Chapter 22

'Amara. It seems we were wrong about the dishes having to be level 8 to produce that reaction...' I look at the judges who are in a euphoric state.

[Well, looks like we're back to square one. To be fair, we've only been here for a week. We'll figure it out eventually.]

'Yeah true' I talk with Amara briefly whilst waiting for the judges to come back to their senses.

"Rin. The dish has many dimensions of flavours, its surprising you did that considering the time you were given."

'Is this post nut clarity?' I question inwardly as I see her soberly review my dish almost instantaneously from her coming out of the foodgasm.

"The herbs that you used really complement each other and the different dimensions of flavour in the dish really bring it up a level."

"But how did you get so much flavour into the Ragù in such a short time?" Sofia asks me with a curious tone. The other judges, coming out of a foodgasm, looked at me with interest.

"MSG" I say to them with a big grin on my face.

"MSG???" a weird look appears on the judges.

"Well, ideally I would make the stock for a few hours to make the Ragù, but with the time constraints I thought of using MSG to enhance the flavour" I smile at the judges whilst delivering my explanation.

"It's certainly non-traditional for Italian food, but you did a great job" Roberto flashes a smile at me as he compliments the dish.

"It's really impressive to bring out the duck Ragu's flavour in such a short time. Although the dish isn't perfect, you did really well. Thank you for the meal Rin" Emma smiles at me warmly as she thanks me.

"Lets vote for the winner. Emma who are giving your vote to?" Sofia turns to her and asks.

"Rin" Emma turns to Sofia and then back to me with a smile.

Sofia then looks towards Roberto and says "what about you Roberto?"

"Although both dishes were good, I think I have to give it to Rin. The duck Ragu had a clear edge over the other dish."

Sofia nods and thinks for a few seconds before giving the verdict. "Brandon, you did a fantastic job with your dish and I'm proud of you. Few 16-year-olds can create dishes of this quality."

"But I have to vote for Rin in this competition. This makes the winner of the competition Rin, congratulations" She smiles warmly at both me and Brandon.

"Glad you enjoyed" I take off my headband dramatically and smile back at the judges.

I look towards Brandon and see obvious frustration on his face. He clutched his hands into a fist whilst looking at the ground.

"How? He hasn't cooked in 2 years, so how can he be better than me? I refuse to believe it" I overhear Brandon's mumbles and frown a little.

"Brandon, it looks like you aren't convinced" I get his attention and then smile as he looks towards me.

'I was expecting this result, so I prepared in advance' I walk to my cooking station and bring over a plate with a dish cover on.

"How about you try some?" I take off the dish cover and unleash its aroma. I look at Brandon's face and see a bit of drool coming from his mouth.

I smile as I see Brandon's ego break down as he slowly gives in to the temptation of eating my dish.

*Sigh* "Don't be stubborn. If you want to eat it, then do it."

Brandon puts a portion of the meal in his mouth and his face displays a look of clear ecstasy.

As I watch him, my smile quickly turns into a face of disgust.

[Fucking hell he's ugly]

'I know you don't like him but that's mean Amara' I say this but turn away as to not see his face.

I look back at Brandon and see his plate empty. His expression was one of depression.

"This sucks" I hear the mumbling complaints of the boy as he stood up and looked at me.

"Brandon" Sofia says in a soft voice.

"You don't have to feel depressed, your meal was pretty good so you should be proud" Brandon's eyes glazed over as he heard Sofia's voice.

He turns back to me and holds his hand out for a handshake of which I accept with a smile.

"Congratulations on winning. Turns out I'm not worthy of being Sofia's student after all."

*Cough* "Actually boys..." We both look at Sofia.

"I was planning to take you both as students. Mainly I wanted to test Rin's attitude towards cooking. If he lost, then I wanted to see his reaction. You both made superb meals, so you should both be proud of yourselves".

"Huh" We looked at each other in surprise.

