"Judges for my final dish, I give you Spiced Pastéis de Nata, a traditional egg custard with a puff pastry crust, infused with a customary blend of spices and dark rum."
Each plate set before the judges featured three tarts, their yellow tops beautifully blistered by the oven's high heat, while the puff pastry crusts remained a perfect golden color, with countless folds and layers.
"Usually, my drink of choice is whiskey, but I'm more than happy to make an exception," Mayor West commented as he picked up one of the tarts and took a bite. The mayor's eyebrows rose, and after a couple of chews, he swallowed, "Well, I can certainly taste the rum and spices."
"Fuck yeah, you can," Lewis chimed in with a booming laugh, his mouth still full of custard. "Now this is my kind of dessert."
"Hmhp!" Wiggum let out a grunt as he shoved an entire tart into his mouth, "The rum is strong, but then you taste spices and sugar, and it mellows everything out!"
Colette had a small smile as she stepped back from the table, "I'm glad you're all enjoying them."
The judges ate their final two pastries slowly, which was understandable given how rich the dessert was, 'I wonder what spices she used? Cinnamon, almost certainly, maybe some clove, cardamon, and allspice wouldn't be out of place either thought getting them to play nicely and not overpower the delicate flavor of the custard.'
I was so lost in my analysis that I didn't even notice when Colette stepped away for a second, only to reappear and tap my arm to get my attention.
"Huh?" I blinked and looked over to find Colette holding out another plate of egg custards while purposefully not looking at me, "You said that you haven't had anything since breakfast."
"Oh, thank you," I took the offered plate, still a bit stunned by Colette's sudden generosity, but not too stunned to take a bite. The satisfying crunch of the flaky pastry came first, with a slight hint of cinnamon and the sharp notes of rum, followed by the smooth, rich, and sweet custard and the other spices.
"Cinnamon, clove, allspice…and one more that I can't place," I listed out loud after I swallowed my first bite.
"A very small amount of sage," Colette supplied helpfully, catching me off guard since the spice was normally reserved solely for savory dishes with more robust flavor profiles.
"Really? How did you incorporate all the spices and rum into the dish I don't see any ground up in the custard?"
"I steeped the milk in the whole spice mix and washed the puff pastry butter with the rum," Colette explained, "It was a risk, normally I would have left them both sit for several days to deepen the flavors, but I think this is still an acceptable result."
"More than acceptable, it's fucking amazing." I muttered as I ate another pastry, "I hate to say it, but I think you're going to win this one."
Colette glanced at me with suspicion, "I do not understand you. Do you want to win or not? I thought you Americans were supposed to be prideful and ignorant people who can't stand the thought of losing."
"I won't deny that description matches a fair share of the people in this country," I replied with a shrug before continuing, "But some of us also know that losing isn't always a bad thing. It shows you where you have room to grow and improve. It also doesn't hurt when you know going into it that you're hopelessly outmatched."
"So you agreed to compete against me even though you believed there was no chance for you to win. Why?"
"Isn't it obvious, because I enjoy cooking?" I said with a grin before glancing over at the judges' table, "Looks like it's my turn, wish me luck."
"I'm gonna be honest, son, you have a tough act to follow." Mayor West drawled as I set down a slice of cheesecake in front of each judge.
"I know it, my competition gave me a sample, and I can say without shame that I don't know if I'm gonna come out on top for this one," I answered despite my determined grin, "But I do think this is some of my best work."
"Is that jam…in the cheesecake?" Wiggum asked, swallowing hard in the middle of his sentence as his hand slowly drifted towards his fork while his eyes never left the slice of cake.
"Yes, this is my wild berry cheesecake with lemon buttercream frosting and candied lemon peels. I had to improvise this recipe after the cake cracked in the oven, but I'm confident the three of you will be more than pleased with the outcome."
"Well, I didn't hear you mention any alcohol in you ingrident list, so I guess we'll just have to see about that," Lewis muttered as he picked up his fork and stabbed it into the cake.
He made a show of taking a big bite only to slow down after the first chew, "Oh…oh that's good."
'Exactly what I said.'
Stepping away from the judges' table, I had a satisfied grin on my face as I heard the content moans and grunts.
"They seem happy with your dessert, still think you're going to lose," Colette asked with a small smirk.
"I do feel a bit more confident now that you mention it. Also, there are a couple of slices left. I could go and grab you one."
Colette hesitated for a moment before giving a small dip of her head, "I think I would like that."
I grinned, "You got it, one slice of berry cheesecake coming up."
Less than a minute later, I handed Colette her own slice of cheesecake and a fork, "So you filled up the cracks with frosting and then covered them with the candied lemon... interesting."
I watched Colette's face as she took a bite, "So what do you think?"
"You should have added a third component," Colette replied in an almost clinical tone as she stared at the cake as if it were withholding sensitive information from her, "The berry and lemon pair well, but something like lavender, or if you switched the lemons for bergamot, would have completed this dish."
"Lavender, huh? I've never heard of that being used in anything besides aroma therapy." I muttered as I tried to imagine what the added flavor would taste like.
"It's not realistic to expect that you would have it on you, though, should you consider selling this at your resturant it would make for a much more memorable dish." Colette advised as she took another bite of the cake, "Though this cheesecake is excellent, I think overcooking it created quite an interesting texture, which pairs well with the candied lemon peels."
"Wait, let me get a bite," I said as I held up my own fork and slowly encroached on Colette's slice of cake, "I haven't tasted it for myself yet."
Colette's eyes widened as she stared at me in disbelief, "You served food without knowing what it tasted like?"
"I mean, I knew what all the individual ingredients tasted like, and it wasn't like the cheesecake would be inedible," I said, making up excuses for my hasty improvisation
"Sloppy," Colette tisked with her tongue.
"Noted, I'll try and avoid it the next time I get to the final round of a cooking competition," I said humorously, though Colette's face remained depanned as she stared at me sternly.
Luckily, before she could chastise me further, there was a loud, intentional cough from the judges' table, and we both looked over to find the three men staring at us expectantly.
"We've made our final decision."
Immediately, Colette and I turned to face the judges' table as Mayor West began to speak, "To begin, we would like to say that this was the hardest round to judge. It was evident that both dishes were inspired and made with the utmost care and attention to detail. I think I speak for my two fellow judges that this is some, if not the best, food we have ever had the pleasure of tasting. However, with that being said, there can be only one winner."
Mayor West then turned to look pointedly at me, "Ramon, I'm proud that you decided to bring your culinary talents to our town. Your food is of excellent quality with traditional flavors that pair together effortlessly, and your dessert showed your ability to reinvent what's tried and true into new, unique dishes."
I dipped my head in thanks as Mayor West finished praising me and turned to Colette, "Ma'ma, I'm not familiar with your background, but it is clear that you have found your calling. There is something transcendent about your food, an expertise refined through tireless work and dedication. You may not have won the first round, but you quickly adjusted your approach and figured out what we would appreciate. Your dessert was clear evidence of this, being both something new and approachable to our rather rudimentary palates. Which is why we're happy to declare you as the winner of the third round and overall victor of this cooking competition."