Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 433 - 345: Dark Cuisine Challenge—Which Smells Worse, Durian or Pig Intestine?

"It’s decided, it’s you!"

Lin Chen didn’t hesitate much and selected Chef Raphael with his mind.

In his eyes, countless small light spots gradually lit up within Raphael’s body, all the same size and color, indistinguishable from one another.

In the blink of an eye, a light spot broke away from the group and flew toward him, hovering quietly three inches in the air in front of him.

The light blue glow of the spot spread, revealing a pattern within.

A Western culinary knife.

[Ding, you have drawn Raphael’s Sword Skills]

Before he could react, a red exclamation mark suddenly appeared above.

[Detected that the target’s Sword Skills are close to your level, unable to replicate this ability, will automatically redraw]

"???"

Lin Chen was stunned.

Chef Raphael’s Sword Skills are about the same as mine?

Is it that my Sword Skills are too strong, or his are too weak?

One has only worked for five years, the other for more than twenty years.

No matter how he thought about it, something didn’t seem right.

Could it be that his Sword Skills proficiency skyrocketed while he was running a stall?

Wait, Sword Skills? Skyrocketed?

A flash of insight burst in his mind, and he suddenly realized what the problem was.

Those three bottles of Potion!

The three bottles of Potion greatly enhanced his physical fitness and sensory functions, allowing him to control his body with ease.

Many things he wasn’t confident in cutting before, he could now cut with his eyes closed. Isn’t this the most direct manifestation of improvement in Sword Skills?

"So that’s it. I wondered why at the beginning there was nothing in the system except for those three bottles of Potion. It turns out the body is the foundation, and Skills are the building. Without a good foundation, you can’t build a skyscraper on top."

As he thought about it, another light spot flew towards him.

This time it was a flame symbol.

[Ding, you have drawn Raphael’s Fire Control]

[Detected that the target’s Fire Control ability is lower than yours, unable to replicate this ability, will automatically redraw]

The flame light spot dimmed and floated to the side, standing alongside the previous Sword Skills.

Lin Chen’s mouth twitched, glancing at Raphael with a strange look.

This old guy’s Fire Control isn’t as strong as mine?

Aha?

Come to think of it, most Western cuisine is done using an oven, along with stewing, frying, and grilling. The only time a stove is used is for pan-frying.

Compared to the large firepower of a Chinese wok, Western cuisine indeed doesn’t have an advantage here.

A weakness is quite normal.

Next up.

[Ding... Meat Dissection... Failed]

[Ding... Plant Encyclopedia... Failed]

[Ding... Poultry Encyclopedia... Failed]

[Ding... Organ Processing... Failed]

[Ding... Fungi Encyclopedia... Failed]

...

Looking at the dense array of grey light spots floating before him.

Lin Chen was numb.

What is happening, when did I become this strong?

Draw one black, draw two black.

Could it be that in the end, it really becomes a targeted lottery?

Raphael was feeling uncomfortable with Lin Chen’s frequent glances, coupled with the smelly bomb at hand and the upcoming organ cooking challenge, he felt like he was going crazy.

"What are you looking at, what are you looking at? If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll jump!"

"Sigh..."

Lin Chen shook his head, reached out, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Chef, have you been slacking off lately?"

"Huh? What do you mean? I work the same as before in the kitchen and office every day."

"Got it."

Lin Chen silently nodded, secretly resolving never to become like him, sitting in the office checking documents and knocking on computers.

A chef needs to personally wield the knife. What’s the point of spending every day in the office?

If I remember correctly, it’s true that within the past year, there were few times that Chef Raphael personally cooked during meal times, mostly just overseeing the plating and dish output.

The only time he’d cook is when developing recipes.

From this perspective, it’s great that his abilities haven’t deteriorated.

[Ding, you have drawn Raphael’s Baking]

As another light spot drifted over, a bread pattern slowly appeared before his eyes.

In the next second, the blue light shone brightly, transforming into strands of light pouring into his body.

At this moment, countless baking recipes and various dessert-making techniques he had mastered before surfaced in his mind.

Some he was quite proficient with, some not so familiar, and even some he had learned but never touched again, or only seen demonstrations of, not personally tried, flashed by like a carousel.

He could clearly sense a continuous influx of information into his brain, and the memory of these baking desserts was becoming more profound, as if there was no need to recall the recipe, he could make them effortlessly.

Napoleon Mille-feuille, Opera Cake, Molecular Foie Gras, Fondant...

"Hey, wake up!"

"What are you thinking about, kid? We’re home!"

A familiar voice from Raphael pierced through the fleeting shadows before Lin Chen’s eyes.

Lin Chen snapped back to reality, only to realize they had unknowingly arrived at the slaughterhouse area.

"I was thinking about what delicious thing I should make for you to try."

He chuckled, flipped off the sightseeing car with a teasing grin on his lips.

