God of Cooking

Chapter 170: Overlapping Shadows (1)

“Oo……”

Ella grabbed her cheeks with a complicated expression. Watching Ella, Janet asked in a confident voice.

“What do you think? It’s tastier, right?”

“……I like the one Uncle Minjoon made better.”

“That’s fine. What you like is up to you. But what about the taste?”

Ella just silently twisted her lips at Janet’s question. It made her angry, but the ones Janet made were much tastier than the ones Jo Minjoon made her. Her sullen expression became the answer. Jo Minjoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Ella. It’s proper etiquette to say it is tasty if it is tasty.”

“Uncle’s jelly is tasty too.”

Maybe she didn’t want to say Jo Minjoon lost even if she died; Ella started to tear up in frustration. Could there be any other fan who was so passionate? Janet asked in a stiff voice.

“Did I just become the villain?”

“Not a villain, probably just an evil witch who bothers the fairy.”

“……I’ve been called a witch quite often.”

He was half joking, but Janet’s response was quite serious. Jo Minjoon felt like he was getting the chills and looked at Janet. Did she say she was Taiwanese and Japanese? She didn’t look much different than Koreans so he felt quite a bit of familiarity at first, but the more he got to know Janet, he realized that she was really hard to understand (Note: Anderson thought the same of you)

‘Based on how she treats Ella, she doesn’t seem that bad of a person.’

Of course, it is hard to determine a person’s nature just by how they treat children. However, the expression that Janet shows Ella every so often was full of love. It was almost as if she was looking at her own child. If it a person who can love someone else’s child that much, Jo Minjoon thought that they must have a good nature.

‘Even though she’s still thorny to the other people.’

Anderson was just as thorny so he didn’t really try to talk to Janet. The prep cooks were busy becoming friends with each other, and the bakers were the same way. We don’t even need to talk about the apprentice. Naturally, it was difficult for the apprentice to casually speak to the demi chefs.

A common stereotype about Western countries is a horizontal relationship at work without a hierarchy. Of course, there are some of those based on the company. But that was not the case in restaurants.

The reason a hierarchy is enforced in a restaurant can be explained by the nature of the profession. It had to be that way. As customers crowded the restaurant, the kitchen will end up becoming busier. Inevitably, people are going to become chaotic in those situations. In order for perfection to happen, a firm command system was crucial.

‘……I guess there really isn’t a reason for the demi chefs to be friendly with each other.’

We are going to be in different sections anyways, so there shouldn’t be many times our paths overlap each other. But that was only referring to the kitchen efficiency. No matter what, unless something weird happens, they were colleagues who would work together for many years. If it is awkward to see each other, that’ll probably be extremely difficult to handle.

With that in mind.

“Try eating this! It is a quiche that Miss Lisa made. It is the best quiche I’ve ever eaten!”

Javier was a pretty laid-back. A positive aura seemed to emanate from his entire body, and he was actually that type of person. Lisa spoke with a slightly embarrassed expression from behind Javier.

“Please don’t hype it up so much.”

“I’m not hyping it up. I’m just telling the truth?”

“Even just telling the truth is hyping it up. My bread is at that level.”

“……I guess there wasn’t a reason for me to hype it up.”

Lisa laughed mischievously at Javier’s words. Jo Minjoon was quite surprised. Lisa was pretty similar to Janet but quiet in a different way. It was really hard to see that type of bright smile on her face.

“Ah, Minjoon. What are you doing. Here, eat it.”

“You hype it up and raise my expectations and then you give me a tiny one like this?”

Jo Minjoon spoke in a disappointed voice. There was only a piece of pie the size of a finger on his plate. The crust was crispy and flaky, and melted cheese and dried tomatoes were baked on top of it. Quiche. It was a pie dish that the French often ate for a meal. Javier smiled brightly.

“We are chefs. You’re supposed to tell the aesthetics with a single bite.”

