Spread-out Wings (5)

After shooting had begun, Kang Byungyoon had several chances to try Jo Minjoon’s and Kaya’s cooking. Each time he was able to realize exactly what people meant by them being the real deal very clearly.

In particular, when he had tried Jo Reggiano, Kang Byungyoon’s emotions had reached their peak. It was not simply a matter of it being delicious. Everyone knows how parmigiano reggiano’s taste changes as it ages. However, who else would have taken it upon himself to express that difference in taste?

‘…It’s an unbelievably sexy idea.’

When he relived those memories, Kang Byungyoon felt like he was going to shudder. When he had been traveling around the United States back then, he had seen a few places selling Jo Reggiano, but he had not tried it even once because he had been waiting to try the one made by Jo Minjoon, himself, first. Because it was Jo Minjoon and not some other chef. He wanted to stubbornly stick to his decision, at least for that reason.

And that stubbornness had rewarded him fully. He had been worried at times. What would he do if Jo Reggiano was not as impressive as he thought? Just hearing that the difference in aging was expressed through taste was a frighteningly sensual idea, but it would also not be that impressive in actuality. It could just be something novel, and that would be all there was to it.

However, Jo Minjoon was not someone you had to worry over something like that about. The moment he took a bite of Jo Reggiano, Kang Byungyoon felt he immediately had an impression of this Jo Minjoon person’s cooking.

The Six Meats could not be ignored, either. Sometimes people would point at the Six Meats and say it was too heavily influenced by Jo Minjoon, but honestly, Kang Byungyoon did not really care. The two were a married couple and also friends. They saw each other’s cooking every day, so it was only natural for them to influence and be influenced by the other.

And the dish that they had placed before him now was one made by them influencing each other to their limits.

“…What is its name?”

“Sorry?”

“This dish. I thought it would be nice to know its name before I try it, at least.”

It was an unnecessarily over-the-top line he had said. As if he were some character in a movie asking his killer his or her name before he dies. Jo Minjoon grinned while he spoke¹. While someone may have called it childish, he already knew that this is how true passion looked like.

Jo Minjoon looked back at Kaya. They had just finished the dish. There was no way they had a name come to mind already. Jo Minjoon opened his mouth slightly to speak.

“···Grilled Fish and Tomato?”

“Shut up.”

“And you’ve got a better idea?”

“I’m thinking right now.”

Kaya wracked her brain. It was always drudgery to name a completed recipe. To the point that one had to wonder if giving it a name was harder than actually crafting the recipe. Kaya agonized over it with her arms folded.

“First off, the most important factors to its taste are olives, tomatoes, and cod, so… Cod Fallen on Tomatoes?”

“Overused.”

“It’s far better than what you suggested before, though?”

“How about Jotus² Cod.”

“I said shut up.”

Right after they had overcome a crisis together, Kaya and Jo Minjoon began bickering again as if they had never experienced that happiness. Kang Byungyoon could not help but let out a sigh while watching those two. Would the world ever learn how these top geniuses they were keeping tabs on actually engaged in childish fights like this?

However, that was why they were even more frightening. This ordinariness that did not look particularly different from other people’s. What appeared to others as their shortcomings were, in fact, not shortcomings at all. They were in fact head and shoulders above anyone else. That was why anything that would have been normally considered shortcomings only made them seem that much more impressive.

“May I make a recommendation?”

“What is it?”

“Cod That Swallowed Tomatoes.”

Immediately, Jo Minjoon’s eye began to twitch. The structure of that phrase was not exactly unfamiliar to him. There was such a thing, after all. It was similar to the title of a drama that had been popular for a long time in Korea³.

“That sounds good.”

However, Kaya immediately nodded her head. Actually, she wanted to hurry and conclude this meaningless discussion about its name. Jo Minjoon, who had immediately wanted to say something in reply, kept his mouth shut. It would not really be an issue. Kang Byungyoon looked at Jo Minjoon. Seeing the earnestness in his eyes, Jo Minjoon nodded his head as if he had lost.

“Sure, we’ll go with that.”

“Wow! I’ve given this dish that will go down in history its name!”

Kang Byungyoon had clenched his fists tightly and had a look on his face as if he would die from happiness. It looked like he was happier to have given a dish its name than to have shot a good scene.

‘What a peculiar person.’

He wondered how things would have turned out if Kang Byungyoon had been a chef or a gourmand instead of a PD. But it was because he had become a PD that people were able to experience such high-class cooking documentaries.

Kang Byungyoon lifted his fork, finally. His chest was already beating hard. The cod, which had been seared a light brown with a hint of yellow, exuded the sensuous charm of a beautiful lady. It was making him salivate from just looking at it. He sniffed it slightly, and the olive scent subtly wafting from the tomato soup tickled his nose. It felt as if his nose, tongue, and throat had all already been cleansed thoroughly.

And soon that cod would be sliding down this cleansed esophagus.

‘…I feel like my heart will stop.’

He was not kidding. Given how its aroma alone was making him excited in anticipation, how would it feel like to actually place a bit in his mouth?

Kang Byungyoon, with his heart beating fast, placed a knife against the cod’s flesh. The cod’s flesh, as all cods’ are, was soft and fragile. But whatever method they used to grill the skin, the skin was somehow just as easy to cut as the flesh. It felt like it would tear the moment the blade touched it.

Was the knife that sharp? Or was it because they cooked it so well? He thought he knew quite a bit about cooking himself, but Kang Byungyoon, honestly, could not properly understand Jo Minjoon’s cooking. His cooking felt more like magic than cooking.

He loaded his fork with plenty of the cod’s meat. Kang Byungyoon lifted the loaded fork and took a moment to take in the visual before carefully placing it in his mouth.

