Chapter 24
Lesson Day #1

AN: I'm gonna create some filler for two chapters that actually get more in-depth about the Special Region. There is an OVA of Food Wars that revolves around summer vacation, but not out in dub. Enjoy though.

On the next day after being forced to teach, many students attend the Special Region Research Society where Saiba teaches. There isn't a lot of seating as some get cramped or force to sit on the stairs as they take notes while others attend the Shiomi Seminar to learn about spices. But just like the Special Region Club, too many people and not enough room. It is not just full of people for the competition, but regular students as well. So, they have to rotate and repeat while also working on creating their own curry recipe for the competition.

Saiba heads on over to the front of the classroom as he prepares his lesson. "Okay, everyone. Time for the lesson." He holds up the remote for the projector. "Now I know some of you already took notes on the first lesson. If not, you might need to ask someone from the club for notes. For today, we're gonna talk about spices and curry."

He press the power button for the projector and it shows the various curry dishes.

"Curry is still relatively new in the Special Region and has steadily grown in popularity among some of the populace."

The projector then shows a type of well.

"However, in the Gourmet Continent, there are special springs or wells that produces curry naturally as it gushes out mixed with wild herbs from its surroundings."

Everyone is dumbfounded, have delightful expressions, or intrigued by the fact that there is curry being made naturally.

"I know what you all are thinking, but that is not always the case. As a matter of fact, there are a few cases where the curry can be poisonous because of the poisonous herbs in that surrounding area. So if you guys are planning on cheating with that curry, it is a good way to get expelled. As so..."

The projector shows three pictures of a crab pig drink some of the Curry Well, it keels over, and dies in the well. Many of the students are horrified as their faces have gone pale.

"...best to avoid using it. Not only that, it is more or less like cheating."

Some of the students murmur to themselves about what they just saw with some that had some hope to use something like that but was dashed to the side after that disturbing revelation.

"Yet there are some ingredients you can use."

He shows a picture of a Billion Bird sketch that shows a chubby bird with a huge wingspan with its feathers sparkling and the artist interpretation gives them a beautiful concept.

"This here is a Billion Bird. This bird is infamous for having a high amount of nutrients with every part of its body and is a key ingredient for a signature dish that was made in the Land of Sand. Damala Sky XIII was the one who discovered this bird fifteen years ago in a desert region of the Gourmet Continent."

He shows a man that is tall and imposing. He has very sharp features with long black hair and a long thin mustache with a five o'clock shadow. He wears a very formal yellow-colored chef's uniform that has a somewhat military-esque appearance complete with white epaulettes on his shoulders and one on his orange toque. The toque itself has a somewhat triangular shape. On both his hat and his top he has the logo of a heart dripping onto a plate. He also wears a small medal on the left side of his chest. His most notable feature is the visor-like device he wears over his right eye.

"This the man who made the curry. In the Land of Sand, he is known as, The Curry King."

Many of the students have taken an interest in this man. Then Saiba changes the picture to show a curry dish with cherries on what looks like a pork cutlet with sauce on some sort of curry on potato chips and some strange dumplings on the edge.

"This is a rather unique kind of curry known as, the Gatsukatsu Curry. Others call it the Gobbling Katsu Curry."

Yuki raises her hand, "Excuse me, but why is there curry on potato chips?"

"I was getting to that. It was a form of beach side curry special. The reason why it is is because of the ingredients with the curry part coming from a comet called, the Curromet."

The projector shows a picture of a Curromet sketch in colorful detail.

"It is a special comet that appears once every 99 years with the roux used as the main ingredient. But don't let that discourage you if you cannot get it. For this dish is made from various other ingredients."

The projector shows a photo hammerhead shark with a white underside, orange stripes on the side, a black top, exhaust pipes with two on each side of its back and smoke coming out of its mouth.

"This is a Shumohksalmon. Despite its appearance, it is quite the delicacy that is best served fried that taste like a love child between smoked salmon and shark fins."

Then shows another photo of what looks like potstickers.

"These may look like potstickers, but they are actually tapioclams. A brilliant mollusk with dozens of pearls yet the meat taste like potsticker clams and the pearls are actually tapioca."

The projector then shows a photo of four small bat-like creatures with grassy green fur growing all over their bodies minus their wings and legs which are brown and hairless and they have spears of broccoli growing from their rear ends like tails. They have small beady black eyes and yellow snouts.

