5th round

The next day after the 4th round she announced the task of the 5th round.

The task was to convert a sweet dish into a hearty one or the opposite way. That means, for example, to make a cake hearty. They had again two hours to complete it.

The remaining eight jotted down some notes and thought of an idea and slowly all of them got their ingredients from the table and carried them to their station. They all started to work on their dish.

Now that there were only eight contestants left they were placed in two rows and you could see every single move of them. A camera team is walking around them to film them and all of that would be sent live on the billboard in front of the Morgan Noodles building. It was also shown live on television. The pressure was more than visible. Everyone expected great things from the remaining eight.

The cook with the face mask was again in the far corner of the room and just calmly cooked for himself not minding the spectator outside who observed him and the others and he also didn´t seem to mind the camera moving closer to him to see what he was doing.

This time Eira allowed a camera team to come and not just put cameras into the room because the camera team was there to test the contestant's patience and adaptability. There was also an interviewer with them who from time to time would ask questions to the contestants.

Right now he was beside the work station of Fabiola Beaufort.

"Hello, Miss Beaufort. Can I ask what you are planning to make?" The interviewer asked.

She looked at him hesitantly not used by the attention given to her.

"Uhm... I am making strawberry spaghetti."

"Oh, that sounds delicious. Are you making the sauce right now?" The interviewer inquired further.

"Uh, yes. I mashed fresh strawberries and cook them down to a jam."

The interviewer fanned the air to him and exasperatedly exclaimed: "That smells delicious. Keep it up."

He then walked to the next station where the big cook was cooking that had an argument with Fabiola days ago.

The interviewer once again asked him what he was making but other than Fabiola he didn´t answer or react to any of the questions he was asked. He just grumbled to himself and resumed to concentrate on his cooking. The interviewer gave a fake laugh.

"We have a grumpy bear here. I think we should let him cook or he is going to eat us. Hahaha."

The continued to interview the other contestants until they reached the last one who was the cook with the face mask.

"Hello, Mr... errrrr you don´t have a name tag. Can I ask what´s your name?"

"No." The guy shortly answered.

"Very mysterious. I also see that you had signed up with the name Mr. YX. Well, I will call you that instead. What are you making Mr. YX?" The interview continued.

"You´ll see." Another short answer came back. The interviewer wiped off his sweat and wanted to continue. He didn´t know it was so hard to deal with these cooks. So difficult to get them to talk. That would look really stupid on TV... oh wait it IS live on TV. He is doomed. That is sure.

"Then I will guess. Let´s see. You have pineapple, rice, and vegetables. I wonder what you are doing with the pineapples." The interviewer just started to talk to himself.

No reaction came from the cook with the face mask. He worked without to utter a single word on his cooking like the big cook before him.

It was already one hour into the competition. One after another different fragrance hit the nose of the judges. Sweet and savory dishes were slowly coming to a making.

Eira was especially looking forward to the dish Fabiola made. The strawberry jam looked too delicious.

(Ok here on the side note so that you all know: Eira secretly has a sweet tooth. She loved all the noodle dishes her father made but sweets... that was something she always craved. Maybe because her father had to buy them for her and not make it for her instead. So she rarely had a taste of them.)

She was still focused on Fabiola when the cook with the face mask came in front of her and placed his tray in front of her and the other cooks.

"This is my pineapple fried rice. Enjoy." He shortly said and went a few steps back to wait for them to judge.

The Italian cook looked at the tray and opened the lid. Inside appeared a whole pineapple. Steaming leaking out of it. They put half of the pineapple down and laying inside was the glistening golden fried rice. The fragrant smell hit their noses.

They took their spoons and started to taste the fried rice. The first thing that they tasted was the seasoning of the different herbs. The saltiness was slowly washed away by the sweet juice of the pineapple and in the end, the sweetness still lingered in their mouths even after swallowing the fried rice.

They came back with a second bite. And the second became third and in the end, they finished the whole pineapple.

"That was good. The fried rice wasn´t greasy at all." The Italian cook exclaimed.

"On the contrary. It was very refreshing like eating a real pineapple." The Chinese chef added.

"I agree. This was good. I think we all know how we should rate this dish." Eira chimed in.

All of the three nodded. They then announced at the same time.

"This dish passed."

A round of applause was given to the cook. He slightly bowed and then went back to his place. Slowly one after another the contestants also finished their dish and handed it in personally.

In the end, it was only Fabiola and the big cook who didn´t get judged yet.