In the dormitories, even in the least expensive type of room, a four-person room, a space for cooking was provided.
Of course, not many students actually use it.
In fact, during the entire school term, from the time of admission to graduation, there are quite a few students who never enter the cooking area even once.
One of the reasons for this is the high percentage of noble students among the student population.
Before they entered the academy, while they were with their families, they had chefs or servants who cooked for them.
During that time, they were likely served only the finest gourmet dishes, which gradually made their palates more discriminating.
Would they suddenly start cooking for themselves now?
Perhaps curiosity and a spirit of adventure would lead them to pick up a knife once or twice, but after tasting the results of their own cooking, they would quickly lose interest.
Additionally, the academy boasts a student cafeteria, an excellent alternative.
A significant portion of the exorbitant tuition fees contribute to the cafeteria budget, allowing them to purchase top-quality ingredients and hire first-class chefs.
Extra funding secured by meal tickets is managed separately, further enhancing the cafeteria experience.
In such circumstances, would an aristocrat with a refined palate eat something they themselves whipped up, barely qualifying as food, or would they prefer a meal crafted from premium ingredients by a master chef?
Not just nobles, but the children of wealthy merchants and even the scholarship-supported commoners would naturally choose the cafeteria for their meals.
Perhaps only the students like myself—poor and receiving no sponsorship—or those genuinely interested in cooking would make use of the kitchen.
By the way, I must mention that thanks to Selian, I was always dragged along to the student cafeteria before, leaving me no choice in the matter.
Now, though, I am thankful to Selian for bringing me here to the cafeteria.
If she hadn’t, I might have lived solely on flour, sugar, and salt, stretching my meals as far as possible under the guise of thrift.
Though I can’t imagine it now, back then I was quite accustomed to eating tasteless food.
Honestly, just thinking about boiling a plain lump of dough sprinkled with salt makes my stomach churn.
Comparing it with the cakes made from the same dough only highlights how terrible it might have been.
On the other hand, it feels like I might be overspending on food these days, but who cares?
Since becoming a hero, the worries of tuition payments are gone, and I believe this level of indulgence is justified after considering the past decade of hardships.
“Let’s do it!”
In one corner of the kitchen, I retrieved one of the meats I had purchased the day before.
Whatever the recipe, meat was an indispensable ingredient.
In a corner of the kitchen, I started slicing the meat into large chunks.
I wasn’t the only one there; other friends also busied themselves at their respective stations.
Anne chopping meat like me, Selian preparing vegetables, and Yuli already busily cooking something.
Everyone was focused on the dishes they envisioned.
Surprisingly, we all worked individually.
No one had imagined this would happen when we were buying ingredients yesterday at the market.
But the reason for this was simple.
When Anne grabbed the hem of my pajama pants and insisted on having a cooking competition, I just went along with it.
Since then, our group of four had decided to test each other’s cooking skills by cooking a meal for lunch before making boxed lunches.
As my friends became engrossed in their own recipes, I started preparing the dish I had learned from a book.
I was making meat pie.
The recipe, thanks to the cookbook I’d read at the library, was firmly in my head.
Having chopped the meat, I cut the carrots and onions into similar sizes.
Since the meat was what mattered, I decided to add only a small amount of vegetables.
If I made up for the quantity with more meat, it would undoubtedly be more flavorful.
Since Anne liked sweetness, adding a little extra sugar would enhance her experience.
This could be considered a reinterpretation of the original recipe.
I respected the original cookbook recipe, but in a cooking competition, a dish that’s too conventional won’t make a strong impression; it’s important to add something that reflects my style.
So I added more of the things I thought would make it more delicious and removed the things that wouldn’t.
The filling of the pie, richly browned with mostly meat, was sure to be mouthwatering.
Now that I had completed the filling, it was time to make the crust.
I followed the recipe I had read in the cookbook to create a flour dough.
Living in a room where we normally don’t cook much, there were no scales or teaspoons, so I eyeballed the ingredients and mixed them.
The lump of dough I created would, according to the book, need to be matured in a fridge—but I didn’t have the time.
Skipping one step wouldn’t significantly impact the final result, especially since no additional ingredients were needed.
I placed the flattened dough on the pie tin I had bought casually the day before.
I filled it with the filling I had prepared and covered it with more dough.
After placing the pie into the oven and setting the time and temperature, all I had left to do was wait.
With some spare time on my hands, I glanced around.
Anne, who had clearly been grilling meat earlier, was still doing so.
Looking at her plate, it was piled high with impeccably grilled meat.
…I like meat too, but Anne might be a bit excessive.
Next, I turned to observe Yuli.
