Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Gourmets

This really seems to have gone wrong?!

Looking at the customers pouring into the restaurant I almost lost my mind.

Invitation to the spicy taste masked gourmet meeting. And 3 pounds for one meal. In fact I had no thought of even putting up such conditions.

No, 3 pounds isn't even a child's name, what crazy guys come to eat spicy cooking even paying such a large sum?!

What I originally wrote, even conceding a lot was 1 pound!

But when going to the newspaper company holding the challenge letter the editor-in-chief suddenly jumped out.

'Teacher, you can't do this!'

'Yes?'

'Please somehow save us!'

He almost half wailed.

Hearing the story that hamburger contest went too well so application letters were already madly pouring in to the point of work paralysis?

There if I open a gourmet meeting hanging my name, similarly inquiries would flood and one would have to close the newspaper company door entirely that talk.

People who know the name of Culina Divina in London are only my customers, but one third of London citizens would know my name so he held my pant leg and didn't let go.

Even bluffing has to be to a degree!

Right now people who don't even know the name of His Majesty Edward VII and just know 'king' are spread everywhere... In an era with illiteracy rate close to 20% what one third of London citizens know my name?

But the editor-in-chief's expression and reaction alone were real.

Thinking carefully, if even the legation of an eastern periphery weak country heard my name, it seemed there might be unlucky cases as much as the editor-in-chief worried.

So I strengthened the conditions a bit more and handed over again to the editor-in-chief. From the start if people pour in more than one can handle, that was also a problem for me.

The goal of my mission is introducing spicy taste dishes to Britain. But my thought was there's no need to necessarily do that introduction with my power.

There are many people who like spreading rumors in Britain? For example so-and-so of social circles.

This challenge letter was bait to lure such people.

Anyway if a rich person who likes spicy taste dishes, it was certain they'd be tremendous hipsters even by this era's standards. Moreover they come looking holding a large sum to eat that?

Full marks in execution power, financial power, surplus power. The more such a person the higher the probability of light mouth.

So from the start I was planning to grant tremendous scarcity to my spicy taste dishes, and make them unable to bear without spreading the experience of tasting my spicy dishes in social circles.

Introduction of spicy taste dishes. But the subject isn't me. Isn't it a decent operation?

So in preparing the dishes, there must be not even an inch of mistake. Only by entertaining a perfect course without one flaw would good rumors spread.

So I just changed my name written in the challenge letter to the restaurant name, and raised the participation fee from 1 pound to 3 pounds. And added various conditions together so people get scared.

If like this they'd think it's a prank usually, right?

And only the real rich people crazy about spicy taste who have already come to my restaurant would react.

Such people would really be extremely few... Surely not over ten people would come?

But the editor-in-chief's words were right. I was too complacent. And I looked down on the number of British hipsters too much.

When the restaurant wasn't even ready for business yet, seeing high-end carriages lining up on the roadside from Sunday morning I was startled and ran into the kitchen.

"Emergency menu change! Everyone go out right now and buy ingredients!"

"Yes, Boss!"

Meeting with Miss Edith the menu was definitely decided.

Amuse-bouche is samgyeopsal grilled with gochujang, entrée is water kimchi quickly aged putting a lot of chili powder, poisson also smoked salmon grilled applied with sweet and spicy seasoning sauce made with gochujang.

Even eating up to here an ordinary Briton's tongue would go numb. People weak to spicy taste might shed tears and snot.

So I said only people confident in spicy things come... There were many contrary frogs in Britain too. I saw there would be at least one person who challenges even though unable to eat spicy things.

For that reason I decided to prepare a palate cleanser separately.

What I tried to make was lemon sherbet.

A kind of modern ice cream, made by mixing water with lemon juice squeezed with a lemon squeezer, if only having a rotating machine and ice one could make as much as one wants with human labor.

The manufacturing method was simple.

Put ice and salt on the outside of the rotating machine, put lemon juice diluted with water and sugar inside, then just hold the handle and spin round and round for dozens of minutes. Then the inside lemon juice freezes like thin ice, scrape that and put in a wine glass and that's exactly lemon sherbet.

The course dish I devised was centered on the spicy taste brought out by capsaicin of the chili system not wasabi system like horseradish, so to offset this spicy taste sour taste with appropriate acidity was needed.

By the same principle the dessert to decorate the end of the dish was also soon decided.

