Beef Bourguignon.
A dish that doesn't just fill the stomach—but tells a story.
A story of Burgundy, France—a land famed since Roman times for its rolling vineyards and deep red wines.
At the heart of this classic French dish are two key ingredients:
Burgundy red wine and Charolais beef.
It's no exaggeration to say Burgundy wine is the crown jewel of French viticulture.
Its limestone-rich soil and unique microclimate yield bold, complex reds—perfect for stewing.
As for Charolais cattle?
Raised in central and southeastern France, these muscular, snow-white cows are prized for their lean, tender, marbled meat. With their broad foreheads and stocky frames, they produce cuts ideal for slow braises like this.
Even though there are countless versions of beef bourguignon, most culinary purists favor the shoulder cut—firm, collagen-rich, and perfect for breaking down over a long, slow simmer, enriching the broth with silky depth.
At this moment, back in the Totsuki kitchen classroom—
Megumi was hard at work.
Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap.
Her knife danced across the cutting board. Onions, carrots, and celery were diced with practiced efficiency. She sectioned the beef, then layered it into a container with salt, bay leaves, star anise, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and more.
A generous pour of red wine followed, letting the aromatics soak in.
Then, just as Zane had taught her, she drained the beef, patted it dry with kitchen paper to remove excess moisture, and began searing it to a rich brown on both sides.
Vegetables and spices were sautéed in olive oil, then combined with the beef and deglazed with red wine and a splash of Chivas.
It was all going perfectly—until…
Megumi: (⊙o⊙)
"Oh no."
Her hands froze mid-pour.
She stared in horror at the casserole before her—chunks of beef now completely buried under a snowy mountain of—
Salt.
"I… I dumped in the whole bottle…"
For a moment, Megumi stood there paralyzed, her confidence crumbling.
This dish should've been easy—Zane had explained it in detail just a few days ago. She knew every step. She'd been doing great.
But now…
She held her head in her hands, despair creeping in like fog.
This wasn't just a small mistake. It was fatal.
"What do I do? What can I possibly do now?"
"There's not enough time to start over… but if I keep going like this, I'll fail for sure!"
She frantically tried to brush the salt off the meat, but the more she panicked, the worse it got.
Fear gripped her heart—fear of failure, of being expelled from Totsuki, of letting Zane down… of letting herself down.
From the front of the room, Chapelle's sharp gaze swept the class.
He had been watching silently—observing not just skill, but poise under pressure.
Now, his attention lingered on the flustered girl with trembling hands.
"Hm? Looks like someone's hit a wall…"
At her workstation, Megumi's hands shook.
She shut her eyes, trying to fight back tears.
"Zane… what would you do if you were me?"
As if in response, his voice echoed in her memory—calm and reassuring.
"Megumi, remember what I told you at the tavern?
If you ever mess up and oversalt the beef, there is a way to fix it…"
Her mind began to flash through those precious moments—standing beside Zane in the kitchen, listening to his tips, learning his tricks.
Her eyes snapped open.
"…Right."
She clapped her cheeks with both hands—smack!
Her heartbeat steadied.
"No way I'm giving up now!"
With a surge of newfound clarity, she got back to work.
Chapelle raised an eyebrow.
He'd watched the full arc—panic, meltdown, resolve, recovery.
"To recover composure so quickly under pressure, and adjust accordingly…
That's a quality of a true chef."
He smiled, just a little.
"This assessment… may turn out to be more interesting than I thought."
In traditional methods, beef bourguignon is marinated in red wine for 12 hours or more, allowing the meat to fully absorb the complex flavors.
But in today's fast-paced world, few have that kind of time.
So modern chefs—through trial, error, and relentless refinement—have created faster techniques.
Now, the dish can be prepared start to finish in about two hours.
Megumi followed such a method.
She bundled the spices, tossed in two crushed garlic cloves, and added tomatoes and beef broth infused with red wine.
Then the pot went into a preheated oven—where it would braise slowly for one hour, locking in moisture and layering the flavors.
As the wine evaporated, it melded into the sauce, leaving behind richness, not bitterness.
After preparing the vegetables, she plated them with care, spooned over the wine sauce, and garnished it all with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.
Chapelle watched every step in silence.
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"That technique…"
"If I'm not mistaken, it's the same method used by Julia Child…"
Julia Child. A name well-known even in France.
An American culinary icon who trained in Paris and fell deeply in love with French cuisine.
In 1963, she introduced Beef Bourguignon to American television audiences through her show, The French Chef.
That single episode catapulted the dish into the spotlight and cemented it as a symbol of authentic French cooking around the world.
As he stared at Megumi's finished dish—still piping hot and fragrant—Chapelle found himself lost in thought.
"Julia Child… and now this girl…"
He hadn't expected it when class began, but perhaps…
He'd just witnessed the first steps of another future heavyweight in the world of French cuisine.