God of Cooking Chapter 31:

JUNE 12, 2016 BSUBAK 5 COMMENTS

Of course, considering that Chloe’s cooking level was 7, it wasn’t weird for a 6 points dish to appear . Because if her condition was bad, that kind of dish could be made . But taking that into account, there seemed to be no dissatisfaction on Chloe’s face . Because if she knew that she had failed, there would be no way she didn’t put on a disappointed face .

And Chloe wasn’t such a bad chef as to not differentiate whether she had failed her dish or not . That’s why it was more confusing for Jo Minjoon . How could she have such a light face after making a 6 points dish?

Jo Minjoon looked at the soup with doubting eyes . It was at that moment . Someone touched Jo Minjoon’s back from behind .

“What are you doing and not seating?”

It was Kaya . She served the grilled scallops directly on a plate . So on the table were placed the soup, pasta and the main dish, the scallops . It could be said that it was closer to a Korean formal dinner than a course cooking .

They were eating by themselves so there was no need to keep the order of the serving . Jo Minjoon sat on the place . Marco put the dough in the oven and opened his mouth while walking towards the table .

“It looks like a buffet . ”

Kaya smiled without saying a word . And Jo Minjoon looked at her dish . Maybe it was made with her usual skills, but her grilled scallops was 7 points . The exterior of it was seared like a custard pudding applied with butter .

However, what Jo Minjoon ate first was the potato soup . In the first place, this dish had the main role, so it was an obvious thing to eat it first .

The soup wasn’t as thick as cream soup, but rather it was like koreangamja ongsimi or samgyetang’s(삼계탕) soup . When he drank a spoonful of the brownish soup, the clear flavor and the scallions aroma roamed around the mouth .

It was tasty . But just that . A flavor where you seemed to have tried it elsewhere . It wasn’t subtle nor strong, but the flavor was just at the middle of those .

“Wow Chloe . This is delicious . ”

At the voice of Kaya, Jo Minjoon couldn’t help but get surprised . Kaya was the type to not talk much, but she was also worse at doing compliments . That’s why when Jo Minjoon saw that the soup was 6 points, he thought that Kaya would surely talk bad about the dish .

However, the results were the opposite . Jo Minjoon drank the soup with a dumbfounded face . This time, he also ate the mashed potato along with buttercups . It was just that much . It was good to eat it as a meal, but the strong impression of Chloe couldn’t be felt as usual .

And at that moment, Jo Minjoon thought .

‘Why must I feel impressed by a dish?’

Maybe he was thinking about useless things . Thinking about it, Korean meat restaurants didn’t receive those high points . Remembering the times when he was in Korea, he remembered that they were mostly 5 or 6 points .

But it didn’t mean that the meat wasn’t delicious . There was no one that was dissatisfied with the meat . It was good food . Although it was just roasted meat to say that it was cooking, but there would be nobody that would say that it wasn’t food .

At that point, Jo Minjoon started to question the scoring system . At first, he thought that it was a system that scored the points of a food, like the name implied . But would that score represent everything of that dish? Because he thought like that, the word ‘cooking’ started to bother him .

“Minjoon? Why that expression? Is it not tasty?”

Jo Minjoon, that was immersed in his thoughts for a while, woke up by Chloe’s voice . She was checking him with a worried face . Jo Minjoon laughed awkwardly . In that instant, many things passed through his head . It was about wanting to express honestly or not .

But if it was about this, he thought that it would be better to just let it pass . Because it wasn’t just another thing, it was about cooking . Besides, he wondered that the reason Chloe got disqualified early on despite having good skills would be because of this . Jo Minjoon opened his mouth .

“It is tasty . But honestly speaking it’s just that . Of course, judging your dish this seriously between us is not so good, but I get a bit of regret . At the same time i’m a bit confused . It is certainly not a professional dish . But despite that, I don’t get the feeling that it lacks something . This… . . ”
“Is it not good like this?”

The one who replied to him wasn’t Chloe, it was Kaya . She was licking her spoon like a candy, and continued speaking .

“It’s simple and good . To add this and that to this dish would just make it excessive . ”
“I also think like that . But it’s disappointing . Chloe . Cooking right here is for us to eat, but also to practice . Doesn’t that mean that you are planning to cook this kind of dish in the next mission?
“That’s right but… . . Is it no good?”

Chloe tilted her head and asked . He didn’t want to say something bad to someone with such an honest face, but he had to do so because he was her friend . It was necessary for the survival of Chloe . Jo Minjoon opened his mouth .

“It’s hard to say, but first I’ll evaluate it . If you ask me about how I think about your dish, then I’m satisfied . And I’ll probably be able to eat it once a day and pretty deliciously at that . But if you ask me if this is the utmost of your skills, then my answer is no . Even if a chef with good skills puts frozen food in the microwave, then the result will be average . I think that it would be the same for this potato soup recipe, no, the potato soup itself . ”
“Mm . . What you are trying to tell me… So it’s this? That potato soup is not a good dish to show my abilities with?”
“… . . At least this potato soup is like that . It’s not that it’s tasty for the mouth, it is just eaten well . I think that it is closer to a familiar meal than course cooking . ”

At those words, Chloe fell deep in her thoughts while touching her lips . Rather than saying that his words hurt her, it was more than a homework from her . But it was also a homework for Jo Minjoon . Actually, while Jo Minjoon was sharing his opinions with her, his voice wasn’t filled with confidence . It was because of the cooking score that appeared before .

That’s why it got all the more harder to reply for Chloe .

“Then, is potato soup a dish that shouldn’t be served in any restaurant? Because it doesn’t let you show your full skills or give a professional flavor?”

