God of Cooking Chapter 6:

APRIL 30, 2016 KOBATOCHANDAISUKI 5 COMMENTS

He tried to follow the pickpocketer with all of his strength, but there was no way to catch a local of the place . The pickpocket moved from alley to alley and soon disappeared from sight .

“What the fuck……”

Jo Minjoon looked around without any strength . It never happened before in Korea, but it wasn’t even an hour and he became a victim of pickpocket . When I was warned to be careful of the pickpockets, would I be one of those victims? And thought like that . I was absent minded .

‘I didn’t hold New York in much regard’

He was at a loss for words . He didn’t have much cash but all of his cards were on the wallet . He couldn’t even take a cab properly .

Jo Minjoon went back to the place he got robbed without strength . The beggar that was seated on the floor said with a smile .

“Do you need this?”

While he was saying that on the beggars fingers was the 5 dollar bill Jo Minjoon gave . Jo Minjoon let a sigh and answered . It was quite a while since he interacted with a foreign man but it was pretty fluent .

“It’s okay . It’s pettier to to give and take . Get something to eat with that . ”

“Do I look like a beggar?”

It didn’t look like he was asking because he was uncomfortable . He asked as if he was really curious . Jo Minjoon scanned the blond man around his forties . An old coat and a tattered scarf . To look at it as a vintage fashion . His clothes seemed too humble . He was seated on the floor and also, the hat as put as if he begging for money so he seemed the more humbler .

“Are you not?”
“I also have a house . ”
“…… . At least you aren’t homeless . The 5 dollars . Can you give it back?”
“Didn’t you just say so . That giving and then taking is the pettiest . As I got it being treated as a beggar, take those 5 dollars as the cost of it . ”

The man was saying that while having a big smile, so Jo Minjoon didn’t particularly have anything to say to him . In the first place, there was nothing he could do with 5 dollars .

Jo Minjoon sighed and sat besides the man . The man opened his mouth .

“I’m Lucas Dean . What’s your name?”
“Jo Minjoon . First name Jo and name is Minjoon . ”
“Korea? Japan?”
“It’s Korea . ”

Lucas glanced at the travelling bag Jo Minjoon had and said .

“It looks like you came to sightsee, but you got it all ruined from the start . ”
“……Can’t do anything about it . Except to be on the streets . ”

He couldn’t call home that as soon as he got to the USA he got pickpocketed . In fact his mother was really worried before he left…

“Did it become roaming?”

Jo Minjoon took out his cellphone . He prepared it beforehand, but fortunately the internet worked just fine . After reporting the loss of his cards, he was wondering wether to call the police or not . Lucas told Jo Minjoon .

“The police won’t even care about pickpockets . It’s a minor matter . Even more if you are a foreigner . ”
“…… . It’s a scary place . ”
“Do you have somewhere to go?”

Jo Minjoon shook his head . Looking at Jo Minjoon, Lucas smiled and asked .

“Would you be willing to stay in a beggar’s house?”

Lucas’s house wasn’t even 20m away from where he was . He went inside the house made of red bricks and opened his mouth .

“To be a beggar’s house it is quite splendid . ”
“Stop with beggar this, beggar that . It makes me sad listening to that . ”
“…… . Thank you . ”
“Oh, please . Don’t thank me like that .
The house of the supposed beggar was quite good . The ceiling was high and the floor was marble . Could it be a 230 yard house? If he combined the second floor’s rooms it would be even bigger .

It was the moment when Lucas came in . On the living room a golden haired woman looked at Lucas with a shocked expression .

“Lucas…… Is that really you?”
“……Jane . I’m sorry . ”

The woman’s face who was called Jane was surprisingly pale . When she was walking wobbly, Jo Minjoon thought that she was going to fall . And in the end she didn’t . Maybe if Lucas didn’t quickly hold her, the hard marble floor would have .

“Jane!”
“Ah, I can touch you . It really is you . ”
“……I’m sorry for coming back late . ”

Looking at the conversation going between the two Jo Minjoon didn’t know where to look and looked dejected . Only then did Jane seemed to notice Jo Minjoon . It looked like she had many things to say, but she couldn’t do so in front of a man she just met .

“And this person… . . ?”
“Oh, he’s someone who helped me . Greet him . He’s called Minjoon . ”
“Oh, nice to meet you . I’m Jane Dean . ”
“I’m Jo Minjoon . ”

Jo Minjoon shook hands slightly with Jane and looked at Lucas . Someone who helped him? What was with that? The only thing Jo Minjoon did for him was to give him 5 dollars . But looking at this house he didn’t look like someone who needed those 5 dollars .

He was curious but didn’t feel like the right time to ask him that . Jane’s eyes were moist, and Lucas’s eyes were also red . There seemed to be something he didn’t know about . Was Lucas a runaway? If he guessed at the age it was something that couldn’t possibly happen, but he couldn’t help but think so looking at his clothes .

Lucas opened his mouth .

“He lost his wallet because of me . It’s going to be a while but I want him to stay at our house . Is that going to be okay, Jane?”
“Of course . It feels just like a dream that you have come back . Jessie will be happy too . ”

At the name of Jessie, Lucas’s face got dark .

“Will Jessie forgive me?”
“……Think about those things later . There are many things I want to ask you, but first let me ask you this . ”

Lucas looked at Jane . Jane looked at Lucas with eyes that seemed to smile .

