Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 514 - 513: Control

Chapter 514: Chapter 513: Control

Many pairs of eyes were attracted to the fragrant pan-fried meat on the table.

Including Xia Yu sniffing the aroma, all were secretly swallowing their saliva.

The aroma of the forbidden dish was indescribable. If one were to say that glowing cuisine attracts people through mysterious culinary magic, then forbidden dishes allure by the ingredients’ perfection, dressing themselves up as pretty jewels, provoking admiration and a reluctant desire to eat for fear of disrespectfully ruining them.

"What dish is this?!"

Tiqie Helinai asked with a trembled voice, nearly addicted just by the smell, her hands supporting her on the back of the chair.

Dojima Yin, Saito Chiyokuro.

Tiqie Zongwei, Leonora, and Roland Chapele... these top special chefs’ expressions changed dramatically, shocked at one moment and obsessed the next. Capturing their reactions on camera and replaying it would certainly be entertaining.

"Forbidden... dish!"

Dojima Yin said in a paused tone, his gaze suddenly sharp, turning to lock onto the cook of the dish.

"Forbidden ingredients, where did you get them?" he asked, his eyes blazing.

Not only Dojima Yin, but Saito Chiyokuro also turned their focused attention.

The reason ’forbidden ingredients’ are deemed forbidden is not only because they are difficult to handle and cook, but also because they are rare!

Such rare goods hold a monopoly.

Each serving of ’forbidden ingredients’ could provoke a bloody Food Duel.

Before Xia Yu could respond, Zhu Qing’s eyes flashed, and she stood up to intervene. "A Gourmet Hunter named Jintan Shun sold them to Yu. Do any of you know this Jintan Shun?"

At her words, everyone’s gaze was drawn. Her cheap aunt stood in front of her, and Zhu Qing also slyly winked at Xia Yu, who understood that his aunt was trying to shield him; some things were hard to explain, and it was easier for his aunt to handle.

"Jintan Shun!"

"It’s him!"

"Instructor Xia, have you connected with Jintan Shun?!" Dojima Yin asked excitedly, stepping forward, but Zhu Qing raised an eyebrow and with a slap of her fine, fair hand, Dojima Yin stumbled back two steps, coming to his senses in astonishment.

A moment of silence.

Seeing Zhu Qing stand with her hands on her hips like a protective mother, Dojima Yin couldn’t help but laugh and cry, raising his hands and saying, "Miss Zhu, you can rest assured, even if there were a truckload of forbidden ingredients in front of us, Far Moon would not turn against Instructor Xia because of this."

"Hmph, who knows?" said Zhu Qing provocatively.

"Alright, stop messing around!"

Xia Yu pulled aside this elder who was even more troublesome than Eriina, moving two steps forward. "I indeed know Jintan Shun."

Dojima Yin’s expression tightened. "Could you..."

As he spoke, he faltered and waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it, not even the ’Five-headed Bird Egg,’ I guess he wouldn’t part with the ’Five-Headed Bird Meat’ either," Dojima Yin said with a bitter smile, letting go of his intentions to buy the ingredients, then curiously sized up Xia Yu. "Jintan Shun values ingredients more than his life. How would he give forbidden ingredients to you?"

"Through an exchange."

Xia Yu didn’t elaborate further. He picked up a dinner knife from the table, leaned slightly forward, and began cutting the whole piece of meat on the plate into eight equal portions—now, everyone could try a taste.

"Come, try my latest dish," he said, putting down the knife and smiling at everyone.

"I’ll go first!"

Zhu Qing, already clutching a shiny little fork, quickly moved closer to the table at his words. As the fork pierced the meat, just seared to a fragrant finish like jelly, it bounced slightly, even wobbling continuously upon the fork.

"Wait!"

Dojima Yin broke into a cold sweat trying to stop her, but Zhu Qing slightly opened her mouth with an "Ah" and swallowed her piece of meat.

"Uh!"

Zhu Qing stiffened, and after a long moment, she opened her shining eyes, incredulously saying, "I...I actually managed it!"

These words, like thunderstruck, fell on the ears of Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro.

Managed it?

Hearing this word, the previously sweating Dojima Yin widened his eyes.

"Don’t believe it? Try for yourselves." Zhu Qing stuck out her little tongue, licking the remaining meat juice on her fork, and looked greedily at the neatly cut pieces of Gem Meat on the plate.

Tiqie Helinai was the second to taste.

The meat melted directly on the tip of her tongue, causing involuntary twitches and numbness. At that moment, her ’Divine Tongue,’ representing humanity’s peak taste experience, had the same blank, bewildered expression as her face.

"Boom!"

Beneath her feet was a volcanic crater, spewing lava that sent her into outer space, making her feel weightless, her face turning red as if suffocating.

After a long time, it seemed her wandering soul finally returned to her body. Tiqie Helinai dazedly spoke, "I kind of understand now why they’re called ’forbidden ingredients.’"

Her bright red tongue licked across her red lips, mirroring Zhu Qing’s reaction. Their first conscious action after snapping back to reality was to lick their lips, savoring the residue on the fork.

Simultaneously, their eyes emitted a tangible, desperate longing.

"Addicted!"

"This is one of the forbidden ingredients, the ’Gem Meat,’ right?"

"I heard these ingredients are so valuable, they’re difficult to handle!"

The others also set down their forks.

The plate that previously held the meat was now only left with side dishes and decorative rosemary and lemon slices.

"Gem Meat!"

Saito Chiyokuro couldn’t help but exclaim, "This is definitely a high-completion Gem Meat dish!"

