Episode 1: The Oven Soaked in Moonlight

Episode 1: Oven soaked in moonlight In the depths of midnight, when the loud noises of the city had subsided into the night fog and the people were completely gone, a warm orange incandescent light was still on in the kitchen of 'Moonlight Oven', a small bakery located at the end of a steep alley on a hill in Seongbuk-dong. This old bakery, neatly built with red bricks under the shade of a hundred-year-old ginkgo tree, was a simple resting place and a sweet haven for local residents during the day, but as night fell, it transformed into a sacred workshop for just one person. Minwoo Han, a young pastry chef with the sleeves of his white chef's coat rolled up to his elbows, was silently stirring a brass whisk, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.

His quiet, sharp jawline, and dark eyebrows cast down his eyes were fixed on the cutting board and mixing bowl without any distraction. Although he was a cold person who spoke very little and did not easily get along with others, his fingertips handling baking tools and ingredients were extremely delicate and reverent, as if caressing the delicate cheek of a newborn baby.

“Tonight’s cacao beans have an exceptionally fine grain. Perhaps because they were harvested in the fog of a thousand meters above sea level in the highlands of Ecuador, the acidity of wild berries and the deep earthy smell of the forest are still present.” Minwoo muttered softly, chopping up a large block of black chocolate on a cutting board with a sharp chef's knife. Square, square. The cut 70% dark cacao pieces poured down like a waterfall into the heavy copper mixing bowl, making a light yet regular friction sound. Cacao powder rose finely into the air, coloring the kitchen with a spicy and bitter wild scent.

Minwoo then carefully picked up the fermented butter that had been slowly boiling in the thick-bottomed pot on the side of the stove. The highest quality natural butter, made from raw milk from cows raised exclusively on grass in the plains of Normandy, was emitting golden foam as its moisture completely evaporated over a gentle fire. The milk solids that had settled on the bottom were caramelized to a subtle brown color and were in a 'Beurre Noisette' state, emitting a fragrant roasted hazelnut scent. Shaaaaaagh-! The moment the hot brown butter, precisely set to 65 degrees Celsius, enveloped the cold dark chocolate pieces, the hard cacao crystals began to gently and magically collapse.

Stirring slowly in a circular motion with a wooden spatula, the fat from the butter and the cacao mass from the chocolate formed a perfect emulsion, melting into a velvety ganache as deep and dark brown as ebony. A smooth and dazzling sheen glittered on the surface like glass beads. Minwoo took a deep breath and took out a clear glass bottle from the kitchen shelf. Inside were the finest vanilla bean pods that had been dried black under the hot sun of Madagascar. I took out one plump pod, placed it on a marble cutting board, and cut the belly lengthwise with a sharp knife.

Inside were tens of thousands of fresh vanilla seeds that looked like black caviar. As I gently scraped out the seeds with the back of a knife, an ecstatic sweetness mixed with the scent of flowers and cream passed my nose. Minwoo poured the vanilla seeds into another glass bowl containing raw organic sugar cane sugar and three free-range fertilized eggs. Crunchy, crunchy, whirring! The copper whisk spun in a circle at breakneck speed. The eggs and sugar began to interlock with each other and trap air. The pale yellow egg water gradually changed to a pale ivory color, and when the whisk was raised high, the perfect 'Ribbon Stage' unfolded before my eyes, with the dough falling one by one in a ribbon shape.

Everything was perfect. Temperature, ratio, viscosity, and even the warmth that filled the kitchen. It was right then. The old cuckoo clock hanging on the kitchen wall rang out twelve clear and pure sounds, signaling midnight. At the same time, the dark autumn clouds hanging over the window magically cleared away, and the silver moonlight of the full moon poured in through the large lattice window. The silver beam crossed the kitchen floor and hit the arched iron door of a hundred-year-old red brick oven that stood heavily in the corner of the wall.

Kugugugoong - Chiik! To my surprise, the thick cast-iron door of the untouched brick oven began to crack open on its own. Inside the oven, amidst the red residual heat of the oak charcoal fire, silver flames welled up, and dazzling golden moonlight powder swirled like a whirlwind.

“Huh…? You must have locked the oven door twice…?” Minwoo frowned and carefully approached the oven, holding a brass whisk. In the middle of the red-hot oak charcoal inside the oven, an incredible little creature was yawning and raising its tiny arms.

