taste changed subtly when it was in a liquid state or when it turned to solid. Of course, the chefs must have made this sauce according to Rachel or Raphael’s instruction.
Sarah said, looking at the server, “Was this sauce made by Anderson or Min-joon?”
“To tell you exactly, Min-joon also did his bit. Frying itself was done by demi chef Janet Fay, who is in charge of the appetizer section, and the powder sauce was made by Min-joon, who is in charge of molecular cooking.”
“I never imagined that Min-Joon would make molecular dishes. What do you think, Joseph and Jeremy?”
“As for the molecular cooking section, you don’t necessarily have the same results. The molecular cooking changes depending on how much the restaurant relies on it. In general, the chef in charge of molecular cooking is often responsible for the sauce…”
Blurring at the end of his words, Joseph looked at the b.u.t.ter, Tapenade, and Pate that were just served for eating on bread. If Min-joon made this too, it would be like Rachel’s blatant declaration that she would make his skills perfect in the kitchen as soon as possible.
“After making his skills perfect, what are you going to do about him, Rachel?” Joseph murmured to himself.
***
“Chef, Chef! Do you know who is in the hall right now?”
“I have no idea, but I guess they must be celebrities. Oh, I saw Joseph and others coming into the restaurant a little while ago.”
“That’s true, but I want to tell you that Cersei Martel and Mary Stacy are here, too. I’m a fan of them!”
“Hey, can you shut up and concentrate? You’ve got to stop them from eating jelly stained with your saliva, right? Throw it away. It’s got your saliva on it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Maya, who was also babbling in great excitement, pushed the jelly into her mouth with a sullen expression. What she ate now was sea bream broth jelly seasoned with sea bream ceviche carpaccio. She murmured, shaking her head, “It tastes weird. If you eat it with sea bream ceviche, it’s delicious, but if you eat it alone, it tastes strange…”
“Well, you feel like you’re drinking the fish broth as it is. In fact, I made it that way.”
“Isn’t it amazing? It tastes weird when you eat it alone, but it tastes great when you eat it with something else.”
“It’s more amazing to me that you keep babbling without concentrating at all.”
At his gentle scolding, Maya smiled awkwardly then looked back at the kitchen counter.
Still, she glanced at him. His eyes were fixed on the plate as if he had been enchanted with something.
‘He is at it again.’
Sometimes, Min-joon showed such an intense glance, so much so that he looked like a kid addicted to games. There was an intense pa.s.sion in his eyes that could be described as “obsessive.” Looking at him absorbed into it like that, Maya felt gooseb.u.mps on her forearm.
These days, Min-joon had steadily shown intense interest in plating and decoration. In fact, since molecular cooking was mostly dependent on measurement, it was difficult for him to fully enjoy the fun of cutting and burning like they did in other sections. So, it was this plating that Min-joon could concentrate and immerse himself in.
Of course, he couldn’t spend too much time plating because of a flood of orders. Fortunately, he was aware of the basic guidelines Rachel gave him. Her decorating method was definitely groundbreaking. Her plating could express abundance in a small amount, and conciseness in a large amount.
Min-joon felt he was growing when he was just following her instructions. Actually, he was growing. When solving a math problem, looking at the answer sheet before solving it did not mean that one’s math did not improve. Min-joon could learn what was the most perfect and creative plating through the sample that Rachel showed him.
Repeating it wasn’t so boring to him, to his surprise. He didn’t even think it was the same thing. Every time he controlled the amount of powdered sauce, he felt differently. Even when he put ice cream on a plate, its shape changed subtly, depending on how much he tightened his wrist. And that subtle change often resulted in its visual change, which was quite a bit bigger than he thought.
Somebody said that if Mona Lisa had had eyebrows, she would not have been as famous as she was now. In other words, a small thing like an eyebrow could influence the whole thing.
Min-joon was drawing countless Mona Lisas right now. At first glance, they looked the same, but all of them were slightly different.