To cleanly end the spicy taste course, one has to perfectly reset the memory of people enjoying the spicy taste.

Resetting the spicy taste is as expected fat is appropriate.

Capsaicin is fat-soluble so one can melt and eliminate the spicy taste remaining on the tongue with fat, and also casein in milk binds separately with capsaicin and detaches from the tongue's receptors. This is exactly the hard counter of spicy taste.

So combining fromage and dessert peanut butter Nutella cheesecake.

The last farewell dish, bite-sized mignardise is milkshake with a little brandy put. This also can be made quickly with a shaker.

The problematic one was as expected the main dish.

I had thought of spicy galbijjim accompanied with white rice as the plat principal.

Anyway curry is also a dish of pouring sauce on rice and eating, so I thought it might be a form more familiar to gentry.

Composing up to here and testing with employees tremendous reaction came out as expected. Even specially invited Mr. Henry and Mr. Pitton shed tears and snot and extremely praised saying please do it again! Unfortunately Mr. Doyle seemed to have briefly returned home so couldn't invite, but that was his fortune whatever.

There's a reason rice matches well with spicy taste dishes.

Rice is a food ingredient with mild and neutral taste. It doesn't interfere with the taste of strong sauce and harmonizes, and being individual grains it could absorb sauce evenly. Conversely bread has firm tissue so sauce doesn't seep easily, and only sticks on the outside so not great.

Moreover the soft and moist texture of rice had the action of making the stimulation of spicy taste come slowly. Bread is dry and dry so rather the first taste can be felt spicier.

Finally the starch of rice adsorbs capsaicin or binds with saliva and forms a physical barrier on the tongue. Thanks to that it also played the role of interfering so capsaicin can't reach the tongue's receptors.

So if combining rice and spicy sauce, one can enjoy the spicy taste longer.

China's mapo tofu, America's chili con carne or gumbo, and Jamaican beef stew all are rice bowl style dishes of putting spicy sauce on white rice and eating.

"Mr. Jean, you're not doing galbijjim?!"

"Yes, already pouring in like that... It seems capacity can't accommodate. Galbijjim takes too long to make. With prepared ingredients one can cook only up to 40 people's worth, but roughly looking it seems over 80 people?!"

It was the same reason I gave up earlier trying to introduce galbijjim as a restaurant menu.

First the cooking time was too long even if long. And a lot of time was also needed for the seasoning to seep evenly into the meat. If having a refrigerator one doesn't know, with only a restaurant icebox marinating a large amount of ingredients was unreasonable.

Galbijjim was a menu that would suit small-scale elaborate course dishes so as commercial cooking prepared in large quantities in a short time the quality had no choice but to drop.

Of course, even if shortening the cooking time a certain level of taste would be guaranteed, but that was a direction completely opposite to my philosophy.

"Then do you have another idea...?"

"Yes, well. As you know I'm a person who always thinks of plan B."

"As expected! Cool!"

"What?"

"No!"

Anyway what I was preparing was course dishes.

Because not serving one serving per person. If thinking of making 5, 6 servings per pan at once, there were exactly two dishes one could make much faster than galbijjim mobilizing the restaurant's large pans.

Dakgalbi, and dakdoritang.

But considering the consistent concept of the overall course, the spicy dakgalbi side with less broth seemed more matching.

Usually things provided as plat principal are firm dishes with less broth. In a situation where entrée is already decided if serving chicken stew it was obvious customers would put question marks on their heads.

And if only replacing the main ingredient beef with chicken, the remaining sub-ingredients could be used as is. Seasoning also putting is similar whether galbijjim or dakgalbi.

Chicken well, chicken overflows in my restaurant. With this one could cook even 70 people's worth dishes at once!

So I hurriedly scribbled the recipe.

"Come, the plat principal to prepare from now is exactly this! Inform the kitchen assistants and have them prepare ingredients! I'll go out and look at the situation and come! I'll return soon!"

"Uh, is this the method of applying gochujang to chicken and quickly grilling on an iron plate?! What is the dish name?"

Name?! I didn't even think of the name? How should I translate this? Originally dakgalbi also has no particular English word so just called as is with Hangul pronunciation?!

"Since using seasoning brought from Joseon... Just please call it 'Spicy Joseon Stir-fried Chicken'!"

