For Min-joon, grasping and analyzing other chefs’ recipes was almost a daily routine.
Even Kaya could almost imitate his ability, so he sometimes forgot how much his ability like that shocked people around him.
Of course, Dobby knew well that Min-joon had such ability. In fact, if anybody in the restaurant business has heard the name Min-joon, it was natural they must have known it, too, because he was more famous for his ability than his name. ‘Who is Min-joon Cho? Oh, that guy who can figure out other chefs’ recipes?’ His name being mentioned like this was happening all over the world even when he didn’t know it.
However, what Min-joon grasped was not simply guessing somebody’s recipe right. He could even figure out how the chef intended to deal with each of the recipes. Although he himself didn’t know it, this kind of ability was clearly something new, which he didn’t show in the past.
“You not only guessed the recipe right but also understand it very fast.”
“Well, I naturally got used to it while I was doing it.”
“I envy you. If I could guess other people’s recipes right, I would steal all the famous secrets.”
Dobby really looked envious of Min-joon, lost in idle thought for a moment. How would one feel if somebody came into their restaurant whose recipes they didn’t even share with their children, and found out the secret of the taste after taking a bite of their dish? Just thinking about it made Dobby’s hair curl.
Contrary to what others thought about, Min-joon could not figure out all the recipes, of course. Now the cooking score for this dish was 9 points. It wasn’t a dish whose recipe he could not figure out. What he guessed right was Dobby’s cooking method through the ingredients the moment he tried the dish.
‘I wonder if I don’t need any detailed recipe these days.’
In fact, just by being able to see the ingredients, Min-joon could grasp its recipe to some extent.
Dobby opened his mouth, “As for my cooking, what would you want to point out?”
“Well, I don’t see anything to point out. It’s a very well-balanced dish. Of course, I can tell you what I heard from the judges. In other words, your dish has room for improvement, but that’s very vague advice, right?”
“You’re right.”
“I can give you some advice about making it more fun rather than making it more delicious. For example, when you make foam, you can use banana pepper instead of mushrooms.”
“In that case, it’s going to taste more light than now, right?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t mean any big change in your current recipe.”
When Min-joon said that, Dobby looked at the other chefs.
While they began to give feedback one by one as if on cue, Adrian whispered to Talis in a small voice, “It seems like they’re giving feedback casually, but I feel it’s hard to understand what they are talking about.”
Adrian didn’t refer to the conversation between Min-joon and Dobby. While listening to them exchanging feedback and comments about each other’s dishes, Adrian felt several times that it would have taken him many minutes or even hours to think like them, even though they were competent demi-chefs of the high-end restaurant Rose Island.
“It’s just funny that chefs like them have to compete for the position of Sous Chef,” said Talis, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t understand why these demi chefs, who could be called head chefs of general restaurants, were competing so fiercely to get the sous chef position of RoseI Island. She also wondered if Rachel Rose was so attractive for them to work with her.
‘Well, I felt so amazed to see the way Chef Brandon cooked. Given Rachel is his teacher, I can see why they have such high respect for her.’
So far, Talis had never heard Brandon saying something like, ‘I’ve already learned enough from Rachel, so I’m as good as her.’ Whenever he talked about Rachel, Brandon was always careful and sometimes found himself getting cold feet like a child. As such, she must be a great chef as well as a teacher, Talis thought.
“In my mind, if they go back home this time, they are going to get the position of sous chef!”
“But there’s only one sous chef position at Rose Island’s main restaurant.”
“That’s the problem.”
“Do you mean they are going to be split because of that position?”
“Why are you looking more pitiful than them?”
Talis looked at Adrian with an embarrassed expression.
With a frown, Adrian said, “I really want to visit and eat at Rose Island’s main restaurant where they’re working.”
“Then, why don’t you take your vacation leave, timed with their return home? I don’t think Rachel is going to announce the new sous chef as soon as they are back. That’s just my guess.”
“Well, I think your guess is probably right. It doesn’t make sense for them to get stuck at Rose Island as demi chefs when they are so competent. It’s a pity if they are split over the sous chef position.”
When he said that, Talis looked back at them. Dobby and Eva as well as Chloe and Kaya were chatting in a cheerful mood, sometimes smiling and sometimes frowning, but what was certain was that their eyes were burning with pure and distinct passion. Each of them looked so different, but at the same time, they looked so harmonious.
Imagining the day when all of them would leave Rose Island, Talis muttered, “Yeah, we’ll miss them a lot…”
<hr />
The atmosphere of the Paris International Cooking Competition was quite different from before. Now, there were only eight teams in the quarterfinals. Out of the eight teams, four teams were from America, and one restaurant at that, which was a great pressure on the other four teams.
Some of them tried to comfort themselves by saying, ‘Don’t think we have been pushed aside by America, but let’s think we have been pushed by Rose Island.’ But honestly, that kind of feeling alone hurt their pride irreparably.
Was this kind of unfavorable situation for them a noise marketing? The Paris International Cooking Competition was gaining unprecedented popularity in France, compared with its precedents. Min-joon could feel it the moment he entered the venue because there were so many reporters who gathered around him than before.
“Min-joon! As you know, as many as four teams from Rose Island have survived to compete in the quarterfinals. How do you feel?”
