God of Cooking

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: Came From A Truck (2)

He was taken aback. He couldn’t help it. He never imagined he would see molecular gastronomy from a truck.

That was when he saw what was behind the man. There were sauces, fruit juice, as well as a syringe used to insert ingredients inside the food. There was also a mixer used for making foam sauce, and there was an instant freezer that allowed him to make any ingredient into ice cream or cold mousse.

As soon as Cho Min Joon saw that, he looked at the man with distrust. He didn’t know what he was doing there. The doors opened and a man got out. And when Cho Min Joon saw him, he exclaimed.

“… What’s going on?”

“You’re smart. I thought you would’ve figured it out by now.”

“I thought I did. But…”

“It’s so good…!”

Ella cut off Cho Min Joon. They all looked at Ella. Ella was smiling with the spoon in her mouth. Ella sucked on the spoon and lifted her head.

“Can I have another one?”

“Wait here. I’ll give you a different flavor.”

“I want to give it to my mom. But… I do want to try another flavor.”

Cho Min Joon smirked and gave him his spoon. Ella gasped.

“I’ll give you mine.”

“N-no. You should eat it, too. It’s delicious.”

“I’ll get another one.”

Ella thought for a moment. She looked at his spoon and then opened her mouth. “Thank you, Uncle.” Cho Min Joon watched her small body walk away as he slowly opened his mouth.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Cho Min Joon.”

“Let’s do the introductions a little later. I like to introduce myself with food, not words.”

He cooked ice cream. Something felt awkward, but Cho Min Joon understood. It was ice cream that used molecular gastronomy. Unless one hated molecular gastronomy, it was impossible to say that this wasn’t cooking.

Cho Min Joon received another spoon. It was 8 points. He wondered how just a sherbet with cherry could receive such a high score, but as soon as he put it into his mouth, he changed his mind.

‘Oh…!’

At first, he thought it was mojito or apple ice cream, but it was actually a completely different ice cream than what he imagined. In terms of just the sherbet, it wasn’t very sweet. The texture was soft, but the taste was savory and a little salty. Also, the flavor inside was…

“Asparagus.”

“I heard you can guess any food ingredient. I guess they were right.”

“I’ve never thought about making ice cream with asparagus… This is a new flavor.”

If it was just asparagus, it would have been too bland. After all, it would be refreshing, but it would be hard to call it ice cream. But the carbonated cheery on top pulled it all together. The sweet flavor along with the carbonization tickled his tongue, and as a result, the asparagus sherbet tasted like a refreshing herb cream.

He understood why young Ella thought it was delicious. Cho Min Joon nodded and said, “It’s as if I’m dipping ice cream into sauce. I’ve never imagined such a dish.”

“Some people call me a genius.”

The man smirked with confidence. Just as he got out of the truck and offered a handshake, he heard a creaking sound followed by footsteps. The entire kitchen followed Ella out, who was holding a spoon. Anderson opened his mouth.

“Rachel, you’re here. That means this man is…”

“Rafael Yoon.”

The person who said that name wasn’t Rafael himself. It was Janet. She gasped and asked, “Are you… our sous chef?”

***

“Rafael Yoon. The director of the Food Truck Association… The most innovative food truck owner and chef in America. Used to work in Arzo hotel restaurant… Why are there so many descriptions?”

“It’s proof that he succeeded.”

Anderson gave a short answer. Cho Min Joon was reading off his experience from the internet. During his time at a cooking school, he quit and went in as an apprentice at a nearby restaurant. By the time he became a chef there, he moved on to a hotel, and a few years after becoming a sous chef, he got out of there as well.

That was how the food trucks began. That was also when Rafael Yoon became known as a true star chef. Rafael Yoon approached people using people’s curiosity about molecular gastronomy as well as the convenience of food trucks.

And he succeeded. There were many people who were interested in molecular gastronomy, but in order to try it, they had to go to fancy restaurants. They had no choice. And the price was another issue. Not many chefs learned about molecular gastronomy, so such a small number of chefs who did had no reason to work at cheap restaurants.

In that sense, Rafael Yoon’s attempt at molecular ice cream was very refreshing. The amount was little since he had to make the price competitive in the market, but ice cream was never meant to fill a belly anyway. People visited his truck out of curiosity, and once he became famous, they simply looked for him, for Rafael Yoon.

“… What a crazy life.”

“And in that crazy life, our restaurant became a part of the story.”

