I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 145



Only Noblemtl

145 The unbearable

“Chef, I need to re-knead the pasta, but there’s no one there.”

Lily asks as she looks at Jehee. With Mia quickly leaving, the Red Team had to proceed with the mission with one person missing.

“Soyoung. Help me knead the dough.”

“Yes, Chef!”

As Soyoung came in and started kneading the dough, the Red Team’s cooking began to pick up speed.

Kelly is finishing her dish with the lemon dressing Theo made. Jehee frowns slightly at the finished appetizer and nods. The first dish has finally been served. The blue team has also finished their first dish.

[The production team asked the head chefs not to be too strict in inspecting the dishes, because there are guests waiting in the hall and the judging has to proceed. The two head chefs agreed.

Both the Red Team and the Blue Team serve their dishes. After 20 minutes of guests entering, the first appetizer is finally ready.]

Jenny receives food from the pass and serves it to the guests.

Soyoung checks the ripeness of the newly made dough. Then, she cuts a certain amount with a knife, shapes it, and starts rolling it out on the food mill. After repeating it several times, she confirms that the dough is thin enough and then spreads it out on the table. As she cuts it once with the five-blade roller, a 4×4 square-shaped dough is completed in an instant. With an indifferent expression, Soyoung picks up the pencil-sized roller and starts rolling the noodles. In an instant, beautifully shaped penne is piled up on the table.

“Lily! It’s over.”

“Already? Wait a minute. I’m not done with the risotto yet.”

‘Are you planning on cooking them one at a time?’

Soyoung was only told to fill Mia’s empty spot. Her role was limited to making pasta noodles. Soyoung looked at Jehee. Their eyes met, and Jehee shook his head as if telling her not to do it.

Lily quickly finished the risotto and started making pasta. Soyoung looked at the order sheet and started preparing the ingredients to support her. Soon, the dishes were finished and started to be served.

[Hayden Wilson, 46, distributor]

“I have been a regular at Segreto since it first opened. I have eaten here at least once every two weeks. I have tried everything on the menu at Segreto, so I think it was because I was invited by Chef Shin Je-hee.”

[How was the participants’ cooking]

“Considering that they were amateurs, they were generally delicious. However, there was a difference in quality compared to what I usually eat. Everything was subtly different. The scallops should be cut smoothly when cut with a knife, but they were tough and had no distinctive flavor. They also felt like they were mixed with the sauce.

Risotto is all about the chewy texture of the rice. You should be able to taste the rich truffle flavor, the creamy sauce, and the chewy texture of the rice grains, but the rice was overcooked. It was overcooked and the consistency wasn’t perfect either.”

Hayden, dressed in a neat suit, gives his comments with a serious face. The judging comments were much more professional than the production team had expected. Olivia’s lips are filled with a smile, as if she loves her husband.

“Kyle, it’s time for Main to go out. Theo! Is Ganishi finished?”

At Jehee’s words, the two people’s hands become busy. Theo starts making a sauce to sprinkle on the steak. He puts the peppercorns in the mixer and mixes them. Then he puts them in the pan and adds brandy and beef stock. Then he adds thyme and garlic and boils them.

Kyle takes the steak out of the oven and checks the internal temperature. Then he puts oil on the pan and starts grilling. While searing, he adds the asparagus and eggplant that Theo prepared, adds butter, garlic, and thyme. Then he uses a spoon to base it. Finally, the main dish is finished and placed on the pass.

Ding.

As Jehee rang the bell, the hall staff started serving the food. Soyoung was watching them with an anxious look.

[Soyoung, Demi Chef]

“I was told to just fill Lily’s shoes and not get involved in anything else, so I tried to stick to the role.”

[Your expression wasn’t good]

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment. It’s not my place to judge. But I just want to say that their cooking wasn’t what we usually do.”

[The dishes are being served to the guests. After tasting the dishes, they will vote for the one they like best. However, there are still many guests waiting. When will they receive their meals?]

“Kyle! The steaks are getting pushed. We need three more!”

At Jehee’s words, Kyle looks at Theo.

“Is Theo Ganisi here yet?”

To finish the steak, you need to add asparagus and eggplant, cook them, and then baste them. Orders are piling up, but the garnishes aren’t ready on time.

“Wait a minute! I’m making lemon dressing and steak sauce right now. I have other things to do.”

Theo answers curtly, as if he finds it annoying.

“What? Main can’t go out because of you.”

Kyle stops what he’s doing and looks at Theo, as if he can’t believe it.

“Aren’t you the one who’s too lazy? If you think I’m busy, you could help me with some work. What’s so hard about grilling a steak? You can boil asparagus or cut eggplants, too.”

“■Don’t say things like that. The problem is that you’re not doing your job properly. Are you blaming me now?”

An electronic beep muffled Kyle’s swear words, but viewers could hear exactly what he said.

“As long as your cooking is okay, you’ll be fine, right? I’m sure everyone except you knows that you’re a selfish ■■■. Have you ever lived your entire life being considerate or giving in?”

Theo pours out his intense emotions on Kyle, as if he has had a lot of things built up inside him. Kyle’s face turns red.

“Everyone, shut up! I don’t want to get out of here. If I get disqualified like this, I’ll curse you all for the rest of my life.”

Kelly’s shout draws the two men’s attention to her.

“What are you?”

Kyle and Theo glare at her. Lily also stops what she’s cooking and looks at them with anxious eyes.

[Sam, Sous Chef]

“What’s the atmosphere like in the kitchen?

As you can see, it was the worst. There are a lot of fights in the kitchen. Even for one dish, it often has to go through several people. If it doesn’t work perfectly like clockwork, the cooking gets delayed, and then you inevitably end up rushing and doing things wrong. The quality goes down.

