Chap.86 Delicious!
-Ara~ Ara~ You must be the challenger, Tony," Froese looked interestedly at the gourmet ninja and his Derous knives, "Good knives. Your cooking level is still simple, but you have a good foundation.
They all expected Tony to laugh at such an opinion, after all, they had tasted the food he prepared and they didn't know anyone who was more skilled than him in the kitchen.
But what startled them was that he didn't refute it.
-Froese-sama is absolutely right," Tony admitted somewhat embarrassed.
In fact, the recipes he knew how to cook, his experiences and his skills were mostly provided by the System and the food could reach that level when combined with his devil fruit. To say that his base was good was correct and fair, but he simply didn't know how to improve beyond that point as there was no one in Naruto's world who was worthy of teaching him.
-Let me introduce myself for those of you who don't know me," she looked away from Tony and turned to the rest, "I'm Froese and I'm a humble chef who enjoys cooking. I will be in charge of cooking the Galala Crocodile and after eating my dishes, you will get the reward from the Colosseum.
As Froese approached the crocodile and checked its condition to think about how to cook it, everyone approached Tony.
-Who is he really? -They never saw Tony being humble when it came to food.
-She's one of the best chefs out there -Tony didn't know how to explain the whole story behind that woman, so he tried to be concise -We are very lucky, I'm just an amateur compared to her.
Karin and the rest opened their eyes wide when they heard the statement.
-I'm going to watch while she cooks, see if I can learn anything," Tony didn't want to miss the opportunity to watch such a legend in action. He moved away from the group that had been shocked and still showed no signs of reacting to stand at a respectful distance from Froese. Close enough to see how he cooks, but not so close as to interfere with possible movements.
A simple but equipped kitchen appeared next to Froese and began to cook. He took out the recognizable "Cinderella" kitchen knife and cut the meat so delicately, that only once he touched it to move it, the marks rebelled and the pieces of meat separated.
-Do you have any additional seasoning or ingredients? -asked Froese without stopping waving his hands.
Tony thought for a moment and using his devil fruit ability, he transformed some broken rocks from the sand into onions, tomatoes and carrots. He also prepared some Aqua Laguna Salt and some basic spices.
-Will that be enough? -Tony asked, "I can get more stuff.
-Some honey, soy sauce and nuts would be nice," commented Froese interested in the peculiar demonstration in front of her.
Maybe he was a Saiseiya as well as a chef?
He cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. He pulled out several metal picks that he held between the hollows of his fingers and in the blink of an eye, the meat had been stabbed, turning into skewers interspersed with the onions and carrots. He took the tomatoes, honey, soy sauce and spices to prepare a dark reddish sauce and while the skewers were grilling on the fire, he applied the sauce with a brush as he turned them over.
The smell caused everyone to start drooling uncontrollably, especially in the case of Choji and Tony, who practically had a waterfall.
When the skewers were finished being made, he sprinkled them with the crushed powdered nuts and served them on plates that no one knows where he got them from.
-I thank all the food in this world, bon appetit!
Everyone couldn't resist any longer and took a skewer on their plates.
-The meat juices are glistening! It's as if it was made with jewels," Tsunade commented in amazement.
-Delicious! -Choji was crying.
-And the higher the catch level the better it tastes? -Shikamaru was puzzled.
If something so weak could be so good, what kind of taste would the places at the bottom of the list have?
After Tony ate, he understood the difference between Froese and him even better. In the past, he got some ingredients from Toriko's world, but he couldn't get as much out of them as she did. In fact, even if he saw how the sauce was made and how she cooked, he was sure he would not achieve as good a result. The proportions of the ingredients, the cooking time, the layers of sauce....
-It's been a long time since I've eaten Galala Crocodile meat," Froese commented as he also ate a skewer, "Mmm, this salt has an interesting aftertaste.
Tony handed out some drinks for the meal, which Froese tasted with interest.
Two hours later, there was nothing left of the Crocodile Galala. They finished all its meat (most of it eaten by Tony), then made a soup with its bones to warm up a bit and to everyone's complete shock, Froese and Tony chewed the roasted bones like crackers.
Choji tried to imitate them, but almost knocked his teeth out.
-I feel the power of youth within me burning like never before! Lee shouted as he started doing push-ups out of nowhere.
-In fact, I feel that my physical strength has grown a little," nodded Tsunade as she clenched her fist.
Even the weakest of them all, Shikamaru, felt his muscles improve by a margin and watched as his arms gained some bulk.
[Congratulations on your first victory in the Gourmet Battle Colosseum!]
[Special Reward: Knocking Skill.]
[Description: An extremely precise impact on the target's nerves that renders him immobile while keeping him alive to preserve his coolness].