Like Stacking Legos (part 9)
The reason Jo Minjoon thought that is simple. It is in regards to the one weakness he pointed out to Rachel. Well, one could not really call it a weakness. It was simply the difference when comparing Rachel’s cooking to Daniel’s.
Rachel’s ability to highlight multiple tastes with a single ingredient definitely falls short of Daniel’s. However, that is more due to Daniel’s astonishing sensory cooking and is not indicative of anything lacking by Rachel.
What could Rachel be thinking?
It has been 10 years. After Daniel had passed away, Rachel abandoned everything and secluded herself. Of course, that is not saying Rachel spent that time doing nothing all. Very occasionally she had attempted to fill Daniel’s shoes1.
However, she ultimately failed. It is obvious why. Daniel’s shoes are his own. She cannot make someone else’s shoes her own2.
In such a situation, what could Rachel have been thinking? She spent 10 years thinking she could not fill Daniel’s shoes, nor catch up to him.
To speak honestly, Jo Minjoon could understand Rachel’s despair.
How could someone not despair under such circumstances? Daniel had been her rival in competition and the pillar she could lean on. But within a single morning, both her goal and her place of repose disappeared. She no longer had a home to return to for rest and no goal to set her sights on and chase after.
At the end of such a life, with Jo Minjoon pleading with her not to give up and to continue her pursuit, would she be able to continue chasing as she was? Even if Rachel had thought to not attempt to get up again, it would not have been because she is weak. It would simply be the natural ending for the process whose path she had been trodding on until that point.
However, Rachel has changed the promised ending.
The proof of that was in this dish which had now disappeared into their bellies.
Jo Minjoon looked down at the plate that had a bit of cream left on it. He then scraped the cream off and placed it in his mouth. Annie giggled and said, “It looks like you enjoyed it.”
“It was so satisfying I have nothing else to say3.”
It was just as he had said. Jo Minjoon honestly found it hard to believe the combination of buttermilk chip, whipped cream, and cherry trout roe could culminate in such a taste.
It is not a taste that could be experienced by normal people who are merely placing the buttermilk chip, whipped cream, and cherry trout roe in their mouths. First off, the whipped cream was normal: it was sweet and creamy. However, as far as whipped cream goes, it was the absolute sweetest and creamiest that whipped cream can be.
The buttermilk chip and cherry trout roe were similarly unusual. Buttermilk’s unique light taste was seeped into the chip. It had been baked enough to be crunchy but the moment it was placed in one’s mouth, it melted… for there were holes penetrating the chip throughout its entirety. It does not take a genius to see how much sweat and effort Rachel spent in making the chip simultaneously firm and soft.
The cherry trout roe was the same. People who do not understand would probably ask just what is so special about cherry trout roe. It is an understandable question. The roe had been placed on the cream without any other processing.
However that is also the most difficult aspect of it.
No matter how incredible Rachel is, she is unable to change the taste of the cherry trout roe. That left only one method: to find the perfect roe in cherry trout roe to pair with the buttermilk chip and whipped cream. To find that perfect roe, how many eggs must Rachel have tasted to select cherry trout roe?
If you are one who appreciates romance and the arts, after eating this dish, you will surely effuse about your admiration for it. If you think of all the time Rachel invested into this single dish of cherry trout roe, you can tell that despite how simple its exterior looks, it does not lack in depth.
“…But I am a bit sad, too. I’m pretty sure not even half the people would be impressed by how special this dish is.”
“Sorry? What makes you say that?” Annie asked in a bewildered voice. She could not understand how someone could fully partake in the dish yet not be impressed. She wondered was this a roundabout way of saying the dish did not taste that great.
Jo Minjoon scratched his temple for a bit trying to figure out how to put it into words.
“Because you won’t be able to appreciate the taste if you don’t concentrate.”
“Concentrate? What would you concentrate on?”
“Mm… Well…”
“I’ll explain that,” Kaya interjected.
“The main point of this dish is the changing taste of the whipped cream. At first, all you can taste is the sweetness of the cream, but as the cherry trout roe bursts in your mouth, what should have been a heavier taste becomes lighter and refreshing instead. Meanwhile, the crunchiness of the buttermilk chip giving way to melting is another way of conveying the change. During this process, the impression the whipped cream gives keeps changing. However, if you are unable to understand how this transformation process goes… then you would actually not be able to understand the taste of this dish.”
It was a lengthy explanation, so Annie had difficulty following it. At the same time, Annie had to question her own self: is she able to properly understand the taste Kaya had spoken of?
It is only natural to have such questions. Even if normal people attempt to properly experience a taste, they are unable to analyze and understand it. Or in short, they do not try to think about it. One can think of this as the difference between a gourmet and a normal person.
Annie could not afford to be lost in thought for long. She soon brought out bread as an appetizer. Knowing full well the two of them would not be able to finish it, the small basket had been stuffed overflowing with bread. There was so much bread, the two of them could get full on just the bread alone.
“There seems to be more bread than there used to be.”
“It looks like Marco put some effort into it… For his sake, please try some.”
“Sure thing.”
Normally, Jo Minjoon does not eat a lot of the appetizer bread. He eats maybe just one or two bites of it. He feels he can gauge what the restaurant’s pâtissier’s level of skill is based off it.
