#47. The Duration of Affection (2)
‘Please Take Care of My Dining Table’ features two hosts, two guests, and four chefs.
“Now, today’s guests are members of Midnight’s new boy group that recently threw down the gauntlet, right? We have two members of Arcus, Ahn Haesol-ssi and Yoon Seowoo-ssi.”
“Hello. We are Arcus.”
Finding the camera to greet wasn’t difficult.
After naturally introducing our song and group while conversing with the hosts, the long-awaited refrigerator reveal time finally arrived.
The first rule of ‘Sikbuhae’. Ingredients must be used from the contents of the guests’ refrigerator.
What do celebrities eat? While satisfying viewers’ curiosity, it also gives chefs time to think about what menu to plan with limited ingredients. Since every minute and second is precious once cooking begins, they needed to discuss with their teammates now.
The chefs were paired in twos, divided into the ‘Knife’ team wearing white chef uniforms and the ‘Fork’ team wearing black chef uniforms. The pride battle between the so-called elite course chef team and the battle-hardened veteran chef team was one of this program’s charms.
One chef who was checking the contents of the refrigerator one by one exclaimed in admiration.
“Wow. Arcus lives in a dorm, right? You must cook often at the dorm normally. There’s so much stuff.”
“Due to the nature of their job, celebrities don’t spend that much time stuck at home. So the contents are often lacking. Like when Seo Nakil-ssi appeared before, his refrigerator too.”
“That was really a wasteland back then.”
I let out a small laugh watching the chef shake his head. Seo Nakil was one of the hottest leading actors these days. It was natural that he had no time to cook at home.
“Plus, the ingredients are really neatly organized. So they can cook somehow anytime. Especially preparing green onions like this and putting them in containers – that’s not usually an easy task, you know? That’s impressive.”
Ahn Haesol smiled brightly and answered.
“It’s our member’s work. Seowoo has a small appetite, but he still eats homemade food better than eating out. So we often cook and take care of him to eat.”
“So that’s why there’s variety but not that much quantity.”
“Right.”
“Who mainly does the cooking?”
“The manager hyung often helps with side dishes, and I do the rest. Jihan handles the ingredients, and Lee Seon and Hapil take turns with the dishes.”
“Then what about Seowoo-ssi?”
People’s gazes turned to me for a moment. I smiled a bit shyly.
“I’m banned from entering the kitchen.”
“If he smells food, his appetite drops so it’s not allowed. During activity periods, we did that to make him eat even a little more, but during rest periods it’s fine.”
A chef who was checking inside the refrigerator and writing something in a notebook looked back at me.
“Then today’s match could be decided by how much you can capture the taste buds of the picky and small-appetite Yoon Seowoo-ssi.”
As he said, ‘Sikbuhae’ was a cooking competition. The two teams of chefs had to use ingredients from this refrigerator to make dishes and present them to the hosts and guests.
The time limit was just 30 minutes. During that time, I, as the guest, would eat what they created and vote for whichever of the two dishes was more delicious.
“Seowoo-ssi. Is there anything you can’t eat? Things you dislike or something?”
For the team’s victory, it might be natural to ask me, who would be the judge.
But.
“There are some, but I don’t think they’ll be very important.”
While I was picky about various ingredients, Na Jihan had desperately cleared almost everything out before filming started. What remained was probably just the celery that one of the chefs was holding now.
‘How much he nagged Hapil to hurry up and eat it all…’
It faintly came to mind how Hapil had complained that even eating it every day wouldn’t be enough since they had just bought a big container of it.
“If I tell you what I dislike, you’ll avoid it when making the dish, right?”
The host tilted his head and asked back.
“Probably so, right? Since Seowoo-ssi has to eat it deliciously.”
“The things I absolutely can’t eat aren’t there in the first place, so you can make it comfortably. Beyond that, I want to challenge myself regardless of preference.”
