Chapter 118 - Chapter 118: Hunger Trip (2)

The symbol of the perfect palate, Cho Min Joon.

Most people have at least one dream, but no one can abandon everything they have just to make that one dream come true. For that reason, my whole journey to meet the young man was full of excitement. How many people could say they made a mark at a competition in America with his passion or cooking alone?

He wasn’t able to win, but he gained the recognization that chefs in Korea can’t obtain over decades. He might not be as famous in Korea where cooking competitions aren’t as popular, but if one had to pick the most famous chef from Korea, it would be him. By typing in his name on the internet, countless articles come up, so it’s useless to argue about how famous he is.

Some might say it’s unfair that he’s the most popular when he’s so inexperienced, but I don’t agree with that. Cho Min Joon has the right to be popular. He had the courage to fly over to America with just his passion, and he also has the perfect palate.

In order to interview him, I raced to a café in Bundang, and due to my anticipation and excitement, I almost got into an accident many times. At the end of that dangerous journey, Cho Min Joon greeted me with a soft smile.

You are off to a better start than any other chef in Korea. How do you feel?

“When it comes to cooking, even if you’ve grilled it, seasoned it, and plated it perfectly if you trip on your way to the customer, it’s all over. For me, in that process, I didn’t even finish grilling properly. So I feel especially cautious right now. If I thought I completely ruined it, I’d be bolder, but at least my first step was good.”

Why is it that you were never fully aware of your perfect palate?

“Hm… the truth is, I can’t really say I have a perfect palate. I can just sense ingredients really well. And as for the scores I put on dishes, I just look at the cooking status and things like that.”

But when I saw you get all 20 ingredients right, I got shivers up my spine. That’s impossible for anyone else. On top of that, you even got the parts of the meat right.

(He just smiled in response.)

I heard you’re planning to quit college. Don’t you think you might regret it?

“No. I feel like if I continue to go and waste time, I’d regret that even more. Life is short, and my 20s will never return. It’s the most precious time, so I want to spend it doing what I love most.”

When you mentioned love, I was reminded of this… That woman who was portrayed as your love interest throughout the whole show.

“Oh…” (He looked like he saw it coming.)

May I ask what your real relationship is with Kaya Reuters?

“The truth is, I thought about it when I watched clips of me and Kaya. It was like a drama, but what I know for certain right now is that we’re just friends.”

With that aside, I think you two resemble each other quite a bit. In terms of cooking, that is. Kaya tends to play with different cultures and so do you. What do you think about that?

“I’ve thought about that a lot actually. Kaya is able to portray food from any country as if it’s her own, but I can’t do that. Kaya never learned how to cook. She just got used to it by doing it in normal life.”

And?

“If you look at famous chefs, they research and develop one dish over decades. I’m talking about ox bone soup, hand-pulled noodles, beansprout rice soup, and sushi. No matter how much I improve, will I be able to surpass people who make ox bone soup or hand-pulled noodles?”

That’ll be hard.

“No, it’s impossible. It shouldn’t be possible considering the care they put into their craft, so I had been conflicted for a while. The more dishes I make, the more shallow they get.”

You had you had been. Does that mean you overcame it?

“I think I found the answer. Everyone has their own field, and ours are all different. Whether or not we hop from nationality to nationality, just like how when you mix red and blue, and it looks dirty at first, if you keep mixing, it turns purple. That color could be mine.”

I was in awe during this conversation. The biggest reason why I wanted to meet him was his perfect palate, but after a while, I just wanted to know more about the cooking world.

For most average chefs, especially young chefs who are not geniuses, it’s hard to understand the philosophy of cooking, but is it because of the situation? He had to think about a lot of things and as a result, he established his own cooking beliefs, and that’s what made him look so charming to me. The deeper a chef’s suffering, the deeper their flavors.

…(delete)…

Cho Min Joon will soon appear on the tasting tour program, Hunger Trip. When people find this out, they focus on the fact that a Korean is starring in an American TV show, but I want to shift the focus elsewhere.

