Takumi followed Jiro's words and tried some dishes to go with the wine.
I was also impressed by the delicious taste.
Seafood spinach has the refreshing taste of vegetables but tastes like top-quality seafood. Simply blanched and served with Setsuno's wonderful seasoning and cold dressing, it will whet your appetite.
The cheese mushrooms are grilled to bring out the flavor of the mushrooms and cheese, which is salty and rich and goes very well with wine.
The fried wine-flavored peanuts are fried just right and have a crispy texture. They also add to the delicious taste of the wine, which is very good.
But when it comes to the most outstanding dish among them, Takumi thinks it is undoubtedly the raw pickled Hundred-Flavor Squid.
Hundred-Flavor Squid—this ingredient itself has a variety of flavors and is usually eaten directly after drying. Its internal structure is like a matryoshka doll, with several layers. Each layer has different delicacies. The more you chew it, the more flavorful it becomes. In the Toriko world, it is a popular garnish with wine.
However, the recipe made by Granny Setsuno is pickled raw and does not have the toughness of dried squid, so the chewiness is greatly reduced. It is under the exquisite cooking of Granny Setsuno that the flavors of the Hundred-Flavor Squid are blended to form a complex compound taste.
When you take a bite, it feels like you are eating a hodgepodge of various meats. Chickens, ducks, fish, cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses—flying in the sky, swimming in the water, running on the ground—the flavors of various meats compete in the mouth. Every bite is a different taste experience. It is very solid and enjoyable, and the fun does not decrease but increases.
"It's delicious. Grandma Setsuno, there's nothing I can say about your craftsmanship. Just one word: amazing!"
"Haha, if you like it, just eat more. If it's not enough, I'll make more for you."
Granny Setsuno was very happy to be praised and showed a kind smile. She almost turned into an old woman on the spot and picked up food for Takumi herself. However, she stopped in time to avoid being too enthusiastic and frightening Takumi. She continued to concentrate on cooking in the kitchen.
Komatsu was also helping Granny Setsuno. In this way, two women were cooking in the kitchen, while two grown men, Takumi and Jiro, were eating and drinking beside the open kitchen.
I had to say that the Gourmet World has a culture of making friends at the dinner table, and it is not entirely due to the environment. Dinner table friendships and wine table friendships are very effective ways to get closer to the relationship between two parties no matter which world they are in.
No, it is just the same here. After a few drinks, Takumi established a friendship with Jiro, the "young" old man, and became a close friend. After one good dish after another was served on the table, and they were tipsy, the two began to brag about their experiences.
Takumi was talking about the process of creating Dimension City and exploring the customs in their respective worlds. Jiro, on the other hand, was reminiscing about "those days" one by one.
Old man, I was also X back then...
There seems to be nothing wrong with this. But thinking about it carefully, good guys, the two of them are not that harmonious at all. What Takumi said was all recent things, which was a bit pretentious and showing off his achievements. And Jiro was talking about things in the past, even more like a stubborn old man who refuses to obey his age, doesn't want to be compared, and wants to rely on his courage to regain some face for himself. Although they were talking about their own opinions, it was actually a kind of comparison-style turn-based quarrel.
But eventually, they reached a reconciliation.
"I see, Jiro-senpai was really awesome back then. I admire you. Come on, let me toast to you."
"No, no, Takumi, you have achieved such success at such a young age, and you really have a bright future."
Well, the two quickly switched from bragging mode to mutual praise mode. This made the two people in the kitchen who witnessed all this speechless.
"Master, are all men like this?"
Komatsu asked Grandma Setsuno with a disappointed expression.
Originally, when she saw Takumi again today, she was also fascinated by Takumi's stronger charm. But now she saw Takumi like this... well, it's a bit childish behavior, and she couldn't help but feel disillusioned.
The same is true for Jiro. Originally, Komatsu respected this master very much, and her impression of Jiro was relatively kind, but he had the dignity of an elder. But now, this impression is somewhat disillusioned. After all, the old naughty boy in front of her really cannot be associated with the word majesty.
"This is it..." Setsuno was embarrassed for a while by the question, but she still tried to fool her—ah, no, she explained: "Ahem, they say men are boys until they die."
"This is how people are; no matter how mature and stable they become, they will still retain a little childish side, and this is also very cute, isn't it? Get used to it."
"Besides, don't you think I'm the same way?"
Well, the reason why she said that was mainly to save some face for Jiro. She didn't want her lover to lose points with her apprentice.
Komatsu looked at Granny Setsuno, thought about it, and suddenly felt that it seemed like it was really like that. The little boasting rivalry between Takumi and Jiro is nothing. Compared with the bright girlish heart of Granny Setsuno, it is nothing.
Although Granny Setsuno is old, her girlish heart is well-known to everyone in the world of Toriko. This is easy to see from the girly pink color of her outfit. And this pink chef uniform is the uniform of hundreds of Setsuno Restaurant chain stores...
There are also some girlish behaviors of Granny Setsuno herself, such as holding her face with both hands, coy movements, and exclaiming when she encounters cute things. It can only be said that Granny Setsuno's mentality is simply too young—more like a young person than Komatsu, a real young person.
Compared with this one, the rivalry between Takumi and Jiro is nothing.
"I see." Komatsu nodded, indicating that she understood.
Very good, the fooling is over.
Seeing this, Granny Setsuno breathed a sigh of relief and quietly wiped the non-existent sweat on her forehead. But she did not notice that Komatsu's look in Takumi's eyes gradually started to look different.
But Takumi, who had secretly paid attention to Komatsu and wanted to confirm a certain guess, discovered this. At the same time, this also made Takumi basically certain that the previous Misaka Mikoto, Lacus, and even Komatsu now, are like this because of the increase in charm brought by his fusion of Gourmet Cells.
After solving the case, he is handsome again... (I also wish everyone who reads this gets more and more handsome).
Thinking of this, Takumi felt relieved. Although becoming handsome would bring some burdens, he obviously would not refuse this good thing. After all, even if he doesn't use this handsome face to capture the female characters he loved in his previous life, it would be great to use it to trick them into joining Dimension City.
Thinking of this, Takumi continued to drink and eat with Jiro, consuming dishes made from various high-end fantasy ingredients. He could feel that as he continued to eat, the strength of the Gourmet Cells in his body was constantly increasing.