"Aha! This is also oriental special spicy Durand Grilling!"

"No, I said it's not Durand Grilling! Anyway please!"

There was no time to argue with such things! I quickly prepared to run out.

"Ah right, today grandfather also said he'll bring a customer with the nickname Bertie? He said please take good care!"

"Yes?! Bertie? No why are you telling me that now?!"

"Ah, he said it's a gift so definitely tell matching the time! Then you'll be really surprised..."

"My heart also drops together! His Majesty the King's nickname is Bertie! Didn't you know?!"

"Yes?! Really?!"

Bertie? It's His Majesty Edward VII?! His Majesty is coming to taste spicy taste dishes?!

No... State affairs?! Isn't he working today?!

Thinking about it today was Sunday. A day all London rolls around with nothing to do and kills time with hobbies!

I really felt like I'd go crazy!

###

Chairman Balfour wiped his mouth with a napkin with a satisfied expression.

Somehow, the spicy taste smoked salmon steak was the most excellent taste among salmon dishes he's eaten until now.

Moreover the cold lemon sherbet was also a perfect choice.

Thanks to that cold sweat on the spine drained out and the stress accumulated with state affairs also felt like flying away at once.

Especially, seeing the Metternich plenipotentiary ambassador who came from the German Empire shedding sweat under the mask like that and unable to stand it, inside even another pleasure was felt to that point.

Just at the negotiation seat yesterday he was very sharp, something human side was glimpsed so it was very fun.

"Haha, in B-Britain everyone seems to eat spicy taste dishes well like this. Hahaha..."

"Right! To British gentlemen this level of spicy taste is nothing! Half of them eat and enjoy even India's curry dishes said to be the spiciest in the world without anything! Is spicy taste difficult for Germans? Hahahat!"

"T-that can't be! Very delicious! Haha, hahaha..."

"Hahahahat!"

At that appearance the uncle also got excited and burst into hearty laughter.

Although a conversation that looks ordinary at a glance, inside it high-level political rhetoric only diplomats can read was contained.

Declaration of defeat.

Ambassador Metternich who arrived in London a few days ago continuously scratched the mood of his uncle the Marquess of Salisbury with problems of colonial border setting, trade rights, influence expansion etc.

The logic he brought was nothing special. Saying Commonwealth citizens look unhappy because of poor food culture, he'll export more Germany's pride Bavaria and Thuringia, Rhineland's highest grade food ingredients so lower the tariffs that proposal. A goodwill proposal that looks plausible at a glance.

But that was a trap. A trick of expanding influence on colonies under the pretext of food ingredient tariffs.

And he tried to mention the terrible jellied eel lower class Londoners eat as the basis. But the jellied eel he claimed was now gone in London.

Because Jean-Paul Durand the excellent pride of the British Empire eliminated it a while ago!

One should have put the empty expression Ambassador Metternich made when knowing that fact in a newspaper article!

To the suspicious Ambassador Metternich he fed Chicken and Chips, Durand Grilling, peanut butter as gifts and let him experience the excellent food culture of London that recently developed rapidly.

Still not believing him, high upper class of Britain saying these days they even eat such things brought him to the spicy taste masked gourmet meeting they saw in the newspaper and became interested.

Uncle, the Marquess of Salisbury also half-believed at first.

'Culina Divina? I've heard the talk but isn't that a place that just changes the menu of lower class fish and chips and sells?'

'Uncle. Please trust only me. You'll be satisfied. And I guarantee, that day numerous celebrities of London will visit as extras. Please look forward to the ambassador's surprised expression.'

'Celebrities? Who? Who is coming?'

'That one doesn't know. It's a masked gourmet meeting. But if seeing you'll know right away.'

It was literally. Dukes the Marquess of Salisbury recognized under the mask were 4, marquesses 5. The uncle clicked his tongue in a small voice so the ambassador couldn't hear.

'Everyone went crazy. Isn't that guy the one who cut off his footsteps for several years saying troublesome even to the House of Lords and Carlton Club! But appears here?'

'I said you'd be surprised.'

'By the way, the cooking here seems really delicious! Although I came early because you said let's hurry but to be this packed! Moreover aren't they all guys with a position on the British Isles!'

'Only things to be more surprised remain ahead.'

Indeed it was so. Surprise even Chairman Balfour who brought up the words himself didn't expect.