It felt like a waterfall’s water crashing down.

“Ah…!”

He had no way to hold back that exclamation. The cameraman, who was his actual younger brother, was looking at him with an expression that said, ‘There he goes again,’ but Kang Byungyoon could not even be bothered to be concerned about that. Rather, his brother’s frown looked more loving to him, instead. The love and happiness in his mouth were overflowing, making him feel like anything he looked at would make him laugh.

It was an inconceivable taste. When he first took a look at the dish, Kang Byungyoon thought that it would simply be cod seeped with the flavor of tomatoes and olives. And he thought that would be the main taste of the dish.

His thought had only been half right. The taste of tomatoes and olives did indeed fill the cod. However, that was only the equivalent of a bonus in taste.

“What’s this taste…?”

“It’s the taste of cod.”

“You’re telling me cod was capable of tasting like this?”

Kang Byungyoon scoffed. It was a taste he had never experienced in his life. Rather, he had tasted it, but he had never really registered with him before and had just passed him by. Why was it? Along with the feeling of his blood vessels constricting, Kang Byungyoon could feel goosebumps all over his body.

“We’ve captured the juiciness of cod. The actual taste of cod can actually be found within its meat, but it was trapped within it and not properly drawn out… So I had decided to draw it out through a broth made from tomatoes and olives. Also, I’m sure you can taste it at this point, the taste of tomato pesto.”

“…Yes. I can taste it.”

Even up until a moment ago, Kang Byungyoon’s voice had been filled with joy, but now it felt more somber. It was unmanageable for him. He had never thought there would be a taste he would even find unmanageable to understand, but this dish was exactly that. Why in the world did it have this particular taste? What was the taste he was experiencing? And why did he like this taste? He was not even sure he knew the answer to that question.

It felt like he was inside a car that had been moving on the road when it was suddenly sent flying into the air. He had no control over all the tastes he was experiencing. He felt like he was being controlled by the taste. He felt like he was being drawn out by the taste. It felt like he had lost all authority he had over his taste.

Kang Byungyoon was immediately frightened. Once he had experienced this taste, from here on, he thought all cod dishes would not feel like cod for the rest of his life. It was that type of dish. It was that type of taste.

It was perfect. The moment he bit into the cod, the cod’s juices, the tomato broth, and the cod whose taste rode the boundary between those two were all perfect. Even the existence of the tomato pesto that was placed on top gave a refreshing boost to what could have been lacking.

The funny thing is, the presence of the tomato pesto was not for doubling the taste of the tomato broth. Rather, it was to be able to distinguish the taste of the tomato broth. That this was the real taste of tomatoes. That what you had thought tasted like tomato broth was actually the taste of the cod. Like that.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked,” Kang Byungyoon said, sounding deflated.

The cameraman inwardly thought it was strange how Kang Byungyoon looked. He had seen Kang Byungyoon’s delighted look many times before, but this was the first time he was seeing Kang Byungyoon look so defeated.

‘Was it that different···?’

He was curious as to how it tasted, but sadly, he was not privileged to try the dish. Kang Byungyoon lifted his fork once more. Even though Kang Byungyoon’s gaze at the plate was filled with fear, his obsession with taste outweighed it

‘This is what real ‘drug cod’ is.’

‘Drug spicy stir-fried ricecake⁴. Drug⁵ hotdog. He had thought people were just being smart-asses by adding ‘drug’ to their names, but now he finally understood. Calling a food ‘drug’ was to say the food had such an addicting taste, you cannot free yourself from the addiction. This dish’s taste was just like that.

Jo Reggiano and the Six Meats had an even different taste. They had different concepts and were different dishes. Kang Byungyoon did not think that this dish was the best among the three. However, he was sure of one thing. This dish was the most aggressive dish ever. It had a taste that, rather than making a guest happy, would make them feel like they’d pass out from having been struck by lightning.

‘If normal people ate this, what would happen?’ Kang Byungyoon thought immediately.

He was sure they would feel the same sense of shock he had felt. Or perhaps they would have no idea what had hit them and move on quickly.

However, he was to get his answer soon. Whether or not they thought about it, this taste would completely destroy all common knowledge they possess.

‘It’s a taste that shouldn’t be released into the world.’

Amusingly, Kang Byungyoon was serious about that thought. If this taste were to be released to the world, people would not be able to help but become passionate followers of Jo Minjoon and Kaya.

‘The Michelin evaluation could even potentially change.’

Perhaps the thought that a single dish would increase the number of Michelin stars was a bit over the top, but he would not find it strange at all if that became reality. If someone who could be fairly considered a certain level of gourmand was this surprised, then if the people of Michelin, who were even more of a gourmand, tried it, how would they feel?

The more one learns about cooking, the more one understands the breadth and depth of the culinary world, the more one would crumble beneath this taste. One would have to acknowledge Jo Minjoon and Kaya’s genius. And one would also realize that what one had considered cooking until this point was just them being a frog trapped in a well.

Kang Byungyoon looked at Jo Minjoon and Kaya. The two of them were looking at him, laughing meaningfully, as if they knew what thoughts were going through his mind. Kang Byungyoon looked at those two demons and conceded.

Their era had come.

CREDITS:
Original author: 양치기자리
Translator: Comic Seoul
Proofreader: Potato

1. this seems to be an error in the text…. ↩︎
2. Jotus, not Lotus. It’s supposed to be Jo + Lotus ↩︎
3. Sorry, brain failing. Can’t recall which drama it is. Please remember this novel was written like before 2016, so it’s an older one. ↩︎
4. i.e. Ddeokbokki ↩︎
5. In Korea, this had become a trend. The following sentences in the paragraph explain it. ↩︎