Chapter 14
- Royal Cuisine Master (3)
Quenelle de Brochet
A dish made by mixing ground fish with flour and eggs.
In modern terms, it might be closer to 'fish cake'.
The earliest record of 'fish cake' found in Korea appears in the <Jinyeoneuigwe>, published in 1719, as 'Saengseonsukpyeon'.
So, a similar dish appears about 200 years after the time Ji-yeong time-slipped into.
Naturally, Yeonsangun would have never tasted such a texture before.
"Ooh! Soft! Bouncy! Is this truly made from mullet?"
The unique elasticity that stimulated his masseter muscles seemed to pique Yeonsangun's interest.
Moreover, it was served with a rich Nantua Sauce, made by grinding langoustines with their innards, mixing them with milk, and simmering it into a creamy sauce.
The combination of the soft, bouncy quenelle and the sea-scented sauce was a delight.
The fact that it is still a specialty of Lyon, the city of gastronomy, proves its taste.
Yeonsangun, one of the most discerning gourmets in Joseon, could not fail to recognize its true value.
"Truly a taste to admire! This texture! This flavor!"
Yoon Nae-gwan, the Provision officer of the Court Provision Department, quickly picked up a piece in front of him and put it in his mouth.
Soon, signs of a storm of shock swept across his stern face.
"What do you think, Provision officer?"
"T-truly incomparable... a remarkable taste."
He expressed himself indirectly, unable to freely mix judgment of good or bad in front of the King, but Yoon Nae-gwan must have been quite shocked by the taste as well.
But the most dramatic change in expression among the three was, without a doubt, Seong Hui-an, the Vice Minister of Personnel.
"Keuh..."
His face, after putting a piece of Ji-yeong's dish in his mouth, trembled with an indescribably complex expression.
It was as if he had confirmed something he could not accept with his own tongue.
Even if he was a stoic figure, he was still a human with taste, and he could not fail to feel the dizzying sensation that traveled through his tongue.
"What do you think, Vice Minister of Personnel?"
"Keueung..."
As if reading his inner thoughts from his expression, Seong Hui-an's facial muscles twitched strangely once more in front of Yeonsangun, who asked with a sly look.
"...It is reported to be a dish with an excellent taste."
The corners of Yeonsangun's lips curled up at those words.
For such a rigid Seong Hui-an to make such a statement was tantamount to admitting the result.
Moreover, what pleased Yeonsangun even more was the feeling that he had convinced them that his judgment was correct, rather than just insisting on it by royal decree.
"Then, I shall decide the winner of the Royal Kitchen culinary competition."
Im Soong-jae, the Royal Secretary who had been watching, quickly intervened to conclude the matter, taking advantage of the moment.
The method of deciding the Royal Kitchen culinary competition was by vote.
The reason why an odd number of evaluators were present was precisely for that reason.
Since there could be no tie, a winner would inevitably be decided.
Soon, the three judges, including Yeonsangun, chose one side and wrote down their names.
"The winner of the culinary competition is..."
Im Soong-jae's mouth finally opened as he collected the three pieces of paper and checked their contents.
"...Unanimously, Yeon Ji-yeong."
"Kuhahahaha!"
As soon as he heard those words, Yeonsangun burst into laughter as if he felt refreshed.
With this, no one in the Ministry of Personnel, the Court Provision Department, or even the Royal Kitchen could say anything different.
"Then I shall now formally command..."
Yeonsangun shouted in an unreserved voice to the Royal Secretaries who were taking notes.
"Let that woman be appointed as the Royal Cuisine Master of the Royal Kitchen!"
As soon as she heard those words, Ji-yeong felt a momentary dizziness and her whole body trembled.
She had somehow managed to survive...
'...I really have become Yeonsangun's Royal Cuisine Master!'
Completely disregarding status, gender, and rank,
In the end, Yeonsangun's eccentricity was once again enforced.
Im Soong-jae, the Royal Secretary, trying to plant a spy next to the King.
Yeon Ji-yeong, trying to return to her original time.
And Yeonsangun, who wants to eat delicious food every day.
The bizarre hybrid created by the same dream, no, the same three dreams, of these three people was born in the Royal Kitchen.
* * *
The Royal Kitchen, after a commotion swept through.
A middle-aged man with a rough beard on his face, the very man who was called the Royal Cuisine Master until yesterday, greets Ji-yeong.
"I would like to introduce myself. Royal Cuisine Master, or rather, just a cook now... Jeon Se-ho."
"Ah, hello. I'm Yeon Ji-yeong."
She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
In modern terms, it was as if the kitchen maknae, who should be trimming vegetables and washing dishes, had ousted the head chef in one day and taken his place.
Something unimaginable even in modern restaurants.
Moreover, it was an even more unconventional event in this era where status and class were strict.
Ji-yeong could tell instinctively.
'Maintaining a good relationship with this person will be the key to life in the Royal Kitchen.'
That was not a problem that could be solved at once, no matter how much she had won the cooking competition.
The Royal Kitchen was a much more complex and professional organization than modern people thought.
If you look at the working-level staff,
At the very top is the head chef, the so-called 'Royal Cuisine Master', a Jong 6-grade Jaebu.
Below him is the Jong 7-品 Seonbu, who manages the overall food.
Below that are the general cooks, Jong 8th rank Jobu, the Jeong 9th rank Imbu who handles the fire, and the Jong 9th rank Paengbu in charge of boiling.
