by Lee, TD
“Just look at the size of this place Ridley, I wasn’t expecting this,” Hiro speaks to me as he’s browsing around the entire arena. He’s in complete awe.
“Same here, definitely didn’t think this was what we were in for when you suggested this place. Seriously, I just thought it was going to be a super fancy restaurant, instead it’s an arena.
“Hello!” a booming voice echoes throughout the entire arena. Cameras focus on the MC standing in the middle of the kitchen. “Welcome to Gourmet Duel, where all of your food needs are made in front of you in an intense battle between promising chefs!” A roar of cheering and applause overcomes my sense of hearing, but I can’t help but be a part of the roaring crowd also.
“Let’s introduce our wonderful judges for today’s duel! First, we have a lovely teacher from the legendary Buongastaio Culinary School, Teresa DeMarco!” A tall woman emerges from the hole in the wall dressed in a fitting black dress, she gives off a sense of competency. She shakes hands and gives a quick embrace with the MC before taking her seat behind a large table. “Next, we have a recent popular graduate from Buongastaio who has recently landed a job at a five-star restaurant, Leonardo Santos!” A young, tan man steps out of the hole and immediately begins waving to the cameras and the audience, what great stage presence. He takes the seat next to Teresa. “Next is a current student at Buongastaio who has the legendary palette known as the Tongue of Princesses, Miriam Argo!” A young woman with a very dominant walk completely takes over the atmosphere of the arena. Everyone is fixated on her not only because of her demeanor, but also because she is quite beautiful. “Last is a legendary food warrior who can somehow send flying utensils as ways to fight monstrous creatures, he simply goes by the name Mohn!” Bursting out of the hole is a hulking man whose roar intimidates everyone in the arena, yet the roar pumps everyone up into a loud cheer. He hugs the MC so tightly that I think the MC is having a hard time breathing.
As soon as the massive Mohn sits in his seat, the MC continues with the introduction, “For any first timers here at Gourmet Duel, we don’t do things here like in most restaurants. We put on a show! The stars of the show are two prominent students at Buongastaio. On the blue side is the culinary prodigy making a name for himself, Marcelle Durand!” Marcelle walks out into the kitchen with a squad of chefs dressed in white and blue. Marcelle takes his blonde hair and ties it into a ponytail. “On the red side is everyone’s favorite village cook, Yukina Togo!” Yukina nervously wanders out into the kitchen along with her own squadron of red and white clad chefs. She says something quietly to herself as she holds her hand close to her heart, she then proceeds to tie a headband around her forehead.
“These two have been making it huge in the culinary world and now they will be making food for you all! Of course, this isn’t a duel without any sort of stake on the line! It was agreed upon that whoever is the loser of the duel will have to share their family recipe with the winner!” the MC announces. A wave of gasps enter the air. Family recipes? Is that really that big of a deal?
“Let’s get on with today’s duel! This duel’s theme is to apply chicken into their recipe!” the MC loud voice is met with a brief silence.
“Chicken? Isn’t that a little too simple?” I hear some other people murmur all around me.
A wide grin flashes onto the MC’s face. “Now, now I hear what you’re all saying. Chicken is too simple right? Well, here’s another twist, they must make their recipe breakfast themed! We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day so let’s see what these chefs can cook up for us! They’ll have to make and plate for about three-hundred people!”
How insane! They’re making a plate for each and every single person in this entire arena? Not just that, but they have to plate it correctly and make sure each plate tastes and looks the same as the one before it. You can tell that this isn’t just a simple duel, but a battlefield of food.
“Alright chefs are you ready!?” The MC asks. Both chefs turn their heads to the MC and nod. “Assistant chefs, are you ready!?” The color coordinated chefs nod as well. “Everyone, are you ready!?” the audience cheers. “Chefs, you have an hour! And, cook!”
