Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Maze of Taste

It wasn't only Inspector Reid who was surprised by the taste of the sandwich.

The mystery novel writer Arthur Conan Doyle who was involuntarily swept into the cooking deduction game also realized that he was somehow deeply falling into this prank.

Doyle thought the success as a mystery novel writer was thanks to dramatic luck, but nevertheless he had the pride that in observation and deduction ability he wouldn't lose to anyone.

An important lesson learned from the respected Professor Joseph Bell who led him to become a famous mystery novel writer. The fact that everything in the world can be analyzed with scientific reasoning.

Detailed observation, hypothesis setting, experiment for verification, and analysis and conclusion derivation. Approach the truth by repeating all these processes. This was also the basic principle of forensic medicine Doyle learned in his medical student days.

The problem Doyle has to solve right now is only one. Finding the cooking among the 6 dishes that doesn't contain 'peanuts.'

He has already encountered 2 dishes, and 4 remain ahead.

However at this moment Doyle felt an excitement he couldn't feel from a simple meal spreading like a thrill up his spine.

Someone might think it's just an ordinary meal, but inside this there was a subtle hint that only a mystery novel writer could notice.

A word originating from confusing the path with the strong smell of smoked herring to hinder a hunting dog's tracking, 'Red Herring.'

In mystery novels it was also a word referring to a 'false clue' used to turn the gaze of the reader or detective in the wrong direction and lead to a wrong conclusion. A technique Doyle himself often used in the Holmes series.

And in this cooking such a red herring smell was very full.

'Scientific reasoning is impossible. I can't set a hypothesis. Where on earth did they hide the red herring?'

Suspicion from the moment he bit one bite of the sandwich.

The quick-witted Doyle immediately noticed that this jam was not made in an ordinary way.

He had excellent memory as much as outstanding observation. Having been invited to various meal seats of the middle and upper classes and encountered numerous foods, he prided himself on remembering almost all the foods he had tasted.

He experienced various food cultures traveling not only Britain but Europe and America, and because his father served in the military in India he was also familiar with Eastern food culture. He interacted with people from India, Southeast Asia, and China and also tasted their traditional dishes.

However the taste of this new jam right now�whether it should be called jam or another food ingredient in the form of jam I don't know�was different from any food of any cultural sphere he had previously encountered.

'Savory and soft. It seems made by grinding nuts... No, is there a method that can grind this smoothly? To the point I want to ask the secret method.'

Inferring by synthesizing the clues so far, this amazing jam has a high probability of being made by the young chef newly processing peanuts.

The chef's words were right. Even though it's still only an appetizer he started to become insanely curious about the secret of this cooking.

'The peanuts I first ate and the taste of these dishes now are completely different. With the process of elimination it will be hard to find the answer. And assuming the dishes that will come out ahead all use different cooking methods...'

If this entire taste is a red herring the chef intentionally hid, it was falling into a maze due to lack of information. At times like this it was good to not be bound by the given conditions and expand the view outside and approach from another direction.

Doyle carefully observed the other people marveling at the taste of the sandwich. Among them the reaction of the Earl of Derby who seemed familiar with this place was especially his main interest.

'The Earl also seems quite surprised. If a person of the Earl's level was this surprised, it means he encountered this cooking method for the first time. But he wasn't surprised as much as the Inspector. Does it mean he's often experienced this kind of situation?'

Doyle also didn't miss the scene where the Inspector was flustered as soon as he saw the Earl.

'Seeing the Inspector tense, the Earl must have shown weight befitting his position usually. But the attitude shown to the chef just now wasn't a noble-like appearance. It was playful and sly. Did he intentionally put down formality in front of the chef? Why did he do that?'

To Doyle the Earl of Derby was also a person he was meeting for the first time, but he had heard the name a few times through high society. During his time as Governor General of Canada, he was famous for a bulldog-like personality.

But his appearance now was completely different. I don't know what changed him like this, but the current him looked like an ordinary idle gentry that can be seen anywhere in London.

When a person puts down their position and discards face and tries to treat someone without reserve, there is always something they want to obtain. And for the Earl that�

'Of course it must be insanely delicious food. I understand.'

