God of Cooking – Chapter 185: The power of science is amazing (3)

“There is no need to be nervous . However, you cannot be relaxed either . Everyone is paying attention to us right now . All you have to do is make those uncertain gazes change their minds at once . ”

Jo Minjun just quietly nodded his head at Rafael’s statement . The request was simple . Right now, they did not need PR; what they needed was verification . In fact, if you considered everything, there really was no point to any additional PR .

Grand Chef Runner-Up Anderson . Absolute Taste Jo Minjun . Creator of Molecular Gastronomy Food Truck, Rafael Yoon . Plus the Memorable Legend Rachel Rose . There probably weren’t many restaurants throughout the United States to have so many famous people working together .

What Rachel wanted to do was destroy the question ‘How great can they be?’ And winning this competition would be a strong statement to show their level .

The rules of the competition were simple . 4 people in one team . The cooking category was team’s choice . The time limit was 30 minutes . The demi chef all had casual expressions as Rachel explained the details . Well, to be specific, until Rachel said the following .

“The four of you will be the ones to participate in the competition . ”

“What?”

Even Jo Minjun could not help but be surprised at her words . His jaw dropped as he looked towards Rachel . Javier started to speak in a nervous voice .

“But there is no such restriction in the rules . Wouldn’t the other restaurants send their best four, regardless of whether they were demi chefs or sous chefs?”

“There are places that send their best like that . For some of them, they might not have the numbers to do anything else . However, that is not the case for us . Rafael and I will be doing more with our eyes and mouth than our hands . The four of you will be the ones to cook all of the food . That is why the four of you have to represent us in the competition as well . The food that you make in the competition is the food that our customers will be eating . ”

It made sense . Jo Minjun was in awe . He wondered if that stubborn will to not compromise was what helped Rose Island get as large as it did . The other demi chefs still had expressions that made it seem like they could not accept it . Jo Minjun slowly started to speak .

“Did you send demi chefs in the past as well?”

“Yes . And……”

Rachel continued .

“Those kids have never lost even once . ”

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Thankfully, Rachel did not leave the recipe up to the demi chefs as well . It was normal . Rachel had said that the demi chefs were the ones to participate because they would be the ones to actually cook in the kitchen .

While the demi chefs cook in the kitchen, the majority of the recipe development was Rachel’s responsibility . That was why it made sense that the recipe for the competition came from Rachel’s head as well .

There was less than half a month left until the competition . Maybe that was why, but Rachel was being extremely strict compared to her normal style . If it looked like you were about to get something even slightly wrong, Rachel immediately came to you and shouted sternly .

“Move your hand . Even if you put that in the frying pan, it’ll just end up as fried trash . ”

“Think that the hall over there is full of customers . You pretty much just told a customer to wait 20 more minutes!”

“If this is all you got, I won’t have anything to say when the Epicureans will say that Rose Island is now only a shell of its past . ”

Maybe it was because the real game had started now . The usually gentle Rachel had completely disappeared to the point that we could barely even remember it existed . That was how rough she was right now .

What they were making was a four-course meal . Appetizer, pasta, main, and dessert . Jo Minjun was responsible for the dessert . At the same time, he was also the team captain . The reason that he became the team captain out of the four of them was simple .

‘You have the best sense when it comes to molecular gastronomy . That is why you have to be the team captain . ’

It was not a nice explanation, but it made sense . Jo Minjun’s dessert was not the only dish to feature molecular gastronomy methods . Anderson’s pasta, well to be more specific, other than his gnocchi, the rest of the dishes were all influenced by molecular gastronomy .

What he had learned under Rachel’s guidance was that her control of the kitchen, as well as her attention to everything going on, was so perfect it was scary . In fact, her leadership was almost more respectable than her cooking skills .

Although the four chefs were cooking apart from each other, Rachel was like a ghost . She knew exactly when any of them made even the slightest of errors . If someone messed up the proportions of the ingredients, Rachel could even instantly state which ingredient it was and even how much of it they were off .

‘……At her level, it is pretty much the same as the system . ’

The thing that Jo Minjun was most satisfied with the system ability he had was that it was able to immediately recognize any errors . It was easier to resolve issues if you know what is wrong while you are cooking, rather than being told what was wrong once you finished .

Furthermore, Jo Minjun could use the estimated cooking score to determine the best course of action . It was an advantage that no other chef in the world could have . Well, that’s what he thought .

But the moment he became Rachel’s disciple, he had to get rid of that idea . Rachel was the perfect mentor . She gave you the advice you needed most when you needed it the most .

With a mentor like her, even without the system, their growth should not be much slower than Jo Minjun . But Jo Minjun was not anxious . He did not wish to stand at the top by himself . What he wanted was for no one to fall behind and for everyone that he loved to run side by side . Being at the top together rather than alone . Jo Minjun preferred something like that .

Of course,

“……This is so tiring . ”

Just because you enjoy it doesn’t mean that it is not tiring . Javier stuck his tongue out like a dog as he plopped down into a chair in the hall . Ella, who had just come back from kindergarten, took a vitamin candy out of her cute children’s backpack and held it up . She started to speak in a concerned voice .

“Is it really hard? It’ll be better if you eat this . ”

“Does that solve any problems?”

“Yes . Mommy says she’s not tired at all if she eats this . She also gets completely better if Ella kisses her . ”

“Will you give uncle a kiss too?”

Janet threw a rubber glove at Javier’s face . It made a slapping noise as if she had slapped him . Janet started to speak in a cold voice .

“Should I report you?”

