By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter
It was designed as light-hearted comedy involving a chef and an apprentice in the kitchen of a French restaurant but ended up virtually a mime performance because of a rebellion by the two main characters but not in conspiracy.
Interestingly enough, it still turned out okay, thanks largely to the power of the two lead actors and a sympathetic audience.
It may sound like a stage play gone wild but it is not. In fact, it is an account of a 30-minute promotional event for Pierre Gagnaire, the French restaurant at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Tuesday. The event was about Michelle Wie, the 20-year-old golf sensation, learning as an apprentice about French haute cuisine from the 31-year-old Chef de Cuisine Jerome Roy.
At the start, it appeared to go as Lotte officials had planned.
With a knife in her hand, the winner of a U.S. LPGA tour event, the only active woman golfer who has ever played on the men's PGA tour, was good at mincing the garnish under the supervision of the chief chef. They were preparing a three-course meal, being watched by an audience of about 20 ― three writers and a group of photo journalists, plus Wie's father, Byung-wook.
Then, something slightly went wrong. Roy clammed up and rarely smiled. The French cook took over the meal preparations, leaving Wie a helpless bystander.
One Lotte official was apparently alarmed, calling in an interpreter, who was supposed to take care of communication between Wie and Roy and explain their conversation to the audience.
The official and the interpreter had a chat. The interpreter went back to her place between the chef and the apprentice, trying as instructed to encourage the two to speak and smile more so as to calm the anxious group of photographers. The interpreter came back and told the official that Roy didn't respond. The official told herself, ``He is too shy.''
Wie, put in an unfamiliar role of being left unattended by Roy, showed signs of restlessness. She played with her hands behind her back. Her fingertips, manicured and painted in brick red, were seen moving quicker over the label of her white apron. The label says XL, the size of the garment. The size shouldn't be of embarrassment to here, considering she is 185 centimeters tall and she is a sportswoman. Besides, it is possible that she wears an apron a couple of sizes bigger.
For Roy, it was not clear why he spoke so little. Maybe, he was unaccustomed to yielding the spotlight to a guest in his own kitchen or piqued by an instruction that he had to shorten his usual 10 course-plus meal into a three-course meal due to Wie's busy schedule.
The chef, however, was as meticulous as any qualified French chef is expected to be.
It was only after two courses had been prepared that Roy began to talk to Wie, who giggled in response. Perhaps, the chief wanted to show his competence not with words but through his culinary skill.
At one point, he cut a small piece of ``hanwoo'' fillet in half after saut?ing it in a skillet. He raised one piece to see whether it was properly cook. Few noticed it but he licked his thumb and index finger before working on the meat again.
Those who saw it must have felt horrified for a moment, hoping against hope that they would not be the unlucky ones to be served that dish. Later, an inquiry was made to a Lotte official as to whether the meat was served for any customers and she assured that it was used for a sample for photographers to take pictures of.
Now, Wie was back in the game.
Under Roy's guidance, Wie dropped a few red dollops of raspberry sauce to embellish a dish of sliced scallops with cubes of cucumber plus, ground corn cream sauce and a sprinkle of chopped rosemary.
By the time they finished the second dish of sliced abalone with a hint of ginger, tensions between the two had eased considerably.
When they prepared their third and final dish of couscous with a seafood and paprika sauce over the fillet marinated with Roy's variation of a Korean traditional bean paste sauce, Wie and Roy finally came together as a team.
Still, it was not clear why Wie didn't try and look friendly during the lesson. Perhaps, it was because of Roy's tendency to cook meat well done. Wie favors her steak a juicy medium rare. After the class, the chef and the apprentice sat side by side at a table. By then, Roy was fully disarmed and found a similarity between cooking and golf. ``I think that the two are very akin, both requiring not just talent but also a great deal of time to become perfect.''