"Pig brain and pig intestines are a must. Have you ever tried fallopian tubes? How about pig lungs? Pig balls?"

"...Shut up!"

Raphael slapped him on the head with a dark face, hooking his arm around Lin Chen’s neck and dragging him towards the slaughterhouse.

"If you make something unpalatable or impossible for me to swallow, you’re screwed! I’ll dock your pay!"

"Then I’ll resign~"

"...I’m just kidding, haha!"

Nagishiro Sho walked behind them, twitching at the corners of his mouth, seemingly holding back his amusement with some effort.

Lin Chen caught the little gesture out of the corner of his eye and tilted his head to ask, "By the way, I came across a video saying that some Sakura Izakaya in your place serve pig intestine sashimi. Has Mr. Nagishiro tried it?"

"Na-Nani?? Pig intestine sashimi?"

Nagishiro Sho never expected to be caught in the crossfire while quietly walking behind them, quickly waving his hands.

"Ya da ya da, that’s a terrible idea! It’ll kill you!"

"Pig intestines aren’t poisonous."

"You’ll be suffocated by the smell!!!"

"Just clean them properly, and it’s fine."

"I’d rather die, thank you!"

"John, why are you walking so fast?"

"I... I just remembered I have something urgent to do..."

Half an hour later.

The three of them huddled around a folding table before a food cart, covering their noses, faces pale as they watched Lin Chen, unfazed, expertly handling the nauseating pig intestines, making a few dry heaving sounds, wishing they could immediately flee this hellhole.

For Nagishiro Sho, it wasn’t too bad. After all, he had eaten plenty of pig intestines before going abroad, only usually not preparing them himself.

He hadn’t smelled this overpowering stink for years, and it felt like his nose was being numbed, unable to distinguish whether durian or intestines smelled worse.

Ten meters away, Dais, Elsa, Su, and Nicole were hiding far at the wooden house entrance, covering their noses, expressions full of disdain.

"Oh my god, it’s so smelly, how can it be so smelly!"

"I feel like pig dung isn’t as smelly as this. Why does the intestine smell so strong? Can this really be eaten?"

Su turned her head to look at Nicole beside her, whose gaze towards Lin Chen had changed, no longer full of curiosity as before.

What a fickle woman!

She even suspected that Lin Chen was intentionally bringing back these foul-smelling things to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Aside from them, only one person seemed to be surprisingly amused.

Lucas, though holding his nose, stood near the men, still holding up a camera to shoot.

"Michelin Chef’s Chinese Cuisine Challenge—The Stink Edition. Facing one of Great Xia’s most popular offal parts and one of its most beloved fruits, can they overcome the challenge? Stay tuned!"

"Everyone might not be familiar with the fruit durian, so let me give a quick intro: it’s known as the queen of fruits, with extremely rich nutritional value..."

Raphael suppressed his urge to rush over and punch him, forcing a slight smile and nodded towards the camera in greeting.

This damn professionalism!!!

"Lin, can’t you smell anything? How can you be so calm?"

"I can smell it. It’s just the smell of feces. If you can’t handle even this level, how can you be a chef?"

Raphael: "There isn’t necessarily any relation between the two, alright!"

"I remember that surströmming is much more pungent than this. Don’t people in Europe still treat it as a delicacy?"

"Correction! Not Europe, Northern Europe! I do not have that unusual taste!"

While they were arguing, a voice suddenly came from afar.

"Surströmming is quite tasty?"

"???"

"???"

"???"

All eyes simultaneously turned to Nicole, who shrank back, blinking her pretty eyes and weakly explained.

"But it needs to be eaten with other foods; eating it plain isn’t very good."

"See!"

Lin Chen picked up the plump, pink intestine: "If you don’t even think surströmming is smelly, how is this smelly? You’ll know how fragrant it is when you eat it later!"

"That’s... that’s different, surströmming is fermented; this is feces!"

"This is intestines! It’s just a container. It’s not like it produces the feces. Clean it and it’s delicious!"

"Oh? That kind of makes sense?"

"Nicole??"

"Did she really get convinced so easily?"

Dais covered her forehead, beginning to convince herself too.

"No way, I’m the front house manager, I must lead by example. As a member of the chef team, I have to taste all the chef’s dishes and know the cooking process by heart. If we ever really sell these foods, it could be useful."

Reciting it in her head a few times, she took a deep breath, stepped out of the wooden house, and approached the food cart.

Getting closer, the nauseating stench grew stronger.

Her forehead veins popped, and she clenched her tiny fists tightly, her throat rolling furiously.

Lin Chen looked at her in surprise, nodded, poured two spoonfuls of flour and some baking soda into the intestine, and turned it inside out.

The greasy fat interspersed with grey-brown unidentified substances and the intestinal wall was fully exposed to all their eyes.

"Ugh!!!"