I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 200



Only Krnovel

200 Richard’s Melancholy

I took out the cod fillet that had been marinated.

The cells are not completely destroyed, so it has almost the same shape as raw fish. When I cut it with a knife and tasted it, it was a dish with extreme softness. The fish meat melts and spreads in the mouth like pudding.

“hmm….”

It was definitely a new texture and would probably be delicious if cooked properly, but something about it didn’t appeal to me.

I wanted a tender fish fillet that didn’t lose its moisture, but when I actually made it, I realized why chefs had never tried this before.

People want new tastes, but they want to eat fish, not something else.

Uniform texture is also a problem. The texture and taste of golden-grilled fish have a charm that cannot be expressed through low-temperature cooking.

The desire to satisfy both of them keeps me from taking a single step. I am in a dilemma.

The direction of low-temperature cooking is right. But this should not be all. In the end, it seems that we should use a method that emphasizes cod as a side ingredient.

I opened the pantry and looked through all the ingredients for the restaurant.

Potatoes? Out. Not fish and chips.

Avocado? When ripe, the pigment changes to green and the taste and aroma change as the fat is broken down.

Tomatoes? Too common.

I also looked at other vegetables that go well with fish, such as onions, celery, capers, and artichokes, but none of them really caught my eye.

Then my eyes turned to asparagus. The thick, robust asparagus shoots looked like dragon scales.

scales?

What was disappointing about cooking Daegu was the flavor.

No matter how much I aged it and cooked it at low temperatures to promote glutamic acid and amino acids, I felt like it lacked the unique flavor of the fish.

It would have been natural to feel disappointed, since even the texture was taken away by low-temperature cooking.

But what if you could add flavor with side dishes?

And what if there was a way to help with the texture? I also want to surprise my guests visually.

Crunch, rustle.

I started by slicing the asparagus thinly using a spatula.

However, if it is like this, it will not stick to the surface of the fish properly. After melting the butter, mix in a small amount of potato starch. Then add the cut asparagus and mix well.

They were picked up one by one with tweezers and placed on top of the aged fish fillets, making scales.

The finished shape looks quite good.

To prevent the fillets from sticking to the plastic, cover both sides of the fillets with parchment paper and then remove the air using a vacuum sealer.

And it is sous vide at a low temperature so that the cell membrane does not break.

This time, 20 hours was enough since I was going to cook it in the pan again.

When I took the fish out of the tank, the asparagus was stuck to the fillet. By now, it must have absorbed enough flavor.

I put butter in a pan and started to fry the scales. I put the fillets in the pan with the parchment paper on them so that they don’t touch the pan directly.

After gently cooking at a low temperature, the asparagus is finished with shea butter to add color.

“haha.”

The visual of the finished dish is satisfying. The scales are magnificent, like the appearance of a king carp before ascending to heaven. The brown color is nicely cooked, stimulating the appetite.

Cod has very little fat in its flesh, so it needs to be supplemented with a sauce. So while it’s common to use a lemon butter sauce for white fish, I didn’t feel like using it for this dish.

I want to create a sauce that explodes with Mediterranean flavor.

Drizzle with olive oil and fry crushed garlic to bring out the flavor.

I took out the garlic and sautéed the fresh peperoncino. I put the ingredients and oil in a mortar and pounded the capers, Nocellara olives (a slightly nutty olive from Sicily), anchovies, pine nuts, sun-dried tomatoes, and arugula in that order.

Lightly grate the white wine and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and mix well to create the perfect pesto texture. The aroma from the small pestle fills the kitchen.

It was a great pesto, but it wouldn’t satisfy guests who want a richer flavor.

Place the eggs in a sous vide tank and cook them at low temperature. Boil the yolks just enough that they don’t burst when you take them out, then peel them. Then sprinkle some grated dried truffle on top.

Everything is ready.

Place the fillet on a plate and spread the thin pesto over it. Finally, place the bright yellow yolk on top of the fish, and it goes beautifully with the green pesto.

No need to garnish.

When I put the knife to it, the scales of the fish, which were expressed as asparagus, were cut with a crispy texture. I broke the egg yolk, mixed it with pesto, and spread it generously on the fish before putting it in my mouth.

When I close my eyes, the Mediterranean Sea spreads out before me.

The cod meat absorbs the asparagus, creating a unique flavor. The scales are crunchy, but the flesh is incredibly moist and tender. Both contrasting textures are satisfying.

A sauce made from a mixture of pesto and egg yolk goes well with the fish, creating a rich, deep flavor.

“Okay. This is it.”

Critics and guests seeking new stimulation are always ambivalent.

Even if a dish is new, if it loses the advantages of the existing method, it will never be evaluated favorably.

And I actually agree with them. If something is new but doesn’t taste good, what’s the point? In that sense, this codfish dish can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

I called the kitchen staff over and had them taste the food.

“Ah… This is Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so moved by a meal.”

Ellie closes her eyes and savors the taste.

“It’s obviously so delicious, but why am I crying?”

“That must be because you thought about making it yourself.”

“Chef, is this the correct recipe you wrote down here?”

The chefs are buzzing.

“Chef, how on earth do you come up with recipes like these?”

Sam reads the recipe and shakes his head.

“Why? You don’t want to do it?”

“No, you use tweezers to attach the scales made from asparagus one by one? And after 20 hours of sous vide, you pound the pesto with a mortar and pestle for each serving?”

