Chapter 25
- The Butcher Woman (2)
The cattle market had already turned into a chaotic mess, a complete free-for-all.
Objects flew through the air, and clubs and fists slashed through the void.
The cattle market merchants had been accumulating grievances against the Hyeonbang people, who constantly interfered with their business, questioning whether they were engaging in unauthorized slaughter.
Like dry straw catching fire in an instant, they all rushed in with a "what the heck" attitude, and the situation escalated.
In this pandemonium filled with curses and kicks, only the innocent cows mooed and cried.
However, even amidst all this, the Hyeonbang Half-men's attacks on the butcher woman were relentless.
"Hmph, not a chance!"
Each time, the woman dodged with the flexibility of a willow branch, neatly slicing the incoming clubs in two.
But among them, one of the Half-men, quietly biding his time, approached the woman from behind and pulled something from his chest.
A gleaming, sharp-bladed Dagger.
At that moment.
"Ouch!The one who drew the Dagger suddenly lost his balance as if he had tripped over a stone and tumbled to the ground.
Gong-gil, who had been watching from a distance, quickly kicked out his hamstring.
"Tsk, tsk, you shouldn't resort to such underhanded tactics."
Gong-gil nonchalantly put his hands behind his back and stepped back to become a spectator again.
How long had it been since the chaos erupted?
Like muddy water settling down once a few loaches wriggled away.
As the Hyeonbang Half-men, each nursing a bruise or two, limped away, the chaos gradually began to subside.
"You scoundrels! I'll report you all to the authorities, so you know!"
"You dared to engage in unauthorized slaughter without permission, you won't get away unscathed!"
As the Hyeonbang people made their threats while slowly retreating, the voices of the cattle market people naturally grew louder.
"Kiss my ass, you bastards!"
"All talk and no action, huh..."
As one of the cattle market merchants brought a handful of salt and threw it at them, the tumultuous brawl, like a performance, came to an end.
"Those damn bastards..."
"Feels good to get that off my chest."
As if venting their pent-up frustrations, the cattle market people each uttered a curse or two.
But their moment of small satisfaction was short-lived.
Turning around, they saw that the cattle market was already in ruins, with a closing-down atmosphere.
The tents supported by bamboo poles, the benches where they sold soup, the fences where the cows were tied, all broken and scattered on the dirt ground.
The bigger problem was that it wasn't just about losing business for the day.
"...We managed to chase them away, but I don't know if this is going to be okay. What if the authorities really come?"
"How should I know? We should run first. I'm going to skip the next market day."
"I should do that too. I'm afraid of getting blamed for something."
As if finally realizing the reality of the situation, the people gathered at the cattle market hurriedly packed their belongings with worried faces and scattered.
"Hey, butcher woman. It's good to be brave, but if the authorities come, you'll be the first one to suffer. You should get out of here."
One of the cattle market merchants, holding a cow's leash, whispered to the butcher woman and disappeared.
But the butcher woman stood there blankly, unable to move easily.
It was understandable.
Those who had already sold their cows could take the money and leave, and those who hadn't sold their cows could simply take them and leave.
But the butcher woman was in a different situation.
She had to sell the butchered meat, but a brawl had broken out, so she had slaughtered a cow, which was like her entire fortune, and couldn't make a single penny.
"Bong-dan, that's enough. It's enough that you're safe. Let's go back quickly."
The old butcher comforted the woman, called Bong-dan, but she didn't seem to be able to move.
"Hurry before something worse happens!"
"Father, but... it's unfair..."
Tears welled up in the eyes of the butcher woman, Bong-dan.
She roughly knew that there was localism, but she had never heard that it was this severe.
But what was even more heartbreaking was that, as a butcher, they only received contempt and ridicule, and no one would come forward to help them.
"...How long do we have to live like this?"
"Bong-dan, stop it. Have you forgotten that we have more important things to do?"
"..."
Hearing her father's words, Bong-dan couldn't say anything more and reluctantly turned around.
At that time.
"Wait a minute."
The one who called out to them was Ji-young.
Ji-young suddenly held out a bundle of cloth in front of Bong-dan, who was looking at her with wary eyes.
"Give me everything, as much as it's worth."
"...What are you asking for? Didn't you see the brawl just now? Why, are you going to take that too?"
The butcher woman pointed to the ground with a cynical tone.
Pieces of meat were scattered all over the dirt ground.
Among them, the ones that were still usable had long been picked up by the beggar children wandering around the cattle market.
"Not that. I mean the parts that are still left. I'm saying I'll pay the proper price, so I want all of that."
The butcher woman looked back and forth between the bundle of cloth in front of her and Ji-young's face with a puzzled expression.
* * *
"Why did you leave your post without saying a word?"As soon as Ji-young returned to the palace and stepped into the Royal Kitchen, Yoon Nae-gwan, the Provision officer, poured out his scolding with a fuss."
"The palace is in an uproar, and it's about to become a disaster!"
"I, I just went to get some ingredients... Is there a problem?"
As Ji-young answered cautiously, Yoon Nae-gwan's face was already pale.