“Did you eat?”

While Jane was preparing for cooking, Jo Minjoon was being escorted to his room by Lucas . There was a room on the second floor . Jo Minjoon asked slightly .

“Can I ask you what happened?”
“…… . I ran away . I wandered for quite a while, and returned just now . It’s thanks to you . ”
“I didn’t understand before and I still don’t . What is it that I helped you with?”

Lucas showed him the 5 dollar bill . Jo Minjoon let an awkward laugh .

“You didn’t even use the money . ”
“To receive good will from someone was a trigger for me . I also looked around, felt guilt, and thought that I had to start again . ”

Jo Minjoon didn’t argue at what he said . How many things would have passed his mind for the bill I gave him? So he couldn’t guess wildly . There were many things he was curious with, but it was quite difficult to ask it all to Lucas right now . Jo Minjoon chose to alleviate the mood .

“It’s a 5 dollar hotel . ”
“You can checkout whenever you want . ”

Lucas laughed while saying that .

It was soon past 5 o’clock . Jo Minjoon unpacked his luggage and went to the kitchen . It hadn’t even been a while but the cooking was almost done . It was mac and cheese, hamburger steak, and salad . Jo Minjoon that at least wanted to help said with an awkward face .

“The smell is really nice . It seems that your cooking skills are really good . ”
“My husband is quite the gastronomist . So to not hear his naggings I can only practice . ”

Jane said that and let out a light laugh . Lucas who was next to her said with a bitter expression .

“I believe that good food makes both the people who, make it and the people who eat it, happy . I still believe that . However… . ”

Lucas was about to say something but he refrained from doing so . Jo Minjoon peeked to where Jane was . The unique feeling and the aroma the mac and cheese gave thrusted to his nose . It was a smell that made him expect the cooking points .

“You will be happy . Good food if little makes you happy three times a day . ”
“It’s twice . I only eat twice a day . ”
“Then you will have to make to effort to eat three times . ”

Of course if you thought about the calories american food had, maybe eating twice was healthier than otherwise .

The mac and cheese was soon finished and being put on the table . Jane put the hamburger steak on the plate and asked while setting .

“Do you put eggs on the hamburger?”
“No . I like it without eggs . ”
“Good . In our house we also eat without eggs . ”

Jane laughed and sat on her seat . Jo Minjoon looked at the dishes with his eyes sparkling .

[Hamburger Steak]
Freshness: 97%
Origin: (Too many ingredients to figure out)
Quality: High (Average ingredient)
Cooking point: 6/10

[Mac and Cheese]
Freshness: 89%
Origin: (Too many ingredients to figure out)
Quality: Medium High (Average ingredient)
Cooking point: 6/10

Not surprisingly the both were 6 points . If it’s 6 points it was comparable to a restaurants . If little what Jo Minjoon experienced was like that . If even that wasn’t it, it was like a weekly event dish from a really well out town restaurant . It was hard for normal people to get this result .

Jo Minjoon held his hands for a while and offered his prayer . Lucas at this sight said .

“Are you catholic?”
“No . I’m christian . ”
“Too bad . We are catholic . ”
“Dear . First eat your meal . ”
“Okay . ”

Lucas grabbed his fork . Jo Minjoon also grabbed his . Where Jo Minjoon’s hands first went to was the hamburger steak . To say the truth he didn’t really like the hamburger steak . Precisely speaking he didn’t like minced meat dishes . However the aroma this hamburger steak gave was really strong .

It was when Jo Minjoon took a bite of the hamburger steak . It seemed as if only beef was used, not pork, and the aroma was stronger than the average hamburger steak . He also sensed the aroma of pepper and on the sauce he felt an acid taste . What is this sauce? Even when he put all of his concentration on the tongue he couldn’t think of anything . It wasn’t a flavor he knew . Jo Minjoon turned his head to the recipe window . He was curious about the sauce’s identity .

[Hamburger steak ingredients]
Beef, onions, eggs, bread powder, salt, herbs, pepper powder, brown sauce (A1 sauce)

‘Oh, so this is brown sauce . ’

Brown sauce was developed on Britain . It was a sauce made with jujube, vinegar or sugar on tomato paste, but what made it sweeter was called HP sauce, and what made it sourer was the A1 sauce . It was a sauce that wasn’t used much on Korea .

Precisely speaking the flavor of the hamburger steak wasn’t so familiar . The flavor of the meat was strong, and the flavor was also strong . If it was on Korea maybe it would be a failed dish . However what appeared before him was a 6 point dish . If that was the case it meant that it was a well prepared dish . It could be that it was an american flavor that he was so strange to him .

Jo Minjoon tried to approach cooking with the point of view of an american . Anyways Grand Chef was a party of americans . If he didn’t understand american dishes there was no way he could win . Jo Minjoon tried to comprehend the taste of the hamburger . He suppressed the strong aroma the hamburger gave and tried his best to comprehend the complicated flavor .

At first he couldn’t do it well . However, one bite . Two bites . The more he ate the more he comprehended . It was at that moment . Before Jo Minjoon appeared an alarm window .

[You ate a hamburger steak on your home . ]
[Location bonus! Your attitude on approaching your tasting made the proficiency of the skill ‘comprehension of american cooking’ to rise!]
[As your field of view on cooking broadens your cooking level goes up!]