“I wonder why.”

Janet, who was listening in on their conversation, quietly mumbled. Cho Min Joon spoke in a dazed voice, “Seeing from his experience, it seems like he just goes where he wants.”

“But there must be a reason why he wants to be at Rose Island. He already succeeded through his food trucks. He’s too good to be a head chef of almost any restaurant, let alone shut down his business to come here as a sous chef. There must be a reason why he’s taking that risk.”

In response, Cho Min Joon thought hard. There was only one reason he could think of.

“I can’t think of any reason besides wanting to learn from Rachel.”

Cho Min Joon looked at the office. As soon as Rafael came in, he went into the office. Havier was right outside with his ear to the door, but he obviously couldn’t hear anything. Since if he could, he wouldn’t have still been there when the door opened. While Issac looked at him coldly Issac smiled awkwardly.

“Uh… did you have a nice chat?”

“Havier. What are you doing here?”

“It’s okay, Issac. They’re going to hear it anyway. Everyone, over here.”

Rachel gestured to everyone. By the time everyone gathered, Rachel opened her mouth with a smile.

“Like I said earlier, Rafael will be your sous chef. There will finally be a balance in this kitchen. In that sense, I think it’s time we get to the homework we’ve been putting off.”

“By homework, do you mean…”

Janet opened her mouth with anticipation. Rachel nodded.

“Yeah. It’s time to decide on your sections. At the same time, we also have to pair you with cooks.”

In response, everybody listened carefully. The demi chefs were curious to know which section they would work in while the cooks were curious about which demi chefs they would aide. Cho Min Joon’s mind was complicated. And it wasn’t because of the fight that would break out about the sections. He still had yet to make up his mind. Pasta or main? He didn’t even think about molecular gastronomy. Rafael looked at them as he opened his mouth.

“Let me ask you something. Is anyone here interested in molecular gastronomy?”

None of the demi chefs answered. They didn’t even meet eyes with Rafael. Rafael opened his mouth with a sad face.

“See, Chef? People feel pressured when they hear molecular gastronomy. It’s not a faulty food. It’s an actual field for masters.”

“Okay, I get you. Calm down.”

Rafael vented before dropping his head in sadness. His emotions were very up and down. They were so extreme that he wondered if that was why he couldn’t stay in one place for very long. Rachel continued, “I thought about how to assign you to your sections. And there was only one answer. When it comes to chefs, their skills should speak for them.”

“Are you competing?”

“Something like that. You’ll all learn how to cook from Rafael from now on. Not just the demi chefs but the cooks as well. And at the same time, I’ll teach you as well.”

“… You’re going to do molecular cooking?”

Anderson asked with a surprised voice. Everyone else had similar expressions on their faces. Rachel had cooked traditional food all her life. Most quality restaurants were influenced by molecular gastronomy to an extent, but that only applied to when the head chefs were young. Chefs like Rachel, who studied traditional cooking her whole life didn’t like change.

Rachel nodded.

“I wasn’t just fooling around for 10 years. I studied and practiced my cooking. In order to produce great flavors, I even tried molecular cooking.”

Cho Min Joon was in awe. It was great that Rachel researched molecular gastronomy. But the problem was that she researched it. She always tried to catch up with her husband’s cooking. But if she failed to achieve it even with the help of molecular cooking, could that really be called a human’s dish?

‘That’s a god’s dish.’

Daniel was probably no different from the god of cooking. At this point, it was possible Rachel perceived Daniel as someone even greater than she was. Since that would’ve been easier to believe than to think that she could never imitate or imagine his cooking.

Clap. The sound of clapping woke him up from his thoughts. Rachel looked at everyone and opened her mouth.

“There are three rules in my kitchen. The first is to gift customers with flavor that they’ve never imagined. Second is to never forget to be thankful to customers. And the last rule is to always be changing so that people don’t get tired. And molecular cooking can’t be an exception.

“And even if you don’t get put in charge of molecular cooking, you must research and understand how to produce flavors with that concept. The plates that you touch will probably be ones of your section, but cooking isn’t just one plate but many in a course. You understand, right?”

“Yes, Chef.”

“Yes, Chef!”

Cho Min Joon shouted his answer followed by the rest of them. Rafael calmly looked at the demi chefs before stopping at Cho Min Joon and asking, “What do you think? Are you interested in being in charge of molecular cooking?”

Cho Min Joon answered, “No, I’m not.”