And that kind of practice certainly made him grow. He was quite sure of his own growth.
A reminder that appeared before him after a long time proved it.
[You have realized the aesthetics of decoration by repeating the master’s plating!]
[Your decoration level has gone up!]
****
‘Level 6 finally!’
A light smile was on his face. It was a meaningful moment. It wasn’t valuable that his level alone went up. It was important to note that his level already went up under Rachel Rose not long after he came to Rose Island.
Of course, his level went up pretty quickly even when he was at Grand Chef. He had no other choice at that time. Back then there were lots of partic.i.p.ants who had similar and better levels than him, so he had to compete with them. If this happened in a restaurant, he would be kicked out of the kitchen at the moment when he made a messy dish. In such an extreme situation, he had to make a new dish without practice, which inevitably made him improve his skills quickly.
‘Come to think about it, fortunately, I understood the topic better back then.’
In the second half of the compet.i.tion, the theme was changed so much that he had a hard time. But in the early and middle of the compet.i.tion, he could get good scores thanks to his good memories.
‘I wish I could find a way to use it at the restaurant.’
If he had had a wealth of experience working at the restaurant, he would have been able to grasp customers’ tastes and trends in the future. However, he worked at only one restaurant in Korea at that time, and even if he googled it, all he did was just about studying the recipes of the food itself and the culinary culture of the world. It was just meaningless for him to try to figure out the trends of restaurants without understanding the basics.
“I would look weird if I were conscious of the trends at Rose Island,” he murmured.
“Pardon?” Maya asked suddenly.
“Oh, no. I was just talking to myself.”
As if she was very tense at his repeated scolding, she looked at him, startled by even his little voice. He shook his head, smiling awkwardly.
Rose Island was a restaurant where he didn’t need to be bothered by the trend. Of course, it was difficult to say that Rose Island was leading the trend.
To compare it to an animal, Rose Island had the same power as an anaconda.
Although it was quietly and secretly attacking its enemy’s weaknesses and the taste of the guests, sometimes, it overpowered their taste with a ma.s.sive force. That ma.s.sive power meant perfect dishes to Rose Island.
Sometimes, when the expected cooking score was 7, Rachel got much more points with just a few words. Min-joon often experienced it in the contest, but in his case, he could get it only after he showed a superhuman concentration. But Rachel could come up with such results at any time.
‘Maybe she can notice what we don’t see.’
Min-joon wanted to see it. He wanted to feel it. And he wanted to make it.
Right now, he was under Rachel, but he didn’t like it. Rather, she was happy.
But one day, he wanted to be the chief like her, too. He wanted to know the knowhow of having numerous chefs under his wing. His greed had always been directed at that. He wanted to cook more perfect and delicious dishes as soon as possible and make his own signature dishes.
This kind of thing made him crave for more and more all the time. The more he craved it, the more intense his desire was. But at least for now, he cut off such desires.
He was under Rachel right now, and she was there as his supervisor. He could not have his half-baked desire present in her dishes. He could not serve such dishes to the customers.
Min-joon knew what was going on around him. He was well aware of what other chefs and gourmets were gossiping about him. For example, they said he was Rachel’s successor, he would own not only the main store but also control all the branches, and that it would be better for them to have a close relations.h.i.+p with him. He heard such rumors directly or indirectly.
However, such rumors made him more anxious rather than thrilled. He did not want to pay attention to anything other than the dish in front of him at the moment. He didn’t want to disregard Rachel’s favor with his own ridiculous greed. Some people might say that he was stupid, but he liked his stupidity.
And Rachel could read his mind clearly. She noticed it very clearly. He must have heard lots of rumors about himself, but he had never revealed his greed to anybody. He wasn’t trying to hide his greed, but she was so proud of him because she felt he was trying hard to give up such greed.
‘My successor…’
She wanted to get hooked on that word, but she couldn’t.
At that moment, Rachel raised her voice.
“Havier! Lamb ribs are overcooked in five more seconds. Take them out right now!”