Sam reads his recipe notes with vain eyes.

“There’s a reason why food is delicious. If you feel wronged, you can make a recipe.”

“It’s not that it’s unfair, but it’s just that it will put a strain on the kitchen.”

“It’s okay. You guys can do it. We’re going to make some appetizers that go well with this, so start practicing. You’re going to make it perfectly.”

I trust my chefs. No matter what recipe you give them, they can make it work.

““Yes! Chef!””

Segreto’s kitchen is back to life.

If you make the same menu for a year, you may get used to it, but you may also fall into mannerism without realizing it.

Perhaps a new menu is just what is needed, not just for the customers but also for the chefs.

“Soyoung! Let’s make pesto.”

Sam turns around and says, and the chefs snicker.

“Soyoung is on the set of Best Chef right now.”

“Ah… Stefan. Are you in cold part damage right now?”

Sam calls out to Stefan, Soyoung’s assistant, with a puzzled expression.

Soyoung has been in charge of the cold part here for four years.

He made more appetizers than anyone else and had them on the menu more times.

The line cooks and the staff relied on Soyoung more than on Bruno, the CDP, so her presence was so great that it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

‘I hope you’re doing well?’

Sam thinks about Soyoung’s nervous appearance the day before she leaves.

Sam knew that although she always seemed confident, she was actually a timid and fearful chef.

* * *

It was the first shoot.

“All the chefs here have outstanding backgrounds and careers, but the judges don’t know who you are.

“I want you to express who you are through one dish. Feel free to use whatever ingredients you have in your pantry.”

The mission began with a comment from the host.

The chefs, with stern expressions, head to the pantry and begin gathering ingredients.

Soyoung looks around.

The 12 chefs who advanced to the finals quickly select their ingredients and begin cooking.

But Soyoung was hesitating.

‘A dish that can tell who I am.’

What should I make?

What was your happiest moment while cooking?

It was a moment when I was recognized by the head chef. If I were to apply the dish I made then and present it, it would be a great self-introduction.

Soyoung quickly thought of a recipe, gathered the ingredients, and returned to her seat.

But my trembling heart doesn’t calm down.

I feel uneasy about meeting new people in unfamiliar places and feeling pressured to be judged.

“What are the other chefs doing?”

Cheeeeek.

Sizzling.

Wheeeeeeeeing.

Their hands seemed to have no hesitation in preparing the food. But upon closer inspection, the process was a mess.

‘You use a blender to make pesto?’

‘Is the pan temperature too high? The meat is getting tough!’

‘When you make custard, don’t you double boil it? If you do that, the proteins will harden and harden?’

Only then did Soyoung come to her senses.

‘I work at the best restaurant in New York. And I’ve been trained by chefs who will make their mark on history. Why should I be nervous in a place like this?’

Laughter breaks out and the tension is relieved.

Soyoung starts cooking.

The scene is glanced at by Daniel’s demi-chef Brian and Naomi, a former Martha.

* * *

A man walks into the restaurant and tension fills the hall. While the server responds, the manager quickly runs to the kitchen and informs the head chef.

“Richard is here.”

There is probably no restaurant in New York that doesn’t have Richard’s name.

Most restaurants keep a list of people to watch out for, but this Italian restaurant, Vittolio, has printed out his picture and posted it in a place where customers cannot see it.

“okay.”

Head chef Marco nods with a stern face.

Richard looks around the hall. The room is clean and the staff’s attitude is satisfactory.

It’s been a year since I’ve been here.

Richard saw Vittolio’s as a restaurant where he could grow further.

Marco, an Italian chef, had impressed him with his southern cuisine and he expected that if things continued as they were, he would form a good rivalry with Segreto.

The servers begin to bring out the dishes, starting with champagne and bread.

‘A stuffed celery dish.’

I reinterpreted Segreto’s popular menu with some reference to it.

‘These Carabineros (shrimp) were inspired by Chef Roca’s cuisine.’

It is similar to the signature dish of El Celler de Can Roca, a Michelin 3-star restaurant in Spain that is unrivaled when it comes to handling seafood.

The pasta was Roman style, also a minor copy of Luce de Sole.

The New York dining scene has been seriously ruined. Am I being too old-fashioned to ask chefs to put their own philosophy and identity into their dishes?

All the great chefs he knows have, without exception, gone through constant effort and failure.

The process of coming up with a new recipe every time, experimenting with different ingredients, and thinking about and revising the recipe can be painful enough to make you vomit blood.

They also do not ignore trends. They observe trends and pay attention to changes in customer tastes, but do not lose their own philosophy and style.

Isn’t this what chefs are supposed to do?

Chefs these days try to make cooking too easy.

They imitate dishes from popular restaurants and present them in a way that makes them look good, under the pretext of pursuing trendiness.

These are dishes that have already been thoroughly tested, so even guests who do not know all the signature dishes of famous fine dining restaurants might cheer.

Richard felt deeply frustrated.

If this trend continues for another 10 years, we may end up serving similar menus in every restaurant. This is a future that is scary to even imagine for a food lover.

Ring ring.

A notification rang on my phone. It was one of the few Instagram pages I was following.

[Segretto Cena di Primavera (Spring Feast)

We promise you a special experience that will exceed your expectations.]

Richard’s lips curve upward in a curve.