"Order up!" Ichiro spoke to the judges of the event as his teammate followed close behind. Of course, with them observing the cooking of all of the participants, they were able to oversee the creation of Ichiro's dish, and it was safe to say that they were very interested in what would become of it. As Ichiro stepped closer to the judges with his plates in hand, they could smell the distinct mouthwatering smell of the ground beef patty grilled after being mixed with various seasonings. But nonetheless, they were still hesitant to consume the meal due to the things that they had seen during Ichiro's process of creating it.
Ichiro placed the three plates in front of the judges. The three of them simply stared at the meal with a slight expression of worry. To put it simply, they were worried; they didn't know if Ichiro was a good enough chef to combine the saltiness of both ketchup and mustard with sea salt. "Let's hurry this up." Megumi spoke; she was clearly focused on doing her job rather than being scared of the possibility of eating bad food. She had grown quite interested in this young man, so she wanted to see what he had to offer. Megumi picked up the burger and took a bite out of it.
Her eyes opened with surprise. It was amazing! A mixture of ketchup and mustard flowed into the area where she had taken a bite. The condiment dropped right down her chin as she was in some kind of trance caused by how delicious the food was.
"He managed to balance the saltiness of the ketchup and mustard mixed within the ground beef with the sea salt, then he added more ketchup and mustard on top of the cooked patty, only adding a stronger flavor of tomato and mustard. There's more!" Megumi began to rave about how well this meal had been put together, causing her peers to dig into the dish.
"You're right! He added garlic and onion powder. use of these two spices in combination with the beef mixture. The garlic powder complements the tanginess of the ketchup and mustard, while the onion powder increases the overall profile of the meal. And this bun! It's so…DELECTABLE!" Emiko spoke. The three women felt as if they were drifting out at sea, but all of their worries about possible death were erased by a single bite of a burger.
"A brioche bun to add a slight sweet and rich texture to the meal, while using soft, buttery bib lettuce to wrap everything together. It's safe to say that this is an impressive meal. But still, not quite a delicacy." Megumi said as their stream of compliments suddenly stopped. They gained a more serious tone, even though they had already devoured their burgers. "You had forgotten to toast the bun, removing the essential crunchy taste of a burger. Though not heavily important, you missed the opportunity to add more toppings. A burger cannot truly be called a burger with only a bun, lettuce, and patty."
As Megumi spoke, she was suddenly stopped by a sudden scent leaking into the air. She traced the beautiful smell of spices back to their origin point. She looked past Ichiro and into the hands of his teammate. His dish made their mouths water before even being placed in front of them. The sheer smell made them tremble in their seats. "GIVE US THAT DISH!!" They all screamed out, with Ichiro's teammate only responding with a smirk.
His copper eyes ignited with flames of pure passion for cooking as he responded, "Make sure not to waste a single drop. YA HEAR ME!!! TASTE THE ONE AND ONLY, HAMBURGUESA PICANTE MEXICANA!!!"
The judges nodded in agreement with his request, and subsequently, the dish was placed in front of them. Streaks of steam rippled off of the burger as a stream of devilish yet pleasing spices plagued the room. At this point, everyone's attention had turned to watching the show in complete awe. Even Ichiro himself was shocked by the smell coming off of his burger; there was no way someone here could be better than him, right?
The three critics began to rip into the burger, eating as if they hadn't had any food in weeks. Even though they had just eaten an entire burger by Ichiro, which had caused nowhere near this type of reaction, "The combination of chili powder, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper adds a fiery kick to the meal. While the soft Pepper Jack Cheese adds a creamy savory taste to balance it out, it's like a WAR OF FLAVOR!!" Yumi screamed out, not being able to contain her emotion and sheer delectation for the dish. Such pleasure shouldn't be able to be created by normal food; she could tell that this type of dish was special and she was only going to have the opportunity to eat it once in her life.
Megumi licked her lips as she noticed a few crumbs on her chin. There had been nothing on the meal that was able to create such-looking crumbs, only if he had... WAIT! "There's no way this can be true. He added crushed tortilla chips to the mixture of the bolillo roll; that's why he had to make the bun by hand. The slightly toasted bolillo roll, in conjunction with the crushed tortilla chips, added a mania of crunchiness." As Megumi spoke, Emiko licked the guacamole that had been used to tie the dish together. It was truly a new Mexican cuisine that had never been seen before.
Within the vast crowd sat a single person who felt as if these two "chefs" didn't deserve such compliments. "This can't be! I mean, look at them. They are just a bunch of commoners who don't even come from any type of wealth or class. I, Shota Moreau, am the greatest cook standing here in this kitchen. I will not be overshadowed by pedestrians." Shota erupted with anger; he wasn't going to subside any longer and allow these fools to outclass him.
"Oh, it's this prick." Ichiro muttered to himself as he looked over at Shota, throwing a fit. "HEY YOU! SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I COME OVER THERE AND BEAT YOUR ASS!!" Ichiro's teammate yelled out. This threat resulted in a gulp from Shota. Maybe it was a mistake to mess with this guy. "Look at him! He's a hoodlum that can't even control his temper!" As Shota spoke, Ichiro's teammate readied himself to run across the room just to get to Shota.
As this commotion proceeded, the judges were able to taste the two burgers given by the opponents and both Ichiro and his teammate. "Settle down, settle down. We've come to a conclusion. The winner of this match has been decided. Of course it's Team Ichiro." The judges gave their verdict on the match; Ichiro had passed on to the next round. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead; he had gotten a little bit worried about whether he was going to make it or not. "I'm one step closer to winning this whole thing." He said it with a smile.
"There's one more thing that we'd like to announce." They spoke in unison, "There has been a new delicacy created in the time of this screening. Its name is 'Hamburguesa Picante Mexicana.' A dish bound to surpass all that will be and have been created today. It's inventor, Tsukasa Nakagawa." Ichiro's eyes flickered at his teammate. Could he really compete with someone who can create a delicacy, so easily?