Chapter 370: Lovers in Paris (6)
Once it was all said and done, Min-joon’s remarks obviously hurt his pride.
Kaya stole a glance at Min-joon. She had seen him get angry many times, but it had been a while since she saw him acting like an upset child. Maybe that was Dobby’s talent, which got on somebody else’s nerves.
Min-joon looked into Dobby’s eyes. With a war of nerves going on between them, other chefs in the restaurant clenched their fists with an expectant look.
Meanwhile, Chloe turned to Anderson and asked, “By the way, who are these guys?”
“They are from our New York branch. You know Chef June, right?”
“Of course, I do.”
“That chef is famous as June’s successor.”
Dobby was June’s successor, while June was one of Rachel’s successor candidates. So, Dobby was a candidate of the candidate for Rachel’s succession. Given that Min-joon was also Rachel’s potential candidate, he should be more competent than Dobby, but unfortunately, his cooking level was lower than Dobby’s right now.
That didn’t mean Min-joon was not confident. If he competed with Dobby as an individual, chances were, he would likely lose. If he relied on the system window for the best possible recipe, he might win, but it was extremely difficult to develop a recipe in such a short span of time. It was almost impossible for him to develop an innovative recipe to close the gap of one cooking level.
But if he cooked with Kaya, he could win. It was not because she was good at cooking, but because he could create a synergy effect when he cooked with her. In fact, they used to come up with a recipe in an instant, which would usually have taken several days to develop. So, they felt like they were a chunk of inspiration to each other. Nowadays, he had started to feel it all the more, so he even thought he might have to work together with her.
“So, what are you going to do? Let me show you how well I can cook. What did you cook here?”
“I made Magret de Canard by adding bisque sauce and something else.”
“That bothers me a lot. I can’t afford to listen to your explanation. Eva, what shall we make?”
“We spent ten minutes developing a recipe,” Kaya said suddenly.
Not only Dobby but also Min-joon suddenly looked at Kaya, curious about why she mentioned it.
Obviously, she didn’t mention it because she wanted to boast. When they were wondering about her motivations, Kaya said in a voice full of competition, “So don’t spend more than ten minutes coming up with your recipe.”
“Kaya…”
Min-joon couldn’t laugh or sigh at that, making an awkward expression. He felt Kaya was cute at this moment, but he felt ashamed at the same time.
Kaya opened her mouth as if she didn’t like Min-joon’s attitude.
“Fair play is important in this game. Besides, if you want to bet, it’s more important. So, what are you going to give us if you lose?”
“Let me give you my knife.”
Saying so, Dobby took out a knife from his cooking bag. It was an old used one, but the wood on the handle and the blade attached to it showed the knife was a precious item with the spirit of a craftsman.
Dobby said in a serious voice, “It’s a knife I received from Chef June. It’s my treasure.”
“Are you sure you are going to give me this treasure if you lose?”
“Min-joon, you said you would not bet your career on this game, right?” Dobby said sarcastically. “I can even bet the rest of my life in this competition.”
“Okay. Let me bet my knife on it, then.”
“Min-joon?”
Watching him next to him, Anderson called his name with a confused look. But Min-joon did not stop. Since Dobby threw down the gauntlet first, Min-joon could not allow his pride to be hurt by avoiding it. Right at this moment, he decided to trust himself and Kaya.
Min-joon took out the Rose knife from his cooking bag, which he had received from Rachel. His eyes trembled, while he was looking at it. He wondered for a moment if it was alright to bet this precious knife on this, but he could not give up.
“This is my treasure, too. I don’t want to lose it.”
“I don’t want to take it, but I have to because I don’t want to lose my knife, either.”
They seemed to play words with a smile for a moment.
Dobby then stopped smiling and opened his mouth.
“It doesn’t matter if you want to use the same recipe again. It wouldn’t be bad to make it once again while you are tense. That’s fairer.”
“No, I don’t need it.”
“Really?”
“We don’t make a dish without doing our best. The dish we just made a little while ago was the best we could do in that situation.”
“Okay. Then, let me think about my recipe. You mentioned ten minutes for thinking about the recipe, right?”
Having said that, Dobby and Eva began to discuss the recipe. Min-joon looked at them quite carefully. Unlike Dobby with cooking level 9, Eva was 7. Obviously, there was a big difference between their cooking skills, but Dobby was listening to Eva’s opinion seriously.
‘Well, even a child can give an adult inspiration anyway…’
At that moment, Anderson approached Min-joon and opened his mouth.
“Are you okay?”
“What?”
“I mean your Rose knife. I just wonder if you can bet such a precious present recklessly. What if you lose it?”
“I won’t lose. Let me trust myself and the dish I made here.”
Actually, it was a dish that impressed all the chefs here in an instant. It was difficult for him to make the same delicious dish again.
So, when Dobby and Eva finished discussing the recipe in about three minutes instead of ten minutes, Min-joon just looked at them blankly.
“Are you already done talking about the recipe?” Min-joon asked.
“Well, I’m familiar with French cuisine,” Dobby replied in a relaxed voice.
