Food Wars!: God's Tongue is no match for me.

Indeed, her dedication and pursuit of delicious food have enabled her to continuously reach new heights in her culinary journey.

Erina spent a great deal of time and energy researching precious ingredients and learning complex cooking techniques, all in order to be able to cook the most perfect dishes.

Every time she sweats profusely in the kitchen, every time she is meticulous in selecting ingredients, it all stems from her love and dedication to food.

however.

gradually.

She saw it in Lin Xu.

It's not just about a deep understanding of chefs, but also a cooking philosophy that transcends culinary skills and ingredients themselves.

This idea was undoubtedly a profound inspiration for her, as if a ray of light had shone into her long-closed inner world.

She began to reflect on her persistence over the years.

Can the blind pursuit of top-quality ingredients truly bring about the purest culinary experience?

Those exquisite dishes that appear glamorous but lack soul.

Can it truly touch the hearts of diners?

She realized.

Perhaps I've been pursuing the superficial aspects of food while neglecting its essence.

……

Commander-in-Chief Senzaemon.

Similarly, my heart was also very unsettled.

Looking at Erina, who was deep in thought, he understood that Lin Xu's cooking had directly struck a chord with Erina's inner conflict and struggle.

Since being subjected to "extreme education" by Azami Nakiri 10 years ago, Erina has been as if she has been imprisoned in a small world.

Under that extreme educational philosophy, she was instilled with the idea that:

Only top-quality ingredients and exquisite craftsmanship can represent everything and gain recognition.

This idea acted like heavy shackles, binding her mind and preventing her from ever truly considering two questions:

Top-notch cuisine.

Does it represent everything?

What, then, is the true meaning of food?

During those dark days, Erina faced precious ingredients and complicated cooking tasks every day.

She was required to constantly pursue ultimate perfection, but she neglected the emotions and warmth behind the food.

Her world.

It gradually became cold and mechanical.

It's like a machine that only knows how to run according to a program.

Now, Lin Xu's appearance and the cooking philosophy he conveys are like a key, unlocking the long-closed door in Erina's heart.

She began to re-examine her understanding of food and start to think about what the essence of food really is.

"Yes, perhaps food is not just a sensory enjoyment, but also a way to convey emotions and communicate with one's soul." Erina thought to herself, her eyes gradually revealing a firmness and determination.

She knew that from this moment on, her culinary journey would undergo a dramatic change.

She decided that she would treat every ingredient with the utmost sincerity, just like Lin Xu, and use her heart to feel their characteristics and cook every dish with love.

Yes!

No longer blindly pursuing top-quality ingredients.

Instead, we should learn to find the extraordinary in the ordinary and create the most moving flavors with the simplest ingredients.

……

Totsuki Academy High School.

Sunlight filters through dappled leaves, dappling the paths of the school.

A gentle breeze carries the fragrance of flowers and grass.

Alice Nakiri was dressed in a pristine white chef's uniform, her short, silver-white hair shimmering softly in the sunlight, while her deep, blood-red eyes radiated a lively and confident aura.

Beneath her delicate nose were lips that always wore a playful smile.

She walked briskly toward the culinary lab, her heart filled with anticipation for her upcoming "molecular gastronomy" creation.

Step into the culinary laboratory.

The dazzling array of advanced instruments and tools beckoned to her.

Molecular gastronomy.

This field, which perfectly blends science and gastronomy, is the direction she has always been passionate about exploring.

Alice also likes to use technology to break the boundaries of traditional cuisine and create taste experiences that surpass ordinary people's imagination.

Good morning, Miss Alice!

Kuroki Basaki, from the laboratory, was already waiting there.

His hair looked rather messy, but his lazy eyes revealed a sense of confidence and pride.

"Okay! Let's begin."

Alice glanced at him and said indifferently.

……

dawn.

Penetrating the glass dome of the Totsuki Culinary Laboratory.

Fine, scattered spots of light were quickly cast onto the silvery-white metal surface.

At this moment, Alice Nakiri stood barefoot on the cool, non-slip floor tiles. Her silver-white hair swayed gently as she removed her goggles, revealing her delicate earlobes adorned with star-shaped earrings.

"Miss."

"The centrifuge has completed the third round of purification."

Beside me, Kurokiba Ryo's voice came from the other end of the control panel.

