(A/N: I just had to learn cooking all over again for this chapter, hope it was worth it. Oh and this might be useful to all the home cooks and hungry late-nighters out there. Pay close attention.)
Chef Kojiro's POV
"Co*ky are we?I will let your food do the talking, if it can't I will silence you and your teammate up." My voice was sharp as my blade. Straight to the point, cruel? I don't care.
To show a glimpse of students' cut-throat competition in the cooking world. The stark contrast to the well-known fields like doctors or engineers and civil services where competition barely scratch the hell the chefs of this world have to face. After all, they don't have a specific exam and the seats are already sparse, weeding out all above-average and only nurturing geniuses of this craft. I am ready to be the devil himself, to rip open the truth of my craft.
That boy with the black coat put his fingers right to that girl's lips a centimetre away from touching it and taking up a spoon with his other, ushered me to take a bite, as he accepted my challenge head-on. I glared at him as I do with all the new fodder, all of them, shiver in my sight. After all, they lack confidence in their food. And if you lose confidence in your creation, it's trash not worth trying. Again, another one of his nonchalant gazes shot back at me, fair enough.
Confidence is a check.
He lifted the lid of the tray, and it was all empty, except a small sandwich in the middle of it. Is that all they have? I decided to ask,"Did you both create different phases of the dish?"This time the girl spoke up ignoring the gesture the boy did to her a moment ago,"Sir this is the only dish we have.Is there a problem? I apologise if so, he is almost completely inexperienced and I dabble only in the basics."
Minimalistic are we? Very well then. I looked at them one last time and at the dish. All of them had one thing common in them, it all looked so average.
I spread the buns glistening brown under the light above. A perfectly buttered, pretty smart way to enhance the taste of a regular dish. It revealed a......perfectly shaped poached egg.
My eyebrows scrunched in disbelief as my eyes immediately shot up to them, as I looked at them with a questioning gaze," Are you both from high-end well-off families or have visited any of the top end hotels?"
"No."
Came a voice from an expression blander than an overcooked yolk. And next came a voice with a gasp glancing at me, "Well, I might have.....Ayanokouji I will tell you later okie?"
He nodded as they turned back at me.
Moving on, I find it intriguing, I suppose, he could have learnt the skillsets from videos and such. But to be able to cast out this upon the first try.....that's not utterly terrible. After all, eggs are the metric system to judge good chefs from bad ones, since they are easily distinguishable.
"Hey you two, weren't those eggs over 2 days old. How did you get this consistency with it?"
"Using a strainer we removed all that loose egg white." That girl answered with pride in her voice.
"It was you who suggested it, am I right?" I asked once again to find a nod from her and a quick glance at that boy. A smart move, I have to agree. Usually old eggs lose their egg white as it degrades into a liquid, making it impossible to make a perfect poach. Most homecooks often don't realise this and make a mediocre poach.
Upon straining out the liquid white, it leaves a consistent layer of egg white which gives firmer protection to the yolk, essential for a good egg poach.
Interesting...
"Hey Ayanokouji right? Tell me, how did you heat the water? What was your metrics for it?" I smirked and asked. This will be slightly intriguing.
"I simply waited for the water to be hot enough, for a few bubbles to appear at the bottom..."
He spoke in a bored voice as I cut him off
"Making sure that no bubbles appear at the top...right? Not bad."
Allowing water to overheat is a disaster in a perfect poach, if you want a mediocre one, go ahead with the norm...but with perfection, care about the temperature is essential. I took a bite....
And it tasted.....
Not bad at all....
It was almost perfect....
How is this possible with cooks with barely any experience at all???
"You girl, how much vinegar did you use? and what's your name again?" I questioned and got a quick response, "2 spoons of Apple cider vinegar. And It's Hayasaka" Another good choice.
This questioning and quick response show the perfect benchmark for a student. Why are only these two decent enough though.....
"All your answers so far have been mildly satisfactory, now you Ayanokouji, answer the next question. How did you get that poach shape?" His answer would mark a very important step in this process.
