God of Cooking

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Cooking Style (4)

A table was placed in front of Lee Hye Sun and Cho Ah Ra. It wasn’t similar to a typical 5-dish meal, but it still looked relatively Korean.

And it wasn’t just in front of them. Kaya and Anderson’s dishes were placed in front of Grace and Gemma and Fabio and Amelia, but what stood out the most was Kaya’s dishes.

The dishes Kaya made were simple. The first dish was a stew that was made of expensive ingredients. There was grilled lobster made with chopped pieces of lobster, white sauce, vegetables, and mozzarella cheese on top, a t-bone steak that was too big for two people, crab, mussels with mushrooms, oil Tagliatelle with paprika, and a large strawberry chiffon cake.

It didn’t look so special at first sight, but the ingredients made it something else. The ingredients were expensive and there were large amounts of it. It almost looked as if she wanted to feed her family as much expensive food as possible. Allan laughed.

“Kaya, do you think your family can finish this?”

Kaya must’ve thought she went overboard too because she avoided his gaze and fumbled her fingers, but There was no other opportunity for her to feed Grace and Gemma good food. Kaya did her best, but how delicious could it have been using bad ingredients?

So she saw this as a chance. She wanted to feed them the best food and make their bellies burst, and it worked. Because as soon as Gemma put a piece of the steak in her mouth, she smiled brightly.

To Cho Min Joon, Kaya’s dishes didn’t look excessive, but he thought he lost. In terms of both the mission and heart. With how much love she had for her family, how could anyone tell her she was being excessive? And the cooking scores weren’t bad either. Not a single dish was below 7 points. The Tagliatelle and steak were 8s while the lobster got a 9. The formation score was only 7… But that wasn’t an issue at this point.

Anderson’s dishes were the opposite. Four courses. He started with bean soup with handmade bread, pumpkin gnocchi with salad and cheese, meatloaf made of lamb, and crepe made of peanuts. Nothing was special, but every single dish looked luxurious. There wasn’t a particularly special recipe, and he simply followed the basics, but due to Anderson’s abilities, there was no flaw to be seen. Except for the soup, all his dishes were 8s.

‘… This is dangerous.’

Cho Min Joon bit down on his lip. His dishes weren’t bad either. The average cooking score was lower, but that was because there were many side dishes. All main dishes were 8s, and except for the rice, no dish was under 7 points, but he didn’t know if he did a better job than Kaya and Anderson.

Cho Min Joon stuck out his fist. Kaya and Anderson looked confused, but they soon stuck out their fists as well. They did their props as Cho Min Joon opened his mouth.

“Let’s all win.”

That was impossible. One of them would be disqualified today. They all knew that it was impossible for all of them to win, but why was it that Anderson and Kaya both nodded?

He wasn’t talking about the mission, but something else. He didn’t mean it in a secondary way. Cho Min Joon didn’t mean it like that when he said it. It was a matter of his heart. He just hoped they would all win and succeed, and Kaya and Anderson felt it.

“Today…”

Cho Min Joon opened his mouth. His voice was shaking due to nervousness and fear.

“Today, I want to win. More than any other time.”

“… We can win. We can all win.”

Kaya spoke in a softer voice than usual. And even Anderson, who normally would have been pessimistic, kept his mouth shut.

The judges approached. Allan’s eyes looked at Kaya before moving on to Anderson.

“We’ve tasted your dishes. Before we evaluate, let’s hear what your family has to say. Fabio and Amelia, what did you think?”

“Hm… I’m not sure. It was a little lacking…”

“Are you going to be that strict with your own son?”

“We made an agreement about educating our child when we got married. We promised to scold him when needed and compliment him when earned. His dishes were fine. They tasted decent.”

Amelia spoke in a calm voice. Unlike Fabio who had dark hair, she had blonde hair and blue eyes just like Anderson. Not just her appearance, but her personality was similar as well. She was strict and had no cute side whatsoever. Her haughty eyes shot at Fabio.

“What do you think, Fabio? Would you put him in charge of cooking for us?”

“… I’m not sure. Maybe I can put him in charge of just breakfast.”

“That’s what he says.”

Allan shrugged his shoulders and gave up. He looked at Anderson and said,

“Don’t worry. The families’ evaluation is just subsidiary. I didn’t know they’d say that. I’m worried your family’s evaluation will make you discouraged.”

“I’m used to it.”

Anderson answered with a calm face. He wasn’t saying it out of respect. He truly looked used to it, which made it even sadder. He looked at Fabio and Amelia and said, “If I was born as your son, I wouldn’t have thought to ever become a chef.”

Fabio and Amelia exchanged strange looks instead of replying. They were a hard couple to deal with. Joseph coughed.

“Anderson, in some ways, you have an advantage in this mission. Rather than making regular dishes fancy, making originally fancy dishes even fancier is easy, and that’s why I had higher expectations for you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Do you think you met those expectations?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever made anything that didn’t.”

Cho Min Joon nodded without realizing it. Anderson didn’t give any surprises, but he certainly made dishes that surpassed expectations, and that might’ve been better. It was meaningful to be able to make such high-quality dishes in a restaurant setting with an extensive menu. Joseph spoke, “… I like your confidence. And luckily, I think your dishes suit your confidence. There wasn’t a single flaw in it. The formation was great, too. I thought a sour flavor was lacking at first, but since none of the flavors weren’t excessive, the peanuts in the crepe didn’t taste too overwhelming. That goes to show how experienced you are.

“If there was someone at home who could cook like this at home, there would be no reason to go to a restaurant. That’s what I thought of it. Thank you, Anderson.”

