//------------------------------// // Dish 02: Eggs // Story: Food Wars! The Advent of Sunset Shimmer! // by ratedoni //------------------------------// Just watching the face of this so called Erina was worth all the tribulations Sunset had to go through in her travel from one continent to another. The photo she took from her blonde double would probably be making the rounds around Canterlot in several hours once the girls back in Canterlot woke up. It was clear that the reaction from Erina came from seeing Sunset so nonchalantly walk up and say ‘I will take the exam’ was not something she was used to and it was perfect for Sunset who had the advantage so far. Taking a look at the other guy Sunset knew that he was as relaxed as Sunset with the way he was practically ignoring Erina. The way he put his hand over her shoulder and acted as if they were childhood friends almost made her roll around the kitchen in laughter. “She was at the top of her class in the junior high division and the youngest member of the Totsuki Elite Ten Council, the highest decision-making body in the academy’s history. She is Erina-sama!” the shoulder length girl said with clear signs of fangirl to the extreme. “So that means that she is incapable of lying when it comes to judging right? I mean, there is no way she could give a bad judgment on a dish due to personal reason like, for example, her stung pride?” Sunset said looking directly at Erina with what she knew was the most terrorizing glare in her repertoire. If you asked any of the other three people in the room what they saw they would tell you that for a moment there was a dark aura around the redhead that even made Erina take a step back in shock. Soma for his part was awed by the presence of the redheaded girl and the way she was pushing back Erina. He then threw the knife he was checking into the air and caught it back making Sunset be worried about that kind of recklessness. “So we only have to make you say that it tastes good right? Then is no problem” “If you want her to say that then you better start cooking already” Sunset almost slapped the boy on the back of the head so he would stop his displays. For her part, Erina checked both Soma and Sunset’s information; she scoffed at Soma’s data of working in a family restaurant but was clearly shocked at what Sunset’s info was. It just made her even madder, to think that both teenagers, this two second rated chefs didn’t understand her noble pedigree; it was insulting. What she didn’t understand was that she had already fallen on Sunset’s trap, all the time she spend looking down at both she was simply walking on the palm of the redheaded girl. Sunset observed how Soma began his work taking the eggs, rice and chicken. He then began to cook the chicken but it seemed that he was simply simmering it while he put attention to the rice and scrambled eggs, it was truly a mystery what he was doing but then, that was the great thing about cooking. While he was preparing everything she made sure that what she had baking would be ready at the correct time and then put a pot in the stove before letting the water inside it heat up. She wanted the water at the correct temperature, just before it started to boil; she just needed the beginning of bubbling to know when it was ready. For her part Erina kept watching both cooks not knowing what were they making which infuriated her. She was one of the most important people in the culinary world and she was being ignored. “Yukihira Soma, what are you making?” Erina asked to the boy while this one simply had a teasing look on his face. “You still can’t tell at this stage?” and just as he had said that Sunset’s hand of justice hit in the forehead shutting him up. “Don’t antagonize the judge, it may be funny but your acceptance is in play you idiot” the redheaded double of Erina said making Soma rub his forehead who was by now completely red from the hit. “I don’t care what kind of antics or tricks you two are doing; the only thing I care is if you are doing a dish that is suitable for my palate” “On second thought, keep on doing it, she deserves it” Sunset said going back to her station, taking out a plastic wrap roll. The girl then took a bowl and putting plastic wrap on top of them began to crack the eggs and put it on the bowl after placing a few drops of oil. “What I’m making is the eight item on Yukihira Diner’s Secret Menu” He boy said with aplomb and Sunset was sure that he was doing that on purpose just to get a reaction from Erina. “Secret menu? And what kind of complicated dish would that be?” “Furikake Gohan” he said in such a voice that made Erina practically deflate at his words. “What’s Furikake?” a curious Sunset said before Erina could complain. “It is a seasoning that is sprinkled in food. It is made from dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, seaweed, salt, sugar and others things but those depend upon the manufacturer” Soma told her quite happy to talk about with someone that was also interested in the kitchen. Meanwhile Erina simply turned around and began to walk away. “I knew you were all a waste of time, all this time you were nothing but bottom-feeding cooks” Erina said completely enraged by the antics of those two, they were never going to be accepted into the Academy. “So that means you are nothing more than a fraud and knows nothing about food?” the mocking voice of Sunset made the blonde stop on her tracks. “What did you said?” “I said that you are nothing more than a fraud, a liar, you know nothing about food or kitchens” Sunset said egging her blonde double with her teasing grin in place. “How dare you say something like that about Erina-sama!?” Hisako all but screamed feeling completely enraged by the other girl’s accusations. “Because I’m capable of knowing how worthless she is without even testing if it is true or not… isn’t that your logic Erina?” Sunset all but challenged the blonde girl making Erina feel even more enraged knowing that the other girl was all but taunting her. The sad part was that she was playing right into Sunset’s hands. “I’m not sure what Sunset is talking about but, what I’m making is more than just Furikake Gohan, this is my Transforming Furikake Gohan!” Soma said not paying attention to the sparks flying between the two girls. This declaration made both girls return to their places with Sunset working on finishing her dish. Without any of them realizing it, there was someone else standing outside of the room. While Soma continued to do his own rice Sunset took a tall container from her bag much to the surprise of Erina before the redhead sprinkled the