“I’m happy. I hope we can make it to the finals together.”
“It seems that you are in a fierce rivalry with Chef Enzo and Theo of Paris Park right now. Are you confident in winning against them?”
“I don’t want to think of winning or losing with cooking. They are good chefs, and Kaya and I are also good chefs. I will do my best to cook the dishes, and I will leave the evaluation to the judges.”
Although the reporters threw provocative questions, Min-joon answered tactfully. His answers would boost his good image, but such standard answers were a little disappointing to the reporters looking for some provocative headlines. They wanted some comments that would draw people’s attention or spark an issue.
Was it because they felt his answers were not newsworthy? This time, they began to throw a barrage of questions at Kaya.
“Who do you think is the pair most likely to win the competition this time?”
When a reporter asked that, Min-joon looked at Kaya with an anxious expression because he was afraid she would put her foot in it due to her aggressive temper. When he nudged her in the ribs gently for fear she would anger the French people, she didn’t even look at him and made a smile then said, “Chef Enzo and Theo.”
“Pardon?”
The reporter got embarrassed for a moment. Even Min-joon was surprised because he didn’t expect at all that she would answer like that. Even an ordinary chef would say he or she would win in a situation like this to show off their confidence. But Kaya named Enzo and Theo, to everyone’s surprise, which was not what they expected from her.
So, the reporter asked again hurriedly, “When you said Chef Enzo and Chef Theo had a high probability of winning, can I interpret it to mean that you guys are not confident of winning?”
“No, I don’t know why you think like that.”
“But if they have the highest chance of winning, the odds of your winning are supposed to be low, right?”
“Well, may I ask your name?”
“My name is Allison.”
“Yes, all right. Allison, have you ever gambled?”
“Ah, not really. I haven’t.”
Allison replied carefully, looking at people around her.
Then Kaya said with a mischievous smile, “When you are gambling, it’s not the person who holds the card with a high probability of winning who wins.”
“Then what is winning?”
“Well, it’s the one who has the winning card.”
Allison seemed to grasp it, but she could not figure out exactly what Kaya tried to say.
Kaya moistened her lips with her tongue then opened her mouth.
“We will win. The odds of them winning are higher, of course, but we hold the winning card. Oops, sorry for letting you know the expected results of this contest. If you already know the results, it’s not fun anymore.”
The reporters were so embarrassed at the moment. They got confused about what they wanted to ask next. Min-joon quickly pulled Kaya away, while they were at a loss, trying to follow up with some other questions. When he tried to get out of the throng of reporters, Kaya looked at him with a smile then said in a cheesy voice, “Hey, don’t you think my answer was smart?”
“I just don’t know what to say.”
“At least, they won’t try to find fault with my answer, right? If they blame us for that, they are idiots! And we don’t have to pay attention to what the idiots are talking about.”
“Yeah, good job.”
When he saw her confident expression, he thought it would be meaningless to worry about her. He just felt it was okay if she would not be swayed by their possible criticism.
When they entered the contest venue for the quarterfinals, all the chefs were already there except for the Rose Island teams. After exchanging greetings with the chefs of the ‘Han’ restaurant and the chefs of the Paris Park, Min-joon pulled out the cooking utensils from his bag and put them on the countertop. They were tools like knives and greats except for large tools like pots and pans. Min-joon picked up one of them.
‘Rose knife….’
It wasn’t the Rose knife that he picked up, but the knife he exchanged for Dobby’s. His promise to give it back to the one who got results was still in effect. Min-joon never intended to lose the Rose Knife to Dobby because it was a pretty meaningful guy for him, aside from its value.
“You said we are holding the winning card. You really think so?”
“From the moment I came here, I never thought of losing. I didn’t think I was going to lose. I told you that already. You are the best chef on earth, and I am the best in the universe.”
“If I’m the best chef on earth and you are the best in the universe, then are you an alien?”
“Maybe.” Kaya shrugged, then opened her mouth with a harsh voice.
“Anyway, don’t bug me like this. You have to be a nice partner to me, okay? I’ve already said we’re going to win, so if we lose, we can’t come to France because of humiliation. Got it?”
“If you had realized it, you should not have said we would win from the beginning!”
“That’s why we should win.”
Min-joon was just dumbfounded at her blatant confidence, but at the same time, he thought such confidence represented the best of her temperament. He quietly reflected on the condition for his achieving cooking level 9. The power to lead the kitchen staff and sensuous cooking. At first glance, the two seemed to have no connection, but surprisingly, they had a pretty close one, for he relied heavily on his feelings when directing his kitchen staff.
He didn’t have to lead or practice leading the kitchen staff because he was with Kaya alone, but as far as sensuous cooking was concerned, it was a different story. If the condition for cooking level 9 was sensuous cooking, he felt he was confident.
‘Sure, let me show them how much I am different from before.’
He wanted to show them clearly how much he was now different than he was when this contest started. He also wanted to show Dobby that even if Dobby showed his “teeth” now, he would not be able to bite off his “leather” so easily.
At the quarterfinals of the Paris International Cooking Contest, the “dog” from the New York branch of Rose Island, Dobby, showed his teeth finally.
