Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Key to Victory

Of course the lawsuit whatever was a joke, and all problems were because of that imperial unit system (British Imperial System).

A series of units Britain alone revised in 1828.

Using independent words like ounce, pound, gallon, yard, the problem was there was no standard connecting these.

No, since people have ten fingers naturally decimal is correct, right? Why using ternary, quinary, octal, duodecimal all together?!

The most incomprehensible part that yard and pound!

In the past farmers often stuck wooden sticks at regular intervals for boundary marks or fence installation, and roughly took this stick interval as 1 yard.

But somehow just decided to put the standard of all length units at 1 yard and placed bronze sticks corresponding to this 1 yard at government offices etc., and in the stage of expanding that universally things started tangling!

Just introducing decimal and going easily like 1 yard, 10 yards, 100 yards would do, but the stupid decision of insisting on preserving traditional units was the cause of all that confusion.

Traditional distance units larger than yard in Britain are mile and furlong.

Furlong is the distance a cow can plow a field with a plow at once without resting, and mile was a unit derived from the distance ancient Roman soldiers walked 1,000 steps (milia passuum).

So yard was for construction, furlong for farming, mile for military each used for different purposes that talk!

Well up to here is good. If neatly organizing 1 furlong as 100 yards, 10 furlongs as 1 mile it would be neat and no particular problem.

Here the parliament again thought absurd thoughts.

Saying if suddenly changing the units used originally it would be confusing, insisting on the absurd absurdity of preserving traditional lengths as is and maintaining the ratio...

The miraculous multiple born like that!

1 mile is 8 furlongs!

And 1 furlong is 220 yards!

So 1 mile is 1,760 yards!

Why is the multiple like this?!

The root of all evil was the British Parliament. At this point one should catch all the members at that time and hang them on Lombard Street and beat them!

Length units are somewhat better. Coming to the weight unit pound it was more crazy.

Pound brought the unit called libra used in Roman times, the problem was no one knew how that libra was made at all.

Heavy stone lump? Log? Without knowing what set the standard, the start of the pound was measuring the weight weight from a thousand years ago with a scale and just copying the same!

Since the standard was a mess naturally subordinate units were also hasty.

Dividing 1 pound into 16 pieces and saying let's call that ounce and hitting a forced order!

So 1 pound is 16 ounces! Why is this alone 16 times?! Someone must have lobbied from behind!

Originally ounce is a word meaning 1/12 in Roman language but Britain said eat the origin of the word or whatever and decided as 1/16 without any context! Literally a textbook of desk administration!

So confusion couldn't end here.

As people got used to the unit called ounce they used this for volume measurement too, but the mass ounce and volume ounce played separately every day. Someone 1 ounce is 1/220 gallon! Someone 1/170! Someone 1/180!

The parliament also had a headache so in 1824 separately defined fluid ounce measuring liquid.

Reaching volume one couldn't find principles anymore and just memorizing was comfortable.

1 gallon is 8 pints.

1 pint is 20 fluid ounces.

That is, 1 gallon is 160 fluid ounces.

The funny part is this part. People didn't use the words 'fluid ounce' to the end. The commonly used word was still just 'ounce'!

More absurd, the fact that all these unit revisions Britain alone did.

America and Britain use the same yard-pound method? But not compatible with each other!

If converting to liter method for easy understanding, British gallon is 4.546 liters, American gallon is 3.785 liters.

Now an era without calculators. So every time importing things like beer, milk, gasoline calculation errors couldn't help but arise every time.

Trade accidents became so common that now they don't even appear in newspapers.

The problem of that translated cooking book was the same. Converting the original that was clumsy in measurement method from the start to imperial units the error exploded!

"For now it'd be good to throw away this book. The amount of spices to put is written reverse."

"But until now there was no problem...? Yesterday's sample taste was okay!"

"Can you show me what you measured the weight with?"

"This scale!"

Of course it wasn't the latest electronic scale or whatever.

A weight scale that old Athena goddess or so might carry around.

I held the weights listed on the dining table in both hands and measured the sense.

In the past after falling adapting to the imperial unit system was really hard so I often relied on hand sense, honestly reaching the realm of roughly hitting the difference of about 100 grams even with eyes closed.

And my conclusion was the same. Total mess.

"This scale balance is off?"

"Yes?!"

"If placing two 1/4 ounce weights and three 1/8 ounce weights it comes out similarly, right?"

"Geez, strange? This is new why like this? Until now it was fine?"

Scales could sufficiently be so. Manually matching the balance one by one, this era industrial products defects were daily routine. I also flew thermometers like that.

And although not held by hand, this weight's weight itself was wrong! Roughly over 10% error how measure with this crap?!

Typical disaster brought by the illusion that new products have no problem!

In fact the scale problem wasn't all. The schnitzel cooking method was also full of problems.

Schnitzel has to widely pound pork and quickly fry and cook, but couldn't make sufficiently thin.

Moreover the batter also wrongly measured and didn't properly stick to the meat, and mistaking the oil temperature was also correct.

But strangely she said it was delicious.

In my view that was also the cooking book problem.

In fact this, a book written by a French chef. One knows just roughly looking at the cooking method.

"Originally when cooking did you use brine?"

"Brine? What's that?"

"Salt water. This book says match salt and sugar 1:1 and soak the meat in advance for one or two hours, right?"

"Ah! That? This time no time so couldn't... Was it an important process?!"

Brine. Easily high salt water.