“……I am just joking! A joke! Can’t I say something full of humor every so often? You need to watch some stand-up comedies or something like that . You are too stiff . ”

“You go watch a documentary first and then let me know . ”

It wasn’t rare to see them argue like this . Anderson was looking at Jo Minun . Jo Minjun lifted up his chin as if to ask ‘what are you looking at?’ Anderson started to speak .

“Aren’t they the same as you and Kaya?”

“They can hear you . Be quiet . ”

“What you just said . Kaya kept telling me the same thing . ”

Janet quietly glared at Anderson after he said that . Of course, Anderson was not the type to flinch at Janet’s gaze . In the end, Jo Minjun stepped forward and started to speak .

“Enough fighting . We are a team . We need to get on the same page . ”

“……What’s the point? We just have to cook our own dishes . ”

“Janet, do you really think that?”

Jo Minjun gazed at Janet . There was no malice, but rather, the gaze was full of disappointment . That was why it was harder to stand . If there was even a hint of malice, she would argue back, but since there was just disappointment and care, it made her feel like she had become a bad person .

‘……Well, it is true that I am not a good person . ’

But Jo Minuun was certainly a good chef and a good person . Natural talent . That talent was paired together with luck through the broadcast to make him a genius that became a demi chef for Rose Island at the young age of 21 . Since it was that Jo Minjun, Janet had always considered him to be a competitor she had to overcome .

But Jo Minjun considered Janet a friend . When she realized how he felt, Janet could only admit that she had lost . That was the same right now . Janet let out a sigh .

“I will take back my last statement . ”

“Okay, thank you . ”

Jo Minjun smiled brightly . Janet let out another sigh internally . It made her think about Minjun’s girlfriend . Kaya . The image of how the woman who was famous for her attitude act like a gentle girl in front of Jo Minjun was still fresh on her mind . But she understood what Kaya was going through . Jo Minjun did not just have a nice personality . He was sincere, and a gentleman’s attitude was ingrained in everything he did . To treat such a person terribly would only end up lowering your own value .

The atmosphere turned better . Jo Minjun lightly pressed on Ella’s nose as she flopped down to his knees and started to speak .

“Anyways, isn’t molecular gastronomy fun and amazing the more you do it?”

“He’s slowly trying to accept it . I guess it makes sense . If he doesn’t even do that, being in charge of the molecular gastronomy section will only feel super tiring . ”

“……Be quiet, Anderson . I am not trying to brainwash myself . I really feel that way . It is fun . It’s so interesting to watch cream and sauces that I thought could only be in liquid form become powder . I enjoy making pasta out of other things than just flour, and the fact that water can take shape, it really…… Chef Rafael said this to me . He said I will not regret coming to the molecular gastronomy section . Lately, I am starting to understand why he said that . ”

“See, acceptance . ”

Anderson shrugged his shoulders as he said that . Jo Minjun quietly glared at Anderson before looking down at Ella and starting to speak .

“Ella . Out of all of the chefs here, which chef’s cooking do you like the most . ”

“I like Uncle Minjun’s the best . ”

“See . Molecular gastronomy is like this . ”

The three chefs who had been looking at Ella with anticipation quickly lowered their heads at her quick response . Janet opened her mouth as if to say she did not like the answer .

“This is not fair . Ella would say anything you made is good . ”

“We will know if we ask . Ella . Do you like everything that uncle makes?”

“Mm, uhh……I still don’t like broccoli . ”

“See . She says she doesn’t like it . ”

“……That is slightly different . ”

Although Janet answered while shaking her head, Jo Minjun did not care . He started to speak in a pious voice as if he had become a religious believer .

“The power of science is amazing . It easily destroys the things people know about cooking . Just doing molecular gastronomy makes me feel like I’ve become a revolutionary . ”

“I accept that ……but it makes me scared as well . If the molecular gastronomy kit continues to develop…… the concept of home cooking that we have lived with until now can be shaken . It makes me wonder whether I will be able to keep up with the trends when I get older . ”

“Just look at Teacher Rachel . She may be older in age, but she’s as good as, no, she’s even better at handling molecular gastronomy than sous chef Rafael . There is nothing you won’t be able to do if you put in the effort . ”

“……Are you comparing me to Teacher Rachel right now?”

Javier asked with a stiff expression . Jo Minjun let out a moan as he rolled his eyes .

“Is it overestimating you?”

“I was able to feel it in my bones based on the recipe and know-how that chef taught us this time . She has something that you cannot explain with experience again . ”

“That something . I’m sure teacher will teach it to us as well . So do not worry . ”

Jo Minjun started to speak as if he was calming Javier down . Nobody noticed it yet, but the team captain position was naturally putting a special kind of weight in the things Jo Minjun was saying . No, it probably would still have been that way even if he wasn’t the team captain .

Jo Minjun wasn’t the type to lead the people around him to do something revolutionary, but he was the type of character that brought people around him in and consoled them . Just look at the Grand Chef competition . The people who were reluctant to get to know him in the first half of the competition ended up all becoming his friends . That gentle yet sharp and pure and warm character was his own ability that could not be expressed through the system .

“The only thing we can do right now, and the only thing we need to do right now is accurately portraying Teacher Rachel’s recipe . We will prove with our own hands what kind of chef our teacher is . And as we slowly start to introduce teacher to people ……”

He started to laugh . It was the type of warm laughter you would get from your family members .

“Then one day, shouldn’t our hands resemble teacher’s hands?”

The other three quietly nodded their heads at Jo Minjun’s words . There were no visible smiles, but there was warmth surrounding them . In the middle of that warmth, Ella was staring at her tiny hands in confusion as she started to quietly mumble .

“But grandma Rachel’s hands are full of wrinkles……”

Translator : Miraclerifle
Proofreader : Dragneel, Illidanstormrage