The Cooking Princess - Chapter 59

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Princess Who Cooks

Episode 59

Before starting the actual cooking, the participants each checked their ingredients and planned their menus.

Chloe also pondered deeply about what food to make while looking at the ingredients in the box.

‘Let me pick the main ingredients first.’

The first theme, ingredients for nutritious food, was the most difficult.

She couldn’t use chicken, and soup dishes weren’t allowed either, so for Chloe who had the soul of a Korean, it was like having her hands and feet tied.

Chloe looked around and secretly observed what the other people were doing.

Perhaps some acquaintances had participated together, as she could hear several people whispering to each other.

“I’m going to make a salad. I’ll put boiled meat on top after cooling it down.”

“That sounds refreshing and good. I’m thinking of spreading ricotta cheese on bread soaked in milk.”

“That would be soft and delicious too.”

“Have you decided what to make? I want to create something with a fresh taste, so I’m thinking of using apples and strawberries.”

“Oh, I’m similar. I’m planning to use cucumber. I’ll add a little onion too.”

Listening to the others’ conversations, it seemed like everyone was making foods with cool and refreshing tastes.

‘I guess the concept of fighting fire with fire doesn’t exist here.’

Then it might not be bad to take on a challenge. When everyone makes similar dishes, presenting a distinctive food would attract attention whether good or bad.

‘Of course, I might receive harsh criticism after the attention.’

Chloe was confident she could win against anyone in cooking, but if she had to make something with such limited ingredients and cooking methods, the story would be different.

While Chloe was fed up with the Luzhiere Empire’s backward food culture and sought out ingredients from other countries to cook, most of these participants had probably been cooking with ingredients from the Empire without any particular complaints.

At least when it came to cooking using only these ingredients, these people might be more skilled.

‘So I can’t go with something obvious.’

This was why Chloe alone lit the stove and started boiling water while everyone else was preparing cool foods to beat the summer heat.

“Huh?”

“Oh… looks like she’s going to make hot food.”

Other participants murmured as they saw Chloe place a large steamer on the stove.

There were more commoner participants who had worked in cooking than nobles here. They were people who had run restaurants for a long time or worked as chefs in noble houses.

Of course, there were a few fallen nobles, but their numbers weren’t many.

So most participants didn’t know Chloe’s face.

They would recognize her if told she was ‘the duchess who invented the refrigerator,’ but no one could identify her as that duchess just by looking at her face.

So the participants thought that Chloe, who still looked like a young girl, was making some strange dish without knowing better.

“Miss, this isn’t the time for wine appetizers, you need to make summer food.”

Finally, one meddlesome auntie interfered with Chloe.

Chloe smiled and replied calmly.

“I know. I’m trying to make something a little different.”

“Oh, oh…? Well, yes. I’m sure you know what you’re doing, miss.”

Seeing Chloe who showed no sign of being flustered, the auntie quickly returned to her spot. Other participants who saw this shook their heads.

‘How did that young child end up participating in something like this…’

‘Didn’t they say they filtered strictly through document screening? How did a kid like that get into the top twenty?’

Indeed, not just anyone could participate in this competition. The Imperial Palace had carefully reviewed the applications and resumes submitted by applicants and filtered out only twenty people to give them the opportunity to cook.

People who knew Chloe naturally accepted her participation, but to those who didn’t know her, Chloe’s very existence was questionable.

And since she was making different food from others from the start, everyone couldn’t hide their bewildered and absurd feelings.

‘Well, it would be good if she gets eliminated doing that.’

‘At least we’ve beaten one person.’

Of course, since they were competitors, no one else tried to interfere or give advice. Even the auntie who had spoken first was just silently peeling her share of potatoes.

Only then could Chloe focus on her own cooking.

‘The ingredients I’ll use this time are flour, beef, and zucchini.’

The menu Chloe would present as her first dish was ‘zucchini dumplings.’

These dumplings, also called ‘pyeonsu,’ were commonly eaten in North Korea in her previous life, and unlike regular dumplings, they were characterized by their square shape.

Chloe had learned her grandmother’s secret recipe completely, her grandmother being from Hwanghae Province.

‘I never thought I’d use it like this in this life.’

First, boil a chunk of meat with various vegetables to make broth.

Take out the boiled meat and mince it to make filling, adding julienned zucchini and cucumber for a refreshing taste.

‘Originally, chives, bean sprouts, and green onions should go in too.’

It was regrettable to omit ingredients, but it couldn’t be helped. Making the best taste with limited ingredients was a basic quality of someone who cooks.

As she cooked with her grandmother’s recipe after a long time, somehow her previous life’s senses seemed to come alive more than usual.

It felt as if this place wasn’t the Imperial Palace cooking competition venue, but the middle of the kitchen of the family restaurant her parents had left her.

Chloe rolled out flour dough to make dumpling wrappers and wrapped dumplings with filling, using even more skillful technique than usual.

Put the square-shaped dumplings in the steamer and steam them.

‘The dumplings are complete.’

It would be delicious to pour cold soup or broth over them, but since soup couldn’t be used in this competition, she had to serve only the dumplings. Moreover, there was no soy sauce for dipping.

To add the missing flavor, Chloe julienned the remaining cucumber and served it alongside as cucumber salad with refreshing dressing drizzled on top.

The crispy textured zucchini and cucumber inside the warmly steamed dumplings refreshed the mouth, and thanks to the minced meat, it was filling yet soft enough to chew and swallow easily.

After finishing arranging all the food neatly on the plate, Chloe raised her hand high to call an attendant.

“I’m finished!”

It was about forty minutes later. At the fastest speed, all the other participants were surprised and looked at Chloe.

‘Already?’

‘She must have done it quite roughly. I can tell the result without even looking.’

‘Her hands are incredibly fast.’

While the participants were each having different thoughts, the attendant moved the plate containing Chloe’s food to a trolley and left the competition venue.

Now this food would go to the judges: the Emperor, Empress, and priests.

It would be nice if she could explain the food right in front of them, but since it had to be submitted anonymously, it couldn’t be helped.

‘And having the Empress recognize my food wouldn’t be beneficial anyway.’

The only thing Chloe could do was put it in a pre-warmed bowl, hoping the food wouldn’t get cold on its way there.

Most importantly, by completing the food fastest, the warm dumplings had to enter the judges’ mouths first without getting cold.

That was exactly why Chloe had completed her food first in such a short time.

If she finished at a similar time as others, Chloe’s dumplings would get completely cold while waiting for other people’s dishes to be tasted.

Since she was the only one serving warm food while everyone else made cold dishes, temperature was really important.

So her initial goal was actually to complete the food within thirty minutes.

‘I guess I fumbled a bit since it wasn’t a familiar kitchen.’

She had been so anxious wondering if there might be someone cooking faster than her.

After all, cold foods can often be made faster than hot cooked foods in many cases.

However, Chloe wasn’t the only one unfamiliar with this kitchen, and especially for others except Chloe, the ‘cooking competition’ format itself was their first experience.

Perhaps because of this, there seemed to be quite a few people who found it burdensome just to create food with a set theme and limited ingredients within the time limit.

‘Looking at it that way, is the Empress actually extraordinary?’

Even Chloe, who had experienced a previous life, had only seen cooking survival programs on TV, but someone who had never cooked once had planned something like this.

‘Though it seems like she came up with that brilliant idea to mess with me.’

She could only hope that such excellent creativity wouldn’t be used only to torment others.

And fortunately, this time Chloe was the person who completed her dish fastest, and as Chloe intended, the dumplings would enter the judges’ mouths first while still warm.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————