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"Mom! Dad! I wanna be a chef!"
Becoming a chef in only three months, and attending the oh so great Totsuki Academy!
Sounds impossible, right??
But, she did it...
The dish was piping hot and looked absolutely yummy not one person would dare to ignore such a gorgeous moist, juicy, and tender beef dish like that! Soma and I stood proudly in front of Chappelle-Sensei as he stared down at the plate with his still blank expression before he raised his fork and knife, ready to taste the food.
"Oh yeah! It looks good, it smells good, it's so darn good!" I mused, drooling over our dish. Well, of course, cause two awesome chefs worked on it. My wet tongue grazed my lips, I could already imagine the flavor of the beef in my mouth. Huh, maybe I should work as a cooking teacher in the future, I'll get to taste all kinds of delicious food every single day of my life, though I know that I'll end up also tasting revolting dishes. But every beautiful thing has its own risks.
"It's fork-tender..." Chappelle-Sensei mumbled as he cut the meat without any trouble, he locked eyes with us. "How did you make it like that?".
"We rubbed some honey on the meat and then simmered it, and we added some seasonings to it too" Soma replied, and I nodded in agreement.
"Hmm...The honey contains protease, an enzyme that breaks down protein. It is used on the hard, rib-cut roast to make it tender in a short amount of time" Chappelle-Sensei said, clearly astonished at our work. Though his face says otherwise, he's not giving a reaction. Well, doesn't matter, so long as I get my A.
"B-But how did you know that honey will make it like this?" Megumi nervously asked, she seemed quite curious. I smiled as I looked at her.
"I've always saw my parents use honey in some of their dishes to make the meat really tender. My mother also uses it in her desserts as a great alternative for white sugar" I simply explained.
"That's right! And I've read before that pineapple helps, but it's not like I have a chance to buy it. I tried other ingredients that might help make the meat tender, but honey was best and it's really easy to use" Soma added, holding the jar of honey in his hand.
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Megumi's eyes sparkled with admiration, I smiled and then looked at Chappelle-Sensei. "May I?" I asked, politely. He nodded after understanding what I meant, I grabbed a fork and cut a piece of the tender meat, holding it to the blue-haired girl.
"Wanna try?" I asked her, she blushed and blinked, staring at me. "A-Are you sure?" she asked.
"Of course! I'm getting me a bite, too!" I answered, grinning. "Th-Then, thank you for the food" she nodded and opened her mouth as I shoved the meat in, Chappelle-Sensei also took a bite.
*FOODGASM*
"AH~! It's so syrupy!" Megumi said, happily.
"IT'S MARVELOUS!!" Chappelle-Sensei screamed with joy; the man smiled! He actually smiled! It was like covering them with pure, fresh honey. They looked ecstatic, and I was glad, it seemed that they loved the dish.
I looked over at Soma as I started thinking. He seems to know the same stuff I know, unlike everyone else. He's not limiting himself with specific ingredients and then give up because he can't afford them, but actually tries to find other ways and other ingredients to make the dish taste delicious! I can only assume that he spent his life in the kitchen, learning how to cook with his family at their diner. With time, he grows to become creative and tries to cook new and different dishes. He makes things look so easy as if it was a simple and fun cooking game you play.
Well, I'm not really surprised with that part, my dad's exactly the same! He had always had fun cooking and trying new things, and I had always loved watching him cook in our home's kitchen, curious as to what kind of dish he was going to prepare, regardless that I never wanted to be a chef until now. And whenever there's an ingredient that's run out or if someone has an allergy of that specific ingredient, he tries to find suitable substitutes. Even if it was a challenge, he'd take it, he'd take any challenge if he wants to spice things up. To make everything become so thrilling like the world is on the palm of his hand.
In Soma's and mine's case, we both like to get creative, though I'm not sure whether he found his passion in cooking or not. But why wouldn't he? He has more experience in the kitchen than I do, so I'm sure he found it over the years. It only took me 3 months to find my own, though I need to put more action if I want to prove myself more. I need to create dishes I can call my own, I need to have my own style in cooking, I need to...
I need to...
I need to climb to the top...
If I want to see how wide this culinary horizon is.
"You know, I think we have some things in common" I mused, slightly raising a brow with a small smirk as looked at the goofy red head standing next to me. Students were murmuring with each other in disbelief since that grumpy teacher finally cracked a smile and he's grinning like a clown as he chowed down on the beef, making my eyes go wide.
"Chappelle-sensei...he smiled?!", "No way!", "Am I seeing things?!", "Unbelievable!", "Those two actually made him smile?!".
"IS HE NOT GONNA LEAVE ME A BITE?! FUCKING-..." I mentally screamed; the old man wiped the plate clean! Returning back to normal as his smile disappeared like Cinderella did after she danced with the prince and ran off. He sat still with his arms crossed, about to tell us our grade.
"Team Eguchi and Yukihira, you got an A!".
"You're welcome!", "Glad you liked it!" me and Soma both said at the same time, then high-fived. I suddenly sniffed something, something that smelled like it was burning. I turned around and scanned the kitchen and saw those idiots from before, their food was getting burned.
"Oi! Your dish's burning" I pointed with a blank face, the idiots started freaking out and opened the lid and black smoke started coming out. I couldn't help but chuckle at them before looking back and noticed Megumi still standing there.
"Psst! What're you waiting for?! Go prepare your dish!" I whispered to her, urging her to go back to her counter.
"Oh, right!" she flinched and ran off, checking on her food. Luckily, it wasn't burnt. She put the meat on a plate and walked towards Chappelle-Sensei and served her plate. While me and Soma began cleaning our counters and wash the dishes on the small sink. I couldn't keep my eyes off her as he tasted her beef, he smiled again and complimented her food which was an obvious great sign for her.
I wanted to make sure that she gets an A, too.
I don't know, maybe I found another friend already(?). I mean, she's cute, a little shaky, but she's nice! I still don't know which dormitory I'll end up at, but I kinda hope that they'll put me in the same dormitory as my parents, the 'Polar Star' dormitory. At least it's the only place that would be a little familiar to me, because I'm not used to sleep at a place in a room that's not mine. And honestly, it would be great if Soma and Megumi were at the same dorm as me since they're the only ones who wouldn't annoy the shit out of me.
After a few minutes, I finished wiping the silver counter sparkly clean while Soma finished washing the last dish, drying it, and then put it back in the drawers. My eyes then looked back at the blue-haired girl still standing in front of Chappelle-Sensei after evaluating her dish.