With a loud buzzer signifying the beginning of the duel, the chefs immediately start rushing for ingredients. The head chefs order the assistants around, coordinating them with near perfection. What is this intensity? The precision of their cuts are so quick and accurate. Once they finish cutting one thing they move onto the other. Like a machine in a factory, there’s no error in execution just perfection. The head chefs are moving around so quickly, bouncing between several tasks at once while their assistants are tasked to do a singular thing.
The MC approaches Marcelle, asking in the usual booming voice, “Marcelle! What do you have planned for the judges and audience today? Something good, I would always imagine!”
Even while what it seems like a juggling act between mixing, cutting, and shredding, Marcelle speaks with a strangely attractive tone, “My plan is to put a twist on two common breakfast dishes from different parts of the world together. Truly, it should be a magnificent taste for your palette everyone.” He even winked at the camera!
“Wonderful! We’re all anticipating what this twist is,” the MC laughs with excitement which only causes the audience to cheer wildly. He runs over to the red side of the kitchen, and asks Yukina the same question, “Yukina! What do you have planned for the judges and audience today? Something good, I would always imagine!”
“Uh-uh, yes,” Yukina is a little quieter and shy when the camera is facing her, even though she looked ferocious cooking just a moment ago, “I want to warm everyone’s hearts with my food and so I will do that with this dish!” She speaks with a lot of conviction though, showing her confidence as a chef.
“Splendid! That does sound absolutely amazing, we’re all looking forward to your food, aren’t we!?” With that question the audience goes even wilder and among them is myself as I get swept with the theatrics and intensity of this cook-off.
This cook-off is like watching two gladiators duking it out. Each cut of an ingredient is like a cut they dealt to the other. Each stir is like a punch to the face. The assistants are equivalent to covering fire as the titans that are Marcelle and Yukina are wrestling for dominance. Their movements are so fluid and light, yet their hands are rough with the food they’re handling. They’re showing respect for cooking, while also asserting their own form of dominance over the art. The way they’re mixing ingredients together or how they combine even the most basic of things has so much weight to them that it’s hard to just focus on one chef or the other. They’re both amazing in their own ways. Marcelle has an air of competence like a king would over his subjects. Yukina gives off a vibe of a mother cooking for her children with love and affection. Both retaining respect, yet both also asserting some sort of control.
I don’t know whether or not this is beautiful or terrifying.
There’s so much happening down in the kitchen that I don’t know where to focus on. I’m not even listening to the MCs commentary because I’m just so entranced with the battle. There’s a really sweet pastry smell that wafts throughout the entire arena. You would think that chicken needing to be a part of the dish, the place would have a more savory smell to it, but there’s a lot of sweetness in the air. Both teams have created their own batter for their dishes. At this point, I honestly don’t really know what the chefs are making. If I just go by smell and what I have been able to see, there’s obviously something to do with batter. The red side is making use of a lot of fruit as well as a waffle maker, so we can probably expect waffles I hope. The blue side is making use of more vegetables which is an interesting choice to go with. As just a spectator of this wonderful cook-off, I don’t even care what they serve at this point because everything is looking and smells so good.
With about 10 minutes left, I notice a bunch of the staff start lining up along the wall of the kitchen with trays in both arms. The head c
hefs are wiping away their sweat as they continue to cook all the way down to the last minute.
“It’s crunch time folks! Ten minutes left, let’s quickly check in with our chefs!” the MC says as he moves towards Yukina. “Yukina, are you feeling confident with what you’re about to present?” The camera zooms in on a plate that Yukina was working on to show off some colorful waffles and a lightly fried chicken.
She smiles brightly after wiping off some sweat that escaped her headband. “I-I am! I just hope everyone in the audience likes it,” she says without even looking at the camera.
“I’m sure they will, won’t you!?” the MC asks the audience. The response is a roar of cheering. The MC sprints to the other side and talks to Marcelle, “Marcelle, is there anything you would like to tell the audience about your dish? Perhaps what they could expect?”
“Well, if I said anything it would ruin the surprise wouldn’t it?” Marcelle remarks with a smile. “I will say this, I hope you all enjoy the food as much as I enjoyed preparing it for you all.” The camera zooms in on one of the assistant chefs as they are carefully placing a crepe on a plate.