"And this is a Broccobat. The boiled broccoli of this creature is also added to the curry."

Then the projector shows some sort of blowfish with colorful scales.

"This here is a Harisenka, which is a potato-flavored snack fish which its meat can be use for thick potato chips."

Then show a rooster of some sort with the carrots on its head and the potatoes and an onion at its wattle and its main body is multicolored.

"And this lovely beast here is a Potacarronion Bird, which the meat is also added to the curry."

Then show a reptile-like beast with yellow skin, blue eyes and an orange fin.

"The skin of the Consommenatoros. A type of reptile with a delicious skin once its shed."

Then rapidly show a picture of a blue tiger that has its entire body made out of water.

"And this is a Watiger. A type of tiger that can liquify and solidify with ease. In its liquid state, it has a translucent appearance, and one can see through its body. Its fur, when solid, appears to be light blue with dark blue stripes and it has a crest of water growing from its arms. The meat is edible with the rich texture melts in one's mouth that releases a flood of flavorful juicy buillon. Unfortunately, since its capture level is 70, many end up dead when encountering this beast, which makes it extremely hard to get. And lastly..."

Then he shows a picture of what looks like a chocolate bonbon.

"The chocolate skin of a Whiskey Bonbon."

One male student laughs, "Chocolate in curry!? That's something that a child can do!" and proceeds to laugh.

"Chocolate is an actual ingredient in curry." Erina says. "Cocoa is a perfectly viable ingredient that is able to draw out the fragrance and the bitterness while leaving a smooth consistency."

"Seriously!?" the male student reply.

One female student says, "Yeah, haven't you seen Black Butler?"

Some of the students giggle.

Saiba continues, "The point I'm trying to make is that you have to be imaginative as well as use your instinct to make your own curry. However, there are ingredients outside of the Gourmet Continent. Even ingredients from there have taken root in other continents and nations that you can use."

Saiba then shows a picture of cube-shaped tomatoes. "These are marmets. They are the Special Region's version of tomatoes."

"Those are tomatoes of the other world?" one of the female students asked.

"They're cubes!" says another male student.

"That's interesting." Takumi says as he looks at the picture.

"Yet I wonder why they're cubes instead of spheres like our tomatoes." Isami wonders as he place his finger on his chin.

"I have no idea." Takumi says to his brother. "Maybe they evolved that way? Or maybe it is to retain a certain amount of moisture."

Then the projector shows something that looks like a bean plant.

"And this here is elven bean. Beans prized by elves that one elf, many years ago, tried out natto."

Ryoko has taken an interest in this.

"Christian is working on fermenting elven beans in the same way as soy beans and has successfully replicated miso and soy sauce. However, he is also working on his own take on soy sauce and soy sauce based sauces with elven bean."

Isami asks, "Are there any other elves or species trying to recreate our foods in their world?"

"That's what we're gonna talk about." He has the projector switch to a picture of an elven customer, Ilzegant. "This elven mage is Ilzegant, who is currently trying to recreate green tea shaved ice. He does know a blizzard spell that help make shaved ice, but he is working on making sauces and other ingredients to make shaved ice. Ilzegant is living on a floating island his parents uplifted that has a wide array of various herbs."

Then the projector switches over to Guilhem.

"And this is Guilhem. He is a dwarf brew master but he is experimenting on making various alcohol drinks like whiskey and beer. However, he and a few of his dwarven friends built and run a cabin where a door to the restaurant is at."

Then the projector shows a picture of Camilla.

"This is Camilla. A mermaid that sampled fruit jelly and even made her own close to a fishing town."

Some of the students start to talk as well as start to formulate ideas on what to make. Ryoko, being a special with fermentation, has developed an idea on using elven beans to make natto curry. Yuki is starting to get some ideas but needs more information. Isami already has an idea on what to use the marmets for.

"I wish we can spend more time on this, but sadly, time is short. And so, thanks to Erina Nakiri and her connections, there are now books that go into detail about some of the ingredients that range from level less than one to five."

The lights turn back on as Hisako brings in a cart of books into the room. The books are about the size of dictionaries with thick yellow covers.

"For those of you who are in the competition, please read these books. For those that are in the club, please read chapters one to three for a quiz next week. Hey, just because summer vacation is coming up, doesn't mean you should slack off."