Emily spoke after Joseph. Anderson smiled. The evaluation made him feel like he was not going home today. Next up was Kaya. Allan laughed bitterly and said, “Kaya, to be honest, I think your feelings for your family show the most evidently in your cooking. Its obvious you tried to feed them the most delicious and expensive food possible. The dishes were so sincere that it seems as though you put your family before the mission.

Kaya bit down on her lip and looked at her family behind the judges. Joseph continued, “What’s important is that you poured all the expensive ingredients into it, but that’s what made the flavors even more plentiful. The more ingredients used, the more confusing the flavors can get. That’s why in China, they use oil and sauce to pull all the ingredients together. It’s possible that your pasta and stew used that trick. Were you influenced by Chloe?”

“… I didn’t really think about it, but I probably was. We spent so much time together.”

“I think that was a good influence. It looks like a home-cooked meal, and I think the flavors were very vast. As an unmarried man, it’s weird for me to say this… But I think it tastes like a mom’s cooking.”

In response to Joseph’s last remark, Cho Min Joon knitted his brows while Lee Hye Sun lowered her head. Following the praises of Kaya, the judges looked to Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon stood up straight with a confident look on his face, but his heart was pounding like crazy. Allan smirked and asked, “Min Joon, you tried very hard today, didn’t you?”

“… Thank you for noticing.”

Cho Min Joon answered with a laugh. He thought he used his head more for this mission than any other mission. Allan continued in a calm voice,

“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to come this far. Even when it was revealed that you have the perfect palate. Your ability wasn’t so amazing that you were in the top 3. Joseph did see potential in you… But that was it. There are lots of geniuses in this world.”

Allan’s eyes flashed brightly. Cho Min Joon quietly stared at his lips. He looked and heard what he was saying.

“You had to make an impressive foreign meal that is also home-cooked and suits this mission. You probably had the hardest time. And your family’s response…”

Allan looked behind him. Lee Hye Sun and Cho Ah Ra were smiling. Allan also smiled with them.

“It’s obvious they liked it.”

“Was it okay? Was it good?”

Cho Min Joon couldn’t help but ask. He was itching with curiosity. Emily answered in Allan’s stead, “Yes, it was. I think you grew the most in this competition, and this meal proved it. Korean… Or maybe I should call it Asian food. The dishes used fusion to tie Asian dishes together. I think they would be perfect for a Korean fusion restaurant.”

“The truth is, we don’t have a good understanding of Asian food. It’s possible it’s lower than yours, but we know just how to localize certain foods. If we put out your food in America, they would do very well. I’m sure the reason why you picked the hot pepper paste stew instead of the soybean stew was because hot pepper paste is easier to popularize, and that was a good choice. If you want to be a chef, you can just do a good job cooking the food in front of you, but if you want to be a chef, you need to consider the taste buds of the public.”

“The harmony was great, too. There were some aspects that were lacking, but the overall formation was great. No flavor overlapped, and no dish stood out so much that it outshined something else. The radish soup’s scent was a bit strong… But it didn’t linger in my mouth for too long. Good work, Min Joon.”

He was praised by all 3 judges. It seemed as though the judges were having a hard time with the decision, but the result was out.

“Min Joon, can you come out to the front?”

The judges called him out. Cho Min Joon walked out with a nervous look on his face. Allan stared at him with a straight face and said, “Your cooking… Oh, this isn’t about just today. What od you think is lacking from your looking overall?”

Cho Min Joon hesitated for a moment. At first, he thought it was the basics, but he improved a lot in that aspect. If there was anything he lacked, it was lack of color. Even if Kaya said that was his strength…

“Maybe the fact that I lack my own color?”

“I’m not sure about that. A chef’s color depends on the customers’ perception of it. If you want to become a chef with a color of your own, you’re much too young. Only a few chefs like that exist in this world.

“Then what am I lacking?”

“Nothing.”

Allan answered shortly.

“The problem is that you think too much.”

Cho Min Joon didn’t answer. Allan pointed at a half-empty plate.

“The dish had to satisfy your family, feel exotic, and satisfy the judges. Those thoughts are bound to rub off of your cooking, but then we asked for something simple and something customers would enjoy. When we had our vegetable mission, you made a Korean meal. And that time, we told you it would’ve been perfect for a home-cooked meal, and that we were sad to not see a main.”

“Yes, you did.”

“There were many mains today. They were delicious, and the formation was great, but why do you think I’m saying this now?”

“… I’m not sure. Please tell me.”

“Let me say this again. You think too much. Your tension could be tasted. A meal made for your family. Of course, we did tell you that we’d be evaluating it, but you ended up making a meal that was neither for your family or the mission. I understand it was a difficult situation. You might think it’s unfair, but you had to overcome the handicap. What we had to taste in your dishes was not nervousness but consideration. Do you know the difference?”

It sounded complicated and twisted, but Cho Min Joon knew what Allan meant. Joseph opened his mouth in a caring but low voice.

“There are many chefs who can make delicious food, and if we looked hard enough, we could probably find others who can cook just as well as us in Chigaco, but it’s hard to find someone who makes good food. It’s still hard for me as well. Min Joon, can I believe that you can become a chef like that one day?”

Cho Min Joon’s face flushed. He was embarrassed and wanted to cry. Cho Min Joon spoke in a choked-up voice, “… Yes, I will become that kind of chef one day.”

“Hearing you say that makes this easier to say. Min Joon, this isn’t because you’re lacking. It’s just that you’re not perfect enough yet. Please devote yourself to it.”

The end. All stories and movies had endings. Cho Min Joon hoped his ending was winning the Grand Chef, but…

“Good work. Please take off your chef badge and leave.”

His end was here.