“Perfect! Time is almost up folks we will see what these two wonderful chefs have to offer!” the MC booms as he runs to the judges. He approaches Mohn and says, “Mister Mohn! What have you observed about these two chefs and what are you excited about?”
Fittingly with his appearance, Mohn’s voice is even more booming than the MC’s and is very burly, “Well these two chefs are definitely making my palette excited. While this is not a full nine course meal, I’m sure these two will do absolute wonders for me!”
The MC moves to Miriam and asks, “As a fellow student of these two chefs, are there any sort of expectations that you have especially with that palette of yours?”
Miriam speaks with a lot of composure and is very poised in her posture, “We at Buongastaio are very proud of our creations. These two are no exception, however Marcelle has too much of an arrogance to him which ultimately causes him to overcompensate. You can even see it now, he’s putting a little too much into his food. Yukina is almost the opposite case. She’s confident, but doubts herself often which leads her to second guess her choices. They’re about astounding, but still have room to grow as chefs.”
“I see! Well, I hope for their sake that their food suits your palette!” the MC says as he runs back into the kitchen and cheers into the mic.
As time is counting down, the food starts getting plated and divided between the staff members with the trays. Once a staff member has their trays filled to the max, they carefully walk up the stairs. I try to catch a glimpse of the final product for both sides, but I don’t see too much. However, the smell of what comes is so good. It’s a beautiful blend of sweet and savory in the air. I can only imagine what it’s going to taste like in a bit. Even with the last minutes the chefs are going hard making sure everything is perfect. Even up until the last second the chefs are carefully plating the last of their respective plates.
The timer hits 0 and a loud buzz echoes throughout the arena. The MC announces, “Time is up! And it seems our chefs have made it just on time. Gourmet Duel waiters and waitresses will begin distributing the plates so hang tight folks! Once you receive your food, do not eat it yet!” All throughout the arena the Gourmet Duel staff members are quickly distributing the food. But once it gets to me-
Wh-what even are these beasts in the shape of food in front of me? On the blue plate are several dumplings that definitely have the chicken in it as well as some other ingredients. They’re, presentation wise, rather plain, but I’m expecting great things from the taste. The dumplings are arranged in a way that it mimics a flower. In the middle of the dumpling flower is a small plate that holds three different colored sauces. And on the red plate is a beautiful stack of colorful waffles drizzled with some sort of syrup concoction. Matching the shape of the waffle is a lightly crisp chicken that is also drizzled nicely with the syrup concoction. Sitting along the edge of the waffle and even in between the chicken and waffle are plump blueberries. These things are so amazing to look at that I almost can’t believe that it’s even in front of me right now.
I can’t even fathom the food I’m looking at right now. It looks so good, smells amazing, and just the fact that I’m waiting to eat it is physically causing me pain. My hand instinctually grabs a fork, ready to dig in, but I have to wait for some reason. My eyes work their way over to Hiro as a distractor and he’s struggling by waiting too. He pulls out his phone to take a picture of the food though. Never quite understood why people do it, but I definitely understand why here.
“Alright folks! Now that everyone has their food, we shall all eat together! The judges will also give their judgment as well!” even the MC has his own table and food. “First up, however, will be Marcelle who will explain what it is that he made for us all.”
“Gladly,” Marcelle speaks confidently as he lets his hair down, “in front of you is a beautiful assortment of crepe dumplings. Dumplings are a very popular breakfast item in the East and often served with dim sum. This is a twist where are combining the sweetness of a crepe with the umami of chicken. This should bode well with your taste buds.”
“Crepe dumpling, how interesting,” Teresa remarks as she examines the food in front of her. She sniffs it before she puts it in her mouth.
