a cooks worst dream

The world was Roy's oyster the very day he finally finished his culinary training at the international culinary center in New York city. Bright eyed, bushy tailed, and unstoppable so he thought. After 5 months, 20 lessons, 2 trials, 1 externship, and 3000 miles away from home, Roy quickly realized that he was flat broke. However, that never stopped his tenacious, must learn it all, do whatever it takes, blindly optimistic approach to landing him his dream job at New York city's finest 3 star michelin restaurant Le molé.

Roy knew right after he finished culinary school he needed to get to work and apply to every kitchen immediately. Not only to fulfill his dreams as being a young prominent cook to be reckoned with, but also to pay off his hefty student loans. His very first thought was lets check out Le molé.

He takes the J train 10 stops away from his ultra cramped shoe box apartment containing nothing but his cooking tools, cook books, a twin sized bed, and a few clothes folded lazily on the floor. Once he leaves his ultra cramped apartment to the ultra cramped train he sits in the even more ultra cramped 3 star michelin restaurant lobby full of other fresh faced culinary grad students some of which he recognized from a few days prior. "Oh boy" he thought. "At least there is always plan B C and D" (bistro 1, cafe 2, brasserie 3) he whimpered to himself.

After a lackluster interview due to his severe nervousness at Le Molé and halfhearted answers he gave to his other restaurant choices due to lack of enthusiasm, He decided I need a drink. Waltzing down Greenwich village he stumbles upon a snazzy yet preserved old school late 18th century Irish pub. He orders himself a shot of whiskey and a strong dark stout. After a defeated and tepid cheers to himself during the twilight of happy hour, he notices a man sitting in a booth by himself amidst the bridge and tunnel crowd and sea of retired folk. Roy has never witnessed such an odd character in his short stay in New York during what might have actually been his first sense of real "Me time" since he moved to the city. He could not keep his eyes off such a disheveled yet composed figure of a man in the booth across him. He was so inviting yet intimidating, slicked jet black hair with a scruffy five o clock shadow, a dirty white T shirt but brand new gloss black alligator skinned shoes. Roy thought to himself, "I guess this is what mobsters look like".

Roy nurses his beer slowly while the mystery man finishes his 6th glass of vodka. The man slurs into his phone decibels louder than he did minutes ago. The only word Roy clearly understand him saying is Le Molé in his slurred drunken Russian accent. Immediately, Roy's eyes light up in wonder and enticement. "Maybe this strange man is the owner, perhaps investor, maybe a General manager?".

It wouldn't hurt to ask he thought. So Roy mustered up the strength after a hefty chug of his beer and a deep breathing period, Roy was headed towards the man, right as Roy took his first steps towards the enigmatic Russian man, the stranger screamed something in an aggressive tone to his phone. He picks up his jacket, throws some cash down on the table and Runs out the door in a sprinters pace. what the man does not notice is he dropped his little black book which Roy picks up for him. He notices it is a brand new moleskin which is exactly the same one he would write his recipes down in during culinary school. Roy goes outside to try to flag the man down and notices him stumble inside of a limousine which takes off and just makes the red light. In the matter of seconds another limousine pulls up next to Roy and sees Roy with the little black book in his hand. The windows roll down a quarter of the way and shows only half of his face to Roy. "Roychiek?" says another strange Russian man who's after shave was almost poisonous. "Uhh, I am Roy..." says Roy in a befuddled tone. "this is my book yes?, says the stranger in the limo". Roy opens the book and notices it is mostly empty other than a few pages of Russian writing and a coded number sequence which he begins to read out loud. "1769q3....." "STOY!" screams the man in the limo as he makes a give the book to me gesture somewhat of what an infant child would make.

Roy tosses the book into the limo and the man hands Roy a burlap sack emitting the most pungent aroma he has ever smelled. "go home now" says the stranger.

Both confused and frightened, Roy scurries into the bar to pay for his drinks and then takes the train home. Once he gets on the train everyone on the train turned their heads like confused owls trying to figure out where this haunting aroma was coming from, Roy bows his head down to seem like it isn't coming from him. Once Roy gets home he rushes to lock the door and finally see what was in the sack he was given. He opens the sack to see the shiniest, densest, most eye catching, alluring truffles he has ever seen in his young life. Right in his very own hands was 5 pounds of the most marvelous truffles he has ever seen.