"Ahem, have you already eaten it all? This friend Jean-Paul Durand, why does he only put out cooking little by little like this?"

The sound of the Earl lamenting was heard. Doyle realized the fact that the two appetizers that were in front of them had all disappeared somehow.

Because he couldn't know when the next main dish would come out, an awkward silence flowed again among the three people.

Doyle became curious who the chef was who was outstanding enough to create this cooking and even add deduction elements to it.

"Earl, risking rudeness I ask, you seem very intimate with the chef, what is the relationship?"

"Ahem! Did it look like that? It looked intimate! Ughaha!"

Why is the Earl suddenly so happy?

"Speaking of our relationship... Right! It's a relationship like galbijjim!"

"Yes? Galbijjim?"

"That's right! Galbijjim! You might not understand now, but someday a day will come when you also understand. Isn't deduction originally like that? Hahaha!"

What came out of the Earl's mouth was completely incomprehensible words. Galbijjim. Clearly he seemed to have muttered similar words just now too.

However this couldn't even become a red herring that confuses deduction. It's just an obstacle.

An obstacle means substantial difficulties such as lack of evidence, false testimony, time constraints that a detective faces in the process of solving a case. The more skilled a mystery novel writer the more carefully they place such obstacles, and confuse the reader and detective through clever devices like red herrings.

Conversely, the less skilled a writer the more they put excessive obstacles and make deduction difficult, which only gives unnecessary confusion to readers. Right now the Earl was exactly that.

Doyle shook his head.

Creeeak.

At that moment a serving cart appeared again from afar. But this time it wasn't that handsome young chef. The one pulling the cart was a platinum blonde girl in neat white clothes.

The Earl informed of her identity instead.

"Emily! Where is young Jean?! Why did you appear?"

"Yes? Ah, Jean said it seems he absolutely shouldn't show his appearance when putting out this cooking?"

"What?"

At her words everyone momentarily paused. It was a meaningful statement. And soon the meaning of those words was revealed.

Two main dishes placed on the serving cart. A meat dish shaped as if bacon was grilled and cut with a knife and pasta of an unfamiliar brown color.

But that smell... Very intense... and tempting. To the point if the chef was in front of my eyes I want to grab him and shake his shoulders.

Gulp.

Creeeak.

While they were distracted by the savory smell wafting from the meat, the girl named Emily tried to pull the cart and disappear again. The Earl who came to his senses at that sound urgently grabbed her.

"E-Emily! Wait! An explanation is needed! What on earth is this?! Huh?"

"Ah! Right! Jean conveyed, this meat is called samgyeopsal, and you must dip it in the sauce given together and eat it! And the pasta, if it's greasy slightly squeeze the lemon wedge (*Lemon Wedge, lemon cut into 6 pieces) next to it and eat it! But he said he doesn't recommend it! Do as you please!"

"What, is that all?!"

"Yes! And he said if the Earl grabs me quickly run away! I also have to go eat samgyeopsal now so I'll excuse myself! Sorry! I also came out in the middle of eating! For reference, it's really delicious! It would be good to eat quickly!"

Only then did Doyle notice that Emily's lips were glistening with oil.

This time there wasn't even the leisure to talk about deduction or anything. The forks and knives of the three people regardless of the Earl or anyone rushed onto the plate in an instant.

And before even ten seconds passed, the Earl screamed.

###

Chomp chomp.

【 Acquired 170 Cooking Points. 】

"Boss! Is there no more of this barbecue?!"

"Really delicious! It just melts in the mouth!"

"Greasy juices! Chewy texture! Boss, is this really the taste that came out from bacon?! You're not scamming us again, right?!"

This is my kitchen. Normally because it's break time after finishing cleaning everyone would be lying down somewhere resting, but today of all days was different.

Cooking the new menu in a place with too many watching eyes was the root of the trouble.

The problem with peanut-based cooking is the smell. The smell is too strong. No matter how much I turn the exhaust fan it doesn't ventilate properly. Did a hole open somewhere in the wooden wall? It was a building with suspicious airtightness.