The problem is that every staff member has something to say. Someone may not do their work on time, so my cooking may be late, or someone may have been helping someone else and their work may have been delayed. The point is that there is no point in arguing who is right or wrong.”

[If you were in the same situation as a sous chef, how would you resolve it?]

“In a kitchen where team chemistry is that bad, there’s not much you can do. Shouldn’t you just pray that the guests will be merciful?”

bang.

Everyone’s eyes turn towards the sound.

Jehee hit the wall with the fan.

Step by step.

He walks slowly towards them.

Gulp.

The participants are startled and take a step back one by one.

“I’m not a judge anymore, so I tried to just watch. But what I couldn’t stand was that none of you cared about the customers waiting outside for their food.

Why on earth do you cook food? Do you want to be praised? Do you want to make money by becoming famous? Don’t be mistaken. These things are not something you can ask for. If a chef has achieved wealth and fame, it is simply a byproduct of his constant struggle to make his food and satisfy his customers.”

The participants bow their heads at Jehee’s words.

“A person who only cares about himself, regardless of what happens to others.”

Jehee points at Kyle with her finger.

“A person who, when things pile up, doesn’t consider the priority of the menu that needs to be served and only finishes what’s convenient. He even modifies recipes at will. If you grind green peppercorns in a blender, the texture of the sauce changes.”

He points to Theo.

“A person who makes food in advance before an order comes in because he doesn’t want to be criticized for being late. Wasn’t it a consideration that the customer would end up eating a dish that was spoiled?”

Kelly flinches.

“A person who stubbornly makes only one dish at a time even though orders are piling up. Have you ever thought about challenging yourself, even if it is difficult?”

Lily’s face turns red.

“I won’t say much. The guests are waiting for your cooking right now. But the roles will be reversed. Kyle and Theo will change places, and Lily and Kelly will also change roles. The difficulties you experienced while working will be experienced by the other person. You already know what you can do to help each other out.”

“Yes, Chef!”

The kitchen is back in operation.

On the surface, it looked the same as before, but Soyoung noticed something different. Kyle was preparing the garnish just in time for the steak to come out. As Theo took the meat out of the oven and placed it on a pan, asparagus and eggplant were placed next to it.

Theo also prepares the vegetables himself and puts them in the pan, seeing that Kyle seems too busy making the sauce.

Kelly is boiling the noodles that Soyoung made and melting butter in a pan to make truffle sauce. Pasta sauce is boiling in the pan next to her. It seems awkward to handle two pans, but the order log is slowly starting to clear up.

[Theo, 25, Phoenix]

“I admit I was harsh. I was so busy with work and Kyle seemed to be free, so I got upset. I plan to apologize later.

This team mission had a great meaning to me. I only cooked as a hobby, so I had no idea how the kitchen worked. I had heard many times that the kitchen was a team effort, but I had never really felt it. Now I know for sure.”

[Are you satisfied with the team’s performance today?]

“I can’t say I’m 100% satisfied. But I think I did a good job in the second half. There weren’t any delays in orders, and the food was good. I don’t know what the judges think, though.”

Before we knew it, all the ordered dishes had gone. The screen showed the contestants sitting on the kitchen floor in a state of exhaustion.

“I feel like I’m going to die. I can’t move my arms.”

Lily says, rolling her shoulders as she slumps down.

“I think I’m dehydrated. Why is it so hot in the kitchen?”

“Still, it feels refreshing. It feels like I’ve become a real chef?”

The results from the ballot boxes were announced, leaving behind the participants’ comments.

[The Red Team received 13 votes from the 21 judges. The Blue Team received 8 votes. The person eliminated from today’s mission is from the Blue Team.]

“yes!”

Theo clenches his fist and roars.

match.

“great job.”

“you also.”

Kelly and Lily also high five.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

Kyle apologizes to Theo.

“It’s me.”

Kyle and Theo are shown shaking hands on screen.

“You should have done better earlier. But it’s still nice to see.”

Naira looked at them with a pleased expression.

* * *

“Paul! The ratings are out.”

Jack bursts into the office and shouts at Paul.

“Really? How is it?”

Paul stops what he’s doing and looks at Jack.

“This is amazing. It’s almost the same level as Season 1. What’s particularly noteworthy is that the public’s favorability toward the contestants has increased. There’s even a fandom forming on Reddit.”

Jack says in an excited voice.

“Wow. This is incredible. Something that couldn’t be fixed no matter what I did got cleaned up after Shin Je-hee gave it a massage. From now on, we have to make sure to bring out these characters well.”

“What should Kyle do? Should he continue with the absolute taste concept?”

“Didn’t you get them all right when you tested them before?”

Since he claimed to have an absolute sense of taste, he once did a simple test on air. Kyle passed it with flying colors.

“Come to think of it, it was too easy to guess the ingredients for tomato spaghetti. The ingredients were obvious. There wasn’t anything special about it.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“Let’s prepare a dish with ingredients that are difficult to match. And we’ll give the same challenge to Chef Shin Je-hee. The ratings will go up. The viewers won’t be able to change the channel.”

“The new chef won’t do it for you?”

After he proved his taste on the Tonight Show, many broadcasting companies sent him a love call. But he politely declined all the requests. He said he was a chef, not an eccentric. So would he readily agree to a test?

“I’ll try to figure it out myself.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. He’s an important person. You shouldn’t ruin the relationship. Do you understand?”

“Of course. Just trust me.”

Jack shouts. He already has a clear plot for the next episode in his head. To do this, he absolutely has to convince Shin Je-hee.