God of cooking

Chapter 36: Absolute sense of taste (1)

It does not belong to me. It is translated by KobatoChanDaiSuki  

Eliminating candidate.

He thought that one day, he would have to go through it, but he never thought that the day would come so fast. Jo Minjoon went back to his countertop with his tray on his hand. He could see Marco's worried expression. Marco said something through mouths shapes, but he couldn't know the meaning behind them. Jo Minjoon smiled without a word and looked at his cooking.

It is close to a family meal. Jo Minjoon, when he heard those words, realized something. That he ended up overlooking something.

There was no dish that was captivating enough in his cooking. He needed to make some special dish or had to make many garnishes to take advantage of that richness. But the dishes that were on the tray were only those four dishes. Gamjajeon, miyeokguk, bibimbap, and cabbage roll. There wasn't a characteristical korean richness, nor charm in these dishes.

When he heard that this was a well made family meal, he couldn't think of any words to refute. Certainly, you wouldn't know if it was a menu from a town restaurant that costed a thousand wons(TL:korean currency. 1000won=1 dollar aprox.), but this wasn't something to be presented in a good restaurant. He also wanted to win through an exotic flavor, but the result wasn't that good.

But why could that be? He wasn't feeling that bad. Was it that he didn't feel anything about him being an eliminated candidate? No, that wasn't it. It was different. He did get angry. And it also bothered him. He felt sorry for cooking something that was only that much. But the words of Joseph, kept ringing in his mind. That it was the best cooking he had made so far.

It was his first dish. Not made as a participant, but as a chef. And Joseph didn't mind the level of the cooking. With that, he felt that one of his guesses were right. The cooking score was of course an important thing, but it didn't determine everything.

Just knowing that, he felt warmer. A bitter smile could be seen on Jo Minjoon's face. It was a smile that was hard to notice unless you looked in detail, but the cameraman that was next to him closed up on his smile.

It was a strange feeling. The regret and sorrow for becoming one of the eliminated candidate, and at the same time, happiness for his dishes being recognized. The scale was balancing more toward the happiness, but he could do nothing about the bitterness.

The evaluation continued. The people Jo Minjoon looked closely were three. Anderson, Kaya and Marco. And those three passed splendidly.

From the three dishes, one particularly touched his heart. Anderson's. Thinly sliced mozzarella cheese scabbed in eggplants. When the judges took a bite of it and the cheese inside the eggplant stretched, Jo Minjoon gulped having forgotten his own situation.

The evaluation all ended. From the 21 people, 13 people passed and all went upstairs. And the remaining disqualifying people were 8. Maybe he could say that he was fortunate, but there was no one close to Jo Minjoon among them.

Jo Minjoon looked at the second floor. And made eye contact with Kaya. It was a sharp and ferocious gaze as usual. Kaya opened her mouth. It seemed that she was going to say something, but ended up saying nothing. Jo Minjoon put on a light smile. Even if she did say something, they were on a distance where nothing could be heard. And knowing Kaya's character, she wouldn't even make a sound.

Marco, that was next to Kaya, gripped his fist as if he was making a '' posture. Jo Minjoon faced that fat fist, and made an okay sign. It was at that moment. From the side of the casting crew, a loud voice was heard.

"The eliminated candidates will be having an interview before the losers mission. Come to do the interview in the order you were evaluated."

Jo Minjoon was the second. After waiting for a while, Jo Minjoon went in the interviewing room. Martin was smiling as usual. At the same time Jo Minjoon seated in his place, Martin asked.