"I stirred the hot water until I made a water vortex and added the egg into it, the egg white curled around the egg yolk giving it the desired shape and waited for approximately 3 minutes."
I spoke up,"I usually enjoy it a bit firmer, so crank it up to a 3 minutes 30 seconds next time. Otherwise it's decent for a beginner. Let's say I am mildly impressed by you two. So I will ask once and only once, do you have a passion for cooking?"
"No" Both simultaneously said as they shut me down completely.
"Fair enough, then I won't be making any offers...and you, c*cky brats actually are decent enough, at least better than the others here." Seeing them not interested did cost me some precious time but alas, if they aren't passionate, no matter how much potential they have. It's not worth teaching them, especially when they rejected my offer with such certainty.
"So will we learn something?" That boy asked a question leaving me pondering. Their poach was almost perfect at least by recipe. But....
"Hmm, this is the one and only lesson I will give, so listen well both of you. Your dishes lack creativity. While, Ayanokouji has the techniques perfected and Hayasaka has the experience of a cook which created a good enough synergy and presented this dish. It lacked.....a human touch to it. A robot programmed to cook a poached egg, would do the same. Honestly in 20 years, you both will be replaceable, if you ever did take cooking as your passions. That's all." Ending my sentence I pointed to the exit as I heard their footsteps fading away.
Ayanokouji......and.....Hayasaka
An Interesting pair indeed.
Narrator's POV
Well that was something to behold but it's clear ladies and gentlemen,
RESULTS OF TODAY'S BATTLE:
AYANOKOUJI AND HAYASAKA LEARNT SOMETHING!!!
BOOM SHAKALAKA!!!!
Wondering why am I so happy? Well, I think a peek into Hayasaka's mind will provide a better picture.
'THAT.......was amazinggg!!!!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZINGGG!!!!!There was actually something I learnt!'
Let's rewind back time on this beautiful starry night to about an hour earlier.
Also, romanticised words aside, I can finally go on a date with flashback chan!!! Did I bath today?.....................
I did....didn't I?
Flashback~
"Well, this is indeed something different from what I had intended." Ayanokouji spoke in this present challenge on his quest for some quality time with Hayasaka.
"Omigawd, Ayanokouji, I didn't realise you would take me to a food cook-off. Strange but.....not a bad choice of places to be." Hayasaka didn't at all expect this either, all she had thought off was a basic cooking class teaching how to use a spatula and how to pour oil into a pan without running away in fear like a baby.........
TOTALLLLYYYY NOT ME......
But I would be willing to take notes.
"I didn't-" Ayanokouji tried explaining that he didn't plan this but he was quickly cut off by the start of the timer.
30 MINUTES
THAT'S ALL THEY GET!!!
"Enough chit-chat let's cook noooo. Come on!!" Hayasaka has always been one of the more competitive types, that's what drove her to be the defacto leader of Shinomiya Maids Association. She was the best of the best, only because she loved the rush of competitons.
In her own words,
"When the time is ticking...
My heart races so do my mind...
The slight feeling of joy in my mundane world is that of a win.....
Maybe because I like, looking down on others...Maybe not...
But I don't mind losing, as seeing their faces, after snatching a win...
Is equally satisfying..."
Oh I forgot to mention.....Hayasaka is crazy.....well, not exactly. After all, anyone would act the same, if all they ever had even remotely exciting...was the sense of competing.
" What do you suggest Chef~ Ayanokouji?" She took out a pan and knocked on it asking him with a bright smile.
"How about poached egg toast." That's a really bland choice.....even I can make that!!!
"Isn't it a bit boring?" She had the same question in her mind to which Ayanokouji replied...
"No, after all, eggs are often the hardest things to cook. Since it has only one right way and a million wrong ways to be cooked." Well, he has a point.
"Ohh, so you want to make the basics shine out, not a bad suggestion...hmmm...." Hayasaka pondered over the suggestion.