I think this is cue for everyone in the audience to try it as well. I pick up a steaming crepe dumpling. The whole crepe dumpling fits into my mouth. With one chew an immediate burst of flavor coats my entire mouth. Juices of the roast chicken is so flavorful and only gets complimented by the oozing cheese, sweetness of the onions, and a sweet-spicy crunch from seasoned corn. How is there so much flavor coming from one dumpling? One dumpling is not enough! I need to eat another one. And another one. And another one. Each dumpling is so good!
My body is trembling a little bit when I’m not eating a dumpling. Each bite makes it feel like I’m being wrapped by the crepe itself. It’s warm and comforting like a nice blanket during a cold night. That comfortable warmth that you never want to escape from. That’s what this tastes like, a warm blanket that comforts you even in the coldest of times. How is this giving me such a powerful effect?
Marcelle briefly chimes in, “Don’t forget to try the sauces.”
The sauces? How did I forget? I take another dumpling and dip it in a red-orange sauce. The flavor changes. It’s sour and spicy, fully enhancing the spice the corn is coated with. The white sauce is completely savory, complimenting the chicken itself. And the amber sauce is sweet, bringing out the full flavor of the crepe skin. But I wonder, what happens when you combine all three? Am I mad, or a genius? I take a dumpling and dip it into each sauce.
What even is this flavor in my mouth? Everything was so good before, but how is it possible that it’s even better now!? The sweetness of the crepe only gives way to the savory goodness that is the chicken and cheese. Then bursting with the spice is the corn that completely overtakes the flavors in my mouth. This isn’t even a warm blanket anymore. It’s a warm blanket that’s taking me on a blissful journey through the world without leaving me in the dust.
“Good!” Mohn bellows loudly as he devours the dumplings. “Good!”
“Yes, I want to keep eating it. It’s bursting with flavor with each bite. Hitting all of your senses in your mouth. It’s quite wonderful!” Teresa remarks happily, as she chews with a smile.
Leonardo adds, “Not just that, but it completely warms your body. The spice doesn’t just taste good, but it also affects you as a person. How remarkable.”
“It’s okay,” Miriam comments, completely shutting down the other remarks, “chicken is the main ingredient, yet the corn’s spice overtakes the flavor. Chicken is not a difficult meat to cook, however its flavor can easily be overwritten. The cheese also has no right to be in this dumpling that is already filled with so many other flavors. While this does suffice as a breakfast item, I feel it lost its charm with too
many different flavors and ingredients. However, as a twist on Eastern cuisine, it is passable.”
“Uh, uh, thank you?” Marcelle says after Miriam’s critiques.
Damn, that sounded harsh, yet nice at the same time at the end. So this is the girl with the Tongue of Princesses. She must have a completely different sense of taste than I do if she is picking up all of the little tasty details. Even her comments were more detailed compared to the other judges as she went into a full analysis of what she tasted versus just simply saying it was good or bad. She’s so professional, even though I’m sure she’s younger than me too.
The chefs change and it’s Yukina’s turn to be on the chopping block. I save what’s left of the dumplings for later and change over to the chicken and colorful waffles in front of me. There must be some food coloring or something to make the colors so vibrantly rainbow with the waffles.
“So Yukina, please tell us all about your dish today!” the MC says.
Yukina stands straight, but speaks nervously, “Y-yes! S-so I took the very popular chicken and waffles concept and made it a bit more, um, colorful as you can tell. I’ve mixed the waffle batter with blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, s-so there’s a bit of sweet and tartness to the batter. The chicken is lightly fried with a bit of a honey glaze to help with the flavor.”
I take a knife and start cutting the chicken and waffles. A very powerful aroma hits my senses, giving me a strong sense of berries. As soon as I take a bite, I’m rushed with flavors. There’s a sweet, tickling sensation that hits all parts of my tongue first with some bursts of some fruit. Then the light crispness of the chicken blends its savory juices with each chew. Then the blueberries hit, the blueberries aren’t soft or cooked with sugar, rather they retain their tart flavor that balances out the sweet and savory sanctuary in my mouth. Then there’s the syrup concoction that is sweet and little bit salty. Could she have mixed butter with some homemade syrup?
