Chapter 60: Ryo vs. Rentarō
"Take a look you pansy ass of a chef!"
Despite Rentarō's attempt to provoke him, Ryo remained focused on the two saucepans on the stovetop but it was blatantly obvious to Sōma and the others that the 'despot of the kitchen' was just itching to unleash a furious retort. Yet at the same time it was clear that Ryo was determined to beat Rentarō through cooking.
Suddenly the audience let out a huge roar of anticipation as some Tōtsuki aides came into the stage pushing several large culinary machines. "And there they are!" The male announcer spoke on the microphone, "Rentarō's signature usage of Low-Temperature cooking. A steam convection oven and a cryogenic grinder!"
"We've got a pretty big sized crowd here today..." Rentarō grinned, checking over the steam convection oven, "so I hope don't mind if I make you look bad to make me look good". Spinning around in his feet, central's elite chef made his way over towards the theme ingredient for the food war. Salmon. Choosing a perfect specimen from the box of neatly packed fish, the red attired and orange haired chef made his way back to his workstation before; in the blink of an eye, sliced and filleted the salmon perfectly.
"No way..." Both Megumi and Ikumi gasped, shocked that the opponent was seemingly on par with Ryo's knife work skill. Sighing, Takumi ran a hand across his face. "He's in central, what did you expect. Of course he's an top level chef". It was then that one of the judges, Kakinoshin Ōizumi, jumped to his feet and pointed to a cling film topped bowl that Ryo was putting into a proofing draw. "That's bread dough! And with the two different types of rice on the stove top, whatever young Ryo intends to make us will surely be extravagant".
"What do you think now Central!" Ryo growled staring right at Rentarō. "You're just a poor man's version of me! So come at me with everything you got, you pretentious elite bastard!" Smirking right back, the orange haired Rentarō raised a quizzical eyebrow before shrugging his shoulder. "Sōma and Takumi spoke a lot of smack to me as well, but where I can see their point, in a way, you however have a knack for infuriating people".
"I remember those..." Sōma mused, looking fondly towards Alice, "you used them against me in the Fall Selection". As Alice chuckled and explained the science behind the steam convection oven, and as Megumi listened as well, Takumi and Ikumi stood and watched the food war side by side. Their hands surreptitiously gliding over one another's before finally settling down.
Moreover, as Sōma and Megumi continued to listen to Alice none of them saw the glowering expression, half hidden, behind a stuffed cat doll of Momo Akanegakubo as she got increasingly annoyed at having her personal space invaded by first years.
'Get out of my face... get out of my face... get out of my face!'
"About that?" Sōma asked, "I mean will that guy be able to use those types of things. He's too hothead and seems to be going off about something..." stopping himself mid sentence the red haired boy noticed the raised eyebrows and smirks from Alice and Megumi. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Continuing to smirk, Alice simply laughed out loud. "Whilst Rentarō is certainly hotheaded and easily distracted, we..." she gestured to Megumi, "just thought it funny that it was you saying those thing".
"Yeah", Megumi added going up on top toes to kiss her boyfriend. "It's kind of like the pot calling the kettle black". Pouting, Sōma got his 'revenge' by lifting the blue haired girl up in his arms and tickling her in the ribs, making her squirm with laughter.
"Hahaha... you're too funny", a voice interrupted them. "You just say it like it is". Turning around, the first years were confronted by a giggling Mea Yanai, and the stoically silent forms of Shigemichi and Rui Kofuru. "If you're bothered so much then watch closely. Renny is about to show you his mastery of slow-temperature cooking!"
Taking Mea's words into account Sōma, Megumi, Takumi and Ikumi all directed their gazes back down at the food war. On the other hand, Alice glared at Mea silently seething at her insinuation that Rentarō would 'wipe the floor' with Ryo.
And so after three hours of cooking the massive gong was struck, signalling the end of cooking and announcing to the combatants that they should begin plating for the judges. "Up first, for Central, is Rentarō Kusunoki!" Grinning as he walked past a still scowling Ryo, Rentarō picked up his three finished plates of food and moved towards the judging panel.
Stepping up to the three judges, he then placed a plate before each of them and then stepped back and bowed. "I call this beautiful bounty: Salmon Confit Flamme. Now then, enjoy the artistry that comes from fire". Just as the judges began to eat, the orange haired chef walked over to Chef Momo and offered to her another forth plate of food.
