Chapter 68 - 28: Tasting a Hundred Flavors, Requirements to Become a Gourmet

Chapter 68: Chapter 28: Tasting a Hundred Flavors, Requirements to Become a Gourmet

What he truly valued in taking on this profession were those two Professional Passives.

[Taste Hundred Flavors: For anything that enters the mouth, whether it is the five basic flavors of sweet, salty, umami, sour, and bitter, or the subtle flavor differences brought about by the natural taste of ingredients and seasoning ratios, you can accurately distinguish them. Through tasting with the tip of the tongue, you can precisely detect the freshness, ripeness, and spoilage of ingredients, while also identifying any toxins or anomalies mixed into them.]

[Smell Thousand Fragrances: You can accurately capture the scent of ingredients and spices. Even if hundreds of aromas are mixed together, you can clearly distinguish the source, characteristics, concentration, and direction of each scent.]

The path of culinary arts emphasized having perfect color, aroma, and taste, with aroma and taste being the core. The two passives, Taste Hundred Flavors and Smell Thousand Fragrances, were like innate cheat codes. They allowed Jiang Xuan to accurately predict the ingredient combinations and the final flavor after cooking simply by sniffing the natural scent of the ingredients or taking a small bite.

Relying on these two abilities, he could even preemptively avoid the risks of clashing ingredients, unbalanced seasoning, and discordant textures. This reduced the trial-and-error costs for a culinary novice to nearly Zero.

"With this ability, I could become a legendary Chef anytime I wanted," Jiang Xuan chuckled to himself.

Unfortunately, he had taken on the Kitchen Apprentice profession not to become a Chef, but simply to "eat."

Thus, the moment he completed his class induction, Jiang Xuan opened his professional panel and looked at the class advancement branches for the Kitchen Apprentice. His eyes immediately locked onto the requirements for becoming a Gourmet.

Upon closer inspection, Jiang Xuan realized that, much like the Wandering Daoist advancement for a Daoist Acolyte, the Gourmet was an absolute anomaly among culinary class advancements.

An orthodox culinary advancement required him to temper the three basic skills of Knife Skills, Fire Control, and seasoning one by one, raising his Culinary Skill Realm to the Third Realm・Mastery of Minor Success. He also needed to master the cooking methods for a hundred ingredients, and all one hundred dishes had to reach the Mastery Realm before he could unlock the Kitchen Apprentice’s Tier Two advancement—Master Chef.

Some special advancement paths, such as the Heart Healing Food Doctor, required him to comprehend Heart Thoughts like happiness and protection. During the cooking process, he would have to infuse his intentions into the meals to create Spirit Nourishment capable of soothing the Divine Soul and healing emotional wounds.

"The steps are tedious, but perfectly reasonable. Without undergoing such refinement, one truly cannot become a qualified Master Chef." Jiang Xuan understood clearly, then smiled. "Fortunately, I don’t have to take this path."

Among the many advancement paths for the Kitchen Apprentice, there were two entirely unorthodox branches.

One was the Gourmet Hunter. The core philosophy of this path was that the limit of a dish never depended on craftsmanship, but entirely on the rarity of the ingredients. "Top-tier ingredients require no cooking to be the supreme flavors of the world." This sentence was the core guiding principle of the Gourmet Hunter.

However, most rare and precious ingredients in the Celestial Vault Immortal Realm were guarded by powerful Exotic Beasts. Many top-tier ingredients were even the Flesh Body of these powerful Exotic Beasts themselves. To advance their culinary path, Chefs who took this route would frantically temper their own Flesh Body and martial arts. Once they had sufficient strength, they would delve deep into dangerous lands to hunt down Exotic Beasts and seize top-tier ingredients.

"...This path is a bit wild."

If he could only take on one or two professions, Jiang Xuan would absolutely choose this path. Unfortunately, there were many professions he could pursue. This meant that when changing professions, Jiang Xuan did not seek to be a jack-of-all-trades, but instead sought extreme specialization.

"By combining a hundred professions, each specialized to the extreme, I will naturally become an omnipotent person."

And this time, he was going to take the act of "eating" to the extreme.

Precisely because the core philosophy of the Gourmet was "tasting" rather than "making," this path did not require him to improve his Knife Skills or Fire Control at all. He could even completely ignore his Culinary Skill Realm.

[Gourmet Advancement Requirements

1: Taste all the Eight Mountain Treasures and Eight Seafood Treasures. Every item consumed must reach the Rare Grade, thereby mastering the supreme flavors of the mountains and seas;

2: Taste all Rare Grade meals centered around the seasonal grains of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, thereby mastering the principles of seasonal nourishment;

3: Taste all Rare Grade meals representing the origin flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, thereby mastering the way of harmonizing the five flavors;

4: Taste meals prepared using every culinary technique (boiling, stewing, steaming, pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, roasting, braising, baking, simmering, marinating, and smoking). At least three items must reach the Rare Grade, thereby mastering the myriad methods of culinary arts;

5: Sample nine renowned waters of the world. At least three items must reach the Rare Grade, thereby mastering the concept that water is the vanguard of food;

6: Recognize thirteen cooking spices. At least three items must reach the Rare Grade, thereby mastering the marvel of aromas drawing out a hundred flavors;

7: Savor eighteen exquisite wines of the world. At least three items must reach the Rare Grade, thereby mastering the joy of pairing wine with food;

8: Seek out five Rare and precious grain seeds of the world and taste their natural flavors, thereby mastering the fundamental nourishment of the five grains;

9: Taste one Gourmet Level meal.]

"..."

After reading this long string of requirements, Jiang Xuan fell completely silent. It took him quite a while before he finally uttered a single sentence: "As expected of a Gourmet, I truly have to eat all the delicacies in the world to successfully take on this profession."

The only thing that made Jiang Xuan sigh in relief was that he was trying to become a Gourmet, not a competitive eater. For the various meals, he only needed to take a small bite and understand their flavors; there was no need to eat everything entirely.

And this gave Jiang Xuan the possibility of completing it quickly.