Shokugeki no Soma – 16

How do you like them apples?

Do you like shokugekis, Soma, and blog posts about Shokugeki no Soma? Then you are in the right place!

Last week was a bit boring and I’m not even sure that I was conscious for some of it. I could have been on another plane of existence and not have missed much. Thankfully, I am willing to forgive and forget rather easily, so I was on good terms with the show again after this week’s episode. Shokugekis always put me in the mood, you know? And even though it was quite obvious who would be the champion of this one-sided fight between a lion and a mouse, it was still fun.

My one complaint is something the series has always been guilty of, but hasn’t been annoying enough to mention until now. That complaint is the ratio of cooking time to judging time. There is a lot screentime devoted to oo-ing and aww-ing over the food instead of showing actual cooking. Usually we get a little montage of the chefs rummaging through the pantries, some highspeed onion chopping (it’s always onions), and some super close-up shots of oil or broth. It’s sparse, but passable. Plus, on some occasions, such as the egg challenge, we actually see a decent chunk of the cooking process. So we’re not entirely deprived of nice cooking segments. However, I feel there could be more time allocated to the process of making the dish and that this would improve the show.

So why bring it up now? Because it finally became an issue worth noting this week for me. I understand this is supposed to be less of a competitive battle and more of a way to show the stark difference in skill between Soma and his dad. That’s why the judging was so long and incredibly detailed – to show that as godly as Soma is, there’s still a huge (490 loss) gap between him and his father. However, without seeing the process behind those results, it feels a little…empty.

Soma’s dad used all these different techniques for different components of his dish and we never saw all the labour he put into it. I want to see him flipping stuff on his grill, then turning around to check on his stock before he checks on the deep-fried root vegetables. That’s an intense combination of techniques that you have to see in action to really appreciate the effort that went into it! Compare that to Soma who basically just stirred a pot of arborio rice with apple juice in it until it was done. It even sounds childish, like a kid dropped a juice box into their food, gave an apathetic shrug, and decided to eat it anyways. It would make a lot of sense to show all the additional work Soma’s dad put into his dish to explain why he prevailed so easily over Soma. It wasn’t just knowledge and experience – his technique and care for the ingredients is also worlds above Soma.

Now if things went my way that would have been a two-episode affair with one episode of cooking and one of judging, but I’m okay with that. I actually really love the in-depth judging! I just want more cooking alongside that. I especially liked this week’s judging because the judges weren’t random people or new characters, but some of my favourite characters. I learned a lot from Megumi’s judging about her habits, keen palate, and almost dog-like sense of smell. So on top of making me drool like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I also learned a lot about both the judges and the chefs from their reactions. I’m always down for whacky metaphors thrown in for good measure as well.

Something that personally made me really see the difference between Soma and his dad was the difficulty of their dishes. Soma brought out his apple risotto and I immediately exclaimed “I could make that!” and planned to copy his dish. I make a mean risotto, let me tell you. However, his father’s dish sounded so complex I immediately gave up on ever even attempting to try and make it. He put yuzu threads into the noodles? HE MADE NOODLES FROM SCRATCH THEN? He made his own broth? He prepared all the toppings separately? No, I simply do not have the time for that…And that just shows the difference. If a scrub like me can potentially mimic Soma’s dish, it’s not so difficult, now, is it? Not that difficult dishes are inherently tastier than simple ones, but it’s just another factor that made me really understand the divide between son and father.

Anyways, here’s an apple-sotto.

I used tempeh instead of bacon because my mom can’t eat bacon…

How could bacon ever lose???

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.