Soma: The Phantom Seat (Abandoned)

Chapter 9 Duck vs Fish

While waiting for the duck to finish, Takumi Aldini takes out a special knife consisting of one or more curved blades with a handle on each end. The students are confused as to what that is.

Inui says, "That's a Mezzaluna, its name means "half-moon" in Italian. A two-handed knife used in Italian cuisine..."

Takumi says, "Here I go...Tritare!" Takumi starts to use the knife to mince the vegetables into a paste at an incredible speed.

"Seven minutes until the breast meat is finished roasting." Isami adds.

"Good, let's finish the salsa in the meantime." Takumi says.

"Okay, Nii-chan." Isami says, and Takumi hands the Mezzaluna over to him, who in turn starts mincing more vegetables. The two finish off their dish with utter ease.

"I see you two are the first to arrive." Inui says after Takumi takes the dish towards Inui.

"Lightness is Italian Cuisine's Distinctive Flavor." Takumi says as he hands out his dish, which is Roasted Duck with Spices garnished with green sauce. "Buon Appetito!"

When Chef Inui takes a bite out of the roasted duck meat, she feels that the whole dish tastes like she is being serenaded by a handsome man in a corny duck outfit that she will gladly give into.

"Hey, that green-colored sauce...isn't that Salsa Verde?" Some students notice the sauce, and they start to boo the twins as the theme is Japanese Cuisine.

"No, for this sauce, they didn't use salted anchovy, they used salted sweet-fish entrails..."uruka" as the main ingredient. Uruka usually takes more than one week to prepare. But you improvised this?"

"Of course, we washed the sweetfish entrails with water and then we boiled them on sake for two minutes, and by adding mirin, soy sauce, and salt, their moderate bitterness finishes up an irresistible rich improvised Uruka."

"Improvised Uruka, you say?" "To think they can do that..."

"That's not all they did. By mincing and mixing perilla and spring onion instead of parsley, the sauce had a vivid green color and a refreshing flavor. And instead of garlic which isn't used much in Japanese cuisine, they used Yuzuko-Shou to give it a Japanese style flavor." Inui says.

"That's right. This was made using an improvised Uruka as the main ingredient, it's a Japanese style Salsa Verde." Takumi says.

The students can't help but be utterly impressed by the sheer fact that the half-Italians are able to find so many ingredients in the area, let alone Japanese ingredients.

After tasting, Inui says, "Takumi Aldini and Isami Aldini. You have passed the test."

"Grazie!" The two of them say in unison while fist-bumping with each other. Takumi turns to Soma and says, "Now...it seems you haven't started working, but just what will you make?"

"The two of you are challenging each other if I recall correctly, right?" Inui asks. "If I can expect a dish on par with what I just tasted, then I shall gladly make an exception and judge for you which one is tastier."

This causes Takumi to get excited, and Soma is getting fired up as well. "And the loser will have to kneel down." Inui syas. "He would have to kneel down in front of his opponent and say "I'm a dejected loser" three times. If you're putting your diners' name on the line, it has to have this much weight."

Soma and Takumi are now speechless, but they decide to ignore the losing conditions. Soma is now thinking about Takumi's dish and the fish he just caught, and an idea comes into his mind.