'He isn't wrong at all. I have seen so many overcooked eggs disastrously made by the maids. The other day, the hard-boiled yolk was just horribly grainy and dry. To make the perfect egg, the techniques and the steps used aren't quite well known to me either....I suppose, it would be fun to give it a go.'
"....Sure let's do it!!!" Then started a synergy which was a sight to see, there was Ayanokouji narrating out the recipe by heart as he and Hayasaka distributed the work. Not to mention the techniques used......
"Hayasaka look......a tornado." He said while pointing at the water, that he was playing with for the last 20 seconds. She giggled a bit as she strained the egg and said, "Wow, cool indeed...and?" She raised her eyes in question.
"Add the egg to it, it will help with the shape."
"Really??? I didn't know that, umm....are you sure?"
He looked at her, and sighed, "Trust me." Upon hearing the confidence in his voice Hayasaka gently placed the egg in the vessel....
WOAHHH
WATER TORNADO EGGG!!
Cough....uhh
I meant, the poached egg looks absolutely exquisite!!
"Damm, that's pretty cool to know Ayanokouji. Did you even memorise the techniques? Kinda strange dontc'ha think? Being able to memorise recipes perfectly and not being able to memorise the Periodic table." Ohhh, an interesting observation by Hayasaka.
"I was taught that as a child, I suppose it stuck to me. Unlike your aforementioned periodic table." He answered as he kept staring at her.
She tilted her head in question,"Is something wrong?"
He pulled out a tissue and gave it to her. Given her confusion, he sighed and grabbed her hand and wiped her cheek off.
"I didn't want to touch your face without consent. I apologise if I made things awkward, but there was an oil stain on your face." He explained himself and Hayasaka finally understood what he meant. She found his awkward nature slightly amusing but decided not to tease him.
'This is......quite.....fun....thank you.'
"Hey Ayanokouji.....thanks for being a gentleman~"
OHHHHHHHH.......he is fully set....now it's my turn....hey..
Wait a second...
WHERE DID FLASHBACK-CHAN GOOOO!!!!!!!!
Flashback ends
"Chef Kojiro gave some really cool insights, thank god I went with you." She smiled at him as they both reached the school stop
"The feeling's mutual it was really enjoyable Hayasaka. Do you want to partake in such events again?" Ayanokouji questioned her as their day came to an end
"Hmmmm.........Uhh....." Here came Hayasaka's hurdle, if she wanted to hang out with him. Her entire day of freedom would be taken as exchange and after the whole day of school and an entire week of work this left her tired......
What would she do?
Her decision gave fruit to Ayanokouji's troubless
Will he win this game.......
"Alright....."
WOO---
"But, only once every 2 weeks I am free, otherwise the whole week just go by shopping and stuff. Y'know right, how it is for us gals....Uh, it's fine though, if you don't want to spend time with me, since I am too busy, no pressure!!!"
She knew she would be rejected as she went back to her nonchalant and saddened state of mind.
'Well....at least.....just one day.....it was....fun.....I hoped it would last......I would have something to look forward to.....but....'
"Sounds perfect....and one last thing......" Ayanokouji let out his hand as he spoke the final words
"Friends?"
.
.
.
An offer from him
"100 percent!"
.
.
.
An acceptance from her.
RESULTS OF TODAY'S BATTLE:
THEY BOTH WIN!
A new friendship is born
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Dear Readers,
Sooo...here is the main question I wanted to ask,
Is this pacing good for their relationship? I am asking since I am generally unaware of romance as such, as I have barely read anything other than Romeo and Juliet.
So I am out of touch.
And writing love stories, is really hard at times
Since there is the risk of being too cheezy
OR
Cringy.
Soooo....share your thoughts??
Do like and share if you enjoyed reading this!
Have a great day!
Do read my other books if you are interested in my work:
1. Fakekouji(Updated)
2.Shinzou wo Sasageyou Ayanokouji (Updated)
Thank you