Like when I cooked suyuk putting sugar and making the meat soft and moist, in French haute cuisine also used similar cooking methods.

In haute cuisine mostly do brine work in advance. In this process salt and sugar seep into the meat and soften the texture and add flavor.

But the author of this book also didn't write knowing the principle accurately. Seemed just the inertial cooking method usually done.

[ If no time this salt water please immediately omit ]

Why put such words confusing? Omit the most important?!

In the end what felt delicious previously was thanks to the meat where brine perfectly exerted effect. This time omitted that and couldn't even properly coat the batter so the taste couldn't help but change.

This if not explaining one doesn't know. And honestly in this era the person who can explain like this seems only me.

Anyway I explained to the point Princess Victoria accepted and then sighed in relief.

"Really?! That was that important?! Ah... How can this be!"

"Yes, well. From next just do as you usually did and it'll be fine."

In fact in the original recipe of German schnitzel tenderizing is all pounding with a hammer. What she originally knew would have been so.

Only, this case the French chef arbitrarily wrote in and accidentally created a better result.

Fake unit system! Fake book! Fake translation! Fake measurement method! Fake scale!

If such things continue to prevail in London no matter how hard Chairman Balfour and Sir Samuel's Department of Food Innovation try results won't come out, right?

Thinking about it even if one can't do anything about the imperial unit system itself, utilizing my fame and separately trending something like Durand measurement method degree might be possible!

Durand measurement method...!

Things like Durand Barbecue or Durand Fish Ball still cringe, but Durand measurement method somehow... strangely attractive?!

One okay idea came to mind, but for now decided to bury it.

Solving the incident in front of the eyes is priority.

"Give 10 minutes. I'll somehow try."

"10 minutes?! With only that saving the main dish is possible?!"

"Yes, this seems the best. You can look forward. Trust London's best chef."

If knowing the problem the solution is simple.

If I make delicious from the start it's fine.

Originally thinking of just frying again what she made halfway, but honestly rehashing cooking with wrong process the dramatic difference would be obvious none.

Give up schnitzel.

Then with only meat what to do within 10 minutes?

Possible is only one.

Not because thought of due to beer and potato rice cake, potato pancake. Just wanting to eat.

Samgyeopsal.

Moreover if samgyeopsal grilled crispy with modern person's hand skill?

10 minutes later, the authentic original Durand Barbecue Jean-Paul Durand directly made that was only transmitted as legend in social circles was immediately put in the mouths of Colonel Ludwig's family.

As expected—

Received tremendous praise.

Clean solution, perfect reversal! And I dug my grave again!

###

In the end couldn't even bring up the dance partner talk. Reconnaissance battle with Princess Alice? There was no time itself to do such!

Caught in the cheers of Colonel Ludwig's family and just building long friendship all!

Especially Princess Victoria completely becoming my fan, to the point slight cold sweat flowing on the back!

Knowing it about Durand Barbecue heard a few times in social circles but actually never directly made?

That was so. Those people usually would have eaten only course dishes professional chefs set or social party desserts. Occasionally if thinking of hometown food, hobby degree eating German home cooking!

Opening a new world to people who treated things like Durand Barbecue as fish and chips level commoners enjoy...

The reaction was truly explosive. Like when the Earl of Derby first tasted samgyeopsal in the past!

No surely who would have thought no one ate samgyeopsal until now?!

Although self-praise, lately every person I meet brings up Durand Barbecue talk once so I thought they'd have experienced by now!

Moreover Colonel Ludwig who drank beer a lot as snack with samgyeopsal and got drunk, gave a long speech saying one has to supply this Durand Barbecue cooking method to the army and raise soldiers' morale so I sweated a lot stopping!

What? If supplying samgyeopsal to soldiers morale doubles and great victory in the Boer War?! Have to say words that make sense!

No, although the manpower and resources entered the Boer War are wasteful, historically isn't it a war one just loses? In original history also lost?!

Still if Britain wins, that was a path entering a future I really don't know.

Barely persuading the colonel and calming, and after teaching the know-how of properly grilling samgyeopsal could escape from that family's embrace—

"Teacher, arrived. It's Whitehall."

Mr. Morris's voice pulled me from thoughts.

Today is my first commuting day of the Department of Food Innovation.

In fact don't have to come but came because of business.

Curious about the appearance, and there was matter to discuss.

Introduction of Durand measurement method and standard recipe.

What I've continuously felt, without executing all the fake recipes floating in the market one can't innovate British cooking with just simple food ingredient supply.

Anyway the imperial unit system is also forcibly gathering units that played separately, right?

Then adding one more new unit system dedicated to cooking here is fine, right?! Anyway originally complicated so can't calculate, right?

Units corresponding one-to-one with the metric system.

Any word is fine so introducing similar and solving my bothersome cooking problem, and also thinking of proposing a new business related to measuring cups.

No need for official government recognition. Anyway people also don't use fluid ounce.

Anyway so came to Whitehall. Because heard the new government office of the Department of Food Innovation is here.

Whitehall.

A street where major British government offices like Foreign Office, Ministry of Defense, Treasury have gathered from a hundred years ago.

Originally Whitehall Palace was at this place, but after completely burned in a fire in 1698 didn't restore the palace.

Instead turned that site into a government office complex.

So people coming and going this street mostly civil servants was fine.

I slightly looked outside the carriage.

Fortunately or unfortunately faces I know weren't seen.

For example people like Colonel Ludwig saying print the Durand Barbecue recipe as British government official gazette and scatter all over Canada, Australia, India!