"Really!?' Brandon's voice echos as tears of happiness running down his face

[This is awkward] 'This is awkward'

[A couple weeks later]

'My senses regarding taste and smell have really advanced lately. Seems like memorising a shit tonne of herbs really paid off.'

'Although I can't see the method and recipes of meals that are level 6 and above, I can probably recognise the herbs and spices used in it.'

[You should also give credit to Sofia. She's reshaped your knowledge of cooking.]

'True, I really have improved in terms of control and focus. Being physically taught is a lot more effective with the practical part of cooking'

'I should reach level 6 in cooking soon right Amara?'

[I'm not sure. But it's definitely true that you have improved. My guess is also that you are nearing the borderline of level 6.]

'But I hope I can get to level 6 in cooking before I go to Europe. Thinking about it, It's coming to the end of the month and I still haven't actually scheduled a date. I need to talk to Alfred later'

Once leaving the restaurant, I see my driver and get in the car.

"Is there anywhere you want to go? Or do you want to go straight back to the apartment complex?" Ayato asks once I sit down.

"No, it's fine Ayato. Just drive me to the apartment complex" I smile at him through the back mirror.

I arrive at the condo and look around for Alfred. 'That's weird. He usually tells me when he has plans. Well, I'll call him to see when he'll get back' I get my phone out from my pocket and dial his number.

"Ah, master Rin *cough*, is everything okay?" I hear a rough sounding voice through the phone.

"Ah Alfred, yes I'm fine. When will you return to the condo? I want to organise my trip to Europe with you."

"I should be back in 30 minutes" the old man says and then I end the call.

I look at the clock and see it's only 4pm "Right, I need to push my limits again to see if I can make a level 8 dish!"

"I seem to get closer to the mark. I should be able to do it soon'

[Yeah, I believe you should do so soon. You've been cooking every day, it's clear that your skills are improving.]

'Yeah, I've been pushing myself really hard lately. Every day seems to comprise me analysing food and then cooking. I'll definitely take a bit of a break when I go to Europe'

I proceeded to make food for myself before hearing the door open and see Alfred walk in with a bag of shopping.

"Master Rin, sorry for the delay. I just needed to do some shopping" the old man says apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. Just get yourself sorted and then we can sort out my Europe trip" I wave my hand and then eat the dish I prepared for myself.

'Analyse'

___________________________

> Dish - Chap Chae

> Dish quality - 7/10

~ Ingredients - (Sweet potato starch noodles) (Rib eye fillet) (carrot) (Garlic)...

~ Method - Download function unavailable as the method is already known.

___________________________

'I'm averaging level 7 with most food I make now but it still seems like I'm lacking something' I sigh and then eat the food.

'And my understanding of the (Foodgasm) system hasn't improved. How come the level 7 dish I cooked for Sofia made the judges go into that state?' as I was deep in thought, I didn't notice that Alfred had already entered the room and was looking at me with curious eyes.

"*cough* master Rin, can I ask you a question?" Alfred says.

"Um, yeah sure" I look at him with slight confusion.

"I hope I'm not being rude, but can I ask why you always stare at your food before eating? I've been meaning to ask for a while now."

*Cough* *Cough* "Urm.."

"I guess it's because I always feel like my food is missing something. So I analyse the dishes that I eat so I can learn something."

'I guess that's kind of the truth' I justify myself as I give my answer to the old man.

"Anyway, can you organise the flights and the visit for the start of August? I will stay for a month or two."

Alfred nods. "I can organise this. I heard that there are many people in the higher management who want to see you anyway, so I'm sure they'll free up time for you."

'Thinking about it, I haven't actually told Sofia any of this. Knowing her forceful personality, she'll make a big deal of it' I shake my head as I worry about the reaction of the Italian chef.

"As I will pursue a cooking career, I still want to focus on my cooking, so I'll inform you of any needs I have regarding this."

"Master Rin, although I know you have good intentions don't push yourself too much" The old man smiles at me.

I talk with Alfred a bit more and then head to bed.