“Haaaaam… I slept well! Is this the sweetest nap I’ve had in hundreds of years?” He is only about the height of an adult's thumb. On its back, transparent wings shaped like green cacao leaves were emitting a brilliant rainbow, and on its head was a small fairy wearing a leather beret the color of freshly roasted dark chocolate crookedly. In the fairy's dainty hands, a finger-sized cinnamon stick was held like a baton. The fairy lightly jumped over the charcoal fire, fluttered up into the air, and landed lightly on Minwoo's broad shoulder.

“Huh…? What on earth are you…?!” Minwoo's whole body stiffened as if he had been struck by lightning and he almost dropped the whisk he was holding. Then, the fairy on his shoulder puffed out his cheeks and gave Minwoo a bean on the inside of his ear with the cinnamon stick he was holding.

"Ouch! What is this?" “Don’t just stand around and pout, giant baker! My name is Shasha! I am the great bakery fairy who has protected the pure soul of cacao since this red brick oven first sparked a hundred years ago!”

“Huh… Fairy? Am I staying up all night seeing something? Now I’m even hallucinating due to chronic overwork…” As Minwoo shook his head vigorously and rubbed his eyes, Sasha flew up from his shoulder as if in shock and hovered right in front of Minwoo's nose, flapping its wings.

“What a rude thing to say! Sniff... Oh, you speak bluntly and have an icy expression, but your fingertips are quite sharp, right? This fermented butter has the sound of cows singing in the morning sunlight in the French meadows, and this cacao is of the highest quality, imbued with the dawn fog of the Andes Mountains!” Sasha spun three times in the air, perched precariously on the edge of the copper mixing bowl that Minwoo had stirred, and raised her head.

“But 1% is not enough. No matter how perfect the ingredients are, if sadness or regret remains sticky in the baker’s heart, the brownie becomes heavy and bitter. Don’t you have a ten-year-old lump in a corner of your heart?” Minwoo's heart sank at Sasha's sharp criticism. In his mind, the clear and transparent smile of his first love, Kang Seo-yeon, with whom he had shared freshly baked brownies in front of this old oven every day after school ten years ago when he was in high school, washed over him like a huge wave.

‘Minwoo, the brownies you baked are the warmest in the world. Later, when we grow up, I will come to eat your bread every day.' Seoyeon, who had been whispering and smiling brightly, disappeared without a word one day due to her family's sudden bankruptcy and running away at night, and all contact was lost forever. Min-woo remained alone in this alley, stoking the oven every night, waiting for her to return someday for ten years.

"...That's not your business. Stop messing around in the oven and go back to where you live." When Minwoo tried to suppress his emotions and coldly tried to turn away, Sasha quickly blocked Minwoo's path by spinning the cinnamon stick in the air.

“Well, I can’t be honest until the end! Okay, tonight is a special night when the full moon door opens for the first time in a hundred years. I will teach you the real ‘Moonlight Brownie’ arcane magic! Even if your first love is on the other side of the world, I will make it so that one day, when you pass by this alley, you smell that sweet scent and you can’t help but open the door!”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Is it even possible to call someone with just their scent?” “Hmph, don’t underestimate the magic of a fairy! The warmth of chocolate filled with pure longing transcends time and space! Now, giant baker! Don’t just stand there in a daze, but quickly pick up the copper sieve! Sift down the French organic flour as finely as a snowflake, and mix it by gently lifting it from the bottom to the top to keep the ganache and egg foam from disappearing!” At Sasha's bold and cute shout, Minwoo unconsciously chuckled and picked up a wooden spatula.

Every time I tapped the sieve, white flour snowflakes piled up on the dark chocolate sea, and the miraculous brownie batter that exuded a smooth shine was completed wherever the spatula passed, filling the square cast iron pan. Sasha waved the cinnamon stick in the air and sprinkled golden moonlight powder evenly over the square pan.

“The temperature of the brick oven is exactly 300 degrees Fahrenheit! You have to bake it slowly for 30 minutes with the gentle residual heat of the oak firewood! Got it?” “I am more expert than you when it comes to temperature control. Close the oven door carefully.” Minwoo grunted and pushed the pan deeper into the oven. The cast iron door of the oven closed and the oak wood began to burn with a cozy crackling sound. The delicious scent of chocolate and butter slowly ripening in the oven spread gently up the chimney and into the quiet night sky of Seongbuk-dong. With the appearance of the little fairy Sasha, the clockwork in Han Min-woo's heart, which had been tightly closed for ten years, began to turn vigorously again with sweet and warm warmth.