Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 186 - 185: French Red Wine Pan-Seared Foie Gras

Chapter 186: Chapter 185: French Red Wine Pan-Seared Foie Gras

A table full of dishes, almost entirely consumed by Xia Yu alone.

At the end, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, his expression one of contented reminiscence.

It had to be said, the cuisine of these Far Moon graduates was at least on par with that of a five-star hotel’s head chef.

"It seems that the IGO rating information really is outdated," Xia Yu thought to himself.

Among these dozen graduates, the weakest was probably at the level of a Four-star Chef, and among the many dishes, there was a French dish that shocked Xia Yu.

He just stared at a small plate on the table.

On the delicate white porcelain plate, there were only six or seven pieces of foie gras, and Xia Yu had already eaten three pieces before he dared not eat anymore.

"Definitely a Nine-star Chef, or even Special Grade level!" Xia Yu inhaled sharply, reminiscing the melt-in-the-mouth sensation and couldn’t help but use his fork to pick up another piece of foie gras to taste.

The ultimate indulgence!

After a while, Xia Yu exhaled a slightly heavy breath.

"How about it?" Dojima Yin asked, with a fox-like smile playing at the corner of his mouth, "How would you rank this table of cuisine?"

Damn it, always stirring up trouble?

Veins popped on Xia Yu’s forehead, remembering that this was the second time Dojima Yin had tricked him. The first was also with a flame-based cuisine, ’Flamed Roast Suckling Pig’, and this time it was still flame cuisine, but the guests were a group of graduates.

Might as well do the ranking.

Having consumed a table full of dishes, Xia Yu’s mind was clear, as chefs also have their principles: good food is good food, no need to fear offending anyone.

"This French foie gras is my number one!" Xia Yu pointed at the dish on the table.

The graduates had a look of expectation.

Dojima Yin laughed as well.

"This is Senior Shigong’s cooking!" Mizuhara Fuyumi whispered.

"I know, other than Senior Shigong, I really can’t think of anyone else capable of taking French cuisine to such a level," said Xia Yu.

This was not flattery on his part.

Formerly the first seat of the ’Ten Masters of Far Moon’ in iteration number 79, after graduation, he alone opened his restaurant SHINO’S in France Paris, and he became the first Neon person to receive the prestigious Pruspur Order of France.

Even without all that, his chef star ranking at the IGO International Gastronomy Organization was openly six stars.

But having tasted Shigong Xiaoci Lang’s cuisine, Xia Yu didn’t feel that he was much weaker than those practitioners at Chiyoda Shrine, which is why Xia Yu was shocked.

A Far Moon graduate with potentially Special Grade Chef level!

But his IGO ranking was only six stars.

"Maybe he’s aiming to build momentum and hit Special Grade all at once?" Xia Yu could only think this because, without the system’s tasks urging him on, he really wasn’t that interested in any IGO ratings.

Snail foie gras, too, was a renowned delicacy among French dishes.

In France, there was a saying: if you can’t cook foie gras, you don’t deserve to be called a chef in the French culinary field.

Undoubtedly, the mainstream way to cook foie gras was to sear it.

However, searing can yield a variety of flavors. Xia Yu pointed to Shigong Xiaoci Lang’s dish, "Marinated with red wine and black pepper, then pan-fried on low heat in a skillet before adding the sauce."

"I think the biggest secret of Senior Shigong’s foie gras lies in the sauce, very layered!"

Xia Yu licked the residual flavor from the corner of his mouth, "Red wine, honey, blueberry jam, strawberry jam, etcetera. I tasted at least nine different flavors, and these flavors mixed together... form the taste of spring!"

"Seasonal!"

He said gravely.

Shigong Xiaoci Lang’s eyes gleamed with appreciation.

A chef is always pleased to see a taster who understands the depth he puts into his dishes, and Xia Yu had undoubtedly grasped what he wanted to convey with his French foie gras, truly a kindred spirit.

