Shokugeki

“	There are three things you need in order to challenge someone. First off, you need authorized officials to declare the challenge valid. Second, an odd number of judges, and third, the agreement of both parties ends to the conditions to the challenge. Only then will things start to come together.	”
—Satoshi Isshiki to Soma, explaining what a Shokugeki is

A Shokugeki (食戟 Shokugeki), also known as a Food War, is an official cooking duel held between students of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. It is a longstanding tradition that allows students to settle debates and arguments through a formal duel of their culinary prowess.

Overview[]

A Shokugeki can be initiated by any Tōtsuki student, regardless of what grade they are in. In most cases, a Shokugeki is started to either further a student's personal project in Tōtsuki, or to overturn a judgment by the school, such as a student's expulsion or the disbanding of a club.

A Shokugeki is battled between two parties; while the duel is normally one vs. one, there is an alternate type of duel known as a Group Shokugeki, where the culinary battle is fought by more than just one chef on each side. In that case, the number of chefs participating in each party does not have to be equal, additionally, one side can complete with only one solo chef while the other side has a number of culinary combatants.

There is also a special type of Shokugeki, known as a Régiment de Cuisine. While a normal Shokugeki only consists of only one round, a Régiment de Cuisine consists of multiple rounds. Other than that, the rules and setup are roughly the same as a regular Shokugeki.

Each side must wager something over the cooking duel should they lose the challenge. Both sides must agree that both proposed compensations of the duel are of equal significance with each other. For example, if any student were to challenge an Elite Ten Council member for their chair and lose, even the challenger's expulsion would not be sufficient to equate to the value of an Elite Ten seat.

Azami Nakiri's reformation and the conception of Central made the Shokugeki temporarily invalid, as the judging was rigged in favor of Central. However, the rigged system was shut down after the Yukihira Vs. Eizan Shokugeki, and fair judging was promised.

Authorization[]

Though a Shokugeki can be initiated by anyone in the school, there are three conditions that must be fulfilled in order to issue a Shokugeki:

An authorized individual, such as a member of Tōtsuki's staff, a member of the Elite Ten Council, or the school principal, must validate the Shokugeki.
An odd number of individuals need to be recruited to be judges. An odd number so as to prevent a Shokugeki from ending in a tie as much as possible.
- After the Yukihira Vs. Eizan Shokugeki, a special clause was made for the selection of judges thanks to Satoshi Isshiki. All judges picked for the Shokugeki must be from a neutral party to promote fairness in the judgement of dishes.
Both sides competing in the Shokugeki must mutually agree to have the Shokugeki and to the conditions of the wager that the Shokugeki is being held over. If one side is unwilling to participate, the challenge is not feasible.

Preparation[]

When issuing a challenge, both competiing parties will establish a date for the match, and, in some cases, establish a culinary theme (examples include: French cuisine, fruit, hamburgers, a new dish that has never been seen before, etc.). A request is then sent to the Shokugeki Board for approval.

Once authorized, the period of time between the issueing of the challenge and the actual Shokugeki, if any, may be used to prepare for the cooking duel. On the day of the challenge, both contestants will cook at the same time for a fixed amount of time.

Both parties must provide their own ingredients and appliances they need to cook their dish. After both sides have finished their dish, they will present their Shokugeki dish to the judges.

Judging[]

Once a chef has completed their dish, they give a serving to each of the judges to taste. There are several winning factors for the dish, but the four core traits that the judges look for in a dish are aroma, taste, presentation, and impact.

After tasting both dishes, the judges will choose which dish they felt was better. Whoever receives the most votes from the judges will win the match. Once all votes have been tallied and a clear victor is declared, the winner will have all conditions of their victory immediately fulfilled and the result cannot be revoked.

Despite the fact that a Shokugeki has an odd number of judges to ensure that a match does not end in a tie, a judge does not have to choose a clear winner if they feel that both parties did equally well in the match, meaning that a duel can be ruled a tie if they are unable to choose a victor. If such a case happens, another Shokugeki will be set up at a later date.

The system is by no means perfect, as bias and bribes have been used in a Shokugeki before. This problem was amended by Elite Ten Council member, Satoshi Isshiki, who set a rule that all Shokugeki judges must be selected from an impartial third party.

Participants[]

Main article: List of Shokugeki Participants

Dishes[]

Main article: List of Shokugeki Recipes

Shokugeki Battles[]

Official Shokugeki[]

Culinary Theme	Participants	Result
Unknown		Eishi Tsukasa Wins
Unknown		Hisako Arato Wins
Unknown		Alice Nakiri Wins
Seafood		Erina Nakiri Wins
Meat Donburi		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Dessert		Subaru Mimasaka Wins
Western Cuisine		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Ikumi Mito Wins
Beltfish		Etsuya Eizan Wins
Satsuma Jidori		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Salmon		Ryō Kurokiba Wins
Unknown		Megumi Tadokoro Wins
Unknown		Ikumi Mito Wins
Soba		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Eel		Satoshi Isshiki Wins
Unknown		Tōsuke Megishima Wins
Green Tea		Eishi Tsukasa Wins
Chili Peppers		Rindō Kobayashi Wins
Tuna		Sōmei Saitō Wins
Butter		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Beef		Takumi Aldini Wins
Apple		Momo Akanegakubo Wins
Muscovado Sugar		Erina Nakiri Wins
Wild Rabbit		Eishi Tsukasa Wins
Spear Squid		Rindō Kobayashi Wins
Unknown		Terunori Kuga Wins
Various		17 victories for Akira Hayama 16 victories for Ryō Kurokiba
Various		20 victories for Alice Nakiri 19 victories for Ryō Kurokiba 1 draw
Unknown		Satoshi Isshiki Wins (Anime Only)
Unknown		Various
Unknown		5 victories for both
Unknown		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Erina Nakiri Wins

Team Battle Shokugeki[]

Culinary Theme	Participants	Result
True Gourmet		Sōma Yukihira & Erina Nakiri Win

Unofficial Shokugeki[]

Culinary Theme	Participants	Result
Unknown		Kojirō Shinomiya Wins
Vegetable		Draw

Official Shokugeki (One Shot)[]

Culinary Theme	Participants	Result
Egg		Sōma Yukihira Wins

Misc. Cooking Duel[]

Culinary Theme	Participants	Result
Miscellaneous		101 victories for Jōichirō Saiba 20 victories for Gin Dōjima
Miscellaneous		490 victories for Jōichirō Yukihira
Spring		Draw
Japanese Cuisine		Draw
Breakfast		Jōichirō Yukihira Wins
Bento		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Ramen		Ryō Kurokiba Wins
Hamburger		Akira Hayama Wins
Western cuisine		Draw
Pacific Saury		Akira Hayama Wins
French Venison		Eishi Tsukasa Wins
Bear Meat		Sōma Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Momo Akanegakubo Wins
Unknown		Sōmei Saitō Wins
Unknown		Eishi Tsukasa Wins
Unknown		Jōichirō Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Tōsuke Megishima Wins
Unknown		Asahi Saiba Wins
Unknown		Asahi Saiba Wins
Unknown		Asahi Saiba Wins
Cake		Soma Yukihira Wins
Young Chicken Meat		Asahi Saiba Wins
Teamwork Cooking		Takumi Aldini & Soma Yukihira Wins
Unknown		Erina Nakiri Wins
Unknown		Erina Nakiri Wins
Meals in a Flash		Megumi Tadokoro Wins
Bargain Meat		Asahi Saiba Wins
Fusion of 5 Dishes		Soma Yukihira Wins
A Dish Never Before Seen on Earth		Erina Nakiri Wins