God of Cooking

Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Globalization & Localization (4)

Just because he took his first step didn’t mean much had changed. His tasting level was still 8, but the others continued to think that his palate was impressive, and that was how the chat window seemed as well.

At that moment, Jeremy looked down at his empty plate and opened his mouth.

“It’s good… But I feel like this restaurant is more popular among tourists than Japanese natives. Am I right?”

“Hm… I can’t deny that. We tried to make a compromise, but it didn’t convince the taste of the natives. That doesn’t mean we have no Japanese customers… But they make up less than a quarter.”

Not even half of the customers at Japanese restaurants were Japanese. Even if they had three Michelin stars and had too many reservations, the percentage still didn’t make sense. Cho Min Joon thought about the sushi that he had just tasted.

‘… It was good, but it was different from actual sushi.’

He figured it wouldn’t go along with the Japanese tradition. Rachel opened her mouth.

“It’s always hard to achieve both. Since you captured the taste of Western foreigners, that’s good. The ones the chef must serve are the customers that visit. Thinking about where they’re from is foolish.”

“… Groan, I see what you mean, but I’m suddenly wondering if this is fusion food with a Japanese mask or Japanese food with a fusion mask. It all probably depends on perception.”

In response to Jeremy’s remark, Rachal glanced at Anderson and Cho Min Joon. She looked at him like a school teacher and asked, “What do you guys think about this?”

“What do you mean exactly?”

“What’s the key to the balance between localization and globalization? Would you mind sharing your thoughts?”

[They got homework.]

[I hate it when I get questions like that. You feel pressure to give the right answer.]

Cho Min Joon and Anderson looked at each other, and it was Anderson who answered first,

“It’s the ingredients.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because the ingredients are what express the country’s qualities the best. In that sense, I can’t understand what Jeremy just said. I think the sushi we just had gave off the taste of Japanese ingredients.”

“Really? What about you, Min Joon?”

“I think… it’s all about the seasoning. No matter which ingredients you use, if you use another country’s sauce, their qualities get incorporated. Most Western people assume the food is Japanese if there’s raw fish or soy sauce in it, and if there’s cheese, they assume it’s a European dish. In the end, I think the sauce is the most important.”

Cho Min Joon thought about it. When Korean food was made to be globalized… which sauce was most widely used?

From the future he had seen, hot pepper paste became the most popular seasoning from Korea, and although Kimchi wasn’t as popular as hot pepper paste, it was still in demand. While raw kimchi was a love or hate dish for him since it smelled fishy, it was still good as an ingredient.

‘They’re all spicy.’

No wonder there was the idea that Koreans liked spicy food, but it was true that most did like it. Just as he wondered how to use all the seasoning from around the world, Anderson shook Cho Min Joon’s shoulder. Cho Min Joon flinched and looked back at him.

“W-what? What is it?”

“Rachel’s been calling you. What are you thinking about?”

“… Oh, I was just thinking about globalization and localization.”

He was so deeply in thought that he couldn’t even hear Rachel. Rachel smiled and said, “I understand your thoughts. That’s the dilemma of all chefs of fusion restaurants, and the answer is always different. The answer probably depends on how far you’ve walked on the path you’ve chosen.”

“What do you think, Rachel?”

“The outer appearance.”

“… I’m sorry?”

Cho Min Joon stared at Rachel after hearing her unexpected answer. The same went for Anderson and the others. It was only Jeremy who didn’t look surprised.

A chef didn’t pick anything related to flavor, but the outer appearance instead. That was what everybody was thinking. Rachel seemed as though she expected that reaction and shrugged her shoulders.

“One of the most common perceptions is that a chef worrying about outer appearance is a waste of time.”

“That’s not a perception… It’s true. Cooking is all about taste. And as soon as you eat it, it all ends up looking the same.”

Sarah asked as though she couldn’t understand. Although she was a food critic, she was a woman, and just like many women, she liked food the prettier they were. But she was certain that the taste had nothing to do with the appearance. After all, there were many times when food looked like a three-star dish but tasted like trash.

But Rachel shook her head. Her eyes were filled with certainty.

“That’s true if the food tastes bad. But if delicious food is presented beautifully as well… that’s a different story. Chefs stimulate customers’ taste buds and move their hearts as a result. But if the appearance is different… they can taste the food after being touched. That makes a big difference.”

