Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Temptation

Delicious cooking? That well if the king asks me to do it I can do it as much as I want whether a day or a week.

It's not even becoming an exclusive chef and staying in the palace for life, if the reward is good what's so difficult about making about one meal? Anyway my job is making food and selling it to rich people.

In fact when I knew the destination was the royal palace I expected it would be like this. Just putting a commoner without position like me on a super luxurious carriage was His Majesty generously spending favor.

He even sent the Lord Chamberlain so I don't feel bad, gave top-grade clothes too, from the start the problem was continuously throwing the king's invitation into the trash can. Thinking about it it's almost three visits to the thatched cottage?

And these new shoes, the gloss is amazing and really top-grade. According to Mr. Henry one pair of these usually costs about 5 to 10 pounds? Then I'm currently riding on ten sovereign gold coins. There's absolutely no reason to feel bad.

Moreover it was an era where just the fact of treating delicious cooking to the monarch was enough to boast for ten years. Just displaying His Majesty's signature in my restaurant would double the reputation?

But the problem was the point that His Majesty ordered me 'coronation' cooking!

No less than 'coronation'! Doesn't it sound like a tremendously important event? They say the military band even does a parade on Westminster Street?

But such an important thing, entrusting it to a mere 16-year-old�of course the inside isn't�unverified chef? No, I've only debuted in London for half a year?

There are flying and crawling chefs in the palace, why of all people me?

I've also heard a lot while running a high-end restaurant in London. As a matter of course the royal chef wasn't a position anyone could become. Even in modern times the Blue House chef needs tremendous career, right? It was the same in the 20th-century British Empire.

British nobles hate France while freaking out but still if there's one thing they acknowledge, it's France's gourmet culture.

In modern times the three major European cuisines are said to be France, Italy, and Spain, but in the current era it was completely different. Just France alone was monopolizing the entire cooking world.

The French word meaning top-grade cooking, Haute Cuisine.

They call French traditional recipes that use expensive spices and mother sauces, butter, cream etc. without sparing like that, and whether one can freely use this was the standard for judging a skilled chef.

So royal chefs also learn recipes in an apprenticeship style at famous French restaurants, or have a career educated at Le Cordon Bleu (*Le Cordon Bleu, high-end cooking school) established in Paris a few years ago they say.

Exactly those guys.

"What are you staring at? Is there a problem?"

"Yes? Sir Durand, by any chance is that a French dialect?"

"No, it's not. It was an exclamation that the facilities here are really good."

The reason those guys can't recklessly pounce on me right now is, first because of my name they mistook me for a real French-origin special chef, second because they don't know that what I'm making is a coronation cooking sample, and third because they're misunderstanding me as a real 'knight.'

Hey, this knighthood effect is good? Commoners are struggling at my one word?

Of course this is a misunderstanding. Lord Frederick the Lord Chamberlain calling me 'Sir Durand' while bringing me here created this snowball. Probably he did it on purpose to grab the initiative...

Haha, it feels great.

At some moment I completely blew away the tension, and literally started treating the royal chefs like servants.

"There, please bring some garlic, and also pound some ginger. Grind the pepper a bit softly too. Isn't this too under-ground? Please do it again."

"...Yes, Sir Durand."

Even treating them as subs no one dares to rebel.

Of course they can't. Because far away Lord Frederick was watching while fiddling with a pocket watch.

"Sir Durand, by any chance the cooking you're making... It's a method we're seeing for the first time..."

"It's a secret."

"Ah..."

Over ten chefs standing in attendance behind me, watching everything I do one by one and stomping their feet.

In this situation telling me to make a creative coronation cooking sample, are you in your right mind. I can't concentrate at all.

Of course that doesn't mean there's no method.

While captivating the king's taste, there were a few suitable Korean foods that would be okay even if the recipe leaks to these toad-like guys.

Didn't you request creative cooking? Are you crazy? Putting creativity in cooking? That's an act of ignoring verified recipes and the numerous histories contained in them. A double-edged sword.

If I make creative cooking and it doesn't suit the taste who am I going to blame?

In this case it was just elegantly turning the sentence 'Prepare cooking that I haven't eaten yet but will sincerely marvel at when I eat it.'

I briefly pondered mint chocolate... No, that's what Her Majesty Elizabeth II liked. To the carnivorous His Majesty Edward VII of course I have to treat meat dishes.

Thwack!

I vigorously pounded the sliced meat with the back of the knife. It would be good if there was an electric grinder, but since there isn't right now I have no choice but to do it by hand.

"Please bring a bit more ice. To keep the ingredients fresh I have to keep them cold."

"Yes, yes yes!"

I hummed a tune and continued mincing the meat. Because important ingredients hadn't arrived yet, I intended to drag the time as much as possible.

I felt the chefs standing in attendance behind me in a rigid posture with blood rushing to their faces trembling. At that moment, the kitchen door opened fiercely and everyone's gaze focused that way.

Bang!

"Si-Sir Durand! I've brought the ingredients you requested!"

"Oh! You came quickly!"

The palace guard panting and handing me a glass bottle.

What is this? Soy sauce and sesame oil.

Where did I get it? The Japanese bastards' embassy. Because it seemed there would definitely be some there I sent an errand to go by horse and come back.

Why didn't I get it from the Chinese shop in Limehouse and sent to the Japanese embassy?

There has to be that level of difficulty so these guys can't recklessly reproduce my recipe outside. While I thought of it I also intended to squeeze some Japanese food ingredients.

What if the Japanese embassy doesn't give it? When the British royal court asks they absolutely can't refuse. Probably they gave this for free while twitching too? They gave a lot. If they gave this much from a far foreign land thousands of miles away they'll starve a few meals without side dishes?

