Chapter 541 - Unexpected Twist (9)

Maybe Deborah realized that just one perfect circle drawn on white paper could be of more artistic value and more impress people than a half-baked picture drawn with insufficient skills.

In a sense, her dish resembled Daniel’s a lot. Of course, considering the experiences of the two chefs, their comparison itself would be absurd, but as far as the direction of their cooking was concerned, there were lots of similarities between them. In some respects, her dish might resemble more Daniel’s than Rachel’s.

Min-joon looked back at Rachel. She must have felt what he did. As expected, Rachel had mixed feelings when she looked at Deborah. She seemed to be happy and nostalgic. Regardless of the level of her cooking, Rachel seemed to think her dish like this was very praiseworthy, for her teacher was not only Rachel but also Daniel. Now that she had a glimpse of Deborah’s affection for her teacher as well as her husband’s cooking, it was not strange at all that Rachel was touched a lot deep down.

“It’s delicious,” Rachel said. Actually, she thought of refraining from making any comment until she tried the dessert, but she wanted to praise Deborah somehow now not for her, but for the sake of her own thrill.

Contrary to what Rachel was worried about, Deborah just smiled at her praise without being nervous or agitated. Deborah knew she should not be nervous. What she wanted was not just Rachel’s simple utterance of admiration. She could not be content with such compliments. It didn’t matter whether she could win the competition or not. She just wanted to show everyone how much she improved.

“How can you put this on the plate when you haven’t dried it out properly?”

“Why is searing so bad? The food is burnt. Don’t you remember that I told you that you should have a more perfect outer rim than the center when you are searing the food? Otherwise, you can’t make the difference in the taste through searing stand out.”

Deborah was nagging her kitchen staff more sharply than usual. But the chefs working for her were really having a hard time now. Of course, they used to serve dozens of tables at the restaurant, but this was the first time they had to serve almost the same food for the judges and fellow participants at dozens of tables here. So, they could have made mistakes in a situation like this, but they were cooking without any mistakes thanks to Deborah’s attention to their work.

She didn’t relax for a moment while they were cooking. She had been preparing for this event for a long time, so she didn’t want to mess up at the most crucial moment by letting down her guard.

After the amuse-bouche was served, the next dish they served was scallops that were well seared and Iberico ham. In addition, the dish on the black plate served with celery, apples, and kale leaves, aged in a broth-based sauce, seemed to show what a high-end cuisine was. With Deborah’s dishes coming out one by one, the cameramen were busy clicking shutters here and there.

Min-joon slowly looked at the plate.

‘Cooking score 9…’

He knew she could make such a dish, given her cooking level, but it was quite surprising that the dish showed a cooking score of 9 because the cooking process was quite simple for such a score, given the scallops that required searing and the aging process of the ingredients.

So he was rather excited about the dish because there must be some sort of harmony that could reverse that short cooking process in the recipe.

It didn’t take long for them to bring the plates to Min-joon and Rachel. Except for plating, all they had to do to cook the dish was to bake scallops perfectly.

So the dish was finally placed before Min-joon. He looked at the dish for a moment. On the surface, he didn’t see anything special in it. The selection of ingredients was typical, and there was nothing particular about its roasting condition. If so, all he had to do was try it first. So, he was about to pick the scallop first when Deborah cut in.

“Please try celery first.”

“Celery?”

“Yes. If you try it, you will find out why.”

He picked some celery, tilting his head at her words. He just thought that the celery and apple pieces were plated to rinse one’s mouth from time to time while enjoying the scallops and ham.

But she asked him to try it first. Although he was puzzled a bit, he thought she wouldn’t answer even if he asked why. And if he knew the answer, he would find no fun in the dish because he knew it would be the most delicious taste when he tried a dish without knowing its taste.

So, he put a piece of celery in his mouth. Not only he, but also Rachel, and all the chefs on the spot immediately realized why Deborah asked them to eat celery first. The celery really had such a savory taste that they immediately understood her intentions. With such a savory taste lingering in their mouths, they would feel the most perfect taste of the scallops and Iberico ham. Some of them burst into laughter because her intentions behind such a plating were so clear.

Looking at them, Deborah smiled like a child. She felt as if she became a conductor. Everyone was moving and reacting as she intended.

When she saw someone hastily trying to pick the scallop and ham with a fork, she hastily said, “Wait for 10 seconds. You shouldn’t put the scallop and ham in your mouth yet.”

Min-joon finally burst into laughter without resisting it. He felt the whole process was like a comedy, and its author was Deborah. And she was a talented writer.

The reason why they should not put scallops and ham in their mouths yet was simple. It was because its savory taste was beyond description. So much so that their tongues were tingling. If they ate the scallops and ham before trying the celery, they would end up feeling it was just delicious. But that was not what Deborah wanted. What she wanted was that they could enjoy the pure taste of scallops and Iberico ham.

Those around Deborah started counting the time with an impatient expression. As soon as they were done trying celery, they wanted to rinse their mouths with the savory taste of scallops and ham, which was something Deborah intended.

About 10 seconds passed after they tried the celery. At that moment, Deborah shouted, “It’s time you tried the dish!” As if they were food fighters waiting for a signal, they began to put the scallops and ham in their mouths quickly. Min-joon was no exception. He immediately put the scallop and ham in his mouth. He then made an embarrassed expression as if he was hit by somebody. It looked like some taste that he could not suppress inside his mouth jumped out and made his facial muscles twitch one by one. It was only then that he realized there were so many facial muscles on his face.

“Well, I don’t think I had to eat celery first for this wonderful dish.”

Min-joon uttered exclamations without hiding his feelings. On typical food broadcasts, the judges deliberately concealed their feelings to main tension among the watchers, but that was what Min-joon hated most. He wondered if they really had to do so when they took into account the judges themselves as well as the participants.

Fortunately, the focus of this event was not on broadcasting. So, he could calmly reveal his feelings without worrying about such things.

He said, “I never imagined that you would be able to match the scallops and ham so well. Well, I feel like I ate pork instead of scallops. I can feel the smell of scallops, but I still feel like I ate pork smelling scallops, not scallops with ham.”

Rachel said to Deborah, “I think I can understand what you’re talking about. Yeah, it tastes very strange. It didn’t kill the taste of scallops, nor ham. I think Deborah has brought out the best taste of this combination. Is this your new cooking style?”

After listening to Deborah’s words, the head chefs who were thinking about its taste for a moment nodded when they heard Min-joon and Rachel’s comments. Like both of them said, Deborah was aiming for a taste that she could bring out only when she mixed the scallops and ham.

The head chefs here knew her intentions were so obvious, but they had no choice but to helplessly agree with her plan. They admired her deliberate plan, but at the same time, they admired Min-joon and Rachel’s feedback. When they were trying to sort out their feelings, the two already found out the right words to express the taste.

They took Rachel’s comments for granted because she was Deborah’s teacher, after all. But they could not help but be amazed at Min-joon because he analyzed all the tastes and dishes faster than they did. Some of them had already had their cooking and recipes evaluated and dissected by him when he visited their restaurants.

“I think this competition would have been more fun if he had participated,” Daisy muttered.

As soon as he heard that, Nathan shook his head as if he didn’t want to even imagine.

“Don’t talk bullsh*t! Just competing with June and Dave makes me feel really tough. If he too participates in this competition, how can we beat him?”

“How come you don’t mention my name when you mention June and Dave?”

“Why am I competing with you? It’s obvious I can beat you easily.”

“Gosh, I guess you need to be taught a lesson.”