It was true. Jo Minjoon put the pie in his mouth and slowly chewed it. Maybe it was because it was a pie, but there was quite a bit of butter. The flavor spreading in his mouth was sweet, and the oily taste of the cheese was strong. Jo Minjoon quietly thought about it. Where was this cheese from? He combed through his memory to remember the name and found out he was right when he looked at the system. Jo Minjoon spoke with a satisfied expression.

“It is Gruyère cheese. The taste of the oil was strong.”

“You really do get it all right.”

“Gruyère cheese has a strong flavor. Ella, you must be happy. Does your mommy make you bread like this everyday?”

“Yes. But I like jelly more than bread.”

Lisa looked at Ella with a stern expression. Watching Ella turn away from feeling her stern expression, Janet warmly smiled. Of course, her expression changed back as soon as she made eye contact with Jo Minjoon.

“Janet, you must really like kids.”

“……What kind of person doesn’t like children?”

“You find them here and there. Saying they’re loud and annoying.”

“Uh, but I’m quiet. I also don’t annoy people.”

“Yes. It is because Ella is a good little girl.”

Jo Minjoon gently smiled at Ella who was protesting looking like she was being treated unfairly. Ella laughed and asked.

“But uncle, what will you be cooking? Auntie Janet said she was cooking ah……app……what was it called again?”

“Appetizer?”

“Oh, yes! Auntie said that’ll be her job. What about you, uncle?”

“Still debating.”

“I wish uncle will make jelly.”

Janet, who had been listening to Ella started to laugh. She started to laugh while trying to hold it back, but maybe she felt embarrassed by the eyes that turned towards her, she covered her mouth with her hand and turned around. Lisa approached Janet and started to speak.

“You must really like my daughter.”

“……You have a wonderful daughter. I’m envious of you.”

Not only did it seem honest, Janet’s voice also carried some kind of heaviness. But Lisa was Lisa. She did not panic and answered back with a heavy voice of her own.

“She’s my greatest pride and joy.”

“The two of you, I get that you’re getting close to each other, but don’t you think it feels too much like a documentary?”

“I didn’t give any life advice or anything?”

“Not all documentaries share life advice. Now instead of a documentary, hmm……what would be good?”

“In the kitchen, it is usually comedy or drama.”

Jo Minjoon answered as if he was joking. Javier smiled and started to speak.

“A drama would be nice. I think a comedy would be too tiring.”

“So what is it you would like to cook, Javier?”

“I’m sorry to Janet ……but I want appetizers as well.”

“The two of you are overlapping. Was appetizer always such a popular section?”

“It’s good for us.”

A sassy voice came from behind him. It was Anderson. Jo Minjoon looked at him and asked.

“I thought you were interested in apps as well. Where are you planning on going?”

“Pasta section.”

“……Hmm.”

Jo Minjoon crossed his arms and put a fist to his chin. It is called the pasta section, but in reality, it was the section that covered all grains, including risotto. It was also a section Jo Minjoon was interested in.

Each restaurant had a different way of splitting sections. Chinese restaurants tended to split it as noodles, fire, and knife sections, and western restaurants tended to do it differently based on size. Fish, meat, grains, you could split it based on ingredients like that …… or pan, oven, pot, etc, you could split it based on tools like that too.

Rachel had informed them there would be five sections. Main, which would be responsible for meat, fish, or steak. Appetizer to handle soup and mousse, carpaccio, ceviche, and other dishes like that. A section dedicated to pasta, risotto and other grain related dishes. The dessert and all oven-related section for bread and cakes, puddings, and other dishes was for Lisa as the patissier, and the remaining section was ……

‘Molecular gastronomy.’

Rachel had retired before molecular gastronomy was even developed. He wondered how much Rachel would even know about molecular gastronomy, but Rachel was confident. It was as if she had something she believed in.