Narrowing her eyes, and tightening her grip on her stuffed toy, the forth seat looked petulantly at the person offering her food. "Chef Momo, would you please try my cooking as well, for you see my dish contains a gimmick if you will. Something made using sweets". Again the forth seat glared at the dish offered to her but she didn't show any signs of utterly repudiating it.
"Is this a challenge..." she snarked, "I'm very picky when it comes to sweets". However, as soon as the forkful of food touched Momo's tongue, her face reddened and her eyes widened in sheer acceptance of the flavour of the salmon wrapped bacon.
"The aroma, the taste... are delicious!" The judges all joyfully exclaimed, "the interior of salmon appears raw but is actually silky smooth and is contrasted to perfection by exterior, which is just slight crisp and with a rich smokiness".
"This definitively shows of Rentarō's mastery of the flame! And when compared with the salmon ice cream, his skills are only heightened!"
The mood in the auditorium became sombre as those watching the food war began to imagine that Central had won. However, at that precise moment, Ryo opened the his oven door releasing both a cloud of steam and an aroma explosion into the air. "You better not decide just yet, until after you've tried what I've created... Coulibiac!"
Almost instantaneously all three of the judges looked as if they were about to faint from sheer over exhaustion. "Ah that would explain why young Ryo was using bread dough", Seishū Saotome mused, using his knife to cut into the crust to expose the salmon rice filling within. "Ohh yes! I can see the butter rice and the kasha, along with the mushrooms" Mister Ōizumi replied.
"For the love of god!" Ryo yelled angrily. "Would you just eat it already before it gets cold, you old farts! Your tongues are gonna explode from having to experience so much flavour at once!" Sighing but relenting to Ryo's order; Mister Ōizumi, Mister Saotome and the third judge all dug into the coulibiac heartily. And once they stated eating none of the three could stop until their plates were devoid of food, and they were partially licking the plates clean. Much to Ryo's amusement.
"My lord in heaven..." Mister Saotome blubbered. "The ingredients are all so delicious, and they're neatly wrapped up inside such a crisp crunchy brioche dough! I've never had something quite so unbelievably yummy!"
"The salmon umami, pulled with the creaminess of the buckwheat, is rocking my brain to the core... this sensation is too much!" It was then that the older of the three judges, Mister Ōizumi, stood up and removed his shirt before picking up his empty plate and smashing it against his bare chest. The third chef simply wilted in his seat before slumping forwards in ecstasy.
"And now, judgment!" The announcer stated via the tannoy, from the control box in the roof. Immediately the whole auditorium quieted down in prep elation for the food war verdict... except the third judge couldn't make up his mind.
"I can't decide, they're even. All I can think is that they both have created the best possible salmon dish..."
With a supremely annoyed expression on his face, that was also matched by Rentarō, Ryo was about to snap at the judges to 'get themselves in order' when Mister Ōizumi cleared his throat. "No need to rush... if we just taste and compare we'll know. There has to be a definitive gap between the two. Two judgement must be on the deliciousness of the salmon".
As a second helping of Salmon Confit Flamme from Rentarō and of coulibiac from a grumbling Ryo, the third judge began analysing to analyse the differences in salmon of both dishes. And henceforth, within only eight minutes, the third judge put down his fork and nodded his head at his fellow judges.
"I see... there is only one dish here that elevates the flavour of the salmon in both deliciousness and umami. And that dish belongs to the Cutting Edge societies Ryo Kurokiba!"
Bolting forth from the kitchen workstation, Rentarō immediately screamed that his was better, and that there was no way Ryo's won. Unfortunately for him, Ryo appeared beside the central aligned chef and held out another of his coulibiacs for his opponent to try for himself.
"Ryo's dish perfectly preserves the deliciousness of the salmon without loosing a drop of flavour" Mister Saotome explained. "
And combined with the spinach lined crepe that was in between the fish and the brioche dough, peppered with bacon dust, the deliciousness was even further enhanced".
Throwing his fist into the air, Ryo smirked as he watched Rentarō drop to his knees before being comforted by Mea, Shige and Rui.
"Victory goes to Ryo Kurokiba!"
R.I.P - Dusty Hill