I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 187



Only Noblemtl

187 New York will be turned upside down

A casting request came from ABC, one of the major public broadcasting companies in the United States.

The school lunch issue is the center of attention in the United States these days, becoming the eye of the storm. News and talk shows feature pundits commenting on government policy.

However, I have never seen a chef appear on the news, so it seems that the broadcasting station was looking for a fresh face considering the fatigue of the viewers.

“Let me wear this one more time.”

My head is spinning. This is the fifth time.

“What you’re wearing now is just right?”

I tried desperately to get away from the mannequin, but it was no use.

“No. I think this is better.”

Joohee takes out a different suit as if she can’t hear me.

It took me three more changes to finally get the okay sign, but I felt good watching her hum along as she straightened out her clothes.

I got some simple makeup done and went to the waiting room to chat with the production team.

Although I received a script, I was advised that Julia, the anchor, is quite the improvisational type and that I should prepare myself mentally.

She sits in the studio reading her material. The cameras start setting up and the timers start ticking.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Go!

“Hello, viewers. The worst drought in 30 years is ravaging California.

As soon as the bill passed, Colorado opened its first legal marijuana dispensaries in constitutional history.

“Half a year after the new meal program was introduced, the trash cans are filled with food waste thrown away by students.”

The news began with the anchor’s opening. It was still a while before it was my turn.

I checked the script while watching the news behind the studio.

The previous news passes and the screen changes.

[This is a public high school cafeteria in New York. It is lunchtime, but the delicious meals the students expected are not here. The students are served on trays, eat only one or two bites, and throw the rest in the trash.]

Chorus.

Students line up, empty their trays into the trash can, and then disappear.

“Why are you throwing away the food?”

The reporter asks the student a question.

“It has no taste. You’ll know when you taste it.”

“Thanks, Michelle!”

A student throws away his untouched lunch with a cynical expression.

[This year, food waste in New York City public schools has more than doubled compared to last year. Most students are running to the cafeteria to buy chips or soda instead of meals. But even if they eat well, it’s a problem.]

“I’m hungry. I play soccer after school, but I don’t have the strength to run.”

“The amount is too little. I think my dog ​​would eat more than this.”

The camera focuses on the meal.

On the plate are a small serving of beef nachos, a salad without dressing, raw broccoli, and a carton of milk.

[Even to me, the amount seems too small. What is the point of putting raw vegetables on the table? Students are not rabbits. In some schools in New York, there are even signs that students are refusing to eat their meals. It seems that effective measures are needed.]

After the reporter’s summary, the camera returns to the studio.

“There is a huge amount of food waste coming out of schools. Students are starving. How on earth is this happening?

Today, we’ll shed light on this story from a chef’s perspective.

“We have Chef Shin Je-hee, the owner of a famous fine dining restaurant in New York. She has two Michelin stars and recently opened a restaurant called ‘Office Workers’ Meal’, which is gaining much attention.”

As soon as the anchor finishes his introduction, the camera switches.

“Hello. This is Shin Je-hee.”

“Thank you for agreeing to the invitation. Many programs have dealt with school meals. With the pros and cons being sharply opposed, we decided to focus on a more fundamental issue.

Chef, why is school lunch so tasteless?”

The anchor asks me a question.

“In a word, it’s the budget. The cost of a meal per person in New York is $3. I don’t think you’d expect a great meal for $3, would you?”

The cost of school meals in the United States is almost the same as in Korea. Considering the difference in cost of living and income, this is an excessively low price.

“That’s clear. But it’s also something that anyone can easily say. We can’t change the budget. So why are American students going to have to eat these horrible lunches? Why on earth is the government enforcing these policies?”

She looks at me and asks a question.

“The obesity rate among children and adolescents, which was around 5% in the 1980s, has increased rapidly to nearly 20% in the 2010s. The cause is, of course, the change in eating habits. The cause is excessive calories. In that sense, the government’s restriction of school lunch calories seems like a reasonable measure at first glance. The problem is that the ‘why’ is missing.”

I cleared my throat as I took a sip of water.

“What is the reason?”

“It’s because of processed foods. Processed foods contain a lot of sugar, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, and other types of sugar to enhance their flavor. Also, snacks and fried foods with high fat content have become commonplace.

Since nutrient destruction frequently occurs during the processing process, excessive amounts of artificial additives such as sodium are added.

If you eat these foods, you can’t help but gain weight. But rather than address the root of the problem, the government has taken the easy way out by restricting calories.

So what should companies do? It’s simple. Just reduce the quantity.

“We have some information prepared. The chef’s restaurant, which opened in New York last year, is famous for not using any processed foods. Did you know that recently, office workers have been calling it ‘school food’?”

Suddenly she asked a surprise question. This wasn’t in the script. I looked at her and smiled awkwardly and answered.

“It’s embarrassing. I heard it from the staff. I think they gave us that nickname because the menu changes every day.”

I recently heard that it’s spreading like a meme on the Internet.

It all started with a post on Instagram by a New York office worker titled, “My Weekly Lunch Menu.” The post, which featured photos of the menu at Hundred Dishes, became a hot topic, garnering thousands of comments.

“Look at the picture. According to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which is currently in effect, lunches in American high schools must not exceed 800 calories. They must include appropriate vegetables and fruits, and sugars are limited. And that’s what kids are eating.”

A picture appears on the screen.

On the plate are a slice of cheese pizza, potato chips, a salad without dressing, an apple, and a carton of milk.

“This is 800 calories. And look at the next screen.”

The Hundred Dishes menu appears.

