Chapter 89

Chapter 89

Spontaneous Generation Theory

As much as the fish ball recipe was disclosed to the whole world through newspaper pages, the matter of some street vendors switching to a new line like when grilled eel was also sufficiently possible.

In 1901 Britain London street vendors were the most sensitive to the latest trends of earning money more than anyone.

And this fish ball, even though not really intended had really optimal conditions as street food.

A very simple dish of just mixing seasoned boiled fish flesh with egg and starch and baking in the oven.

Since no need to make a particularly cool shape hands didn't go much, and not a food whose shape collapses so no separate packaging was needed either.

Also like jellied eel if making in large quantities and selling dividing in small amounts it was literally a stall-friendly food.

London consumers accustomed to new things (?) like Durand Grilling, Worcestershire sauce grilled eel, Edward Sandwich patty that appeared in the past few months, rather hoped street vendors would quickly introduce them on the street.

So merchants willingly decided to meet that expectation.

"Uncle, what is this?"

"It's fish ball. Don't you know if seeing!"

"Hmm, of course first time seeing so don't know! This is exactly that Durand Fish Ball, right? How much is the price?"

"Give only 1 penny for 7!"

"Selling that cheaply?! Is there profit...?"

"What can I do! Everyone says they'll sell at that price!"

The price set after a fierce eye game was roughly 1 penny for 6 or 7 fish balls.

Considering that one piece of fish pie of similar weight received over 2 pence on average, it was a cheap price enough that even poor laborers' wallets would open easily.

Quick-witted street vendors even completely switched from the fish pie they were selling to fish ball.

In fact pie is a dish classified as advanced even in baking.

To make pie one first has to bake the pie crust, and double baking of filling ingredients on top and putting in the oven again was essential, but pies for stall sales roughly skipped all this process so there's no way good tasting pie would come out.

Then was pie baked at home amazingly delicious? Not particularly so either.

Double baking has to exactly match the cooking time of the filling and crust, if no know-how in ordinary homes without thermometers it was never an easy work.

In commercial cookbooks they didn't know the answer so such parts were always roughly glossed over and ended.

In London no matter how tasteless fish pie potato, cream, butter, vegetables had to enter basically to be recognized as pie, but even if making the same amount fish pie costs 40% more in ingredient cost than fish ball and cooking time almost double, so from any aspect fish ball sales was much more beneficial to merchants.

But this new fish ball recipe wasn't particularly advantageous only to fish pie stalls.

The natural umami seasoning, glutamic acid that was full in the main ingredient cod flesh.

Adding to that in a situation where salt, sugar, pepper, onion, leek, bell pepper etc. that entered together during cooking were already complexly raising the flavor, someone discovered the side effect of umami broth welling up just by putting this complete fish ball in water and boiling!

That is, some idiot with creativity and good execution power, bought the already made fish ball and put it in their house's pea soup and boiled vigorously then scooped one bite and shouted 'delicious!' and ran around the neighborhood that talk!

New possibilities of applying Durand Fish Ball in London home cooking were gradually blooming!

###

And surprisingly, all these matters occurred in just a few days with only word of mouth.

As soon as hearing this news I ran out to the street.

Usually isn't it the opposite? Not putting MSG in fishcake, but using fishcake for MSG purpose?!

Modern factory-made fishcake has higher starch proportion than fish flesh so there were many cases of deliberately adding MSG to bring out the umami of fish. Some companies ground low-quality miscellaneous fish and openly put a lot of MSG to hide that taste.

But now in Britain, ironically thanks to the cod flesh proportion in fish ball being overwhelmingly high there was no need to reinforce taste with MSG. Rather if putting this in broth and boiling one could even make clean fish broth like putting MSG!

There was scientific principle.

Abundant glutamic acid welling from ingredients like cod flesh, onion included in fish ball and sodium component of additionally put salt.

These have the property of dissolving well in water, so glutamic acid dissociates into ions and salt separates into sodium and chloride ions. And these ions freely float in the water then stick to the umami receptors of the tongue and feel deep taste that principle.

