Humans!
Regarding the unknown, there is often fear, but also curiosity.
The essence of Molecular Cuisine is similar to performing various chemical experiments in a laboratory; the raw materials are no longer food, but a pile of chemical substances!
Then, through methods such as blending, processing, embellishing, separating, and fusing,
it's possible to create peach-flavored caviar, wine-flavored pearls, soft stones, chocolate-flavored screws, and eggs made from mango...
The appearance of these things is often quite explosive, even overturning people's perception of the culinary world!
"Ultimately,"
"I deliberately pursued innovation during the process of developing Molecular Cuisine."
"I often thought about using all theoretical knowledge and various high-tech instruments to create many unique dishes in this world."
"By doing so, I aimed to capture people's curiosity and shock towards the unknown!"
"However, the application of various techniques and knowledge in Molecular Cuisine is, at most, just a means."
"Sigh!"
"I was truly foolish."
"For all these years, I actually overlooked the two most important things in cooking: taste and texture!"
Alice Nakiri, having understood, sighed deeply.
It cannot be denied that she had achieved many astonishing results in the field of Molecular Cuisine.
But it was precisely because she focused too much on the uniqueness of Molecular Cuisine that her own perspective became narrow, making it difficult for her ideas to integrate with traditional cuisine.
From the fact that she could easily defeat her trusted subordinate, Ryō Kurokiba, in her childhood, yet was surpassed by him as she grew older, it can be seen that her strength had stagnated in recent years.
In short,
she had hit a bottleneck and had been unable to break through it for a long time.
...
Seeing Alice seemingly enlightened,
Erina's thoughts, on the other hand, became a bit complex.
She recalled that when she first came to the Izakaya, she too was conquered and captivated by Sosuke's three Western fast-food dishes!
And she understood in her heart that even ordinary ingredients, if prepared well, could still conquer the God Tongue.
Clearly,
Sosuke
truly possessed a kind of magic that could awaken every diner who was lost in confusion!
Perhaps for this reason, everyone felt admiration for him in their hearts, and even had a good impression of him.
"Any dish,"
"emphasizes practicality."
"Alice, no matter how cool and flashy you make Molecular Cuisine, if it can't satisfy the diners in terms of taste, what's the point?"
"In the end, it will only be a castle in the air, always at risk of collapsing."
"Why have I never considered you an opponent? While the God Tongue is certainly a reason, the main reason is that your dishes, besides being flashy and beautiful, are truly good for nothing else!"
Erina couldn't help but interject.
In her eyes, this so-called Molecular Cuisine was nothing more than a trick to fool people!
Furthermore, not only was the production process much more complicated than many traditional dishes, but it also required the use of certain instruments and an excessive focus on the duration, timing, and temperature of various factors!
This kind of cooking, where all the work is handed over to machines and one does nothing oneself, was an extreme insult to the professionalism of a chef.
Therefore, she had always been very disdainful of Molecular Cuisine.
...
"Erina."
"You... what do you mean?"
Upon hearing Erina's evaluation of her Molecular Cuisine, Alice was instantly stunned!
She recalled a time when she had painstakingly made a dessert cake for Erina to taste.
At that time, Erina had shown the same disdainful attitude as she did now.
"Indeed."
"You truly haven't changed at all."
"Always putting on a condescending queenly facade in front of others, despising this and that kind of cuisine."
"And you don't even consider whether the noble cuisine you believe in can gain public recognition and liking?"
Finally, Alice turned her head away, feeling quite displeased, and said coldly, "I don't want to argue with you."
"Anyway, one day in the future, you and I will definitely have a Shokugeki match. We'll settle it then!"
Erina's gaze sharpened, and she said lightly, "Don't worry, I will defeat you then."
Alice, at this moment, was not to be outdone.
...
The two of them,
though both noble young ladies of the Nakiri,
had completely different personalities and culinary philosophies due to their different experiences.
Regarding cuisine, Erina, because of her God Tongue, had always focused on taste and texture, and paid particular attention to the characteristics and practicality of each ingredient.
Therefore, she scoffed at low-grade commoner dishes!
Alice, however, was different.
She was actually very inclusive and would not look down on any kind of cuisine.
But due to her background and the influence of Molecular Cuisine, she had no understanding of commoner knowledge and traditional cuisine.
In her Shokugeki against Sōma during the Autumn Election, she looked utterly bewildered when she heard about seaweed bento, completely ignorant, which clearly illustrated this problem.
And it was precisely this shortcoming that led to her Molecular Cuisine always being stunning when presented, yet unable to secure victory against others.
Yes!
That's right!
Erina truly despised commoner dishes.
But this doesn't mean she was ignorant of commoner cuisine.
On the contrary, in the entire Totsuki Academy, probably no one knew more about commoner cuisine than she did.
Therefore, it was probably because their understanding was not on the same level that Alice, no matter how hard she tried, was destined to never catch up to Erina!
...
A bottle of peach blossom wine.
The alcohol content wasn't very high, but the clear, sweet aroma of the wine could spread very far.
At this moment, Sonoka, who had not yet left, couldn't help but move her nose to sniff the wine's fragrance, then took a small sip while in a state of deep intoxication.
As it entered her mouth, the faint aroma of the wine instantly permeated her entire tongue, while also wafting out through her nose.
The feeling was like directly smelling peach blossoms with her nose, but with a little less intensity and a little more elegance.
Perhaps the combination of the wine's fragrance and peach blossoms was more refreshing, causing Sonoka to slowly exhale a breath of wine, appearing very content.
Afterward, she opened her eyes and looked at the two young ladies of the Nakiri beside her with confusion.
She found it very difficult to understand why their relationship seemed so strained.
However, as an intermediary, she found it hard to mediate such matters, so she simply pretended to be a "mere passerby."
Then, she proactively engaged Sosuke in conversation: "Shopkeeper, I think you shouldn't run an Izakaya. With your brewing skills, opening a winery would definitely make you a fortune!"
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