Chapter 227 - My coworker is my best teacher (2)

However, after making the pomegranate dessert this time, Min-joon felt like he could understand why she was so picky to some extent. Although his cooking level was still 7, he came to learn another point of perspective that he must have when cooking, namely understanding of the place and customers.

Customers feel cold rather than delicious when they eat ice cream in a cold place. Likewise, Janet and Javier had to take into account the fact that this was a restaurant above all, and they needed to understand the course that they would serve.

But Min-joon thought he couldn’t tell them what it was. The reason Rachel didn’t explain it directly to them was because she wanted them to find it out for themselves. Even if he was conceited enough to tell them what it was, they would learn nothing unless they realized it by themselves.

“I have never thought molecular cooking was such an essential element,” Havier said with a sigh. These days, bubble sauce was used in most restaurants, but there weren’t many restaurants that used it a lot like Rose Island. Was it the trend of the hotel kitchens that were sensitive to the trend of the times?

Min-joon smiled, looking at Havier, and said, “Why are you sullen? Do you want to take my place in molecular cooking?”

“No, I don’t think that’s for me. It looks like molecular cooking is tiresome when I watch you doing it.”

“If you can feel fun when you are doing it, you feel delighted rather than annoyed when you are in the thick of it.”

“Well, I think you can feel like that only when you have made it successfully. You know what? In my case, I can’t even flavor powdered sauce right, but I’ve never seen you fail in it. What’s the secret?”

“Well, maybe it’s concentration.”

“Damn it! That sucks!”

Havier shook his head as if he was fed up with it. He was long sick and tired of Min-joon’s praise of concentration. Whenever he asked Min-joon how come he was so good at cooking and tasting food, Min-joon used to say, ‘Just concentrate!’

Min-joon looked at Janet and Havier with a smile, “Hey, to be honest, you guys don’t have to seek my advice, do you? You are good at cooking. At the audition, I saw you guys and even admired that you were better than me. It’s not because you lack skills when Rachel doesn’t approve your dishes. As for molecular cooking, honestly, I’m not sure about how she thinks about it. These days, molecular cuisine is in vogue, so she might think it’s essential for our customers’ taste.”

Min-joon pointed at Anderson. He was busy cooking something at the table for some time.

“Look at Anderson. He’s just focusing on doing what he has in mind without giving up at all. I think he has probably taken the most plates to Rachel for review. But he has never asked me to coach him about molecular cooking. Maybe you need to take his stubbornness into account sometimes.”

Anderson stuck to the traditional way of cooking while Janet and Javier switched their attention to molecular cooking. It seemed that Anderson was reluctant to cook molecular food from his rival Min-joon rather than disliking it. Anyway, what was important to him was that he was pursuing his own path.

At that moment, Janet and Havier looked at somebody behind Min-joon. They were looking at the spot where Anderson was cooking a moment ago. Min-joon also turned his eyes at him, curious about what was happening. He looked uneasy because Anderson was standing behind him. Holding a bowl full of frothy sauce, Anderson opened his mouth.

“I’m going to make Parmesan cheese in the froth, but it won’t get any shape no matter what. Can you help me?”

Min-joon said with a sigh, “Hey, Anderson, even you…”

In fact, Min-joon praised his stubbornness and focus on traditional cuisine to Janet and Havier only a moment ago. He looked at Anderson with a dissatisfied expression, but Anderson didn’t care. He said, showing the bowl to Min-joon shamelessly, “You won’t help me?”

“Wait. I was speaking to Janet and Havier.”

“Then let me join and listen, too.”

Anderson replied calmly and went to their side and crossed their arms.

Janet was trying to hold back her laughter as if she thought him funny.

Min-joon said with a tired look, “Hey, tell me first what you think your problems are. I don’t think you failed because you didn’t do molecular cooking in your dishes.”

“You’re right. But some of our menus here don’t use molecular gastronomy,” Havier said with a nod.

Janet said, “Well, we want to learn molecular cooking from you for a simple reason. Rachel won’t care much about whether we’re making dishes in the traditional way or doing molecular cooking. I do think she really cares about whether our dishes reflect our unusual innovative creativity and skill.”

“But why is she so interested in molecular cooking?” Havier asked.

“Because of creativity,” Janet responded briefly.

Min-joon signaled to her with a glance to continue.