His very next thought was, what do I even do about these? who do I even tell?. He checks his contacts, online friends, and his email. halfway through checking his Email he thinks to himself "who would even purchase these? who would even believe me?". while he goes through his emails he notices a message from his culinary school saying freshmen alumni cooking competition hosted by the food network. He clicks on it in a heartbeat and reads the entry details and notices the first place prize is $20,000. "Dear alumni, this month marks the 20th anniversary of the International cooking center freshman games hosted by food network. here is a chance to showcase your passion, desire, and creativity towards cooking. each contestant must make one dish that represents everything they learned while in culinary school. Each contestant can bring only one ingredient they desire which is not already included in the stock pantry. first place out of 10 contestants will win $20,000 with no second or third place. One dish, one shot, one winner. May the best cook win"

Roy sees this and thinks this would be a golden opportunity to showcase his grandmothers beloved garlic risotto with toasted wild saffron and now....these lovely god sent truffles. He signs up immediately and lucks out as the 7th out of the 10th contestants to get a spot. Roy figured if everyone was blown away by his grandmothers risotto recipe during culinary school just imagine if He were to add these truffles on top of them. He only had 3 days until the contest which gave him plenty of time to pick up a truffle shaver at the kitchen supply store on bowery. With only a few dollars to his name he picks up the nicest truffle shaver available. Holding this costly shaver in his hands made him realize that he really needs to win this contest or get any of the restaurants he applied to to hire him, both the debt and pressure were getting to him. He didn't even have enough money to buy the ingredients to practice making his grandmothers risotto, at the same time he was confident enough to make this dish with no practice even with his eyes closed. Ever since he learned his love of cooking from his grandmother at a young age, he was always helping make this dish.

Two....very.....slow.....days....later, the contest was on. Roy walked into the stadium kitchen in his crispy chef whites, tool set, and his secret weapon black truffle in his pocket. He sees a couple of his former classmates he graduated with a week ago and exchanges smiles and good luck chants with them. Shortly after, he watches the judges take their seats and celebrity chef Bobby take the stage, also a former ICC alumni.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen" says chef bobby with a loud and proud tone. "It is an honor to host the 20th anniversary of the food network alumni competition, it brings me back to truly one of the better times of my young life as a hungry young cook looking to challenge myself and make a name for myself. Of course I was also a lot thinner and had less grey hairs so of course its no surprise those were the better times of my life" The crowd burst into a polite laughter.

"Each of the Ten contestants must make one dish enough to feed all three judges to taste which represents everything they have learned from day one during culinary school. Only one, one shot is all it takes, easier said than done. So once I ring this bell each cook will have exactly 45 minutes to complete said task, when I ring the second bell its hands up knives down. May the best chef win"

And just like that, DING! went the first bell. Every cook scrambled to the pantry to grab all of their desired ingredients. Roy, calm as ever, Knew exactly what he needed to grab, Butter, arborio rice, white wine, chicken stock, saffron, and a few cloves of garlic. Just like that Roy was on his station and went at it like it was routine. Sauté the garlic in butter, toast saffron in a separate pan, toast rice, reduce white wine, and ladle the chicken stock as needed. Simple, yet perfect in its own wonderful way.

Roy was in the zone. meanwhile, the other cooks were grabbing an array of ingredients almost doubling what Roy grabbed. One cook even grabbed a whole rack of lamb. This however did not discourage Roy, he just knew his truffles were going to do the trick to win the contest, it was fate. Minutes go by and Roy glances over at what the other cooks are making, 3 of the cooks were making a crowd pleasing chicken cordon bléu, the one guy was making a roast rack of lamb with pomme puree, 2 other cooks were making their versions of steak frites, 2 other cooks were preparing pork loins their way, and the last cook was making a vegetable bahn mi.

"Whole lotta flavor we got here" screams chef bobby as there is only 10 minutes left on the clock. Once Roy realizes there is only 10 minutes left he knows he has a lead, he knows he has plenty of time to garnish his dish and be the first to serve it to the judges. Once there is only 5 minutes left on the clock, Roy begins to shave mountains of truffles over the risotto. With 2 minutes to spare, Roy rushes to the judges and plants his dishes down with pride and confidence, DING, goes the final bell. "Hands up knives down says bobby for the first and last time".

Since Roy finished first he had to explain his dish along with the process and what it means to him. He gives a passionate and honest explanation of the dish, his memories of his grandmother and honing his technique in culinary school minus the story about how he got the truffles in the first place. "culinary school cost me just about the same as these truffles so it would be very nice to get the victory says Roy in a facetious manner". The judges give off a quick chuckle and begin to dig in to the risotto. Their eyes closed simultaneously and they were in a trance. "Wow" followed by silence from the first judge, a few more bites and she finally voiced her opinion. "This might have been the best risotto I have had in a very long time, each component complimented one another without overpowering but actually accentuating one another. Judge number 2 said "the truffles were so flavorful but not overpowering, textbook example of perfect seasoning, the only problem was there wasn't anymore to eat". Judge number 3 wolfed the whole dish down and said "Absolutely delicious". Thank you, Roy replied gleefully.