Hisako hands out the books.

Yuki reads, "'Special Region Ingredients and Recipes for Novices'? Guess it is worth a look." She opens it, "I wonder what kind of- What the-?!" she reacts to a certain page. "The Flyer Duck's bones can be deep fried and turned into a crispy treat!? What the hell kind of bird has edible bones!?"

Takumi reads, "The peels of the Million Tomato must have its membranes layers peeled 1000 times before you end up crushing it?!"

Isami reads, "Almond Cabbage, Aluminum Cabbage, Cabbear, Cabbecheese. These are some interesting forms of cabbages."

Ryoko reads, "Padpuddingka, Chocorn, Ice Cuream. There some vegetables that are part sweets. This is quite ridiculous, but I love the idea of vegetables being sweet. But I wonder what other ingredients I can ferment."

Some of the students in the room are perplexed by the strange ingredients and foods of the Special Region from the books they have been handed.

"I'm afraid that is all for now. Make sure you give them a proper reading before cooking."

Everyone take the books in their hands and leave.

One female student says, "That was a short lesson."

But one male student says, "Considering he has to teach us competitors, making his own curry dish and has to learn about curry from the Shiomi Seminar, he has quite a busy schedule."

As everyone left, Saiba sighs in relief. He looks at Erina, "Thanks for the help."

Erina smiles at him, "Oh, you're welcome. But don't forget that you owe me."

Saiba has a large sweat drop on the side of his head, "Right. Long as it is reasonable."

"It is." She looks at Saiba with a grin, "I get to sample your curry before the contest along with Hisako's."

Saiba sighs as he gather his papers, "I'll get to work on my curry dish once the next session is done. Although..." He looks at Erina, "Don't you think that having you taste my experiments is a bit, um, cheating?"

Erina thinks about it for a moment, "Hmm... I guess that would. But how about I give you on ideas on the curry dishes then you can use my input to create one for the competition."

"I do have some ideas. Yet I do have to work on the curry itself."

Hisako joins in on the conversation, "Having Erina tasting your dish is an honor, but it might be considered cheating with her god tongue. Yet I haven't read any rules on having her taste your experiments so it should be okay."

Back at Polar Star, Saiba goes to work on what kind of curry recipe he would try to make for the competition. Alongside is Hisako, who is grinding a few Chinese medicine spices for her curry.

"What are you working on?" Saiba asks as he tries to mix some spices.

"Ancient Chinese folk medicine." she replies. "Peony root, Chinese foxglove, szechuan lovage and Japanese angelica root. The essence of Chinese medicine that I use in my cooking."

"Oh yeah." Saiba says as he blends turmeric and cumin in a mortar and pestle, "That stuff helps invigorate your blood and regulates your liver and stuff like that. Otherwise, improve your health."

"Exactly." Hisako looks at Saiba, "For someone from the Special Region, you sure do know."

Then Saiba blends the mixture with a pinch of powdered chili pepper, cloves and a bit of cinnamon. "I read some book my dad brought from this world."

Hisako continues, "Chinese medicinal cooking is what I excel at. My family specialize and have been serving the Nakiri family for generations and have been doctors. I serve Miss Erina with my medicinal cooking and medicines I make whenever she is ill."

Saiba stops mixing and looks at Hisako, "You know, someone like you should've been a doctor than a chef."

"I know. But Miss Erina is a chef and a chef I will be so I can be by her side."

"Hm." that is something Saiba didn't know. "Guess I got a lesson from you today." and continues to grind and mix.

"Huh?" Hisako stops.

Saiba chuckles, "Don't worry. I'm working on my own remedy. Chinese medicine is your thing and I won't use it in the Fall Selection. As for me, I wanna use my own style." He stops and looks at his mixture, "I wonder if I can use some other spice from my world instead of some large ingredient?"

"Do you know any sort of mutton from your world I can use?"

"Well... There are the Mutton Boars, there are also Taxsheep but they're mostly used for transport than eating. There is also the Baatton Candy, which is a sheep with wool made of cotton candy. But I'm not sure about the meat of them. Yet there is also the hard to get Rumutton, the easy to gain Sheek, and a few others. There might be more in the book."

"I'll check it out later. But for now, let's focus on our spices for the time being."