"A court official has disappeared. And it's a trusted subject of His Majesty from the Office of Special Advisors."
"An official... disappears?"
"I don't know the details well, but... the last ones who saw him were the soldiers guarding the East Gate of Gyeongbok Palace. They say he left the palace in that direction and hasn't been heard from since."
"Is that such a big problem?"
"Of course, it is! It's a case where a key member of the court suddenly disappeared! And this is a secret..."
Yoon Nae-gwan looked around exaggeratedly, as if afraid someone might be listening, and lowered his voice even further.
"The missing Instructor Lee of the Office of Special Advisors disappeared with the Sealed Box that His Majesty ordered him to bring.""A Sealed Box."..?"
Yoon Nae-gwan clicked his tongue as if frustrated and glared at Ji-young.
The word Sealed Box, literally translated, means 'a box sealed with iron strings'.
A secret document of the court that could cause a huge aftermath if it became known to the public.
But the contents should not be forgotten forever, so hoping that it would be passed down to future generations, the secret document was tightly sealed in a box.
'Sealed Box (Gold)' refers to that.
"...The box containing the palace's top-secret documents has disappeared with him, so how could that be a normal thing? The atmosphere in the palace is already uneasy because of that, and the Royal Cuisine Master is nowhere to be seen, so how could the Royal Kitchen not be on emergency alert?"
"I, I was going to buy new ingredients, but..."
Hearing those words, Ji-young's voice shrank as she felt like she had done something terribly wrong.
But on the other hand, she also felt a bit wronged.
To fulfill His Majesty's command to always present new dishes, she had to go outside the palace to find new ingredients.
But Yoon Nae-gwan wasn't the kind of person who would consider such circumstances.
"Thanks to you, His Majesty is very displeased right now, so you should know that if you don't pay special attention to the evening Royal Cuisine Table, something very bad will happen."Leaving behind words that were somewhere between advice and warning, Yoon Nae-gwan disappeared out of the Royal Kitchen.
It seemed that matching the tastes of the already picky His Majesty had become even more difficult today.
"Can we really put what you bought today on the Royal Cuisine Table?" It seems like we need to bring all the delicacies of the world to make up for it...Jang-geum, the Royal Kitchen trainee next to her, had a very anxious expression.
Of course, she would.
What Ji-young had paid for and bought from the butcher woman was not beef, but offal.
"I've heard that there are people who eat offal... but I heard that it's what butchers and commoners who slaughter cows eat. If we put that before His Majesty, something terrible might happen..."
"There's no need to worry. His Majesty will definitely like it."
In fact, Ji-young, a modern person, had one thing in mind.
A record that was often cited when talking about Yeonsangun's bizarre tastes.
Yeonsangun usually enjoyed eating dishes made with animal placentas.
'I can't get a placenta right now, but I can get beef offal!'
Based on that record, she had a brilliant idea to create a dish that would please Yeonsangun.
* * *
"...Are you trying to mock me now?"
"N, no way...The atmosphere in Gangnyeongjeon, where the Royal Cuisine Table was brought, was icy.
Perhaps because the Royal Cuisine Table was brought up late at night due to the incident that had made the palace uneasy, the King was more sensitive than usual.
Yeonsangun picked up a piece of food from the Royal Cuisine Table with silver chopsticks, smelled it, and frowned.
"Isn't this a dish made with offal? How dare you bring such a lowly dish, which is only eaten by those who slaughter animals, to the Royal Cuisine Table?Ji-young felt slightly embarrassed by His Majesty's cold reaction.
Was the story that he liked dishes made with cow placentas just a rumor? Or was it before His Majesty had encountered that dish?
In any case, she had to get through the crisis quickly.
Ji-young pulled herself together and spoke clearly.
"No, it is by no means a lowly dish. Rather, it is a precious dish."
"What?"
"The butchers who slaughter animals are the ones who know meat better than anyone else. The part they take first is the offal."
The reason why offal dishes were not highly regarded in this era was due to the nature of offal, which spoils easily compared to meat.
In an environment without a refrigerated distribution system, only those who slaughtered cows or pigs on a daily basis could have access to fresh offal.
That's why the perception that it was a food eaten by butchers was created, but offal itself is by no means a low-quality ingredient.
"Those who slaughter animals have been feeding their families for many years with dishes made with offal. It has been said since ancient times that the people regard food as heaven. Shouldn't we know what they eat in order to govern them?"
"...Know what they eat to govern them?"
Ji-young nodded.
The people regard food as heaven.
She never thought she would mention that phrase from 'Historical Records', which was also quoted in 'Record of Yearning for the Clouds', here.
"Since I happened to meet a skilled butcher who could handle freshly slaughtered offal and prepare it, it is a very precious dish."
Yeonsangun seemed to be slowly becoming interested.
"Hmm, then explain what kind of dish it is."Ji-young, who had succeeded in attracting Yeonsangun's attention, pointed to the dish in the very center of the Royal Cuisine Table."
This is a dish made with the Thymus of a calf.Calf Thymus.
In France, it is a top-quality ingredient called 'Ris de veau'.
Specifically, it refers to the area from the Thymus to the pancreas in a calf.