Should he eat a lot of the appetizer bread, it was because the dish had an unbelievably delicious sauce. Eating all of the garnish and sopping up every bit of sauce with the bread may not look all that dignified, but it is incredibly satisfying.
Jo Minjoon swirled a sip of white wine in his mouth. The aroma of peaches was strong and the sour and slightly bitter taste prickled the insides of his mouth.
The insides of his mouth felt sticky. Normally, after having something like sweet cream, he would tend to be salivating for something more to eat, but now that he had some wine, he feels it even more so now. If only he could hurry and try the next dish.
He did not have to wait long.
The next dish was an eel dish. It had been marinated in teriyaki sauce and apple juice and grilled over an open fire. On the side were a sauce made from a mixture of white bean purée and mayonnaise and a sauce made from apples with a pudding-like texture. The sauces had been plated lengthwise alongside the eel as if spread by a brush.
Jo Minjoon did not hesitate to cut a piece of eel and breathe in its aroma. The intense aroma unique to teriyaki sauce mixed with the oiliness of eel stimulated his nostrils.
He opened and closed his mouth. The eel’s flesh was crushed in his jaws and the oil and juices hidden deep within the flesh seemed to come flowing out. The teriyaki sauce and bean sauce blended together and the taste they created was so deceptively light it could make you forget about the richness of the eel. He did not even think about the ginger.
The perfect pairing of the apple-based sauce produced similar effects. If the softness and lightness of the bean sauce cut into the oiliness of the eel, then the apple-based sauce made it refreshing. Kaya, who was right next to him, was moaning in enjoyment. Since her sense of taste and smell are more sensitive than Jo Minjoon’s, what she was experiencing was most likely more intense than what he had experienced.
‘I am so envious of that.’
He thought that even if he could not possess as much talent as Kaya, it would be so great if he could just enjoy food as much as she does.
Jo Minjoon raised a glass of wine. Despite him not being the drinking type, this eel dish was making him reach for some alcohol, and he was rewarded for doing so. As soon as the remnants of sauce and oil from the eel met the wine in his mouth, the taste bubbled up like when ice meets cider.
Of course, that lasted only for a brief moment. When he swirled the wine in his mouth and swallowed it, it felt like all that was left in Jo Minjoon’s mouth was his appetite. There were no more traces of any tastes left.
Thanks to this cleansing, he did not grow tired of the dish. He felt he could finish off ten more plates of eel.
More dishes continued to come out after that. Every time the dish changed, the accompanying alcohol changed: from fruity beer to ginseng wine and then to sweet white wine.
A codfish dish cooked sous-vide came out and a dish cut thinly like spaghetti came out. The soaked vegetables and the skin of the codfish looked black all over, but Annie said that it was not ink but a special sauce made from seaweed.
Next came sautéed shallots accompanied by black truffles. Here, too, Jo Minjoon could sense Rachel’s transformation. This was not a dish anyone could say is delicious. No, to be more precise, they would think it is delicious but could not tell what was so special about it.
But Jo Minjoon could tell. Rachel’s specialness— a specialness incomparable to her past self.
People probably would not find anything special from eating it. They would think it was simply sautéed shallots accompanied by truffles and think it is a normal dish one could get anywhere. They would think it was simply the accompanying gourmet ingredient, the truffle, that was making the dish.
But that was not true at all. First off, the way the shallots had been crushed was already different. At one point, it felt more like porridge that was disintegrating inside his mouth, but at another, the texture stood out. The taste of the onion at one point tasted more like potatoes, and suddenly, at another point, it tasted more like onions. And at that moment when the truffle’s uniquely fragrant taste spreads… He found it difficult to even express it.
And then the main dishes came out. First up were six types of meat all prepared sous-vide. There may have been six meats, but each was different. Each of the meats had been marinated in its own way. And in the center of the meats was placed a green foam made from peas. At the very bottom was a thin sauce made from the juices of the meats. The taste from each of the meats combine a bit in it.
‘…Ah,’ Jo Minjoon groaned inwardly because the next dish looked familiar to him.
It looked a bit like pig’s trotters, but it actually was a foie gras dish. The foie gras had a thick coating of crushed nuts on the outside. And at the end of it was a skewer you could pick it up by.
When he picked the stick of foie gras up and put the whole piece in his mouth, Jo Minjoon could immediately tell what Rachel’s understanding of foie gras is. Foie gras is well-known as a bite-sized dish. The oily taste of foie gras came exploding forth in that instant. The balsamic sauce that was coating the nuts cut into the greasiness soon after. It was an enjoyable greasiness, a refreshing greasiness.
That is a ridiculous way of expressing it, but that is how it was.
At that moment, Jo Minjoon was able to feel that Rachel is someone who fights against overwhelming talent. Just as he is fighting against Kaya, Rachel is in a similar position as him.
That is why Jo Minjoon could instinctively tell these dishes of Rachel’s were her answer to him.
Rachel was confronting Daniel with everything she has accumulated over time. The weapon with which Rachel is able to pierce Daniel through is to be the weapon with which Jo Minjoon can pierce Kaya through.
Jo Minjoon looked carefully at Rachel’s weapon.
In that moment, that weapon had become his.
CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato