Food Wars, My Dishes Don't Just Shine

　He wouldn't speak rashly about something that might end up embarrassing, and as a wise man, he wouldn't say something with such strong uncertainty.

　"Charcoal, what are you planning to do with this?"

　Just then, someone in the audience noticed that Alice Nakiri took a piece of charcoal from under the counter, her face showing obvious confusion, clearly not understanding what she was going to do.

　"Could it be barbecue instead of dessert?"

　A slightly uncertain voice came from Ryoko Sakaki, tinged with doubt.

　Alice Nakiri placed the charcoal fire on the table; surely she wasn't planning to use it to make dessert?

　"It doesn't look like a barbecue. After all, Alice has very limited ingredients. If she were to barbecue, she could probably only make grilled fruit. What looks like this is more like a mixed-style food platter."

　To put it simply, she plans to use a section for desserts and a section for barbecue to represent the four seasons.

　Erina Nakiri voiced her guess.

　The others nodded in agreement.

　As things stand, Erina Nakiri's guess is the most plausible.

　"While using multiple cooking methods can enrich the flavor of a dish, it is difficult to make them taste uniform."

　Even if your cooking makes it a fantastic dish, it will never surpass my Four Seasons Fried Food Platter. The advantage lies with me!

　Wang Qing watched everything unfold before her eyes, sharing the same thought as Erina Nakiri, and a determined smile appeared on her face.

　With the four seasons as the theme, you can cook

　Their culinary skills are extremely limited, after all, they are still very young and do not have the culinary expertise to express all four seasons in a single dish, so their ideas are certainly very similar.

　That's why Wang Qing could easily guess what Nakiri Alice was thinking.

　However, is the truth really that simple?

　On the stage, Alice Nakiri peeled the watermelon, then used reverse spheroidization technology to create watermelon capsules, which were then pushed into a molecular gastronomy machine behind her for smoking.

　That was the piece of charcoal they used.

　"Zi~"

　The next moment, a mechanical rumble rang out in the arena, and the audience in the front row immediately turned their attention to it.

　Then, to their surprise, they discovered that Alice Nakiri had somehow thrown the mint leaves into a machine with sharp blades, intending to juice them all.

　"Does the coolness of mint leaves represent autumn? Or perhaps summer...?"

　At the scene, many people also saw through Alice Nakiri's idea and expanded upon it along with her line of thought, their faces full of anticipation.

　Compared to Wang Qing's fried dishes, it's clear that Alice Nakiri's fusion cuisine is much more interesting. The countless novel combinations are exactly what they find interesting when watching the competition.

　After finishing the summer desserts, Alice Nakiri did not hesitate and immediately began working on the autumn and winter dishes.

　She took out maple syrup, duck liver, a small bottle of soy sauce, and ice from the basket.

　"So we're finally going to use duck liver? I wonder what kind of dish we'll make..."

　Looking intently at the duck liver in Alice Nakiri's basket, Ryoko Sakaki watched intently from the audience, genuinely curious about the role of the duck liver in this dish!

Chapter 286 Washing Away the Smell, Turning the Opponent's Advantages into My Sword!

　Alice Nakiri didn't give the people present much time to comment.

　At this moment, she was highly focused, her eyes flashing with a faint red light, and her hands were moving faster and faster, as if she had entered an unknown territory.

　"finished!"

　The next moment, she put down the half-eaten ingredients in her hand and showed a relieved expression.

　"Explain the situation? Is that all?! It seems like it took less than ten minutes from beginning to end!"

　"What good dishes can you make in such a short time? Could it be that you gave up because you saw how sophisticated Wang Qing's dishes were..."

　When Alice Nakiri uttered the word "done," the entire audience was stunned, because the speed was simply too fast; the whole thing probably didn't even take ten minutes!

　Some people, however, expressed disdain for this.

　Because in their view, Alice Nakiri's behavior was an abandonment of cooking.

　The preparation of fine cuisine takes time. To make a flavor approach perfection, the first thing to do is to make the ingredients resonate with each other.

　The best way to resonate with something is to spend a lot of time feeling it.

　Someone like Alice Nakiri, who just throws together a dish haphazardly, could never possibly make it delicious.

　Therefore, the result of this match is already very clear.

　More than half of the audience members thought so.

　However, at this moment, Alice Nakiri wore a bright and confident smile.

　Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he proudly presented his dish to the judges.

　"Please enjoy this dish, which I have named the Ring of Reconstructing the Four Seasons."

　After placing the dishes in front of the three judges, Alice Nakiri raised her hand and gestured for them to proceed.

　"The Ring of Seasonal Reconstruction?"

　Upon hearing this name, Zhang Zhong and the others couldn't help but show expressions of confusion.

　Upon closer inspection, the dishes in front of me are exquisite and small, exuding the high-class feel that only top-tier cuisine can offer.

　"I love the contestants' cooking; it looks so fancy."

　In the audience, as the drone focused its view, Alice Nakiri's dish appeared on the big screen.

　Looking at the dishes served on round glass plates, some girls couldn't help but complain.

　At this moment, four exquisite dishes are placed on the four corners of the glass plate, and dry ice is placed in the middle, from which steam continuously rises.

　"What do you know? Aren't all high-end restaurants like this?"

　There are some people in this world with low aesthetic standards who like the unknown and mysterious. The more incomprehensible a dish is, the higher its price. This meaningless hype has placed it in a position it doesn't belong to, even though the taste is actually quite mediocre!

　The man sitting next to her spoke with a hint of sarcasm, not directed at the girl who was complaining, but at Alice Nakiri's cooking.

　Such flashy dishes might fool wealthy diners in a high-end restaurant, but in this setting, they're nothing short of a joke for a professional chef like him!

　Sure enough, this guy knew he couldn't beat Wang Qing, so he gave up on himself and made this thing.

　"Something felt off. None of Ai's dishes were conventional; they were all novel and unusual. If I hadn't watched her cook them with my own eyes, I would never have guessed that most of the ingredients were fruit!"

　A woman rested her chin on her hand, looking confused. Judging from the expression Alice Nakiri was currently displaying, she didn't look like she had given up at all. Her eyes, which seemed to be burning with raging flames, looked like they were going to drag people from heaven to hell!

　People like that are terrifying!

　Noticing the indifferent looks from those around her, the woman resting her chin on her hand revealed a sweet smile of amusement.

　Isn't it incredibly exciting to overturn the ending everyone assumed?!

　"Regardless, let's try it first..."

　Seeing the pessimistic reactions from the surrounding audience, Zhang Zhong didn't react much.

　He picked up the spoon in a businesslike manner, hesitated for a moment, scooped up the dark red soil under the elderberry flower, and slowly brought it to his mouth.

　"Dark reddish-brown soil? No, if this dish is meant to be served, it should all be edible. It's impossible that it contains something inedible!"

　As Zhang Zhong brought the dish to his mouth, the audience immediately started discussing it.

　What exactly is that dark red soil?

　Zhang Zhong also had this curiosity on his face, then put the dish into his mouth and silently closed his eyes.

　"This is... extremely finely ground sesame powder and freeze-dried strawberry pieces."

　The salty, sour, and sweet layers formed by saliva resemble the vibrant earth in spring. Is this the spring you wanted to express?

　Feeling the incredibly rich flavor in his mouth, Zhang Zhong suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Alice Nakiri not far away, asking her a question.

　"Yes, but that's not all."

　As she spoke, Alice Nakiri also picked up a spoon and pointed with the tip of the spoon at the Four Seasons Reconstruction Ring she had prepared for herself.

　"The true essence of this part of spring is decomposition and rebirth."

　Sesame oils are ground to nanoscale and combined with citric acid from freeze-dried strawberries to form microcapsule structures. Upon contact with saliva, these oils are released in stages: first salty, then sour, and finally sweet—like spring snow melting into the soil, awakening the life force beneath the surface.

　As she spoke, Alice Nakiri showed the drone the reflection on her spoon, where the delicate sesame seeds were completely unrecognizable from their original form. This was an ultra-high precision that only a molecular gastronomy machine could achieve. She then explained in more detail.

　"How could such a small patch of soil contain so much meaning!?"

　"What incredible food!"

　The audience members chatted amongst themselves, their faces filled with amazement at the top-notch cuisine.

　"It's not that magical, it's all hype. Molecular gastronomy is all about creating a mystery!"

　The man who had spoken sarcastically earlier spoke again, his tone equally sarcastic.

　Although Alice Nakiri's words made sense, he had long held the preconceived notion that molecular gastronomy was a hoax, a fact he had already confirmed at the new molecular gastronomy restaurants that had opened near his home.

　No matter how grandly it's touted, something low-class is still low-class.

　Its appearance is exaggerated and bizarre, but its taste is extremely ordinary, not even delicious.

　Even if you let an apprentice from a street shop show off their skills, they could make a dish that's far more delicious than that.

　Only a few foolish, rich people are willing to try something new; otherwise, molecular gastronomy would never have a market.

　"Now, please taste the fruits that have blossomed from the soil."

　Seeing the judges' surprised expressions, Alice Nakiri showed no change in expression, as if she had known all along, while pointing the tip of her spoon at the fruit on the elderberry.

　"it is good."

　Seeing this, Zhang Zhong nodded slightly and put the green apple droplet from the elderflower into his mouth.

　The teeth break at the slightest touch, releasing a sharp burst of green malic acid and the musky honey scent of elderflower, the acidity instantly dissolving the oily film on the tongue.

　"It's slightly sweet with a hint of tannins, like spring rain washing over leaves, completely eliminating the greasiness I felt when I first tasted Wang Qing's fried food platter."

　Zhang Zhong's words revealed a hint of emotion.

　When I previously tasted Wang Qing's Four Seasons Fried Food Platter, although the platter was very well prepared, it still had a slight greasiness.

　However, Alice Nakiri's cooking skillfully handled the greasiness, even enhancing the flavor of her dishes.