Chapter 144
Nakiri Senzaemon glanced at Yukihira Soma before speaking.
"Then let us begin the tasting."
The five judges picked up their knives and forks, each selecting a different cut of Minotaur meat.
The instant the meat entered their mouths, their pupils contracted.
Their calm expressions transformed into pure bliss.
The distinctive flavors of the Minotaur’s various cuts erupted across their palates, unfolding in layer after layer.
They collided and intertwined, yet blended together without the slightest confusion.
Every flavor remained clearly distinguishable while complementing the others, drawing the judges into the dish so completely that they could no longer pull themselves away.
"The cheek meat melts in the mouth! It’s soft and velvety, filled with rich collagen, and releases an incredible depth of flavor as it dissolves!"
Charme stared in amazement, his earlier assumptions completely overturned.
"The tongue is firm and wonderfully chewy, with tremendous elasticity. Every bite releases another burst of succulent meat juice. The flavor is beyond anything I imagined!"
Anne closed her eyes, thoroughly captivated.
The dish was rich without becoming heavy, and complex without ever turning muddled.
Every bite offered something new, making it utterly unlike any beef stew she had tasted before.
"The beef ribs were grilled over charcoal before being braised. They’ve been cut to the perfect thickness, firm without becoming dry, and they’ve retained an extraordinary amount of juice. When it bursts across the tongue, the satisfaction is overwhelming."
Dojima Gin chewed slowly, looking deeply pleased.
The flavor had already surpassed what words could easily describe.
Its mellow richness unfolded across the tongue in successive waves, wrapping around the palate.
The intense aroma of meat, the smokiness of charcoal, and the deep fragrance of braising lingered endlessly, creating a magnificent feast of flavor.
At that moment, Alice looked toward her mother with a serious expression.
"It’s about to happen—Mother’s bursting!"
Her voice carried through the sound system and reached everyone in the arena.
The students who had been whispering among themselves immediately froze.
Gasps and cries of shock broke out throughout the stands.
"Huh?!"
"No way—not in public!"
"Nakiri-san is going to burst? Th-that’s a little too much!"
"In front of everyone? Then wouldn’t we end up seeing...?"
Every gaze turned toward the elegant Leonora seated at the judging table.
Shock, confusion, and a poorly concealed trace of curiosity filled their eyes.
Nakiri Senzaemon’s clothing bursts were legendary throughout Totsuki.
Whenever he tasted a dish of extraordinary quality, his clothes would slide away on their own, revealing muscles worthy of a professional bodybuilder.
Leonora, however, was an elegant, dignified woman.
If she experienced the same kind of "bursting" in such a public place, the mere thought was enough to make both male and female students flush and feel their hearts race.
Under the audience’s complicated stares—some shocked, some expectant, and some embarrassed—Leonora finally raised her head from the lingering aftertaste of the dish.
She rose gracefully to her feet, parted her red lips, and began speaking in perfectly fluent Japanese without a single pause.
"Even though every cut was braised together, each one still expresses its own unique flavor with remarkable clarity! Nothing has become muddy or confused!"
"It appears to be a rough, rustic stew, yet every ingredient and every separate cut received extraordinarily precise preparation and heat control beforehand. An incredible amount of delicate thought is hidden beneath its simple appearance!"
"Richness and freshness, depth and tenderness—every layer of flavor has been brought into exquisite balance without the slightest trace of disharmony!"
"Most impressive of all, the dish contains the unmistakable soul of its creator. Its personality is so strong and distinct that the flavor becomes unforgettable after a single bite!"
Her words poured out as smoothly as a rushing stream, expressing every ounce of her amazement.
There was no clothing burst whatsoever.
Alice watched her mother with a perfectly calm expression.
"Whenever Mother tastes something delicious, fragments of fluent language start bursting out of her. Then she suddenly becomes capable of speaking without any trouble."
Erina, standing nearby, gave a helpless smile.
She had witnessed Leonora’s peculiar form of "bursting" several times before. Her normally awkward Japanese became unbelievably fluent whenever this happened.
Once the truth was revealed, the students throughout the audience breathed sighs of relief.
Whether some of them also felt a faint trace of disappointment was impossible to say.
Immediately afterward, Senzaemon demonstrated an authentic clothing burst.
His sharply defined, powerful muscles were exposed for everyone to see.
"To think that something resembling an ordinary beef stew could contain such rich layers and such dramatic changes in texture!"
Senzaemon looked toward Soma with open approval.
Dojima Gin, however, had expected nothing less.
He set down his utensils, his gaze warm and filled with pride as it rested on Soma.
"Yukihira, you’ve grown this much in such a short time."
"I can clearly feel from your cooking that you have never stopped thinking and never stopped exploring."
"You’ve continued searching for your own path as a chef, advancing one step at a time and developing the depth that matters most in a cook."
"And you’ve condensed all of that perfectly into this single stew."
"I can almost see your face within its flavor—the face of someone who perseveres and refuses to surrender."
"Yukihira Soma, you’ve found the road you need to follow from here onward."
"A culinary path that belongs to you alone."
Anne and Charme had completely changed their opinions of Soma as well.
"Honestly, I only borrowed the method from another dish," Soma said.
He scratched his head and flashed his usual easygoing grin.
"Another dish?"
Charme leaned forward curiously.
He could not imagine what dish might have inspired such an extraordinary beef stew.
"What dish could possibly have led you to create something like this?"
Every gaze in the arena turned toward Soma, waiting for his answer.
Soma’s smile faded, and he replied seriously.
"Chikuzen-ni."
"What? Chikuzen-ni?"
Charme stared at him blankly.
He naturally knew the dish, but he could not understand how a simple simmered vegetable dish could possibly be connected to this deeply layered stew.
"Don’t underestimate Chikuzen-ni," Soma said. "It might look like someone simply threw a bunch of vegetables into a pot, but that isn’t how a professional chef makes it."
"To prepare it properly, every vegetable has to be treated separately."
"That brings out the best flavor in each ingredient."
"Only after that are they combined, while preserving the balance between them."
"I used the same principle for this stew."
Soma raised a hand and pointed toward his dish.
"Every cut of Minotaur meat was prepared separately according to its own qualities."
"Then I brought them together in one pot and balanced all their flavors."
"That’s the core of this dish."
After hearing his explanation, many students looked at Soma with even greater admiration.
They all knew Chikuzen-ni, but none of them had ever thought of applying its method to beef stew.
Before the lingering flavor of Soma’s dish had even faded, an immensely rich aroma suddenly rose into the air.
It spread across the entire arena like an invisible tide.
The powerful fragrance of spices and meat forced its way into everyone’s senses, dragging all attention toward its source.
Even the judges, still immersed in the aftertaste of the Minotaur stew, felt their appetites awaken once more.
Hayama Akira had completed his dish.
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