Everyone was stunned. The audience, the judges, Senzaemon, and even Akira's parents in the VIP room were equally shocked by the dish Akira had presented. It was a chaotic yet mesmerizing fusion of fast-food classics like no one had ever seen. It combined elements of a burger, pizza, taco, and hot dog into one larger-than-life creation.
The dish was multilayered. The top layer appeared to be a classic pepperoni pizza, complete with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce, but instead of a regular pizza crust, the base was a taco shell.
Beneath that were the ingredients of a burger: lettuce, tomatoes, melted cheese, and a thick beef patty. The burger components spilled out slightly, giving the dish a hearty, overstuffed appearance. Hot dog sausages jutted out from the sides, accompanied by taco fillings that added to the overflowing, messy yet strangely appetizing look.
The foundation was a large sandwich bun, completing this towering fast-food fusion. Melted cheese and sauces oozed from the sides, giving it an indulgent, visually chaotic vibe.
No one had ever seen anything like it, not the judges, not the audience, not even Akira's parents. It was the ultimate fast food.
Akira knew that Teen Titans Go, where this dish originated, had only premiered in 2013, so no one here should be familiar with it.
"El Burdigato Supreme, seriously?"
"Well, it looks tasty, but..."
"I've never seen anything like this."
The audience murmured in confusion and intrigue. The dish looked delicious, but no one knew what it would taste like.
In the VIP room, Akira's parents were still in shock at their son's creation. Even they hadn't expected something this outrageous.
"Well, I did tell him to make something fun," Ryuji admitted, scratching his head. He had been the one to give that tip, but he didn't expect that it would end in this.
"It does look really good, though," Erika chimed in. No child could resist something like this.
"We can only hope the judges feel the same," Yuki added, crossing her fingers in silent prayer.
On stage, Nakiri Erina stared at the dish with visible irritation. Raised on the finest cuisine and surrounded by luxurious dishes her entire life, she had never seen anything so absurd. She was already frustrated after tasting one bad dish after another, and now, this monstrosity was in front of her.
It was the exact opposite of everything she valued in food. Her father's harsh teachings about perfection still lingered in her mind, and this dish, in her eyes, was the most imperfect thing she had ever seen. Having tasted terrible food all day, she was at her breaking point.
"This is the stupidest dish I've ever seen. I refuse to eat something like this," Erina said coldly, deciding not to even take a bite.
The audience gasped. Erina had at least tasted the other contestants' dishes, but now she flat-out refused to try Akira's. While the crowd was shocked, Akira remained calm, smiling. He knew her character from the anime and was not surprised. All he had to do was get her to take just one bite.
"But you've tasted everyone else's food. Why don't you try mine?" Akira said, putting on a pitiful expression. He decided to use his secret weapon again: the Puppy-Eyes Persuasion. It had a 100% success rate, and it never failed.
"W-well... that..." Erina stammered. She tried to refuse, but she couldn't finish her sentence. It seemed even she wasn't immune to Akira's technique. She stood frozen, unable to respond.
"Oh, come on, Erina-chan," Nakiri Leonora said with a playful smile. "You should at least give it a taste. If you're worried about the flavor, I'll go first."
Without waiting for a response, Leonora took a bite of the dish. The entire room held its breath, waiting for her reaction. For a moment, Leonora was silent. Then, her face lit up, as if she had just received a divine blessing.
"What a wonderful dish!" she exclaimed. "First, it has an immediate visual impact. You have a firm grasp of modern cooking trends that recognize the importance of shock value. The whole audience leaned forward to look at it, so your plan was a success. The initial bite offers a crisp pizza crust with herbaceous undertones, followed by the rich, juicy flavor of the perfectly grilled beef patty. The savoriness of the burger is balanced by the crunchy taco shell, which introduces a well-seasoned, spicy element. The combination of cheesy, tangy marinara with creamy guacamole and sharp mustard-ketchup duo creates a whirlwind of flavors that somehow work in harmony. The richness of the cheese and sauce blends beautifully with the beef, while the guacamole's cool smoothness tempers the dish's intensity. The grilled sausage adds a subtle smokiness, and the pickled jalapeños provide a lingering heat that punctuates each bite. Bla, bla, bla…"
Leonora had begun speaking so rapidly in fluent Japanese that no one could follow her.
"Wait, I thought her Japanese wasn't that good?"
"I can't understand a word she's saying. She's talking too fast!"
The audience was bewildered by her reaction, but the most shocked person in the room was Nakiri Senzaemon. He knew exactly what was happening.
"It can't be... her 'disrobing'," Senzaemon thought. Normally, Leonora's Japanese was broken, spoken in simple phrases. But whenever she ate something truly delicious, her linguistic limitations seemed to disappear, and she would speak perfect Japanese for a brief period.
"But that only happens when she eats dishes made by renowned chefs... to think this kid's dish could do that... maybe, just maybe..." Senzaemon's hope was rekindled. He hadn't expected a child's dish to provoke such a reaction.
Chef Dojima Jin, intrigued, took a bite as well. His eyes widened in surprise.
"This dish is chaotic yet oddly satisfying," he said in amazement. "The layers of fast-food flavors and textures come together in a way that defies logic, but it's still intriguing to the palate. I've never tasted anything like this." The dish reminded Dojima of his old friend Joichiro, the only chef he knew who could make dishes this unconventional.
Even Nakiri Erina was taken aback. She had never expected Chef Dojima and her aunt to enjoy the dish. To her, it was imperfect in every way. How could it possibly taste good?
"They've tasted my food and think it's good. Won't you try it, too?" Akira asked, flashing a bright smile. He used another one of his secret techniques: The Say-Yes Smile, a smile so disarming that it made it impossible for anyone to refuse him.
For Erina, the brightness of his smile was almost too much to handle.