God of Cooking – Chapter 286

Translator: Hwarang    Proofreader: Arocks141, Flowingcloud

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<Step by Step (5)>

 

If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁

Deborah looked at the back of the apprentice chef who was washing the dishes as if it was the back of the most handsome man in the world. Of course, she didn’t feel that way about the apprentice since the apprentice was a woman, not a man.

Nevertheless, Deborah continued to stare with a sad expression like a woman who loves a man who knows that the man will never look back at her. The sight of the back. The hand movement, the dishes that were being washed by the hand, and the dishes that were being stacked to the side.

‘…empty dishes.’

When was the last time she received empty dishes? To be precise, she received empty dishes many times. However, she could not remember when it was the last time that all the dishes were empty regardless of the type.

There weren’t many things that Rachel changed. She either changed some ingredients, the cooking method, or the garnish. But those changes transformed Deborah’s dishes into something else.

“So the problem… was with me.”

The answer was not far away. What bothered Deborah the most was that the changes that Rachel made were things Deborah thought herself. But Deborah couldn’t serve those recipes.

The reason was simple. She was afraid. How would others receive her attempt at her challenges? What would happen if demi-glace sauce didn’t have additional ingredients, no matter how she cooked the meat people are bound to look at the sauce.

She could have experimented for longer. But she didn’t want to give test pieces to the customers, but using that as an excuse will only make her dishes less interesting and cliche.

In the end, she couldn’t bring about a change. Rather than receiving harsh criticism she just watched as the customers slowly became tired of her dish. After seeing the dishes, Deborah received a revelation.

“…I have been a moron.”

“Don’t say things like a moron so casually.”

Deborah looked toward the direction of the voice. It was Jo Minjoon. Deborah shook her head as she smiled.

“No, I am not casually using it. I deserve to be called a moron.”

“It is not always easy to challenge yourself. Any chef will feel what you feel Deborah. My experience of leading the kitchen is limited to when I was on Grand Chef, so I cannot say much …”

“Have you ever thought about the Michelline star?”

Deborah asked in a slightly exhausted and sad voice. Jo Minjoon tapped his finger on the kitchen table for a while before speaking.

“Who wouldn’t think about it. There are a lot of people who say that they have lost time going after the Micheline Star restaurant, but I have never been disappointed so far. Also, I live in Korea. So there are no Michelin Star restaurants there, so I am always curious. What sort of restaurants get recognized by the Michelin.”

“… do you ask that as a customer, or is it as a chef?”

“As a customer… I don’t know. As a chef, I sometimes think Michelin could be short-sighted, but other times I think it is envious.”

Deborah remained silent at Jo Minjoon’s words. She looked toward one side of the kitchen. There was a coated frame that had the article written about the Rose Island Vegas branch and the number of stars it had.

“At one point I was very proud of that. And I wanted to do anything to receive a Micheline Star. This is what I thought before receiving one. The stars will come my way if I do what I normally do. And I wasn’t wrong. Michelin gave me a star. One. At first, I was happy. And I believed that the only thing remaining was to increase the number of stars.”

“So after that, all you thought about was the stars.”

“Yes. That’s correct. Once I received a star, all that I could think of was the stars. Do you know what happens after you receive one Michelin Star? You don’t need to worry about the sales. The name Rose Island is enough to attract and excite people, also you become less afraid because you received a star.”

Jo Minjoon understood what Deborah was saying to him. But at the same time, there were things that he didn’t understand.

“Everything is guaranteed. Then you could have experimented. Even if you failed once or twice, you will still have been fully booked.”

“Are you saying that I haven’t experimented?”

“… to be honest it was a really easy dish to read. It was even easier because you personally talked to me before.”

“Yes. It is an obvious dish. A dish that says that the head chef is being overly cautious. Do you know what is funny? Head chefs from other restaurants complain because they have to sell what the owner wants to sell. But for me, I don’t have to worry about sales because I could sell whatever. But since I was afraid of criticism I haven’t changed the menu from the previous year.”

Deborah’s voice became dark. Jo Minjoon patted her on the shoulder.

“What are you going to do now?”

“It is now clear on what I must do. Rachel has shown me what I must do. What sort of direction I need to move, and what is holding me back. Since she has done all that, if I put the same things on the table… then I would really be considered a moron. At that point, you can say to me that I am a moron. No, if I really do that I will change my name to Moron. All right?”

“I will remember it.”

Jo Minjoon shrugged his shoulder. Deborah smiled as she looked at him.

“Anyway, you are amazing.”

“What?”

