That was the goal that Havier wanted to achieve in this mission. In other words, he wanted to make Janet fully accept him as her colleague. His goal might look shabby, compared with others’. But he wasn’t ashamed of it. He might be less competent than his colleagues, but the thing was whether he could improve or not. As long as he had the determination to improve and achieve his goal, he thought he had no reason to despair.
Maybe it was Min-joon who influenced him to think so. He still remembered what Min-joon told him when he was suffering from an inferiority complex. Min-joon told him he was a worthy chef. He didn’t want to think Min-joon paid lip service just to comfort him. If he was not a worthy chef like Min-joon said, he wanted to prove that he was really worthy and valuable as a chef.
With his eyes burning with determination, Havier grabbed a knife. At that moment, Min-joon peeled off eggplants with a knife, cut them the size of his thumbnails, then poured them into a saucepan filled with tomato sauce and onions.
Maya watched Min-joon cooking silently. She wanted to analyze how different he was when he cooked with Kaya and her. At the same time, she was also curious to know how Kaya could help him improve his cooking skills.
‘Kaya doesn’t talk while cooking. She also doesn’t check what or how he is cooking. Can she do that because she has memorized all the cooking process?’
The cooking process Min-joon and Kaya showed was very simple. They were just doing their own cooking and helped each other when needed. But that was difficult because there was little for Maya to analyze. So, Kaya had to show something. Even if the recipe was already there, they were not supposed to cook exactly as set out in it. But Kaya naturally clicked with Min-joon as far as cooking was concerned.
‘Oh, no way…’
At that moment, she thought of one possible assumption. If they could picture the whole cooking process in their minds, it was not strange at all that they could cook hand in glove so naturally.
In fact, that was one of Min-joon’s most striking merits. Namely, he could picture kitchen work in his mind easily. And Maya was the one who realized it everyday. As his cook, she was the one who received his instructions the most.
When she was cooking with Min-joon in the kitchen, Maya sometimes wondered whether Min-joon kept checking if she was cooking properly instead of focusing on his own cooking, for he used to find out exactly what she was cooking.
As a matter of fact, Min-joon’s competence was also proven in Grand Chef Season 4.
While directing the participants who had never cooked with him, he did not have any difficulties. So, given that his partner was Kaya, there was no reason for him to have any problem at all. Thanks to her assistance, he could make the best use of his cooking skills, and Kaya also…
While watching the other chefs, Antonio muttered with his arms folded, “In my opinion, Chef Min-joon should just open a restaurant with Chef Kaya.”
Maya hated the fact that she couldn’t deny it.
At that moment, Antonio continued, “But I think Chef Anderson will win at the end of the day.”
“Are you serious?”
“Why should I joke about it?”
“Well, you can say that out of courtesy, not as a joke. Anyway, your demi chef is Anderson, right?”
“I’m not saying it out of courtesy. Just look at the Anderson pair!”
When he said that, Maya looked at Anderson and Chloe. Honestly, Maya was quite curious about Anderson’s choice of Chloe. Although she couldn’t frankly speak out, Maya thought that Chloe was not a chef but an entertainer who was formerly a chef.
Nonetheless, Anderson chose Chloe. Was it because he could not find anybody to pair with? Or did he trust her competence? She could find the answer while watching the two cooking now.
Antonio muttered blankly, “Chef Chloe… she is really competent. It looks like she is better than me.”
“She is really better than you, Antonio. Much, much better. If you had been better than her, Anderson would have chosen you as his partner from the beginning,” Maya said.
Of course, she meant well when she said that. In fact, Chloe’s cooking was so good that Antonio could not complain about what Maya just said about him. Her cooking skills were literally overwhelming enough to beat him.
Maya said, shaking her head, “Well, even if a tiger loses its teeth, a tiger is still a tiger.”
“There is a reason why the participants in Grand Chef Season 3 are so highly rated. They are not only recognized by the general public, but also by the foodservice industry and gourmets.”
Chloe and Anderson were also a good match, though it was not as good as that of Min-joon and Kaya. Given that there could be found a few matches as good as Min-joon and Kaya, Chloe and Anderson obviously made an excellent chemistry.
To put it precisely, it might be more accurate to say that the two were good at cooking rather than clicking with each other well. What they were making now was Quiche Lorrain. It was the most famous dish in the Lorraine region of France. In fact, its cooking method was basically simple. A dough made of butter, flour, salt, and eggs was spread on a tart mold, and pork breast was fried and put on top of it then sprinkled with cheese powder and mixed with whipped egg cream before being cooked together in the oven.