This was during filming and there were many watching eyes. Through this opportunity, I wanted to try a spoonful of food I normally wouldn’t eat, without being trapped by preconceptions.
“You said food is like the essence of culture, and moving toward that small world through challenge and experience.”
At those words, Oh Jinseok, the chef in black clothes who had been fiddling with castella, quietly exclaimed in admiration.
“You seem to have read my manga.”
Oh Jinseok. A chef on the Fork team who drew children’s cooking manga before entering the restaurant business. His representative work <Bringing the World to the Dining Table> was also my favorite manga.
When this appearance was decided, I was so excited to be able to see Oh Jinseok in person.
“My childhood dream was world travel. I wanted to go around various countries and try the foods from those countries that you drew for us.”
At those words, Oh Jinseok, who had been staring at me, laughed heartily.
“Well, well. I didn’t expect to meet someone who enjoyed my manga this much. Today I’ll have to give you a really wonderful trip.”
“Please take care of me, teacher.”
After the menu meeting ended, numbers soon appeared on the screen. Seeing the timer I had only seen on TV in person was refreshing.
“Then, let’s start the competition now!”
I watched people with a deeply concentrated face. The people who had been light and cheerful just while talking changed their eyes as if they had never been that way and began focusing on work. The sight of finely chopping ingredients, preparing necessary things, lighting fires, and cooking unfolded splendidly before my eyes.
‘…Cool.’
The sight of someone deeply absorbed in their work seemed like it would never get boring no matter how much I watched. I turned my head diligently to watch the chefs.
30 minutes passed in an instant. I looked at the freshly completed dishes with undisguised anticipation.
The Knife team’s dish was Mediterranean-style braised sole.
“This is a Mediterranean dish made with reference to Ahn Haesol-ssi’s taste, who likes light and soft food. So that Yoon Seowoo-ssi, who has a small appetite, can also eat it, we decorated it with scents and flavors that would arouse curiosity.”
They put easily prepared sole fillet with shallots that looked like small onions, and Brussels sprouts the size of cherry tomatoes. The fragrance of basil, the refreshing sourness of lime, and the white wine that was added to the pan instead of water combined to create an appetizing aroma.
I lightly cut the sole meat with a fork, sniffed, and asked.
“But there’s an unfamiliar scent. What is this? The thing that looks like leaves. It doesn’t seem to be basil…”
“It’s celery. Using the leaves in pasta or steaming is very good for eliminating fishy smells. I only put a little in case Seowoo-ssi might dislike it.”
Actually, I wasn’t one to enjoy aromatic herbs, so just the celery scent alone wasn’t quite to my taste.
But as I said earlier, today was a day for challenges. I nodded and pushed the steaming food into my mouth.
“Wow…”
The first thing I felt was sourness. The sour taste of lime stung my tongue and felt like it was awakening my appetite.
Soon an exotic and warm fragrance filled my mouth. It was also good that I could swallow it without burden thanks to the light taste of cabbage and sole. Even the celery leaves that I had worried might be disliked were delicious eaten like this.
It was a taste that made me wonder if this was what would come out if I sat in a restaurant overlooking the Mediterranean and ordered fish.
‘Jihan would like this.’
The small plate was empty in an instant. I chewed thoughtfully on the taste I had just swallowed with the fork in my mouth, then carefully opened my mouth.
“Um, would this dish be difficult to make?”
“Would you like to try making it?”
“Yes. If it’s not too difficult, I’d like to practice. I couldn’t produce this taste, but still…”
I thought it would be nice if I could give the amazement I felt eating this food as a gift.
“Good. I’ll organize the recipe for you after filming ends. It’s not difficult so you’ll be able to follow along quickly.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, I’m curious who you want to eat this with. Family? Friends? Or members? You had that kind of expression when thinking of someone you really like.”
Did I? I touched my face bewilderedly, then smiled slightly and answered.
“All of them are correct.”
Family, friend, member, and at the same time, someone I really like.
I wanted to make this food for Na Jihan.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