“I don’t know what you did but all of my demi-chefs are amazed by you. Your skill. To be precise it’s not just your skills. But compared to the other demi-chefs you have the shortest experience.”

“Although my experience in the kitchen might be short, but my cooking experience is longer than you might imagine.”

“Even if you say that, it is still amazing. It is different cooking at a restaurant than it is at home. Also, it is a different cooking in someone else’s kitchen. Do you feel like your skill are increasing after joining Rachel’s kitchen?”

“Is that even a question that you should ask? Rachel is one of the most skilled chefs in the world. It will be a problem if I haven’t learned anything from her.”

“I am sure you will be a great teacher. As a chef.”

Jo Minjoon looked at her with a surprised expression. He then asked in a curious voice.

“Why?”

“Women’s intuition.”

**********

That night, Deborah didn’t go home but stayed in the kitchen. Although there weren’t many tags in Star Book about Rose Island of Las Vegas, there were positive comments.

There were few comments about how they received help from Rachel since she was in Las Vegas with the food truck… but she didn’t mind it. Because it was true. But there was no time for those thoughts because she had to concentrate, how to improve the recipes that Rachel imparted to her.

‘…boil the scallops for a bit longer so that it tougher than normal. Then the scent will be mixed with the chewy texture for a longer time. And …’

There is a thing called standard cooking. But just because it’s a standard doesn’t mean you have to follow it all the time. Sometimes by moving away from the standard can you make a tastier dish. Just like how there are times when well-done steak can be better than medium-rare steak.

‘Even if it is the standard, it’s just a reference.’

At this point, she wasn’t interested in the standard. It was her own creativity. Her own selfish desire, and her own vision. And Rachel’s advice allowed her to complete her dish.

“Do I have to keep it like this…”

“That is your choice.”

When she heard a sudden voice, she turned around to look at where that voice came from. And she was frozen. Behind her was Rachel. She spoke in a perplexed voice.

“Chef. I mean, teacher.”

“Choose one. Are you going to call me chef? Or will you call me teacher?”

“…for today I will call you chef. I forget when the last time I called you that was.”

Nothing is harder than seeing an old disciple making a fool of herself. Rachel sighed.

“I knew that you would be here, so I came. I knew you would be stuck. You were thinking of something unnecessary again weren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t say it is unnecessary. Do I stick with what I know? Or do I accept what you have created for me?”

“I have not given you all the answers. It’s just an example.”

“…just an example?”

Rachel didn’t answer Deborah’s question. Deborah didn’t ask because she understood what Rachel had said. So Deborah went into deep thought. Seeing Deborah thinking deeply, Rachel slowly spoke.

“Do you know what I open the restaurant after I met Minjoon?”

“There was a lot of talk amongst the head chef because of that. No, maybe even the whole world was talking about that. Was it a coincidence that Rachel Rose opened her restaurant after meeting the person with the absolute taste or did the person with the absolute taste just happen to be at the place where Rachel Rose opened her restaurant?”

“For ten years I lost my way. I didn’t have the courage to follow Daniel no matter how hard I tried. But things changed after I met Minjoon.”

Deborah bit her lips as she nervously looked at Rachel. This was the first time that she heard the story about him from Rachel so she had to be nervous.

“I could feel something in him that I do not have. He could think of something that I could not think of. If I raise him like Daniel, I am sure that I would have surpassed Daniel at that point.”

“…I don’t like the thought of that. Chef Daniel’s cooking was great, but the Rachel Rose that I know does not fall behind Daniel. So please don’t lower yourself.”

“Yes. I will stop lowering myself. I realized that I shouldn’t do that. Minjoon and Daniel are different. But they have a similarity. It is the taste. When he says that is it good, that is when I feel relieved. But, I’ve been thinking these days.”

Rachel picked up a piece of almond. The size of almond was a quarter of what it used to be so it was difficult to pick it up. But she was able to put it in her mouth. Crack. Crack. The almond cracked under her teeth. Then she followed.

“Do I have to receive other people’s permission to cook the food that I trust?”

“I want to say no, but I couldn’t do that until now… it is really funny. Right?”

“No, Not really.”

“… yes.”

Deborah looked down. Rachel patted her on the head as she smiled.

“But sometimes you need permission. No, maybe everyone needs permission. You are doing well and you know it. There are no problems in your life. You are not wrong. Do you understand me, Deborah?”

Rachel proudly said Deborah’s name. When Deborah looked at Rachel, she had a smile on her face. It was a smile that washed away all the doubts. For both the person smiling and the person who was receiving the smile.

“You are a good chef. I trust you. So you should trust yourself.”

If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry 🙁

<Step by Step (5)> End.