I received the soy sauce bottle and immediately opened the lid and flung it open.

Sniff sniff.

"Ugh."

Sour! Salty! But the performance was certain. This, it seems quite a lot of seed soy sauce is mixed?

Slightly tasting it it was even sweet! To the point sugar wasn't particularly needed!

"Hmm... Will this be okay? Well it's Japanese soy sauce of this era so the taste will be a bit nerfed, but what can I do. Just have to eat it."

So what am I going to make? Tteokgalbi.

Songjeong-style tteokgalbi.

That was the Korean food I would newly attempt this time.

###

Tteokgalbi.

If I were to pick a recipe full of the essence of Korean food, I put this in the best 10 without hesitation.

Because it originally started as royal court cooking the history is deep, and ingredients that don't miss in Korean food such as soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil also go in abundantly.

Symbolism that doesn't miss on various holiday tables, the unique Korean grilling culture of grilling minced meat on a grill, up to the unique Korean flavor emphasizing 'sweet and salty' full.

But if I were to pick the most special element among them it was still the point that it was 'royal court cooking.' It means food presented to the king. Any cooking recipe is hard to surpass such powerful storytelling.

Moreover because Europe also had recipes utilizing minced meat in abundance, I saw that tteokgalbi would sell 100 percent.

If it's the minced meat dish that had the greatest influence worldwide in the 21st century one can't leave out Germany's Hamburg Steak. Of course right now it's just a regional recipe that's not famous yet so Britons probably don't even know the existence.

Greek meatballs keftedes dipped in yogurt, Italian tomato meatballs polpette, Danish meat pancakes frikadellen, Russian-style donkatsu kotleta, France's steak hach� eaten with sauce made of butter poured on etc. are all dishes like tteokgalbi of shaping minced meat and grilling.

Is there none in Britain? Of course there is! There's one called faggots, a meat dumpling that really makes a ugh sound!

The crazy guys of the Midlands grind bacon and pig liver, pig intestines, pig heart, pig fat and grill and eat saying it's delicious!

Right, that is just a dish forcibly made saying it's a waste to throw away the by-products that come out when slaughtering pigs.

It's insanely tough! And fishy! There pouring greasy gravy sauce because there's nothing to put on it... I won't particularly explain that taste.

Sizzle sizzle.

"Sir Durand, can I taste first?"

Seasoning the minced meat with sesame oil and soy sauce, a little sugar, pepper etc., shaping it and placing it on a gridiron (*Gridiron, Western-style grill) and grilling, suddenly Lord Frederick approached behind me.

[Frederick James Winchester: Amazing! Even just mincing and grilling there's no fishy smell of meat at all! / Emotion: Interest / Satisfaction: -]

Hmm, only now I found out this grandfather's real name. Winchester? A word I've heard a lot somewhere.

"Hmm, it's delicious. Indeed."

Of course. I even received the grand prize at a cooking competition with this tteokgalbi? How can there be no taste.

I expected this picky old man to list more praises, but the expected reaction didn't come out anymore.

"...Do you have a question for me somehow?"

"No, it's not."

As expected of the Lord Chamberlain it was a tremendous poker face. If it's this level of taste the Earl of Derby would have shed tears and chewed and swallowed.

But as taught by Mr. Doyle I carefully observed the Lord Chamberlain's eyebrows, and confirmed the truth's brow that briefly crossed his face. That's enough what.

Tteokgalbi is a food with extremely outstanding flavor even among Korean meat dishes. From the start the sesame oil and soy sauce that catch the base of the taste are ingredients no different from the final boss of umami.

While Western minced meat dishes try to preserve the juices and produce a light taste, and strive to add flavor with greasy and thick sauces, tteokgalbi was a food of a different texture to the point it can be said to have evolved in the completely opposite direction.

The saltiness of soy sauce, the sweetness of sugar, there a small amount of pepper and garlic catch the gamey smell of the meat and even add a warm taste. There if the savory aroma of sesame oil is added? Literally a feast of flavor.

What shows a decisively important difference is the texture. While Western-style minced meat dishes mostly lean toward grilling in a pan and bringing out a moist texture, Korean-style tteokgalbi gives even the fire aroma of direct fire and the unique crispy texture of grilling.

It would be a completely new taste experience, will His Majesty endure? Ah, I crave instant rice and kimchi.

But with only this tteokgalbi it seemed a bit insufficient to perfectly captivate His Majesty's taste. It would be good if there's a sub-dish that complements somehow...

While pondering like that, one chef guy who had been standing behind with a dissatisfied expression from earlier courageously raised his hand.

"Lo-Lord Frederick! This is an incomprehensible treatment!"

Oh, is it the appearance of a new villain? Now the clich� starts, right? Those whose pride was crumpled because of a suddenly appeared unidentified parachute rising up?

I excitedly hurriedly prepared to tear open popcorn.

Shall I watch once how excellently Lord Frederick suppresses these villains�

"We also want to taste together! Please give us the opportunity to taste France's latest cooking too!"

"That's right! We are also royal court chefs! Please permit us to learn that person's outstanding haute cuisine!"

Ehh?! What? Why on earth does such a conclusion come out?! And when did I say this is French cooking?

My mouth opened wide at a reaction completely different from my expectation. This isn't the promised development! Here shouldn't it be protesting to chase out the rolled stone? You guys, where did you sell your pride?!

Of course, this time I didn't really do it sloppily and showed about half of my skill. So I even took out my secret weapon tteokgalbi.

Because the reward His Majesty put up as compensation was too coveted.

Manor. A small manor located in the Richmond area west of the Thames River.

If I make His Majesty marvel with cooking he said he would give me the right to collect the rent of that manor.

In other words, it meant proposing a kind of vassal contract.