If this talented young chef experiences all sorts of different food cultures and makes it his own, how enjoyable would his restaurant be in the future? Cho Min Joon said his ultimate goal is to make people happy with his food. I think his dream will come true because just the thought of it makes me happy already.

***

Song Min Ki: Cho Min Joon is so cool.

Ahn Ye Seul: He’s totally my man.

Nope Man: Nope.

Ahn Ye Seul: @Nope Man …

Yogurt: Hunger Trip won’t air in our country, will it?

Dumb and Dumber: I heard it won’t. I don’t know about a cooking competition, but that show might be popular here…

Yogurt: @Dumb and Dumber There have been quite a few similar shows here, too. But that’s why it might not be popular. Why would people watch something with dubbing or subtitles if they could just watch a Korean version?

Lee Jung Seok: That reporter has no talent. Is that the best he could do? He should’ve asked when he’s getting married.

MJ: I saw Cho Min Joon in person, and he looks more handsome in real life.

Nope Man: Nope.

Cho Min Joon read through the comments. His recognition in Korea was along the lines of ‘Oh, I’ve heard that before’ and ‘I heard he has the perfect palate.’ Not many people recognized him on the streets, and when people did, they didn’t ask for his autograph. Only some asked for his picture…

And in this place, he got no attention at all. Brazil. Cho Min Joon had a piece of paper with Emily Porter’s name on it around his neck and stood at the arrival hall. Cho Min Joon spoke to the cameraman in charge of him, “Emily is running late. The plane should’ve landed an hour ago. Is she taking a while at customs?”

The cameraman didn’t answer. He couldn’t let his voice be filmed on camera.

He heard there were many cast members, but today, only he would film with Emily. It was like a mission where they had to find their teammates. Martin told him that the cast would slowly show themselves. He didn’t care about the other cast. What he cared about the most was the food he would get to eat.

‘Will we eat meat first?’

He thought of meat skewers. Churrasco. It was a Brazillian dish where they put meat and vegetables on a stick and grilled it. There were many dishes other than that, but that was all Cho Min Joon had tried.

At that moment, he saw a woman with blonde hair looking around outside the gate. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a Picasso painting on it. She also wore a grey and blue cardigan. He tried not to dress up too much, but she looked expensive. He could recognize her despite her sunglasses covering half her face. She was Emily Porter.

“Emily!”

Cho Min Joon raised his voice. Emily turned her head and approached with a smile.

“Oh, sorry I’m late.”

“Did something happen at customs?”

“Not me. Someone in front of me got caught with drugs.”

“… Brazil is scary.”

“America is the same. Not much different.”

Emily then took off her sunglasses. She squinted her eyes at the sunlight through the window and opened her mouth.

“Martin, where are we headed now?”

“Before I tell you, let me explain the basic rules.”

“Rules?”

In response to Emily’s confused face, Martin smiled.

“You must remember to have 3 meals a day. It doesn’t matter if you eat out or cook. Just make sure you eat enough to be full.”

“What if we don’t?”

“There will be a penalty. For example, you’ll have to sleep outside or get less money for spending.”

“… Okay. What else?”

“Since it’s the first day, let me pull a prank.”

“A prank?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Emily and Cho Min Joon looked at each other without a word. Their faces mirrored each other. They both looked anxious. They both thought, ‘This isn’t as romantic as I thought…’ Martin checked the time and said, “It’s 10 AM. Since today is the first day of filming, I’ll give you a few benefits.”

“… What kind?”

Martin smirked.

“You can just eat lunch and dinner. I’ll let breakfast go.”

“… Sorry?”

They didn’t understand how that was a benefit. Emily showed a restless look on her face and asked, “How much money are you going to give us for food?”

“Who knows? You’ll decide.”

“We can choose how much money we’ll get?”

“You could say that.”

Martin held out a tin. Inside were wooden sticks. He spoke in a cunning voice, “Pick one.”