In other words, the cooks working in the Royal Kitchen are specialized professionals with a strict hierarchy.
So, making them follow her would not be easy.
And it's not just the cooks.
There are also various positions for the nae-nobi who assist the cooks in the Royal Kitchen.
Byeolsaong, who handles meat, Tangsusaek, who boils soup, Bangong, in charge of cooking rice, Pojang, in charge of making tofu, Jeungsaek, in charge of steaming, Sangbaesaek, in charge of setting the table, and so on.
It is so professionally subdivided that even a top-class hotel restaurant in modern times cannot keep up.
If you add up all the people working in the Royal Kitchen in one day, it is 195 people in two shifts, which means a total of 390 people, a huge organization.
'In short, the Royal Cuisine Master is the position that must lead all of them.'
It is absolutely impossible for Ji-yeong, who fell from the sky as a parachute, to take on all that responsibility overnight.
From now on, this man in front of her will have to take on the role of sous chef in modern terms, that is, take charge of the many practical tasks of the Royal Kitchen.
"Please call me Cook Jeon from now on."
Cook Jeon smiled kindly and bowed his head.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to be such a stubborn person.
Was it because he had seen Ji-yeong's cooking skills with his own eyes through the competition?
Rather, the skill-oriented attitude of the experts was better than that of the Sadaebu of this era.
"I have also read the book written by your grandfather well."
At Ji-yeong's words, Cook Jeon's eyes widened in surprise.
Afraid that she had made a mistake, Ji-yeong carefully retraced her steps in her head.
There are records that Jeon Sun-ui's <Sikryo Chanyo> was published in Sangju in 1487, so it would not be impossible to read the book in this era.
"...It's a great book that will be studied for hundreds of years. And so is the cook who presented the dishes in that book."
"N-no, you flatter me."
Cook Jeon touched the back of his head as if embarrassed by the slight praise, and changed the subject to introducing the people in the Royal Kitchen.
"W-well, that's right. I should introduce you to the people you'll be seeing often. This is Yoon Nae-gwan, the Provision officer of the Court Provision Department. He is in charge of all the household affairs of the Royal Kitchen."
"Ahem. I am Yoon Nae-gwan."
A short, skinny figure, a stern-looking middle-aged man.
Ji-yeong had already seen his face because he was at the judging seat during the cooking competition.
The Provision officer of the Court Provision Department would be in charge of various administrative tasks related to the purchase of food ingredients and the management of tableware in the Royal Kitchen.
"Please take care of me."
"Be careful and cautious in everything. That's all I have to say."
Yoon Nae-gwan snapped with a stern expression, and then a familiar face caught her eye.
"Wait a minute... C-could it be you..."
"It's nice to see you again like this."
A familiar girl greeted her with a bright smile.
She remembered the face of one of the women who had been dragged into the Royal Kitchen together, with particularly bright and intelligent eyes.
She must have been about sixteen years old.
"W-why are you still here..."
"Don't worry. Everyone else has safely returned to their homes. It's just that I wanted to stay here, so I begged the Royal Secretary."
"You... want to stay here?"
"...Even if I go back, I'll probably end up marrying into the concubine position of an old Jinsa's house in the neighboring village... But if I'm here in the Royal Kitchen, I feel like I can do something with my own hands. Besides..."
The girl's eyes sparkled as she looked at Ji-yeong.
"...There's a lot I want to learn from the Royal Cuisine Master."
Looking back, this girl's cooking skills and behavior were unusually shrewd.
There must be at least one person among ten who is destined for this Royal Kitchen job.
Even though she was forcibly dragged here at first, it was this girl's will to stay here.
If Ji-yeong hadn't been there, this girl might have been selected for the Royal Kitchen maid position that was said to be only one person.
Then Yoon Nae-gwan, who was next to her, muttered indifferently.
"Anyway, the Royal Cuisine Master will need a gaksimi to use comfortably. Besides, the Royal Secretary said that this child has very special qualities."
'Gaksimi' means a servant who assists a court lady.
In some cases, a court lady brings her own relatives, and in other cases, a trainee court lady who has not yet removed the saenggaksi tag is used as a gaksimi, as is the case now.
But... special qualities?
"I heard that the child has an extremely good ability to taste. She quickly recognized the persimmon flavor that was slightly mixed in the sujeonggwa."
Ji-yeong suddenly felt something was wrong at Yoon Nae-gwan's casual words.
Persimmon...?
At that time, the girl standing in front of her greeted her in a cheerful voice.
"I look forward to learning a lot from you in the future. Royal Cuisine Master."
Perhaps it was because of the expectation that she wanted to learn everything Ji-yeong did.
The girl smiled brightly and continued.
"I'm Jang-geum, Seo Jang-geum."
...Huh? What did you say your name was?
※ Author's Note
Jang-geum (?~?) is a person with not many related records. She first appeared in the records as a female doctor during the reign of King Jungjong in 1515, but surprisingly, unlike the popular image, she is not very related to cooking.
However, as Jeon Sun-ui, a medical officer of the palace, left behind a cookbook, it seems that medicine and cooking were not as clearly separated as they are now.
I would like to inform you that the character 'Seo Jang-geum' in this work borrows its motif from that drama that I like the most, from its name to its characteristics, not from an actual historical figure. So... it's a kind of homage.