The boy with dark circles under his eyes was using tweezers to pick up a transparent petri dish containing rose dew extracted by a siphon bottle.

"However, the temperature curve shows that if the temperature continues to drop to -196°C, it will destroy the activity of polyphenol oxidase."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Alice suddenly turned around.

The hem of the lab coat swept across the workbench, and the test tube rack made a crisp clinking sound.

She walked straight to the ultrasonic grinder used in molecular gastronomy, her fingertips tracing elegant arcs on the touchscreen, as if she had just grasped something.

"Remember the Icelandic puffin eggs I tasted in Copenhagen last year? The yolks, flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen, burst open on my tongue..."

Talking and talking.

Alice's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Kurokiba, adjust the temperature of the liquid nitrogen tank to -210℃. I want to recreate that taste miracle of time and space displacement."

"Ok!"

"Miss."

Kurokiba Ryo nodded.

……

Subsequently.

Alice is injecting salmon eggs and sodium alginate solution into a syringe.

This action reminded her of the scene when she was five years old, in her father's laboratory, when she first used a pipette to add nutrient solution to a petri dish.

Back then, she had to stand on tiptoe to see the microscope eyepiece, yet she could already explain the principle of agarose gel electrophoresis to the researchers in her childish voice.

"Reverse spheroidization technology..."

"I remember that the injection interval needed to be accurate to 0.01 seconds."

She suddenly spoke, the syringe needle hovering above the calcium chloride solution, her thoughts somewhat complicated.

At last.

When the first wisp of steam...

When the liquid overflowed from the condenser tube of the rotary evaporator, Alice had already changed into a chef's uniform embroidered with stars and moons.

Next, she sprinkled the freeze-dried cherry blossom powder into the liquid nitrogen bowl, and pink mist instantly bloomed on the countertop, like the aurora borealis sweeping across the polar ice fields.

"Molecular gastronomy isn't about being a prisoner in a laboratory..." she suddenly hummed a self-composed cooking rhyme, her fingertips deftly manipulating the vacuum molding machine: "but about letting science become the wings of taste..."

……

the other side.

Kurokiba Ryo handed over the prepared salmon roe and caviar.

Alice then used a 3D food printer to sculpt a chocolate dome.

This 80 million yen piece of equipment moves with the agility of a pianist's fingers, each chocolate pattern precisely replicating the texture of Icelandic volcanic rock.

"Kurokiba".

Do you know why I used liquid nitrogen at -210°C?

As the caviar was dropped into the liquid nitrogen tank, tiny ice crystals instantly crystallized on the deep purple egg membrane, Alice couldn't help but ask.

"This... is outside my area of ​​knowledge!"

Listless, Kurokiba Ryo scratched his head and answered truthfully.

"That's because conventional freezing would rupture cell membranes, but ultra-low temperatures can form a glassy structure, like amber preserving ancient insects."

Alice explained.

……

at this time.

The kitchen counter suddenly started shaking, but Alice remained unmoved.

Next, she injected liquid nitrogen-treated caviar and yam mousse into the syringe, a gesture that reminded her of her time in a Danish laboratory, where she manipulated nanoscale droplets with microfluidic chips.

The essence of molecular gastronomy is the reconstruction of space and time, and this statement is being proven true right now!

finally.

When the first dish is finished.

An eerie silence fell over the entire laboratory.

The transparent sphere suspended in the liquid nitrogen mist contained pulsating golden light spots inside.

Obviously, anyone who sees this scene would be so shocked that their jaw would drop to the ground. After all, such a magical dish is simply unheard of!

Only Alice knew that those were "Aurora Capsules" made with edible gold leaf and citrus essential oil extracted with liquid nitrogen.

……

"Finally...it's finished!"

Alice's voice had a slightly strange tremor.

Then, the moment the fingertip touched the sphere, a faint blue light suddenly burst forth from the crack.

"Liquid nitrogen freezing keeps the salmon roe bursting with flavor, yam mousse neutralizes the fishy smell of the caviar, and citrus essential oils will remain at body temperature of 37°C..."

Done.

She suddenly put the food processor into the thermostat.

Watching the blue light gradually turn into pinkish-gold: "Look, it's like the aurora dancing on the tip of my tongue."