God of Cooking Chapter 13:

When Jo Minjoon heard that, he unconsciously bowed . Only after bowing did he remember that it was a korean salute, but he didn’t care . Even so, he wanted to express himself .

“You are one of the 100 to participate in the advanced rounds . Let’s meet next time Minjoon . ”
“Thank you . ”

Jo Minjoon turned his back after replying while smiling . Alan was looking at Jo Minjoon’s back getting farther away . Emily looked at Alan and said .

“It seems that we just met one of the winning candidates . ”
“…… . I wonder . Maybe that was the best he could do . If he doesn’t get better, he probably won’t be able to hold the trophy . Because this competition is unexpectedly intense . ”
“You think so? Joseph . What about you?”

Joseph was shut for a while, and slowly opened his mouth .

“The bream was delicious . ”

It was brief but Alan and Emily understood the meaning behind it . Right, they only evaluated dishes . Not the chef, but the dish . This competition was as simple as that .

Normally, those who passed the preliminaries liked to boast with all kinds of methods . Hiding the badge under the clothes to act as if they failed and then taking it out . And there were even those who put it on the mouth and then spit it . However Jo Minjoon didn’t like to boast like that .

Jo Minjoon just walked out after putting the badge on his chest . The audience looked at the badge and cheered and applauded . Jo Minjoon smiled brightly and received their cheers . The Dean family went to him . After Lucas held Jo Minjoon once, he said while laughing .

“I knew you would pass . ”
“I also knew . ”

The PD(Program Director) who was looking at that sight next to the cameraman made a weird face . Not because he was displeased with that action, but because he had too many things to think about . Jo Minjoon was certainly a participant that was worth spending broadcasting time on him . He even got to the second phase of the preliminaries, and his skills weren’t bad either . Also his story was certain . The Dean family were interviewed about their story while Jo Minjoon was being evaluated .

‘It is certainly good merchandise . ’

The problem was, what kind of character he had to be . For now, the current Jo Minjoon had four characteristics . First, the passion for travelling to the next corner of the world to participate in Grand Chef . Second, his confident and right attitude . Third, the point that he’s asian . The fourth and last was kind of obvious, but it was his cooking skills .

Depending on how harmoniously they produced it, the program’s would vary accordingly . Of course, because of one participant there wouldn’t be an eye changing transformation .

While the PD was wondering like that, Jo Minjoon went with the Dean family to where the audience was and watched the participants . There were at least 20 countertops, and it was never vacant . Jo Minjoon checked at the participant’s levels . They were mostly level 5, and sometimes, even level 4’s could be seen . Unexpectedly, there couldn’t be seen any level 6’s .

If you thought about it, it was kind of obvious . Although Jo Minjoon was the youngest from his restaurant before reincarnating, his skills were better than some of the esdest . Even after college, he had cooked thousands of times . His experience, honestly talking, was almost perfect for an amateur .

That Jo Minjoon was level 6 . And that was after he got to the US, broadened his knowledge and horizons, and leveled up because of that . If level 6 participants were common on an amateur program like Grand Chef, then that would be rather strange .

The completed dish sucked even more . They had to cook a dish that could change their lives in a place they were not accustomed to, with people they weren’t accustomed to . In that situation, it was difficult to show your skills like you normally would .

What Jo Minjoon grasped was that if your level was 6, when you cooked like you normally would, the average cooking score would also be 6 . Only after utilizing the best recipe, the freshest ingredients and cooking without mistakes could he get a 7 .

But those who were only level 5 were that nervous, their cooking core couldn’t help but be low . Unexpectedly someone was able to make a 6 points dish, but would that person be able to satisfy the judges?

It was at that moment . One countertop got free, and a girl got in . Jo Minjoon’s face froze when he looked at her face . She was someone he knew . He couldn’t help but know .

“Kaya… . . Lotus . ”

It was her . He knew that she participated the preliminaries in New York, but he didn’t imagine that they would do so in the same day . The worst genius Grand Chef could produce . It was hard believing that they would make contact . Before reincarnating, she was an idol he couldn’t reach . Grand Chef’s season 3 winner . At the same time she was Jo Minjoon’s most adored idol .