The second contestant was the Rack of lamb, at this point Roy was so ecstatic that he called his grandma to tell her the news. "Im so proud my cucciolo! you buy me new shoes when you win?". It was the first time Roy and his grandmother actually got to speak to one another since Roy left for culinary school so on and on they rambled.

When he got off the phone and went back to the the stadium the judges were down to the last 2 contestants. With a disgusted face the first judge told the cook that "The steak was cooked perfectly but something was too bitter, either the sauce or i ate a heavily peppered piece". Both judge 2 and 3 agreed. The final contestant presented his steak frites with an au poivré sauce. The first bite from all the judges produced the same look from all 3 judges. "something with this is off, not salty but bitter. Either you toasted the garlic too much or your pan was scorched when you made the sauce". The other 2 judges said the exact same thing, both of them highlighting the dishes strange bitterness.

After a brief discussion amongst the judges chef Bobby took the stage. "Everyone of you must be so proud of what they did today. To step up and challenge yourself right after an already big step up and challenge of finishing culinary school, however, only one of you brave souls will walk away with the title and the prize, and after the judges rounded up their tough decision, the winner of the 20th ICC alumni challenge is......ROY!!. Roy's eyes lit up in one of the most surreal experiences of his life, he was speechless, no words could describe the emotions he felt. Everyone congratulated him and posed together with him holding the trophy and the oversized check.

That night Roy decided to open a Tab and take everyone for drinks at the same bar in greenwich village where he met his truffle fate. While everyone is celebrating and catching up about their trials at multiple restaurants and kitchen gossip, Roy lines up for his 10th bathroom break of the night. While waiting on the giant line, Roy looks up at the nearby television right above the bar. He notices a news segment about a Russian mobster who controlled one of the largest produce distributors on the east coast, they showed the name and image of the man who went by the name of Roychiek Kovalev, a descendant and high ranking member of the KGB. The same man sitting in the booth that night.

"Former Russian mobster Roychiek Kovalev arrested for extortion, bribery, and now FDA fraud and tampering." "A Russian laboratory was shutdown in staten island for synthesizing fake truffles containing the enzyme in pine nuts that causes "pine nut mouth" a natural Dysgeusia that alters the taste buds leaving everything they eat afterwards to taste extremely bitter. While the truffles themselves don't look or smell any different. Roychiek was caught assaulting a limo driver while highly intoxicated and was reported screaming "WHERE IS MY BOOK, WHO ARE YOU". Roychiek planned on selling the truffles to select restaurants in order to sabotage the competition and sparing select restaurants that were in his favor. Roychiek was on the FBI's most wanted list but was impossible to trace since there was no leads on business transactions or paper trails until another KGB member was caught during an FBI raid with a little black book containing information on off shore accounts and coding, it took months to tap his calls but the FBI finally got away with it."

No one at the bar seemed to be watching the news. This was officially the most surreal moment in Roy's life. He went to the bathroom to throw up, paid for the drinks and darted straight home. Once Roy Got home he finally shaved off a piece of the truffle for himself, bursting with flavor and so aromatic. He had to see if the effects were true, he went into his fridge to grab a sugary sweet soda and after the first sip, "YUCK its as bitter as a double shot of espresso". Then he decided ill try something salty so he opened up a bag of potato chips, crunch crunch crunch, "GROSS" it was like eating burnt garlic he thought. He couldn't believe what he just experienced, what a sick twisted fate he was delivered in the span of 3 days. he couldn't let anyone know but he knew he had to get rid of the ill fated truffles.

His paranoia forced him to flush them down the toilet one by one hoping no one can be a part of such and abomination, he figured he just saved a handful of restaurants from an unfortunate demise but still felt he didn't deserve the title or the $20,000 prize. At the same time he was too afraid to tell anyone fearing he would get jail time. So what Roy decided to do was to donate his winnings to 2 different charity foundations. Once the check was deposited into his account he made a silent donation of $10,000 to meals on wheels and another silent donation of $10,000 for the no kid hungry foundation.

The following days were grueling. Still unemployed and hiding his face from any accusations, he was facing a lot of anxiety, he just wished the whole ordeal never happened and he could get a fresh start from the ground up. When suddenly he receives a random phone call which he hesitates to pick up due to him fearing it being a member of law enforcement. "Hello? Roy responds meekly". "Hi this is chef matt from Le Molé. I checked out your resume over the past few days and heard good things from our sous chef who interviewed you, I decided I need some new blood, you're a fresh young culinary grad student who has a long way to go, want to give it a shot?, start fresh from the ground up?. Roy pauses and thinks,Ok this time, this really might be the most surreal moment of my life. He tells chef matt, "sure this is all I ever truly wanted during these past 3 days".