“ | 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
| |
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 |
Trivia[]
- The term Shokugeki is composed of kanji 食(shoku, lit. food, meal, or eclipse) and 戟 (geki, lit. Ji, an ancient Chinese polearm).