condiment inside the flash on the eggs on the plastic wrap before tying them up and putting them on the hot water. ‘So she is poaching the eggs, but what was that condiment she put on them? Was it chilly? I was too far away to see or smell it’ Just as Soma put the bowl of white rice on the table the oven signaled that what Sunset was baking was finally done. She transferred the tray inside the oven to the counter, but most of Sunset’s attention was placed upon what Soma had on his hand. Those were bits of scrambled eggs but there was something else inside, cubes of some kind. Watching him pour the content of the bowl into the rice she then understood what he was doing with the chicken. Watching Erina pout and act like a spoiled brat after Soma made fun of her ‘just taking one bit’ phrase when it was clear she wanted to clean the bowl was enough to make her chuckle but she had things to finish. “You used Aspic” Sunset simply said before Erina could finish her second bite surprising the other three teenagers in the room “that’s the reason why you were simmering chicken” “That’s right! I simmered chicken wingtips with bonito stock, sake and light soy sauce. Then I finely chopped the aspic when it cooled off” Soma said with a certain degree of pride on his voice. Sunset knew that what he had done was a source of pride; it was a clever idea and indeed transformed the dish into something new. Just watching Erina try to contain her own desires to gush over the dish due to her pride was very entertaining, but they needed something to truly knock her out “Do you understand now? Our menu is basic to the extreme, but we use our own creativity to evolve the dish” “And besides, this is not yet over” Sunset said placing her own dish on the table much to the surprise of the others. Right in front of them there was a plate with four buns carefully placed. “Those are… Butter Rolls?” Erina commented still reeling from the flavor that Soma had presented her with, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to contain herself if it tasted as good as the Furikake Gohan. “That’s right, but there is something special inside of them, so why don’t you all try it too?” she said pointing to Hisako and Soma who then took one of the four butter rolls. They were all surprised by how fluffy the buns were. They were firm but had so much bounciness that left them amazed. And then they each took a bite and a new world was opened. Erina opened her eyes and instead of being in the room she was now looking at a beautiful Hindu temple, the sun shining brightly upon the world as she took in the peace and quiet of the place. An umbrella over her and the smell of spices was her whole world. Then they all blinked looking around them and at the kitchen, none of them knowing if what they had seen was real or not but they all felt the flavor and the spices. “You put a poached egg inside the butter roll” Hisako commented still feeling the smooth flavor of the roll alongside the poached egg and the way the yolk exploded on her mouth as soon as she bit upon the bun. “Is not just that, there was so much flavor on that poached egg, it was a combination of spices that can only mean one thing. You used Garam Masala on the dish” Erina said trying not to shove the butter roll on her mouth just to go back to that peaceful place, she didn’t want to give Sunset the satisfaction. “That’s right, I used Garam Masala on the poached eggs, that’s why I put them on plastic wrap, that way the spices could be absorbed by the egg as it was boiled” “What is Garam Masala?” Soma may be a true cook when it came to Japanese food and its intricacies but spices like that were a little bit of a mystery for him yet. “Just like Furikake is a Japanese condiment, Garam Masala is an Indian condiment” Sunset said presenting the container she had used before “it uses black and white peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, bay leaf and cumin. That’s the traditional Garam, but I also put star anise and chili pepper on the mix” Sunset said listing the amount of spices present much to the surprise of Soma who was clearly enjoying the opportunity to learn. “If it has so many spices why then it doesn’t feel hot?” Hisako said still enjoying the way the spices made her body tingle. “She used coconut milk on the butter rolls” Erina said still in shock from the combination of flavors and the way they made her mind and body go to heaven, both in the sky and in Earth. “Exactly; coconut milk is used a lot in Indian food and it also took the edge from the spices leaving the flavor be concentrated in the yolk and go through your whole body” “Was this your own recipe?” Soma said biting on the butter roll. “Nope, the idea came from another recipe. A Mumbai Street Food called Disco Fry Egg; I call this Butter Disco Egg… by the way, you can get in here, I made an extra roll for you” Sunset said as a mountain of a man walked into the kitchen. “Grandfather?” Erina said going from shock to shock. “How did you know I was here?” “I spend years eavesdropping on people, it wasn’t that hard” Sunset said as Senzaemon took a pair of chopsticks and took a taste from the Transforming Furikake Gohan. He then immediately took half of his yukata leaving Erina in shock. “Grandfather… he... took off part of his yukata” “Is that normal?” Soma asked a still smirking Sunset. “For what I know that’s his way of judging, is a strange habit of the family” Sunset said not quite sure of why those habits appeared on the whole family. But then Senzaemon took the last remaining roll and popped it on his mouth taking off the top of his yukata with an enormous laughter. “Well, this generation looks even brighter now. Congratulations Yukihira Soma, I accept you into my Academy” he said making Erina feel close to fainting at the news. But at least there were some good news. “Well, I guess it is a shame for you Sunset” she said trying to mock the other girl but she only had the smirk on her face before it transformed into a full on grin. “What are you talking about? I was already accepted into the school. I just took your little test because I was bored” she said before Erina looked at her grandfather as if questioning him. “She is right Erina, she is a transfer student that I personally accepted a month ago” Senzaemon said still enjoying the food in front of him while both Erina and Hisako stood rooted in place in shock at those news. “Now, let me re-introduce myself. I am Sunset Shimmer, I started to cook five months ago” she said shocking the three other teenagers in the room “but apparently your grandfather gave me another name, ‘The Devil’s Palate’”