"What's wrong?"
"Why has she become like this?"
From the moment she entered the Izakaya, Sosuke had noticed something was off about her.
"Chef, it's a long story, the cause of this is like this..."
Immediately, Kuguchi Sonoka told Sosuke all about the recent various actions of a group of Midnight Chefs.
Including the collapse of Kakizaki Taki's "Taki Amarillo" Spanish restaurant due to its involvement in this culinary incident, she explained everything one by one.
However, after hearing this, Sosuke chose to remain silent!
...
According to the original plot timeline, Practical Training had just ended, so that group of Midnight Chefs wouldn't appear so quickly.
Furthermore, Kakizaki Taki's "Taki Amarillo Restaurant" would not close down, and she herself, along with Kuguchi Sonoka, would serve as judges in the Autumn Elections semifinals!
"How interesting."
"It seems because of my appearance."
"Some things in this world are gradually becoming even more absurd."
Blinking his eyes, Sosuke, having somewhat regained his composure, couldn't help but reveal a thought-provoking smile.
"Hmm? No more alcohol?"
Over there, Kakizaki Taki, who had just finished a bottle of shochu, showed no signs of intoxication.
She vigorously shook the bottle, and seeing that there truly wasn't even a drop of alcohol left, she couldn't help but say, "Another bottle of shochu!"
"Taki, you need some snacks to go with your drink, right?"
"Just tell me what kind of dish you want to eat."
Feeling Kikuchi's worried expression, Sosuke simply patted her shoulder gently, then stepped forward to Kakizaki Taki and asked with a light smile.
"Snacks to go with drinks?"
"Hmm, can you make tapas?"
Kakizaki Taki paused, then couldn't help but ask in return.
"Tapas?"
Sosuke was also stunned.
"What? I knew you couldn't do it."
Mistaking Sosuke for not even having heard of a dish name like tapas, Kakizaki Taki's eyes showed a hint of disdain as she scoffed.
"Who told you I can't make tapas? The reason I was stunned was because I was surprised that you'd use tapas as a snack to go with drinks, you know?"
Sosuke shrugged, putting on a confident expression.
"I… I'm willing!"
Kakizaki Taki's face flushed as she replied.
"Alright, the customer is God, so I'll grudgingly make you a tapas dish to go with your drink."
After speaking, Sosuke turned and returned to the cooking station.
...
Tapas.
It is a culinary delicacy from the Mediterranean region, and also from Spain.
Its original meaning is'small plate,' which means any 'plate' of food accompanied by a drink, typically a small dish for drinking and chatting before a main meal.
Of course, it is also the national essence of Spanish cuisine.
Almost all large restaurants, almost all small eateries, can be seen serving tapas.
They even established a snack festival, where Chefs from the local area and over 20 countries and ethnic groups gather in various shops along several ancient streets and alleys, competing to showcase their superb culinary skills to diners.
As a seemingly unrefined, common snack, tapas is nevertheless a household name, transforming into an uncrowned king.
Perhaps, it is precisely because it is like this ancient nation, which has been nurtured and attracted by the vast ocean since ancient times, and has been taken from and given to by visitors from all directions, returning to its original simplicity!
At this moment, Sosuke was seen making a type of bread.
This bread had some similarities to the French bread seen outside.
Its crust was golden-brown and crispy like an eggshell, while its interior was fluffy and soft like goose down; with just a gentle squeeze of a small finger, it would crackle and fine lines would appear.
Then, he placed it on the cutting board.
Immediately after, Sosuke's gaze sharpened, and he quickly took out a sharp Chef's knife, slicing downwards diagonally, producing oval-shaped thin slices the thickness of an index finger.
"Tch."
"I had high hopes for nothing!"
"I thought he would make some kind of amazing tapas dish?"
"It turns out his method is the same as those Spanish restaurant Chefs, using a bread similar to French bread first."
After watching the entire process, Kakizaki Taki couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
...
On the bread base.
Place a slice of juicy tomato, crisp cucumber, and creamy cheese for color transition.
Then, like a crowning, arrange the unfurled or curled slices of ham; this is the third step.
Basil, parsley, olives, perilla, and rosemary are all used for decorative touches, cut into small pieces, either scattered freely or skewered with bamboo sticks and inserted at the highest point, like the masts of an invincible armada; this is the fourth step.
Finally, carefully select a bottle of shochu to pair perfectly.
Evidently, at this step, Kakizaki Taki's initial disappointment turned into surprise.
Being skilled in Spanish cuisine, she often believed that to gauge a restaurant's depth of skill and its long history, one could roughly look at how many tapas it offered and the fine wines paired with them!
And those hot tapas contained many things, such as:
Ham as thin as cicada wings, glistening, oily olives, herbs as fine as hair, and so on, many things were thus served on dark red ceramic small plates.
Immediately after, under the illumination of the lights, the entire tapas dish was so exquisite, so stunning!
"Huh?"
"This… how is this possible?"
In the end, Kakizaki Taki was completely shocked! (End of chapter)
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