Artist's commentary
The yukkuri for all seasons.
I am currently working for Mr. Hyun's Two Star Restaurant as a waiter. The pay is lousy but it is all I have at the moment as my life living off my parents as a NEET has just ended two weeks ago.
Of course, it is not really a restaurant worth 2 michelin stars. Mr. Hyun Yeh just thought it would be a good idea to make his restaurant appear respectable even by name alone. The restaurant of course was far from a 1 star restaurant. It is just a typical mom and pop restaurant in the middle of the city near the ghettos were the poorer immigrants are. It is fairly clean, I can say that much about it.
One of its house specialty is called the 4 seasons dish. Many of the local patrons would eat at Mr. Hyuns's for lunch and even dinner never failing to order the 4 seasons dish.
Of course, Mr. Hyun never showed us how he does the dish as he claims it is an ancient family secret while he waives us off the kitchen door everytime we tried to sneak a peek in how the house's best seller was done.
Mr. Hyun is not a bad boss per se. He is a balding genial old man in his late 60's and he walks with a limp at times. When we had asked him about it, he claims it was because a land mine once exploded near him when his former childhood friend stepped on it when Mr. Hyun was just 14 years old. Thankfully the friend survived despite, Mr. Hyun claims, losing both legs and being hospitalized for months. Mr. Hyun's memento of the event, I remembered him bitterly joking, was pieces of rocks and dirt hitting his leg hard enough to snap off his Tibia. Of course after hearing all that, we did not press him for more details.
One day after relaying to Mr. Hyun the order of a customer, I jokingly asked him if I can know how he does the 4 seasons dish. He looks at me in his usual awkward jovial self and says "Ancient family recipe" as he shuts the door.
I was about to go back to the main floor when I noticed the kitchen door was ajar. Looking around, I found that I was alone at the moment. My curiosity got the better of me and with my heart thumping I took a look.
To my surprise, Mr. Hyun was holding a plate underneath a unusual Yukkuri which defecated on the plate. Its excrement was unusual in that it consisted of what appeared to be 4 kinds of meat, carrots, brocolli and other sorts of vegetable bits and some sauce. I saw that when defecating the yukkuri was letting out a small stream of its pee consisting of smaller chunks of the same in a watery, soupy consistency.
It immediately occured to me that the 4 seasons dish is this Yukkuri's excrement. I was surprised at first but slowly closed the door shut as soon as I hear another waiter coming into the hallway leading to the kitchen.
When I was getting back to waiting tables, I was pondering what should I do with what I know. I felt disgusted at first that a creature's excrement was our best seller but when I saw the happy faces of the restaurant's patrons as they dig in the 4 seasons dish I convinced myself to let things be for now.
The food is clearly edible and safe to eat otherwise patrons would have not returned to the restaurant eating the same dish for supposedly sixteen years already.
I wonder if there is any additional step Mr. Hyun does to the yukkuri poop he collected. if I knew that maybe I can make a small diner of my own with a version of the 4 season's dish. I wonder...