Like taste salt if eating raw is salty and sometimes even repulsive, but if putting in water and boiling it changes to umami like a ghost similar.

Anyway glutamic acid has to be dissolved in water for umami to come alive largely that talk.

So even in Europe from long ago there was the tradition of fish stock, putting fish bones and head, herbs, butter, lemon and various vegetables and simmering long and using as broth, but it was tricky to make and hands went ordinarily so in ordinary home cooking one couldn't easily implement.

But fish ball was different. Since the balance of ingredients was already matched, just putting and boiling umami not inferior to fish stock naturally welled up.

In conclusion even if London housewives used my fish ball like convenient broth coins there was nothing to be a problem!

Moreover how the rumor spread, the talk that if putting Durand Fish Ball in soup it becomes delicious was explosively spreading riding crowd psychology!

Street vendors were also quick-witted.

Already thanks to Chicken and Chips and Durand Grilling the reliability was at max.

They unhesitatingly crossed out the letters of fish ball sale written on wooden boards, and added a few more sentences next to it.

[ Durand Fish Ball! No matter what soup you put it in the taste becomes better like magic! Stew also OK! ]

[ If crushing and putting Durand Fish Ball the effect is triple! Dried Durand Fish Ball on discount! ]

[ Be liberated from tasteless British soup with Durand Fish Ball! ]

"..."

"Boss?"

"Wait a moment, I feel like I'll explode with anger now. Don't make me talk."

"Yes."

No, is my fish ball some ramen soup?! If putting in various dishes the taste becomes better?!

But since the result is in front of the eyes there were no words to say.

Actually some merchant even put crushed Durand Fish Ball in oatmeal porridge and sold!

I ate one bite, the umami and texture of fish ball subtly combined and considerably offset the dirty taste of oatmeal! Of course it wasn't to the level one can say delicious, but it became to the point of closing eyes and swallowing even from food waste!

Of course there weren't only changes in the good direction.

One disadvantage of MSG. Changing even dirty food to edible and deceiving.

I headed to one street vendor on the outskirts of Lombard Street.

If my memory is correct, until last week this was a place selling laverbread.

What is laverbread? A jam-like thing made with seaweed called 'laver' produced in Wales, a Welsh traditional monster dish of spreading on bread and eating or mixing with oatmeal and frying.

The shape and aroma weren't something one could look at. Sticky like eel and thick so the texture was also the worst.

Welsh people like it saying it smells of the sea, but to me it was only a fishy and salty painful food of Marmite level.

"Uncle, hello! I want to ask something."

"Ah, by any chance Jean-Paul Durand?! By any chance paper... Ah no paper. Can I get a sign on my coat here?!"

"First I'll ask the curious thing, the sign after that."

"Good! What are you curious about?"

"...Does that sell?"

"What? Ah this? I mixed a little of my laverbread with your Durand Fish Ball and baked how is it? Isn't it okay? Thanks to that yesterday this sold out! Today already sold over half!"

Then recommending tasting to me, as someone who remembered the taste of laverbread being sold here it was a food I absolutely couldn't associate with.

At a glance it looked like fishcake with seaweed stuck...

What wrong did I do in my previous life to receive such pain?! Although not intended it might have been adding one more to the British monster dish list.

So I just gave the sign and quickly fled. Joe belatedly chased holding something wrapped in both hands.

"Hmm, delicious! Boss! This is really delicious! Something salty the fish ball seems more delicious! Is it laverbread? Mixing this seems really okay?"

"Joe, you eat it all to your heart's content. I'm done."

"It's really delicious! Mixing with fish ball even the smell doesn't come!"

Still I earnestly hoped my karma would be offset a little with the taste of pea soup or oatmeal porridge improving.

Of course my karma liquidation didn't perfectly end with this.

A few days later, over half of the street vendors on Lombard Street started buying my fish ball and crushing or grinding and mixing into other foods.

Even Joe's grandmother developed the know-how of raising the taste by grinding my fish ball into that terrible haggis I almost fainted hearing the sound.

For me it was the worst. Thanks to that I even started eyeing the impregnable influencer 1st place great detective Holmes' stronghold.

