“Good, now let’s enjoy—”
“But is it cheating because I discuss my dish with you and you give me advice when you are such famous chef?”
Alain puts down his fork and knife and regards Mebel closely. “Is it cheating? No, I don’t think so. The other students are free to approach me or Chef Clarke for our input. And I certainlywon’t be giving you any information that I wouldn’t tell your classmates if they asked. Now, before you ask another question, let me ask one of my own: Why do you care so much if it’s ethical or not? The culinary industry is a cutthroat one. Backstabbing happens every day, especially when the stakes are as high as this.”
“I know,” Mebel sighs. “I don’t like this backstabbing thing. My friends and I have good relationship, and then this competition come along and ruin everything. They need this prize badly, some of them. More badly than me.”
“Not really,” Alain says. “Once they graduate from the program, they’ll be snapped up by restaurants all over the country, just like that. They don’t have to work at Canard et Vin. They want to, but that is a choice. Just like you have a choice to do the best you can for this banquet.”
“I see,” Mebel says, nodding slowly, trying to parse through his words. Alain has a tendency to speak softly and fast, and sometimes Mebel has trouble understanding him. Like now, for example. All she got from his speech is that nobody needs to work at Canard et Vin, which seemed extremely obvious to her, but she has since begun to understand isn’t true for most of her classmates.
“You need to make a decision for yourself, Mebel,” Alain says. “I see the way you have been working so hard on your dish. It’s not the way someone who only wants to be a housewife would work. You are applying yourself very hard. Are you sure you are only here to win back your husband?”
“Yes, of course,” Mebel says, irritated by the question. Why do people keep asking her this question? They simply don’t understand what is at stake for her back in Jakarta. It isn’t justabout losing Henk, it’s about losing her entire life, her social circle, her home, her way of being. She can’t imagine being invited to any meals or events if she were to be a divorcée. Society would slice her out neatly, and she would be forgotten in no time. And here Alain thinks she would give all of that up just because, what, she’s into her duck course?
Fortunately for Alain, the sex later that night more than makes up for the dicey dinnertime conversation. Mebel is beginning to see the value in having lovers. She can’t see a future with Alain, a man who is married, who thinks nothing of having multiple lovers, but she enjoys his company very much, which would’ve confused Mebel the CHIP. But Mebel the worldly culinary school student is adept at compartmentalizing parts of her life. It is as though she has split into two different selves.
Mebel the CHIP would never have a meal alone without a phone to keep herself company.
Mebel the worldly culinary school student not only is happy to have meals alone, but sometimes even prefers it, sitting there slowly eating with only her thoughts for company.
Mebel the CHIP is a one-man gal, devoting her entire life to her husband.
Mebel the worldly culinary school student is here to have fun before she returns to the company of her husband.
Mebel the CHIP spends her days working on making herself look fabulous, going for regular facials and having all sorts of chemicals injected into her face to boost collagen production. When she isn’t working on keeping her face looking as youthful as possible, she is shopping to make sure her outfits are as flattering as possible.
Mebel the worldly culinary school student looks, quitefrankly, like shit. She spends her days perspiring heavily in the kitchen, her hair trapped in an unflattering hair net. For once, the way Mebel looks isn’t the most important thing about her.
Despite the joy that comeswith working hard in culinary school, Mebel’s life is far from perfect. As they get nearer to the banquet, the tension among the students grows thicker, until it lies heavy in the air like a poison cloud. The classes are no longer an easygoing camaraderie. Mebel longs for the days when Adam would turn around and give Mebel a cheeky wink in the middle of class or when Bella would exchange an eye roll with her at Bruce’s antics.
They still go out for meals sometimes, but the meals are a far cry from what they used to be. All Adam, Bruce, and Bella want to do is discuss what they think the other groups are cooking for the banquet. Bruce in particular is in a bad mood because, apparently, he and his partner, Chris, are in a disagreement over their dish, but of course he is unwilling to talk about it.
“Did you hear what Kate and Matt are making?” Bella says one evening.
They all look at her in anticipation.
“Miso-smoked cod accompanied with blanched asparagus and shiitake mushrooms.”
Bruce’s mouth falls open. “She can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Mebel says, feeling like she’s missed something.
“Because Chris and I are using shiitake mushrooms inourdish. Are you sure about this?” he says to Bella.
Bella nods. “I overheard her talking to Chef Clarke about it.”
“I’m sure is okay if she does mushrooms too, so what?” Mebel says.
They all stare at her like she’s just said the dumbest thing in the world.
“So what?” Adam echoes. “You can’t have two courses with shiitake mushrooms in them.”
“Why not?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Bruce says, standing up so abruptly that his chair screeches across the floor. “I need to talk to Chris. We’re going to have to scrap our entire dish and start over.” He strides off, tapping on his phone furiously.
“We can’t have the same ingredients in our dish, Mebel,” Adam says. “It’s tiresome on the palate, and given Bruce has the sixth course and Kate and Matt have the third course, it’ll look like Bruce and Chris copied them.”