She continued, shrugging, “Authentic cooking has been developing for hundreds of years. If you bring creative cooking out of it, I guess fusion cooking is the best answer. But you know, the recipe I have made right now is a bit far from fusion. So, if I want to satisfy Rachel’s taste, I think I can do it the quickest way by switching to molecular cooking. Time is running out.”

“I agree. You don’t have much time to think about a new fusion dish. Havier, how about you?”

“I agree with Janet. If I learn molecular cooking, I think it will be useful not only this time but also in the future. So, I’m going to learn at least some basic skills in molecular cooking this time.”

Min-joon’s eyes turned to Anderson this time.

He said calmly, “I just need to learn only one thing. I need a foam recipe for the recipe that I have come up with this time. I’m not as vague as these guys.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve never been vague about my goal,” snapped Janet, staring at him sharply.

Anderson asked, turning his mouth up slightly, “Then, tell me how you are going to apply molecular cooking to your dish after learning it?”

“I have an idea, of course.”

“Look, you can’t say it confidently.”

“Hey, don’t pick a quarrel. If you are quarreling like that, I’m not going to tell you anymore.”

Folding his arms, Min-joon spoke strictly. Janet reluctantly shut up as if she wanted to blame Anderson, but she also knew Min-joon’s way of dealing with them. If they start quarreling, he would leave the place without any hesitation.

Janet said in a subdued voice, “Okay, go ahead, Min-joon.”

“Sure, teacher!”

“What did you say?” Asked Janet.

“Call me teacher,” Min-joon said with a smile.

***

Min-joon’s coaching for Anderson, Janet, and Havier was not a one-time event.

When they had some preparation time such as break time or Sundays, other demi chefs always tried to learn molecular cooking from Min-joon.

The same was true of Anderson, who initially only wanted to learn from Min-joon how to cook the foam sauce for his cooking. Obviously, Anderson got hooked on molecular cuisine, or he must have realized he needed to learn it, too.

“When Min-joon took over the molecular cooking section, did you expect you would face this kind of situation?” Raphael asked Rachel, looking at the demi chefs with an interesting look.

It was the hot topic of Rose Island these days that the demi chefs were absorbed into learning molecular cooking with Min-joon Cho as their teacher.

“How can I predict it? But I just know by intuition that when the cooks of similar abilities meet, they can take each other as a teacher,” said Rachel, “But they have not yet taken each other as their teacher yet. Only Min-joon is their chefessor.”

She continued, “Sometimes the subject you’re teaching can be a teacher to me. Raphael, you know it well.”

Raphael nodded as if he understood what she was talking about. He then looked at her.

She asked, watching him move his lips without saying anything, “Why do you have that look on your face? It seems like you want to ask something. It’s very unusual that you hesitate to ask questions, given your personality.”

“Well, is that the case with the head chefs, too? I mean when you said your student could be your teacher later. I can’t ignore what you said.”

“Are you scared I might say you can be my teacher?”

“It would be an honor if I could be your teacher. But I’ve one such teacher in mind. He is the guy who has helped you get out of your seclusion in ten years.”

It was clear to her who Raphael was referring to. Instead of answering, Rachel made a bitter smile. Raphael asked in a cautious voice, “I wonder if you took Min-joon not as your student, but as your teacher. Is that true?”

“Well, there is one thing I have realized as I grow old. Even a stone on the side of the road can be my teacher you know. Is there any law that prohibits Min-joon from being my teacher?”

Raphael said, “Well, that’s a different story. What you expect is that you want to learn something from these less mature chefs. You want Min-joon with a perfect palate to make up for something that you don’t have, right?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Of course, you can learn from Min-joon. What if he loses his perfect palate in the future? He won’t be able to keep it forever, as you know. As he gets older, his taste will get a little dull. Do you think his tongue is really an exception?”

“It doesn’t matter if his taste becomes dull. If I once realize the world of a perfect palate at least once in my life, I can remember it for the rest of my life.”

Rachel looked at Min-joon gently.

Raphael continued to ask, “By the way, do you really need to rely on Min-joon? You haven’t been influenced by Min-joon at all. You have impressed the gourmets with your own abilities. Sooner or later, Michelin’s gourmets will probably come up with the same impression, saying something like, ‘The former Rose Island chef is back.’ Isn’t that enough? You have restored your old glory, haven’t you?”