In English, it is called 'Sweetbread', and as the name suggests, its characteristic is its creamy and soft texture.
However, as the cow grows, the Thymus shrinks and hardens, so only the Thymus of young calves is considered the highest quality.
Fortunately, the cow I saw in the cattle market wasn't fully grown, so there was some usable Thymus left.Ji-young first lightly boiled the Thymus she had obtained from the cattle market, then cooked it using the Poêle method (cooking over high heat in a pan, then covering with a lid and cooking over low heat).
The point of the French-style Thymus cooking method is to delicately preserve the creamy and moist texture.
And this one is the fourth stomach of the cow, the Abomasum.Ji-young pointed to a special dish using chewy cooked 'Abomasum'.
In modern Korea, the term 'Makchang' is more commonly used, but to be precise, Abomasum refers only to the reddish part of it.
It is not easy to prepare, and it is a precious ingredient that only yields about 400g per cow.
If you lightly cook this Abomasum, it boasts a very unique texture.She added Verde Sauce (a green sauce made by mincing vegetables) to add a refreshing flavor.
'Of course, the original Verde Sauce contains Prezzemolo (Italian parsley), but you can use water dropwort instead to create a similar nuance.'
After all, parsley is a plant in the water dropwort family. Moreover, Korean water dropwort is called 'water parsley' in English, so they are cousins.
Finally, Ji-young used steamed bread with a slightly toasted surface instead of bread, and topped it with Abomasum like an open sandwich.
The so-called Lampredotto, a specialty of Florence, Italy.
After whetting your appetite with the calf Thymus dish, it's perfect to eat this Lampredotto.That's how the Royal Cuisine Table was completed.
[Calf Thymus Poêle, and Steamed Bread Lampredotto with Water Dropwort Verde Sauce]
"Shall I... taste it?"
"Tasting is unnecessary. I will eat it first."Yeonsangun, who had been looking at the Royal Cuisine Table, could no longer bear it and hurriedly placed his chopsticks on the Royal Cuisine Table."
The first thing he put in his mouth was the calf Thymus dish.
As soon as he put a piece in his mouth, Yeonsangun's eyebrows shot up.
"Ohohot, this is... a delicacy of the world! It's so soft and smooth, it's like silk!"
The first thing he felt in his mouth was the creamy texture.
At the same time, Yeonsangun seemed speechless for a while at the savory taste that washed over him like a wave.
After savoring the taste for a long time, Yeonsangun turned his gaze to the next dish with an expectant expression.
A unique visual with plump Abomasum on top of a yellowish-toasted steamed bread.
This time, he even put down his chopsticks.
As he held the Lampredotto in both hands and took a big bite without hesitation, Yeonsangun's face dramatically changed again.
"Oooooh, what an amazing taste! Chewy yet greasy... this exquisite taste..."While Ji-young was prostrating herself in front of the Royal Cuisine Table, Yeonsangun was greedily eating what was on it, shaking his head in admiration."
"Huh, to think that only the butchers were eating this delicious thing. How outrageous..."
Ji-young, who was secretly peeking at the scene, let out a sigh of relief without anyone noticing.
'Haa... Judging from that reaction... I got through it safely today...'
It was a good defense just by not offending Yeonsangun's very uncomfortable mood.
At this time, a random word suddenly popped out of Yeonsangun's mouth.
"...I want to see the ingredients that made this dish raw."
It was a sudden order, but Ji-young responded calmly.
This was also within the expected range.
"...I thought His Majesty might be curious, so I prepared it."
Ji-young proudly presented a bowl containing raw offal.
It was thanks to Sungjae, who had told her in advance that Yeonsangun sometimes wanted to see the ingredients used in the dishes.
'Sungjae is quite useful after all...Cleanly prepared pink Abomasum and Thymus. And various other offal.
A hint of interest began to be seen in Yeonsangun's eyes.
"Hooh, so these are the offal."
But at that moment, Yeonsangun's eyebrows twitched as if he had seen something that suddenly caught his eye.
"Where did you get this?"
"I bought it at the cattle market this afternoon."
"No, not that, the one underneath it."
"...Yes?"
If it was the one underneath it, was he talking about the paper that was wrapping the ingredients?
"Are you talking about the paper that was used to wrap the offal?"
"...Are you sure you wrapped the offal in this paper?"
Yeonsangun's expression had already turned serious.
Ji-young felt bewildered, not knowing what was going on, but she couldn't help but nod.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty."
At those words, Yeonsangun abruptly picked up the paper that had wrapped the intestines and began to examine it under the lamp, turning it this way and that.
"This paper is called willow paper, made by the Royal Paper Mill. It's something you can never find on the market."
"That can't be. I clearly saw the butcher woman wrapping it with this paper..."
"Then there must be a reason why the butchers have paper from the Royal Paper Mill."
"A reason... what do you mean?"
"Do you know who handles the most paper in the palace?"
"Handles paper... C-could it be..."
Yeonsangun's eyes began to gleam intensely, as if he had caught a clue.
"It's the Hongmungwan officials who manage the documents."