"That’s right, seasonal!" Shigong Xiaoci Lang said lightly, "There’s an absolute truth about French cuisine, inferior ingredients can’t create good dishes. But I believe there’s another important saying... Eat what the season provides."

"Now it’s spring. I’ve created the taste of spring with the sauce, and I hope you are satisfied."

Ranked just below Shigong Xiaoci Lang was the ’Mist Empress’ Qian Rixiangzi.

Her Japanese cuisine was equally as enjoyable.

Mizuhara Fuyumi, with her poker face, was almost tied for second place.

Following them were graduates like Sekishou Hei and Donato Wutongtian.

Xia Yu realized that the graduates who left with the identity of the ’Ten Masters of Far Moon’ were indeed dominant, their culinary skills several levels above ordinary graduates.

Especially Shigong Xiaoci Lang.

"What a pity!"

After enjoying the last piece of foie gras, Xia Yu patted his slightly overfull stomach and looked regretful.

The other graduates had dispersed, leaving only Dojima Yin, Qian Rixiangzi, and Xia Yu himself in the hall.

"What is a pity?" Qian Rixiangzi asked with a smile, sitting beside him.

"Senior Shigong failed to comprehend his own ’chef’s heart’, otherwise this spring seasonal ’French Red Wine Pan-Seared Foie Gras’ would definitely have the quality of Special Grade Cuisine."

Xia Yu genuinely felt regret.

As a food lover, he found it intolerable that there were no magical effects! Damn it!

Hearing this, Qian Rixiangzi’s smile froze, she opened her mouth but then fell silent.

Dojima Yin patted him on the shoulder from behind.

"That’s why I had you prepare a dish infused with the soul of fire for a group of graduates who had forgotten the spirit of competition and were no longer progressing," Dojima Yin gave a thumbs up, "I dare not say much, but your cooking is enough to touch them."

"Senior Dojima!"

Qian Rixiangzi puffed her cheeks and pouted like a little girl, saying discontentedly, "What do you mean by no longer progressing? I have been improving all along!"

She defended herself.

"And where is your ’chef’s heart’, Hinako?" Dojima Yin’s smile faded, and his gaze grew stern, "You all have your own restaurants or are head chefs in some international branded hotels, building your magnificent castles... Yet you’ve also become ever more distanced from true ’cuisine’!"

Qian Rixiangzi was speechless.

Right beside her, Xia Yu, a vivid example, a young man ten years their junior, had shown her such a beautiful culinary world within his cooking.

Recalling the deep sea scene she witnessed while tasting the ’Heavenly Hero Grilled Mackerel’, Qian Rixiangzi felt a shiver in her heart.

The boundless ’imagination’.

This was the style of cooking of the young chef!

"This is the plan for the six-day residential study," Dojima Yin handed Xia Yu a folder of documents, which Xia Yu casually placed on the table without any intention of opening it.

Xia Yu was too familiar with this session of residential study.

The task for the first day was to shuffle the students into groups and randomly assign them to a supervising instructor who would set a culinary challenge. The students had to present a dish that the instructor deemed ’qualified’ within a set time frame.

In the evening, each student had to complete a designated steak meal for 50 people within one hour.

The second day continued in the same vein, but based on the original plot, something interesting happened that evening. Tanaka Hikari would face an unprecedented risk of expulsion.

The tasks on the third and fourth days were essentially repetitive, though the difficulty increased.

The task for the fifth morning was to prepare two hundred portions of an egg dish.

The six-day, five-night residential study actually ended on the afternoon of the fifth day; there were no tasks on the sixth day. The students could relax almost all day at the resort, and a Far Moon School bus would take them back in the afternoon.

From the perspective of Xia Yu as an instructor, the banquet on the evening of the fifth day was quite interesting.

Not only him, but the graduates would also cook their specialty dishes to entertain those students who had endured hardships and passed the elite selection.

This was considered a form of encouragement and guidance for their juniors.

Xia Yu was already contemplating what dishes to serve to those students.

Too complicated a dish would definitely not work. Serving hundreds of candidates at once was also a considerable challenge for Xia Yu.