Still the first salad and sandwich were okay. Because no fire was used so the smell almost didn't come out.

But if it's the smell of the samgyeopsal that would come out later, honestly it was enough to stand up even the mummy sleeping in the pyramid.

As soon as I started grilling the samgyeopsal, including Joe in the kitchen and the dozen or so newspaper seller undercover employees still clinging to the restaurant, Emily, the two or three musicians waiting for dinner time, and even the sommelier Mr. Henry newly hired recently flocked in a hurry.

I briefly pondered whether to chase them out, but seeing the expressions it was something I couldn't do. As much as everyone had suffered recently, I just distributed the samgyeopsal I was grilling right away. It means I held a samgyeopsal party.

Management secret method chapter 2. Give sufficient rewards so employees have loyalty. That way they unite tightly.

How did I obtain samgyeopsal in 1901 Britain? It's simple. Samgyeopsal is the part where lean meat and fat layers of the pig's belly are mixed, and in Britain it was a cheap by-product mainly used for bacon or crispy roasted roast pork (*Roast Pork, oven pork roast).

So I went to the butcher and asked for the bacon meat as is.

In fact, the reaction coming out just from grilling one samgyeopsal is also funny, in Europe samgyeopsal was definitely a non-preferred part. Just as Koreans don't consume loin or tenderloin well except for donkatsu, Westerners also almost didn't consume the samgyeopsal part except for bacon.

However just as the once looked down on Scottish fried chicken met my Korean-style fried chicken cooking method and gained explosive popularity, the taste of cooking is in fact greatly determined by the cooking method.

My idol Chef Gordon Ramsay also tasted whole samgyeopsal and asked why is this delicious? to the extent that grilling meat on strong fire is a cheating cooking method. The problem is the British who only thought of eating this delicious part simply salted.

Sizzle sizzle.

My hands flipped the samgyeopsal cooking on the pan without rest. Without a meat slicer, honestly in an ordinary household it's difficult to slice a meat lump this thinly.

It's all because I'm a skilled chef that much that I cut it this plausibly with a few knife strokes. I wish someone would praise a bit�

"Hey! That's the one I claimed! Stop eating!"

"You bastard! The boss specially grilled it for me!"

"You guys! The boss will get angry, be quiet!"

"Yes!"

...Because they're rootless newspaper sellers they can't overcome gluttony.

On the other hand, look at Lady Edith. How well she received the education of a noble family, without blinking an eye�

"Hmmm!! Mr. Jean! This sauce is really delicious! The meat too! How does such a crispy and savory taste come out from pork?! By any chance is there more? Is this all? Shall I go out and buy more?"

[Emily Edith Stanley: Samgyeopsal is so delicious! / Emotion: Ecstasy / Satisfaction: ★★★★★ ]

I'm going crazy! What's different from the newspaper sellers!

Well, since samgyeopsal is a cheat key even in Korea, this kind of reaction coming out isn't strange either.

The secret of samgyeopsal taste. That is the point that the person grilling can adjust in real time the Maillard reaction of protein that adds flavor.

The Maillard reaction is the process where the amino acids of protein and sugar react to heat and generate various flavor compounds. This can be seen as determining most of the meat taste in fact.

Samgyeopsal thanks to being thinly sliced the surface area increases, and the Maillard reaction occurs quickly. Meanwhile the abundant fat between the lean meat melts in the heat and even adds a savory taste.

There the contrast of the crispy grilled outer skin and the soft and moist inner meat makes the chewing texture excellent too. Moreover the person grilling is me the Korean food master so how can there be no taste?

'Ah, I want to stir-fry kimchi in samgyeopsal oil and eat it.'

When on earth can I naturally bring kimchi to Britain? Secretly hiding and eating is also stress.

At that moment I saw Emily running in a hurry from afar. While grilling samgyeopsal I and Edith completely forgot the fact that there were guests and urgently sent Emily...

"Jean! Jean! Something big!"

The problem was that she brought an unwelcome bump along.

It was the Earl of Derby full of anger.