“… But what does that have to do with localization or globalization?”

“The fact that you can imagine flavors just by looking at it also means you can expect what country it is from as well. Even if you present two of the same sandwiches, if you introduce it as a Panini, people will feel Italy from the cheese. Food must be good in terms of taste, but what customers think of before tasting it poses a strong influence.”

Cho Min Joon understood what Rachel meant, and he could also understand how she reached level 10 in decoration. Cho Min Joon thought, ‘Then what do I need to be the best at?’

Was it recipes? While knowing that he was the most confident at putting recipes together, the reason why he couldn’t make up his mind was because of greed. He wanted to decorate like Rachel and have sensitive tastebuds like Kaya, but there wasn’t much time left. The tasting trip would soon end, and once he began to work at Rachel’s restaurant… he wouldn’t have the time to contemplate.

At that moment, Sarah snickered before bursting into laughter. Rachel looked back at Sarah. Sarah pointed at the chat window with a red face.

“Rachel, they said your speech is boring. They’re comparing you to a school principal.”

“… What?”

Rachel looked at the chat window with wide eyes before her face turned sad. Anderson spoke to Rachel in a soft voice, “I don’t mind principal speeches at all. There’s a lot to learn from them.”

“No need to comfort me. I’m not so old that I can be fooled by that.”

Rachel answered in a sad voice.

The meal continued. Grilled halibut with vegetables on top, roasted duck with wholegrain mustard and wasabi, as well as grilled meat skewers. The fanciest food possible made of Japanese dishes were presented on the plates.

They were all delicious, but Cho Min Joon was a little disappointed. He looked through the menu again. Most of them were 9 points or 8 points. He thought a three-star restaurant would have at least one 10-point dish… But that wasn’t the case.

‘Even restaurants that aren’t three-stars have 10-point dishes though…’

Of course, they were helped by the power of noodles, but the dish was still 10 points, so he was surprised that there wasn’t a single 10-point dish.

But that didn’t mean he could order the entire menu. Cho Min Joon looked at Samuel with nervous eyes. Samuel, who was a little sad due to some criticism, flinched in response to his gaze.

“… Is there something you’d like to say?”

“Is there something that we must try?”

“I already told you. We did our best with every dish… Did we fail to meet your expectations?”

“No, not necessarily. It’s just…”

Cho Min Joon trailed off. He thought about telling him, ‘It’s just that none of them blew my mind.’ But he then remembered what Rachel had said earlier.

‘Food must win in terms of flavor, but what you think of before eating it poses a big influence.’

He felt like a fog was clearing inside his head. Cho Min Joon looked at his plate. On the small plate was fried udon with crab meat and masala.

The score was 9 points. It was a good dish. Before, he was touched by 8 point dishes and even 6-point dishes. But after having so many good foods, his standards went up. No.

‘The standard… has been set all along.’

Everyone looked at Cho Min Joon who wasn’t saying a word. He fell into another deep contemplation. Cho Min Joon didn’t realize it, but he looked quite strange when that happened. He looked like someone who lived in a different world. But at that moment, Cho Min Joon was blaming his own dull mind.

He always thought to himself that he wouldn’t let his system get the best of him. Even when he used the system to become the perfect palate, he never intended to rely on it.

But he was. He was devoted to it. Everything changed depending on the cooking scores… And he knew that even if he did his best in a recipe, he could get a higher score. He also knew that simple dishes could taste better even if the score was lower.

But Cho Min Joon was still obsessed with scores. Even though every time he did, he flinched and reminded himself not to do it… He was obsessing over the scores all over again.

That didn’t mean he should ignore the scores. He just couldn’t get hung up on it. Why was he disappointed that there were no 10-point dishes? That was wrong.

Cho Min Joon picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of fried udon in his mouth. The scent of masala melted in his mouth and as the crispy crab broke inside his mouth, it melted in his saliva. And the udon that was hiding beneath the outer layer wriggled.

It was a flavor that he didn’t experience just a moment ago. As soon as he got rid of the idea that 9-point dishes were lacking… he could taste the dish completely differently than before.

‘Yeah. This… This is what tasting is about.’

Cho Min Jono’s face lit up.

[You’ve understood the fundamentals of tasting.]

[You’ve reached the first requirement to obtain level 9 in tasting.]