"Yes, it’s a successful dish that has mastered ’Gem Meat.’ In other words, the recipe is established!" Dojima Yin muttered to himself, resting his chin against his hand, "But how did they master it... With the orthodox Food’s Profound Meaning method?"

"Food’s Profound Meaning?"

A snicker sounded, and everyone was surprised to see Zhu Qing covering her mouth and laughing.

"Did you just taste the Chef’s Heart Mark?" Zhu Qing asked amusingly.

"No mark!"

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro said in unison.

"Well, what about the Food’s Profound Meaning?"

Even Eriina realized by then and covered her mouth in shock. The most fundamental Chef’s Heart Mark was absent, let alone the Food’s Profound Meaning that evolved from the mark.

Faces contorted as if they had seen a ghost.

"With no orthodox Food’s Profound Meaning, there’s only one other method left..." Dojima Yin’s face twitched, reluctant to mention the alternative method.

"It’s the Gourmet Cells!"

Zhu Qing smirked, "Using Gourmet Cells to master it is indeed a shortcut, but..."

Her gaze became even stranger, twinkling oddly.

"Yu, have your Gourmet Cells reached the strength to easily master ’Gem Meat’?" Zhu Qing, a Lin Chef, hardly understood ’Gem Meat’ before, but one taste was enough to recognize the quality of the ingredients.

It could be said that ’Gem Meat’ ranks among the top gold quality on the Forbidden Ingredients List set by IGO. Not to mention the Lin Giants of the gourmet society, even some Dragon Chefs, even if they hunted down this ingredient, would need to study it for a long time before using it in actual cooking.

Xia Yu was puzzled and couldn’t help asking, "Auntie, are there many chefs with awakened Gourmet Cells domestically too?"

"It was popular for a while..."

Zhu Qing’s lips curled into a playful smile, "But there was a chef who thought he was great because he had awakened his Spirit of Food, went to challenge the leader at the White Jade Tower, and angered him. That, and the Dark Cuisine World didn’t like the suddenly growing third power, so ten years ago, the Light Realm and the Dark World joined forces again to defeat this emerging power. Their new leader barely warmed his seat before he hastily fled the country, I heard he became one of the ’Gourmet Society’s’ chefs."

Xia Yu listened, stunned.

It seemed that the Chinese Cuisine World had also experienced turbulence, only, that leader was too dominant, suppressing everything.

"In China, nobody cares if you have Gourmet Cells, just don’t cause trouble," Zhu Qing winked at him, clearly perceiving Xia Yu’s concerns.

"Is that so!"

Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then his expression became stranger.

How could the Chinese Cuisine World seem more open and free compared to the Japanese Food Industry?

Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro remained silent.

But Eriina couldn’t help showing a hint of yearning.

If there were still places considered culinary sanctuaries in this era, that ancient and civilized land would definitely be one of them.

"Cough cough, none of you have any ’aftereffects,’ right?" Xia Yu clapped his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

Eriina was utterly confused by all this.

Seeing this, Dojima Yin began to explain, "If forbidden ingredients are not properly mastered, they’re the most delicious poison; mild cases cause vomiting and diarrhea, severe cases..."

Eriina’s pretty face turned slightly pale, "Then..."

"If there was a problem, your ’Divine Tongue’ would definitely reject it right away," Zhu Qing said.

"The key with Forbidden Ingredients lies in the active cells!" Saito Chiyokuro squinted his eyes and said.

Xia Yu nodded.

Food’s Profound Meaning mastery is orthodox, first to communicate and interact, and if that doesn’t work, kill the special cells using the Chef’s Heart.

’Gourmet Cells’ are like Food Dominators, resonating with ingredients means they are inherently submissive to the chef. That’s why Xia Yu could easily craft dishes using the resonant ’Gem Meat’, but to master other Forbidden Ingredients, he must use ’Gem Meat’ to conquer another type or multiple types of ingredients.

"According to my aunt, above Food Dominator is the Spirit of Food... Could it be that cells might give birth to life?"

Xia Yu touched his left chest where his heart thumbed within his rib cage; just thinking about Gourmet Cells potentially harboring other consciousnesses made him feel uncomfortable.

"So what’s above Food’s Profound Meaning?" Curiosity overcame his unease.

...

Two days swiftly passed.

At 10 a.m., both A district venue and B district venue at the Sapporo Legendary Kitchenware Championship were simultaneously proceeding with the first round of the semi-finals, winners advancing to the division finals and fighting for a spot in the ultimate finale.

The Far Moon Team arrived early at the venue’s backstage resting area.

Not to mention the Far Moon Team, in the Orlando Team’s resting hall, Elizabeth was repeating the intelligence she had gathered herself over the past two days to everyone:

"That Forbidden Ingredient seems to be called ’Gem Meat’!"

"Eh? You guys are too cold in your reaction. Uncle Mars, he actually mastered a Forbidden Ingredient, aren’t you worried?" Elizabeth bit her lip and stared at Mars, who was sitting and resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing this, Mars slightly opened his eyes and said, "The theme—"

"The theme?"

Seeing that Elizabeth still didn’t understand, the team’s number one special chef, Madeline, came over, tapped her smooth forehead, and said with amusement, "He can only cook one Forbidden Dish; what’s the use? Although in the semi-finals, the topics are reduced from ten to five, unless destiny favors him, ironies the topic drawn to his wishes? This type of random-topic competition puts more emphasis on past accumulations rather than last-minute preparations!"

"But..." Elizabeth felt vaguely uneasy.

"Don’t worry. A Forbidden Ingredient?" Mars smiled faintly, "If the topic is right, as a response and out of respect, I might also use a Forbidden Ingredient to compete!"