That was their last conversation. Dobby and Eva started to bring the ingredients. Min-joon watched them quietly. Paprika and onions, carrots, and pumpkin. Beer, Vermouth sweet red wine, and a large chunk of pork neck.
“Are they going to make…”
Watching the ingredients, Min-joon said something but stopped, shaking his head.
He could not believe the Dobby pair would make such a dish in this situation.
“Roti de porc a la Vierne,” Chloe said in a calm voice.
Kaya asked, frowning, “What did you say?”
“Roti de porc a la Vier. You know Schweinebraten, right? It’s German-style grilled pork. It’s a French version of that. I would say Dobby is going to remake it in his way.”
Unlike Schweinebraten originally cooked only with beer, Dobby was not putting not only wine but also soy sauce and honey in the sauce for marinating meat. That was obviously far from the authentic recipe.
His cooking process was ridiculously simple. All Eva did was bring the ingredients Dobi asked her to bring. After putting in the oven the peppered meat tied with a string, he didn’t do anything for almost 30 minutes. After taking it out after 30 minutes, he poured some liquor mixed with alcohol again over it and then put it back into the oven.
Kaya looked at Min-joon with a serious expression.
“Are you sure you won’t be mad even if you lose?”
Instead of answering, Min-joon moaned with a nod. He would definitely feel frustrated if Dobby could win with that dish based on a recipe they came up with in less than three minutes.
But Min-joon was aware that cooking was not a formula. If there was anything that comforted him now, the expected cooking score for Dobby’s dish was 7 now. Even if he cooked better than expected, he would still be 8.
But Min-joon was nervous. ‘Man, why am I having a sense of foreboding?’
Min-joon stared at the oven quietly. 30 minutes, that short time passed slowly.
Finally, the Dobby finished cooking the dish.
[Dobby’s Roti de Porc la Vier, flavored with honey and wine]
Freshness: 95%
Country of origin: (There are several ingredients that are hidden)
Quality: High
Cooking score: 7/10
‘Cooking score is only 7…’
Min-joon could feel relaxed at that, but he still stayed alert. It wasn’t an ordinary level 7 dish.
It was a dish that Dobby with cooking level 9 made. It certainly couldn’t be ordinary.
“Wow, smells so good!”
Forgetting Dobby was her enemy, Kaya uttered exclamations. Since she had a keen nose, she could quickly find out how valuable that chunk of meat was.
The bitter scent of alcohol and the intense aroma of pork, mixed with the aroma of vegetables, was spilling over the kitchen.
With the grilled pork neck cut into steak-sized pieces on a plate, Dobby approached Min-joon.
“Would you like to try it?”
Min-joon had no reason to refuse. He grabbed the plate and sliced the meat. The moment he was about to put the sliced meat in his mouth, Kaya quickly put it in her mouth.
“Hey, you…”
Min-joon tried to say something to Kaya but stopped because her expressions were unusual. He could not know how this dish could impress her so much. Anyway, he also put a slice in his mouth.
“I lost…”
That was what came to Min-joon’s mind immediately.
Dobby’s dish was nothing particular. He just made some changes to the traditional recipe.
But that change alone was enough. He could keenly realize how Dobby could change the existing dish when he made use of his perfect skills, based on his perfect grasp of the basics.
The first thing that stimulated his tongue was the bitter and sweet taste of sweet red wine.
While enjoying the crispy taste of the beer, he could taste the fantastic juices of the meat when he chewed it,
Min-joon’s eyes changed sharply. He regretted why he could not bring out this kind of taste until now. So, he wanted to make it right away.
But the next was voting by the staff to choose the winner. While they were voting by writing the number on the napkin, Dobby spoke to Min-joon, “How about it? Do you like it?”
“Yeah, good. So good as to arouse my anger.”
“So come to New York! Cook with me! I really want to cook with a chef like you. I have no other intentions. Come to think of it, if I win in this competition, I may leave… Oops, I wish I hadn’t said that.”
Dobby was talking gibberish like that, but Min-joon did not care about trivial things. After they were done voting, Adrian approached them carefully with the results.
“We’re done with voting.”
“So, who has won?”
“It’s a tie.”
When Adrian said that, Min-joon and Dobby looked at each other.
Then they looked back at Adrian and asked, “Tie?”
“Yes, 15 vs 15. You’re even.”
Dobby looked at him.
As if he was pondering over something, Min-joon gave the knife to Dobby.
When he looked at him curiously, Min-joon said, “I lost. I respect you since you brought out such fantastic taste in such a simple way. So, let me admit I lost.”
“Hmm. I don’t like the way things worked out like this…”
Dobby scratched his head for a moment then took the knife back from him.
The moment Min-joon was about to turn with a sigh, Dobby also gave the knife back to him.
When Min-joon looked at him, he said leisurely, “Let’s do it this way. Why don’t we admit we lost to each other? In fact, the result was also a draw. Let’s keep each other’s knife, then give it to either of us who got better results in this upcoming competition.”
Min-joon did not reply for some time. He looked down at the knife silently then slowly received it. And when he opened his mouth, his eyes were glaring so sharply that he looked like a different man.
“See you next time,” he said curtly.