Yuli, nearing the end of her cooking, began setting her finished dish on the plate.
It looked so good that it could’ve been created by a professional chef.
Clearly, Yuli was going to be my strongest rival in this little challenge.
However, when I searched for Selian to examine her dish, her figure was nowhere to be seen.
“Uh? Does anyone know where Selian went?”
Perhaps she had stepped out for a bathroom break, but there was no sign of her dish either.
“Yeah… Earlier, she started talking about how there wasn’t enough heat and left carrying some supplies.”
Thinking Yuli was my only concern, maybe Selian had some secret culinary skill?
Perhaps she had borrowed the cafeteria’s kitchen.
But, as I opened the window to let some fresh air in, I caught sight of an unexpected scene.
Through the window, far in the center of the park designed for strolling, I spotted Selian.
She had built a campfire in the middle of the park, placing a pot of unknown origin over it, and was cooking something enthusiastically.
She skillfully managed the fire to prevent sparks from flying everywhere, showcasing an almost professional touch.
…What on earth was she doing out there?
*
“Alright, so now we taste each other’s dishes and share our thoughts. And at the end, everyone votes for the dish they found tastiest, excluding their own.”
Placed on the table were the dishes prepared by each of us.
Anne’s steak, Yuli’s course meal, Selian’s stew, and lastly, my meat pie.
“Then, let’s start with Anne’s dish.”
Including Anne, the creator, we each took a piece onto our plates.
There was so much steak Anne had prepared that we could have taken an entire piece without issue.
Upon cutting it with a knife and sampling it in our mouths:
“Hmm…”
“This…”
“Isn’t it tasty? After all, it’s meat!”
Anne gave a bright laugh with confidence.
However, contrary to Anne’s self-assured demeanor, Yuli and Selian’s expressions were a bit nuanced.
“This is hard to call cooking. It’s just grilled meat without any sauce.”
“In fact, the doneness varies, so it’s quite hard to evaluate her grilling skills.”
“Urk?”
Anne looked startled by the unexpected critique and turned her hopeful eyes toward me.
“Hmm… It was tasty.”
As I said before, when it comes to meat, there’s really no going wrong.
Certainly, compared to a masterpiece by a professional chef, Anne’s steak lacked some refinement, but the quality of the meat ensured it had a certain level of flavor.
So, I enjoyed Anne’s dish.
“Then, on to my dish!”
Next up, Yuli presented her course meal.
With somewhat more enthusiasm than usual, Yuli introduced her work.
Even though all of us had the same amount of time, Yuli managed to whip up several dishes within that period.
Her presentation was so skillfully done that one almost felt guilty to eat it.
“Hmm… Yuli is impressive. I knew she was good, but this much…”
“Wow! This is amazing! Yuli, can I have more?”
“Absolutely, I made plenty!”
Celina and Anne’s enthusiastic reviews came first.
When it was my turn to taste Yuli’s dish,
Indeed, Yuli was the strongest rival I anticipated. Her dish tasted spectacular.
Even some restaurants would struggle to compete with Yuli’s cooking.
“Tasty… You’re really my rival.”
“Um… Is that a compliment?”
Before I could ask Yuli what she meant, Selian spoke up.
“Alright, it’s my turn. Everyone, please taste.”
Selian distributed portions into our bowls from a large pot.
Both its appearance and smell passed the inspection with flying colors.
I took a spoonful containing a piece of meat.
“Uh… You used some less-than-stellar meat?”
Yuli’s critique came first.
Indeed, despite having access to better quality meat, Selian seemed to have intentionally used slightly inferior ones.
“Nonetheless, her skills are good enough to make this less noticeable, unless you’re really picky.”
Because it was cooked for a long time, the inferior-quality meat did not turn out tough and was instead extremely tender, full of seasoning.
“How does it taste?”
After Yuli, Selian turned to me for feedback.
“This is really good! It totally suits my taste.”
“Of course! This uses the ingredients that El loves.”
“Eh? Likes?”
“No, no! I mean, it uses ingredients that El appreciates.”
Thanks to the ingredients aligned with my preferences, Selian’s stew was exceptionally tasty.
Not only that, but beyond the flavor, it evoked an unexplainable emotional response, a sense of nostalgia.
Though Yuli’s dish was certainly delicious, I think my vote goes to Selian.
With everybody’s dishes tasted, only mine remained for evaluation.
Hohoho… the appearance of a potential champion made everyone tense.
Selian swallowed hard with an anxious face, which must mean she wants a taste of mine.
Even Yuli seemed so struck by my meat pie that she couldn’t form words.
Anne, unable to contain herself, asked:
“Is, is it really necessary to eat this?”
?