A generous portion of LA galbi, soft tofu stew, zucchini side dish, stir-fried garlic chives and dried shrimp, pickled squid, steamed eggs, kimchi, and stone pot rice are all neatly plated.

“This is also the same 800 calories. We asked the lab to analyze the ingredients, and the results showed that the sugar and sodium levels are lower than what the government recommends for school lunches. What on earth is going on, Chef?”

I think he had a plan from the moment he cast me. But he controlled his expression so as not to show that he liked me too much.

“The prices are completely different, so a direct comparison would be meaningless. However, I would like to point out that using processed foods severely limits the quantity and quality of your meals.”

“Could our children’s diets be this rich if we stopped relying on processed foods?”

I feel like asking politicians would just brush it off, so I feel like they’re trying to get me to make some strong statements.

“There are a few issues that need to be resolved before that.”

I answered with a sigh.

“What is it?”

“One of the reasons schools are increasingly reluctant to cook is because of lawsuits. If a child eats food and gets a slight stomachache, parents sue the company and the school.

There are over a million lawyers in the United States. The ratio of lawyers to the population is the world’s highest, 20 times higher than in Korea and 30 times higher than in Japan.

Once a company is sued, it has to close down. Who would want to take the risk in this situation? It would all be resolved if they could just supply processed foods.”

The number of lawsuits in the United States is beyond common sense. Is a country with more than 10 million lawsuits per year really a normal country?

This excessive filing of lawsuits by citizens has resulted in a lot of social costs. The school lunch problem is no exception.

“That makes sense. You said a few, but are there more?”

“Catering companies should be socially responsible rather than focusing on profit. Currently, the price of a meal in New York is $3, and according to data released last year, the cost of the meal is $1.90.

Of course, businesses need to make a living, so they need to have a margin. However, the profit margin is too high. The quality of the food will decline accordingly. If companies treat children as a means of making money, this will only get worse.”

The lobbying efforts of some large corporations to dominate the school lunch market are at a tearful level. All of these costs will be added to the school lunch costs.

“Thank you for joining us today. It just reaffirms how far we have to go to improve school lunches in America.

As a mother myself, I am very concerned. That was ABC News.”

When the camera turns off, the anchor comes to me and shakes my hand.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you in advance, Chef.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t a bad thing for me.”

I guess he kept it a secret in case I refused. It wouldn’t be good to be stamped out by the government as a foreigner.

“We conducted various research to dramatically show how harmful processed foods are, and the staff said that your restaurant was the best place to compare. If you were offended, we apologize again.”

“I have two children myself, so it didn’t sound like someone else’s story. I hope to hear good news from you in the future.”

I greeted the production crew and walked out of the broadcasting station.

* * *

The investment money was transferred to the corporate account and Quinton quickly began to build the company.

But the first priority is to finalize the menu.

I’m standing in Segreto’s lab with my arms crossed, looking at the ingredients. Next to me, Quinton can’t hide his anticipation for what kind of dish will come out.

There are a total of 3 conditions that must be cleared in this menu.

First, it should be easy for anyone to make.

The cooking facilities in the school cafeteria are poor. The recipe should be able to be completed safely there, assuming the worst environment. You can’t expect a chef with great skills.

Second, the quantity must be large while meeting nutritional requirements.

Finally, we have to complete the meal at a cost of $2.30 or less. We don’t intend to make a huge profit in the food service business, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to lose money.

$2.30 was the limit he and I agreed on. This price is the limit that barely avoids a deficit when contracting with more than ten schools.

American school lunch menus mandate a certain amount of vegetables or fruits.

The reason is simple: if we don’t do this, our intake will approach zero. Their aversion to vegetables is becoming a serious social problem in the United States, to the point that some children even take out the pickles from their burgers and eat them.

I decided to use rice for my first course because it’s a rare ingredient that’s easy to mix with other ingredients while also being low in calories and filling.

Fortunately, meat is cheap in America.

Select grade, which is mainly used for school meals, costs less than $10 per kilogram. Utility grade lamb is also available at a low price.

New York is the largest Muslim city in the United States. If we were to remove pork, we would need an alternative menu. Rather than worry about it, we decided to give it up cleanly.

Pour olive oil into a large pot and fry the large pieces of lamb shoulder. Once the meat is golden brown, add the chopped onion and carrot and fry.

The key to pilaf is the combination of spices. I added turmeric, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom powder and seasoned it with salt and pepper, which gave it just the right flavor.

Add Annammi and stir-fry, then add water. Add whole garlic and chili peppers, close the lid, and cook until done.

Even if you’re not a skilled chef, you can easily do this. After about 30 minutes, I took a break.

When I opened the lid, steam was rising.

The rich aroma of spices mixed with the steam stimulates the appetite. When you look inside, the rice grains are coated in gold.

I stirred it well, placed it on a plate, and tasted it.

The scent of spices permeates each soft, moist grain of rice. Then, as you chew, the soft pieces of lamb and stir-fried vegetables join in the taste, creating a salty and savory flavor.

From the sweetness of the vegetables to the spiciness of the garlic and pepper, everything came out just as I had calculated.

Utility grade lamb, vegetables grown on a modest farm, and Texas-grown Annamite. Not all of these ingredients are to my liking. However, if you understand the ingredients well and balance them out, you can easily make a dish that is above a certain level.

“How does it taste?”

I asked Quinton, who was tasting it next to me.

“Are you kidding me?”

He answers with food in his mouth, as if he is excited. He continues talking without even noticing the grains of rice flying.

“Can school lunches be this good? New York is going to turn upside down!”

And I didn’t stop the spoon until I saw the bottom.