Kaya was a participant that was the topic of conversation . Not only did she have skills, she had the abilities to become a star . The combination of being a white person and being from the lower class . To be called as white thrash, Kaya was excessively splendid . Her curly black hair was tied, her eyes were painted black with smokey makeup and were decadently beautiful, but they seemed to be poisonous .

Jo Minjoon stared blankly at her eyes . The sky blue eyes were shining under her black makeup . A strong aura seemed to emanate from her . It seemed as if she wanted to devour everyone from the broadcast .

Under the pressure of her aura, it was after a while that Jo Minjoon saw her state window . And he lost his words . The moment he got a hold of the system, Jo Minjoon thought that he had gotten ahold one of the most important abilities . However that wasn’t it . It was a rule that like every things, standards would get deviated . And at this moment, Jo Minjoon was a chef that didn’t have any special abilities . He was only comparable to a star that lost it’s brightness under the sun .

Jo Minjoon looked at her as if he was on a trance . The icebox over her counter wasn’t opened yet, but Jo Minjoon already knew what was inside of it . Eel . On this preliminaries, she would present a combination of boiled down eel with sauce, and mimosa salad .

As soon as Kaya started, she started to deal with the eel . Her knife skills were so clean that you wouldn’t believe it was from an 18 year old . Born on 1992 . Even with the korean method*(TL:Koreans start counting the age when they are still a fetus . Think so), she still wasn’t 19 . That girl who wasn’t even on her twenties was handling  the eel as if she was a master from a japanese restaurant .

Kaya, after slicing the eel, poured white wine and some salt . And after that she started to boil some eggs, and on the other hand, she started to make the sauce that was going to be put on the eel . The ingredients were simple . Ginger, garlic, soy, white scallions, mustard leaf, and basil . After she put those things on the mixer, she applied it on the eel and also put lemon peels . Easily speaking, it was a lemon peel marinated with sugar . And after dealing with the eel, she started to prepare the mimosa salad .

For the mimosa salad, after carving the inside of a lettuce, you opened it as if it was a flower blooming and above it, put the salad . The first thing Kaya did, was slicing apples, onions, and cucumbers . After that were the boiled eggs . After squashing the eggs like scrambled eggs, she mixed it with mayonnaise, mustard and pepper . And after that, she seasoned a portion of avocado with salt and pepper and put it on the salad . She sprayed lemon juices over it, and after that was the eel .

And this moment was the highlight . She put the eel on the grill and turned on the gas fire . It could only be said that it was a reckless action . Cooking with a grill, or precisely speaking, cooking directly on fire was a really difficult thing . Of course, Jo Minjoon roasted the bell pepper directly, but there were no problems if he burnt it . Rather, it was a method that needed the bell pepper to be burnt .

However eel was different . The tender fish burnt rather easily in front of fire . But it was also applied with sauce so there was nothing else to say . It was a combination that the exterior got burnt, and the insides were still raw . That being added that the fire on the counter was the first time lit .

However Kaya didn’t hesitate . She could see things ordinary people couldn’t . It was also possible that she could read the path of the fire . Jo Minjoon honestly thought like that . Controlling the distance between the fire and the grill, and cooking the eel . That sense of feeling was near to a god’s ability .

‘Would I be able to do that?’

I can . A thousand, or ten thousands . IfIi could practice several years I would be able to cook the eel like that . However he couldn’t right now . In this moment, Jo Minjoon thought that it was an ability bestowed by a **** . He didn’t want to walk the path of cooking slowly . He wanted to be able to cook to the point that even Kaya wasn’t able to copy him . Not in the near future, but right now .

He felt his throat running dry . The stat points of Kaya could be seen once again . Nineteen . He could see the ability of a chef that hadn’t even bloomed properly .

[Kaya Lotus]
Cooking level: 7
Bakery level: 6
Tasting level: 10
Decorations level: 6

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