Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Friend of Mr. Arthur Conan Doyle

Fried Chicken is commonly known to have been created by black slaves in America, but if you trace the origins, Scottish chicken frying came first.

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, a time when advanced metalworking technology made it possible to distribute cooking utensils that could withstand hot oil.

Just as agricultural development and active commercial activity spread various oil-based cooking methods throughout Europe, the Scots also devised their own way of using oil.

That was coating chicken in flour and frying it in lard (*Lard, pork fat).

There's a saying that even frying chair legs tastes good, so how delicious must frying chicken have been?

Chicken frying soon became a traditional Scottish dish. So chicken frying wasn't an unfamiliar food even in England adjacent to Scotland.

The chicken frying that originated in Scotland, crossed to America, met African cuisine, and was born in the mid-19th century—that is American-style fried chicken.

The characteristic of African-lineage cuisine is spices. Thanks to the hot climate, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, cloves, chili, and so on grew very well and were easy to obtain. So American-style fried chicken meant seasoned marinated chicken with plenty of various spices like pepper and garlic, coated in flour, and fried crispy.

But the chicken I'll make is neither Scottish-style nor American-style. Of course, I'm a Korean cuisine chef, so Korean-style fried chicken.

In fact, I only know how to make Korean-style. I specialized in Korean food, not Western. Thanks to YouTube activities, I have a little knowledge of Western cuisine, that's all.

Anyway, as American-style fried chicken spread worldwide and was transformed in each country's unique way, if you had to pick the most successful cooking method among them, it's undoubtedly Korean-style fried chicken.

It's not for nothing that there's talk of a black person who only ever ate Kentucky Fried Chicken coming to Korea and crying while tearing into chicken.

That's how unique the taste of Korean chicken is. Of course the basic cooking method is similar, but there are two important differences that make the taste of Korean-style chicken.

First, using starch in the batter, and second, frying twice at different temperatures.

Using starch to make the batter even crispier was originally a traditional Chinese cooking method, and in Korea they adapted it to fried chicken to raise the completeness one level higher.

How do I know this in such detail? Try doing cooking YouTube for over 5 years. You have to squeeze content out of any sauce.

The history of cooking is a free topic that guarantees at least 300,000 views.

Anyway, since I served the best food forged by time, the reaction was obvious even without looking at the status window.

[ Margaret Durand: Holy Mary! How can such food exist in the world! / Emotion: Happy / Satisfaction: ★★★★★ ]

[ Pierre Durand: If the late mother had tasted this! / Emotion: Sadness / Satisfaction: ★★★★★ ]

【 Acquired 10 Cooking Points. 】

"Cough, no, why are you crying while eating something delicious! Huh? This is a dish Jean made himself! Cough cough!"

"Heh, sob! Mother... Mother... Heh!"

When I said I'd serve cooking, Dad who was teasing at first, after biting into a piece of chicken, suddenly shed tears like chicken shit. Mom was flustered and tried to soothe Dad, but it was useless.

In a situation like this, even cold-blooded me can't help but feel moved. From the start, I already knew through the status window why Dad was sad.

Anyway, the taste was so good that even when I ate it, I felt like crying for real! Because I poured in the products of modern science, various factory-made seasonings, without reservation! Of course, ingredients like pepper and garlic could be easily obtained even in this era, but the basic quality itself is different from modern times.

Early 20th-century Britain was a time when basic industrial products were just starting to be mass-produced in factories. Lacking technology, they couldn't maintain uniform quality, and half were at a shoddy level close to handmade. So excluding the chicken and oil, I used modern items from the point shop for all the remaining spices and ingredients.

Why only exclude the oil? That was a bit tricky to explain. If asked where it came from, I'd need an excuse. For the remaining spices, I cunningly swapped them into glass bottles bought from a general store.

Ah, and there were three more people to receive points from.

"Oh, ohh...! Hmm...!"

"Delicious! Delicious!"

"Hot! Hoo hoo!"

【 Acquired 15 Cooking Points. 】

Food made with so much effort, how could I not share with the neighbor cousins? In this era, even if poor, sharing delicious food with neighbors was common. So the parents didn't oppose inviting them at all.

First, Grandma Jerry Main from the first floor who lent us a second-floor room cheaply. Grandma Main is someone who lost her husband a few years ago and lives alone. She has two daughters but both have branched out so she doesn't see them often. Since knitting is her hobby, the hat I'm wearing is also a gift she knitted herself.

And the Emily family next door. A family of just Thomas, the carpenter, and his daughter Emily. Thomas goes to the woodshop every day, and normally Emily is left alone and wanders around Baker Street here and there as if roaming because she's bored.

This is why Emily always clings to me. But is he properly educating his daughter? He leaves her almost neglected.

Anyway, these people stuffed chicken into their mouths without a word and swallowed mindlessly. Seeing that, Dad also wiped his tears and diligently tore into the chicken.

When chicken bones piled up like a mountain on the table and everyone was patting their bellies with satisfied expressions,

I quietly got up from my seat to achieve the real purpose of this dinner.

"Ahem. How was the meal? Were you satisfied?"

The reaction was enthusiastic.

"It was really delicious, Jean!"

"In my 70 years of living, this is the first time I've had such excellent chicken cooking. My daughters probably couldn't make food of this level. Thank you, Jean."

"It was much better than the chicken cooking my mother made! I'll assert that!"