One thing that was for sure was that Jo Minjoon had no thoughts about picking molecular gastronomy. He was definitely interested, but there was nothing he knew about it. If he was to take on molecular gastronomy, it would have to be at the beginner level. He wasn’t confident that he could properly serve in the demi chef role in that section.

If you were to consider the abilities of his system, the best section for him would be appetizer. Appetizers were the dishes that required the most finesse when it came to the proper ratio of ingredients. His system would allow him to find out something was wrong immediately, based on the points it awarded the dish.

But the section Minjoon wanted was pasta that Anderson wanted, or main. The majority of appetizers required persistence and patience rather than moment by moment reaction, and rather than that, Jo Minjoon wanted to fight against time and focus on pasta or steak where he would need to be on his game and focus all the time. That fit his style better. Jo Minjoon, who had been contemplating what to pick, let out a sigh and started to speak.

“……But who cares if we talk about it like this. It’s not like the method of determining the section has been decided.”

“That’s why it is important we talk like this. We have to at least say what we want to do and think about it, so that it doesn’t feel like we’re getting paid to do nothing.”

Jo Minjoon shrugged his shoulders at Javier’s words.

“I don’t know. I’m still unpaid.”

“Psh, why is that a problem? You got a credit card from Rachel and she’s even covering your housing.”

“Either way, I am still very worried about it. Oh, I am sure about one thing.”

He firmly spoke.

“I will not be doing molecular gastronomy.” (Note: Oh, sounds like that’s exactly where you are headed.)

*

“4,996, 4,998, 4,999……”

Jo Minjoon was counting numbers before staring at his phone for a while and then clicking refresh. Soon, he had a wide smile on his face.

“Five thousand people!”

“……You, you did it on purpose just so I would hear it, didn’t you.”

Rachel’s house. To be specific, Jo Minjoon’s room. Anderson looked at Jo Minjoon with a gruntled expression.

Jo Minjoon laughed as he answered.

“Are you jealous?”

“……Not really.”

The number that Jo Minjoon had been counting was the number of his fans on Starbook. Compared to Anderson who had started a long time ago and had only recently hit 4,000 fans, it was a much faster growth. Anderson grumbled as he started to speak.

“It’s because I don’t post much.”

“I don’t think so. You seem to post at least once a day. Something like a daily cooking tip.”

“……Shut up. I’m going to sleep.”

“Hey, don’t just lay down on someone else’s bed without permission.”

“I’ll buy it. This bed. How much is it?”

“Isaac said that the mattress alone was $4,000.”

Anderson jumped up once he heard that and looked at the bed. He pushed down on the bed and made a curious expression.

“This is my salary?”

“To be specific, it costs $500 more than your salary.”

“……You’re not even getting paid.”

“At first I was a bit disappointed, but this isn’t bad either. I get to sleep on a mattress that’s more expensive than a certain someone’s salary.”

“I want to come live here too.”

“I think that will be difficult until you defeat your parents.”

“Even if I get past them, I don’t know if teacher Rachel would accept me. I’m jealous. She pretty much treats you like a son. How does it feel?”

Jo Minjoon did not respond. It wasn’t like he was trying to ignore him. It was the alarm that popped up on his smartphone that made him freeze. Anderson looked at Jo Minjoon and made a weird expression.

“What. Did something happen?”

“……Uh, umm. Hey, is today the 25th?”

“No. The 23rd. Why?”

“Take a look.”

Jo Minjoon shortly answered while showing Anderson his phone. It was a picture that was on the screen. A picture with an airplane ticket. The destination was LAX. It was the airport in LA. Arrival date, August 25th. Anderson asked in a strange voice.

“What about it?”

Jo Minjoon pressed the top of his screen rather than answering. The words that appeared made Anderson let out a sigh with a nervous look on his face.

[Kaya: The woman who really needs to diet, will be there soon.]

< Overlapping Shadows (1) > End

Translator: Miraclerifle

Proofreader: Miraclerifle

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