The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 32 Dark Cuisine Attributes

"Speaking of which, our battle this time was quite thrilling."

Zhao Qian sat down under a big tree and said with a smile, "This is my first time to fight a one-star food spirit head-on."

"Ah?" Qin Lang's expression suddenly became interesting when he looked at Zhao Qian.

He had just seen Zhao Qian look confident, so he decided to attack first.

You're telling me now, is this your first time too?
As if she understood what Qin Lang meant, Zhao Qian tilted her head awkwardly. "I've encountered some Royal Spirit Chefs with one-star Food Spirits before. Their Food Spirits were much stronger than the one just now."

"If it weren't for the bitter taste of that food spirit just now, I wouldn't have dared to fight it head-on."

"What's that saying?" Qin Lang couldn't help but become curious. "Will food spirits with astringent taste attributes be weaker?"

"Almost." Zhao Qian nodded. "This has to start with the laws of the birth of attributes."

"A food spirit's attributes are divided into two types: elemental and flavor. The former is random and generally aligns with the attributes of the first combat skill awakened when the food spirit is born. The latter depends on the origin of the food."

"In traditional cuisine, the four flavors of sour, sweet, spicy, and umami account for a large proportion, depending on the emphasis of the cuisine."

Cao Dongdong, who hadn't yet mastered the spirit of food, listened attentively.

According to his plan, if he passed Song Hui's practitioner assessment, his first food spirit would most likely be born from the egg yolk pastry.

Egg yolk pastry, should it be considered sweet?

Qin Lang also nodded thoughtfully.

In other words, a food spirit born from spicy food is likely to have a spicy attribute, a sweet food spirit is likely to have a sweet attribute, a sour food spirit is likely to have a sour attribute, and a food spirit born from a lighter food spirit is likely to have a savory attribute...

"What about the saltiness?" he couldn't help but ask.

He always thought that the properties of Egg Treasure should be very common. After all, there is basically no cooking without salt.

Now it seems that this is not the case.

“Saltiness is quite unique. Although most foods contain salt, the presence of salt in the taste of food is very low.”

"By the time you can clearly taste the saltiness, you've definitely added too much salt."

"So as long as food has the four flavors of sour, sweet, spicy and umami, there will definitely be no saltiness."

“And most delicacies will have at least one.”

“Salty properties can only appear when the saltiness masks other flavors, or when there are no other flavors at all.”

"Since the former is more common, the salty, bitter, and astringent properties are collectively referred to as the dark cuisine attributes."

Having said that, Zhao Qian couldn't help but glance at Danbao.

Based on her understanding of Qin Lang's cooking skills, the probability of the former situation is not high, so it is very likely the latter situation.

Qin Lang was also in a dilemma when he heard this.

The origin of Danbao is egg fried rice, which has nothing to do with the four flavors of sour, sweet, spicy and fresh.

Perhaps because it is too simple, it has a rare salty attribute.

"Let's put the salty attribute aside for now." Zhao Qian smiled. "Anyway, the astringent attribute belongs to the dark cuisine attribute. For a food spirit with this attribute to appear, the origin cuisine must taste terrible."

"Its taste is very low?" Qin Lang grasped the key point in an instant.

"That's right." Zhao Qian nodded. "The taste of the Origin Delicacy will affect the taste value of the Food Spirit, and thus affect the strength of the individual."

"That food spirit has an astringent attribute, and its taste value is likely below 200." "Although the astringent attribute can suppress the three common attributes of fresh, sweet, and spicy, the egg treasure happens to have the rare attribute of salty, which can counter it."

"Plus, the opponent hasn't learned any combat skills on his own, so his attack range is limited."

"So, we can fight it."

After listening to Zhao Qian's more detailed analysis, Qin Lang and Dan Bao nodded suddenly. Both the man and the spirit had a clearer understanding of the battle between the spirit eaters.

Cao Dongdong, standing by, couldn't help but ask curiously, "But, since that guy was able to activate the First Star Vein, shouldn't he have at least received the approval of a Food Recommender? Why would he even make dark cuisine?"

Hearing this question, Zhao Qian smiled helplessly, "This is the difference between a criminal organization and a normal Royal Spirit Chef."

"Many Royal Spirit Chefs in criminal organizations are eager to achieve success and activate Star Veins through illegal means."

"Large criminal organizations like the Treasure Hunting Team, which operate throughout the Dongyun region, even have their own complete set of methods for activating star veins."

"Being recognized by the food recommender is a requirement of the Royal Spirit Chef Association. Activation through illegal means does not require this at all. There is no threshold at all."

"As for the birth of a food spirit, there are no culinary skills required either. All you need to do is activate the star veins and communicate with the spirit embryo during the cooking process."

"That's why the dark cuisine attribute appears."

"So that's how it is!" Cao Dongdong nodded suddenly.

Even Qin Lang seemed to have realized something, and suddenly had a deeper understanding of the strict threshold requirements of the Royal Spirit Chef Association for activating star veins.

As they were talking, a hurried figure quickly appeared.

It was Song Hui who heard the news that Hua Hua had been found.

"Thank you for your hard work." She nodded gratefully to the three of them. Without saying anything else, she rushed to the flowers and examined them carefully.

After confirming that the flowers were not damaged, Song Hui breathed a sigh of relief and then carefully transplanted them into the prepared pots.

After the transplanting was completed, she finally relaxed and looked at Qin Lang and the others. "I'm so grateful for you this time. If I couldn't find the flowers, I don't know what I'd do at tomorrow's flower expo."

"It's okay." Qin Lang smiled and shook his head. "Ms. Song Hui, let's help you send the flowers back to the daisy garden."

"Thank you for your help." Song Hui nodded and thought for a moment, "I should have some free time after sending the flowers back."

"If you want to take the food recommender assessment, you can."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang and Cao Dongdong's faces immediately showed joy.

As if worried about misunderstanding, Song Hui quickly added, "But let me be clear, I won't lower the assessment standards because of your help."

"Don't worry, Ms. Song Hui, I am confident that I can pass the assessment!" Cao Dongdong smiled, his face full of anticipation for the food recommender assessment.

After witnessing the battle between the Spirit Eaters today, he wanted to become a Spirit Chef as soon as possible.

Soon, the four of them successfully delivered the flowers to the daisy garden.

In the kitchen in the Daisy Garden specially prepared for the food recommender assessment, Cao Dongdong began to make egg yolk pastry in an orderly manner.

Outside the kitchen, Qin Lang and Zhao Qian were beside Song Hui.

The latter had not prepared anything in advance, but also planned to get a bite to eat.

As for the former...

While waiting, Qin Lang took out his hand-drawn map.

(End of this chapter)