And what Chloe and Anderson tried to make some change here was also in the pork breast. Normally, it would have been baked after being seasoned with only salt and pepper, or without seasoning at all. But the two chose to season it now.
The way they added flavor was simple. Instead of roasting the pork, they cooked it as if to steam it in chicken broth. And instead of making a regular egg cream, they mixed it with basil syrup that was not very sweet.
Watching them quickly, Min-joon nodded and thought to himself, ‘Even such a change is also quite authentic.’
Both Chloe and Anderson were faithful to the basics. Anderson was strong in cooking Western food while Chloe was exceptional in cooking Chinese food. Right now, their relative strength was apparently evident in their cooking. The two didn’t deviate from the French cuisine very much, but at the same time, they were trying to bring out its taste freshly.
‘If they can make it ideally, their cooking score will be 9.’
Of course, Min-joon’s assumption was based on them following all the processes that he was picturing in his mind. Actually, he was picturing the way to create the most perfect combination of taste according to that recipe.
At that moment, Kaya opened her mouth.
“Focus, Min-joon!”
“How did you know I wasn’t focused?”
“You just removed the seeds from the yellow pepper. I said you had to put them in. And you are trimming it a little fast. You had better wait a little longer before putting them in. Don’t you know you have to get rid of that bitter taste in the pot?”
“Got it. Let me focus!” he said, a bit surprised.
Kaya was now focusing more than he thought. Given she could find out even this kind of trifling stuff, she must have been pretty much focused all along. If he had to take complete control of what he was cooking, he would have to rely on the system window.
He could understand why she was so focused on cooking right now. In fact, she had been craving for cooking so much. Of course, it was not that she didn’t cook while she was bound by contract after the Grand Chef competition was over last year. Although she was a nominal head chef, she could go back to the kitchen after overcoming the initial difficulties.
But that was not enough. She didn’t like to simply cook the dishes for other people. She also hated the existing practices in which she had to get somebody’s permission to create her own dish. She also didn’t like people talking about the commercial success of food rather than its taste.
And now all the desire for cooking that she had suppressed until now had been unleashed.
So, the way of Kaya’s cooking was more aggressive than usual. She had an animal instinct that only a genius could have. Her taste at the moment was so highly sensitive that it could be called extreme. Everybody including the cooks and Rachel could see it.
‘I didn’t know how wonderful Kaya’s cooking skills were. How could she cook so well?’
Rachel’s eyes trembled. Actually, she didn’t pay much attention to Kaya because of Min-joon. Now that she confirmed Kaya’s excellent taste and talent, she could not believe her eyes. She realized that Kaya was also a gem like Min-joon.
Rachel was deeply touched.
Watching her silently, Raphael opened his mouth.
“Our greedy chef. You look hungry again.”
“Because one’s greed is endless.”
“But what can you give the two of them? What I wanted from you was your experience, skills, and perspective. In other words, things like how to approach cooking and how to direct your kitchen staff, how to deal with customers, and how to deal with your colleagues….”
“I wish you had learned a lot from me, Raphael. I hope the reason you want to leave me is because you have learned enough from me, not because you can’t learn from me anymore.”
“I learned a lot. Like I did, there will be a time when Min-joon will leave you. As you know, a baby eventually becomes an adult, and the mother can’t always breastfeed her child.”
Rachel didn’t answer. Raphael couldn’t figure out what kind of thought she was lost in.
So, he continued as if to provoke her.
“Do you want to keep him in your arms?”
“Don’t you think the way they cook together is so beautiful?”
Instead of answering his question, Rachel came up with an irrelevant reply.
Raphael slowly turned his head and looked at the two. He was impressed with Rachel’s sensibility, who could still describe their cooking as beautiful, but at the same time, he found himself rather strange because he also agreed with her at the moment.
“You bet. They are beautiful”
“Maybe everyone will feel it when the two participate in the Paris contest. They will reach out to them. Min-joon is a good man. He might always want to hold my hand, but like you said, a baby will be an adult in time. Min-joon will find it frustrating to be in the stroller I pull. And he will grow tall, so I can’t crumple him to put there.”
“Rachel…”
“But all mothers know their children will leave someday, but they don’t want to think of it. So, I’m going to do the same. I’m not thinking of losing his hand. I want to see him shining a little longer. And now is the beginning. In this competition in Paris, he will shine brighter than anyone else. I’m going to make him shine.”
Rachel clenched her fist and muttered in a low voice, “I’m going to make the sun.”