At that moment, Jo Minjoon couldn’t think of anything to reply . Was that really the case? Would a dish with no hope of improvement be served in a restaurant? If there was, then who decided on that rule?

Jo Minjoon couldn’t think of an answer . There was a time where he worked on a restaurant, but it was as the youngest chef . Only the word was chef, but actually there was no difference to being in charge of chores . There weren’t many things he knew to pierce through a restaurant’s physiology .

Saying the truth, Jo Minjoon wanted to agree at what Chloe had said . If there was a limit to cooking, and the limit to cooking would be decided because of that… . He thought that it was a really sad thing .  It was the same like saying that every person, when born, would have different value with others .

“I don’t know . ”

In the end, what Jo Minjoon could say was just that . But Chloe didn’t blame him for answering like that . Rather, she smiled brightly . It was a hospitable smile . It was a Chloe like face .

“Then let’s think together . We have plenty of time . ”
“……Yeah . Let’s . ”
“First, let’s eat the paste . At this rate, it won’t get cool, but will get soggy . ”

Chloe smiled and raised her fork . Jo Minjoon smiled faintly and brought the aglio e olio he had made to his mouth .

The flavor was a success . The spaghetti that was mixed with oil, gave a subtle garlic aroma along with the hot peperoncino flavor . And the main point was the saltiness . Personally, Jo Minjoon thought that the main point on giving flavor to the aglio e olio was salt . The feeling where you could vaguely feel the saltiness . It was a flavor which koreans were bored with .

But Jo Minjoon thought that if they were participants to come to Grand Chef, then they would be able to feel this profound flavor amply . Indeed, on Chloe’s face, a faint smile could be seen .

“It’s a flavor that pushes and pulls . ”
“I just made it to be like that . A fluttering flavor? That kind of sensation . Marco . What about you?”
“……Honestly speaking, it needs more seasoning for me . I use to eat salty food . ”
“Then put in some cheese that’s over there . Then it will suit you . ”
“I was about to . ”

Marco wiped the sweat on his forehead and put some cheese in it . At that moment, the aroma of the cheese tickled his nose . Even if he was putting it in his dish, it was that much . Could it be the power of cheese? Jo Minjoon ignored the temptation coming from a corner of his heart and rolled the noodles in his fork . Aglio e olio becomes an entirely different dish in front of cheese . He wanted to keep believing that .

“It’s lacking . ”

Kaya suddenly said . But Jo Minjoon didn’t get surprised . Because it was pretty normal for her to be grumbling in front of food . Rather, he was happy about her reaction . Her incredible tasting was a better ability than Jo Minjoon’s system . Only she could grasp the entirety of the flavors structure after eating it .

Jo Minjoon asked .

“What is lacking?”
“Entire balance . I think that there’s a lot of parsley powder in it, and the noodles and the oil aren’t perfectly in sync . You should have poured more water . You made it too hurriedly . ”
“Mm . I’ll keep it in mind . ”

He didn’t feel bad . There would be cases where you started to hate the person that pointed out your mistakes . But Kaya was well aware of that, and pointed out things for Jo Minjoon . Thinking about that, he couldn’t feel bad . At least, he wasn’t someone with a small mind .

But at the same time he couldn’t help but question it a little . They were both 6 points dishes . Chloe’s potato soup, and Jo Minjoon’s aglio e olio . But why didn’t she point out anything about the potato soup, but pointed out the regretful parts of his aglio e olio?

However his question didn’t last long . It couldn’t . Kaya asked them with an anxious voice .

“Then start slowly eating my dish too . The flavor will get dispersed . ”

Kaya looked at her scallops anxiously as if she was looking at a bedridden old man . Jo Minjoon laughed and put a scallop in his mouth .

The flavor was obviously delicious . Because Kaya’s skills didn’t run off to somewhere . In the case of scallops, if it got a little cold, then the flavor could be felt more clearly . The butter that was slightly about to get hard melting in one’s mouth, and the soft scallop like that woman’s lips were all satisfactory . Kaya asked with shining eyes .

“How is it?”
“It’s like always . There’s nothing to point out . ”

Jo Minjoon shrugged his shoulders and said . Kaya looked at Marco and Chloe . Chloe didn’t say anything and just smiled . It meant that it was delicious . At that moment Marco opened his mouth . Kaya got nervous and looked at him . However, what Marco said wasn’t related to her dish .

“I will now bring the souffle . It should be done . ”

When Marco said that and came back, there was a chocolate souffle with white sugar powder that was like snow on his hands . Chloe said admiration words .

“Wow, Marco . Your breads are perfect even from the smell . Why did you come to Grand Chef? You should have gone to a Grand Party City or something of the sort . ”
“… . . But it doesn’t exist . ”

Marco said hopelessly . And then, sliced the souffle with a cake knife and served it on each plate .

Jo Minjoon got surprised while looking at the souffle . It was a quality he hadn’t seen in a while . 8 points . Souffle was a really simple dish, but just like aglio e olio, the difference of the flavor was like heaven and earth depending on the chef, no in this case it was the pastry chef . It also meant that this dish was perfect to properly show Marco’s skills .

How would it taste like? Jo Minjoon sliced a piece of the souffle with his fork . It was so soft to the point it couldn’t even be compared to sponge cake, and while it was being ripped, it released hot steam . The steam was filled with chocolate aroma . Jo Minjoon brought that to his mouth slowly .

The sweet and soft flavor that roams through his mouth . It was a little bit sour and sticky, and that flavor that was felt through his tongue conquered his mouth . What he could do right now was laughing happily .

Suddenly, the worry about the scoring method was now far away .

< A well done dish and good food (2) > End