And at the same time, the 2nd summons of the respected Chairman Balfour was delivered in front of my restaurant.

###

This time also the destination was the Carlton Club as expected.

And completely unexpected additional guests were also together.

The god of French cooking who presented the French formal course dishes at the last dinner, Auguste Escoffier.

That person was sitting politely opposite Chairman Balfour then seeing me sent an eye greeting.

At the time also reluctant because I didn't imagine at all meeting in London, even now I was actually surprised.

Why is that uncle here on earth?! Surely not throwing another impossible mission of jointly eradicating British monster dishes...?

Next to Chairman Balfour a bunch of paper bundles were piled, even without looking I seemed to know the content.

That is fish ball word is stuck so largely on the cover even a fool notices. Somewhere some department someone stayed up all night shedding blood tears and printed a situation report whatever.

"Not surprising anymore. Sir Durand, you this time also excellently broke through the long-standing wish the British Empire couldn't solve with an extraordinary method. Making an additive that can amazingly raise even the taste of tasteless food, how did you think of such an idea? Thanks to that one might enjoy excellent home cooking faster in Britain than France!"

This side was more absurd situation.

I just threw one fish ball recipe to the hospital! Dragging that by stir-frying and roasting up to here wasn't my intention at all!

Just sleeping and waking a few times suddenly this and that changed, and in the blink of an eye people are cheering me high in the sky, what on earth should I do.

And this was also a result that spontaneously arose as a butterfly effect of all the things I've done until now.

To return this glory, one would have to find that madman who first tried the absurd thought of grinding fish ball and using as complex seasoning and give a beating.

At this point it's scary so one can't even enjoy.

But even if saying the truth there's no way they'd believe so I decided to just keep quiet and shut up.

"This side you saw at the Carlton Hotel last time? Head chef Auguste Escoffier."

"Hello, it's a great honor to meet again the great chef of high reputation in London."

That was rather what I should say!

Even now cooking skill I can't reach even the tip of the foot!

Even trying to similarly reproduce the pork belly dish eaten last time I absolutely couldn't succeed! So I even had an idle imagination of secretly infiltrating Miss Edith as a spy in the kitchen and stealing the cooking method!

"This friend Escoffier was also very curious about your spicy taste course dishes! I heard he was quite regretful unable to participate due to family circumstances. Do you know that masked gourmet meeting that day received quite good evaluation in social circles?"

There was no way not to know.

Now Durand Fish Ball is so chaotic so soon forgotten, but the quest completion message rose leaving exactly 20 minutes to the deadline!

Because slow-footed gentry spread rumors too slowly!

In fact I tried not to think much, but when completion didn't happen it was anxious.

And what I received as the price... was a pouch with a handful of unidentified seeds.

Seeds? There was no explanation! Just one word 'seeds'!

What do with this? Plant in the lodging backyard garden? Don't even know what it is?

But unable to overcome curiosity I planted about half in the garden, and ordered Lee Ha-yeon to take good care.

By any chance... a slight expectation that crops one absolutely can't obtain in this era Europe might pop out.

Like perilla leaves? Only that level would be a reward one can accept?

"Is that so? It was a test work but thank you for looking favorably. In fact, I didn't know you'd visit. I thought at most about ten celebrities who like spicy taste would come."

"Even humble. Do you know who gathered at your restaurant that day?"

"...I don't know well."

Who else was there besides His Majesty Edward VII at that place?!

I know Chairman Balfour came. Because he came to receive Nutella.

The Earl of Derby now to the point of being regretful if not there so occupying...

Besides that I didn't know well who important figures came. At that time I was out of my mind cooking dakgalbi!

"Hmm, then not knowing would be better. Don't be curious for nothing."

"Understood. In fact I'm not particularly curious. Whoever comes I would have faithfully entertained as a guest."

"Good attitude."

Chairman Balfour nodded and clapped once sharply.

"There's good news to convey to you. First is with that Durand Fish Ball of yours, we'll recognize that you sufficiently achieved one assignment amount we promised earlier..."

Chairman Balfour held his breath.