"It was more excellent than any food I've eaten on the street! If I fed it to the people at our woodshop, they'd all agree!"

"Is today a harvest festival or something? Did I get the date wrong? Cough cough."

I quickly caught the answer I was waiting for from their reactions.

"Mr. Thomas, was it really more delicious than the foods sold on the street? I've never bought and eaten food from a stall so I don't know well!"

"Of course, at this level I'd buy it even for 3 pence! Even the nobles of Buckingham probably haven't tasted such excellent chicken cooking! I swear on the name of Saint George (*patron saint of England)!"

The daily wage that ordinary British laborers earn is usually between 3 shillings and 5 shillings. 1 shilling is 12 pence. At general stalls in London, you could buy fish and chips or sausage rolls for about 1 to 2 pence, and poor laborers staying at doss houses (*Doss House, cheap lodging under 4 pence) competed with appropriate amounts and prices so they could solve one meal.

What I'm aiming for is exactly those stall vendors. Even if I want to open a restaurant, I don't have the funds for that yet. I already finished the preliminary research while delivering newspapers.

Odds of success? Once I set it up, it's 100 percent. There's no way I, armed with modern cooking department mindset and marketing techniques, would compete with the stall vendors of this era.

"Then how about me selling this cooking on the street? What do you think?"

"Hmm, well."

"It's a good idea, but it might not be easy, right?"

But everyone showed concerned reactions to this proposal. In early 20th-century Britain, not just anyone could sell food on the street.

As befitting a police state, Britain often regarded unlicensed commercial activities as illegal and cracked down. Stalls were no exception. Of course, since the livelihood of laborers was at stake, the authorities didn't crack down strictly, but collusion among stall vendors was also a problem.

"The territoriality won't be easy, how do you plan to handle that?"

"It would be impossible for me with no connections to get the consent of existing merchants. So if Grandma Main just gives permission..."

I said while looking at the boarding house grandma.

"I was thinking of setting up a small stall right in front of this house."

Territoriality was mainly a problem at stalls in busy areas. On the other hand, unofficial small-scale sales targeting neighbors in front of one's own house received no particular sanctions. In fact, places that remodeled the front of the first floor and operated as small shops were common.

"Hmm, I'm fine with it so try as much as you like. If I can often eat such delicious food, I can clear the front of the house anytime."

"Thank you, Grandma! Of course I have to treat you!"

Yes! First stage passed safely. This is why I called the neighbor cousins and treated them to chicken. Delicious food sometimes makes people generous.

But there were still two problems left to solve.

"But Jean, I have something I'm curious about. Cough."

"What is it?"

"It's amazing that you know how to make such excellent cooking, but I've never taught my son food even once, so where on earth did you learn this cooking method?"

First problem. Depending on how I explain this, the family might fully believe and support me, or it might only grow suspicion.

In this era, there's no YouTube or internet. The idea of a child from a lower-class laborer family like me studying at school or a library is unimaginable.

Right now, opportunities for learning itself weren't equal, and it was a society where just having knowledge got you treated as upper class.

The ability and knowledge I have is definitely an abnormal level by this era's standards. That's also why I've acted as an ordinary London commoner without revealing previous life knowledge until now.

But now I have to escape this shabby life. After pondering, I created a plausibility that everyone would accept.

"Um, have you all read the Holmes stories in the newspaper? The novels with that famous detective."

"Of course! I'm a devoted reader of those novels! And proudly, Baker Street is the setting!"

Right now in London, the popularity of Sherlock Holmes is at its peak. Since novels were the only content ordinary people could spend time on cheaply, it was natural for attention to concentrate there.

"Actually, Mr. Conan Doyle, the author of those Holmes stories, briefly stayed in Baker Street a while ago for the novel's historical accuracy. At that time I didn't know he was such a famous author. I happened to get acquainted while delivering newspapers and became close."

"Was there such a thing? I've never heard that story..."

"Mr. Doyle insisted it be kept secret! I think he was using a pseudonym then. He had a hobby of collecting souvenirs from various countries, and while helping organize them a bit, I learned a few exotic food cooking methods. This really has to be kept secret. He asked me several times too!"

"Hmm, if that's the case, it makes sense. Someone like him would be fully capable of that."

Rumors about Mr. Arthur Conan Doyle in this era could be called foam upon foam. It's all baseless rumors.

Some people claim he hunted an elephant over 4 meters with one shot from a shotgun in Africa, and others say he spent a week wearing golden clothes in the Chinese imperial court.

Of course, all absurd baseless rumors. The hardships of being a 20th-century bestselling author.

In reality, Arthur Conan Doyle the author never visited 221B Baker Street, the setting of the novel. Because the house itself didn't exist there. The author's background descriptions were all lies.

So would I have a reason to feel guilty about adding a little more lie there? Putting a spoonful of water into the sea doesn't change the amount, right?

Anyway, no matter what I said, if I just got through this situation well, everything was okay. Fortunately, everyone accepted my hastily made story without suspicion.

And the remaining second problem.

"Then, how do you plan to handle the costs? The stall? You're not planning to do business with a mat on the ground, right?"

"So for that part, I want to get some help from Mr. Thomas and Grandma Main. My cooking skills have already been sufficiently verified, so there's investment value, right?"

I held out my palm and smiled playfully.

"So how about investing in my chicken restaurant success story? It starts from tomorrow."

To earn a lot of money, even one day's delay was a waste.