The Great Cookie Spark
Everyday Together · Level A2
"What do you think of this batch, Ms. Honda?" asked Yui, holding her spatula so tight a small squeak escaped.
Ms. Honda picked up a cookie and sniffed it. At twenty-two, she had already opened six bakeries in the Kansai area. Famous TV programs wanted her to appear on them. Her opinion could make or break a new bakery.
"This is a new scent," Ms. Honda said.
"I tried a bit of cinnamon." Yui bobbed her head.
"Cinnamon's an interesting choice for the cookie," Ms. Honda said. "I like it." She took a bite. "It's one of my favourite spices." She chewed slowly, savouring the flavour. "Very delicious, Yui. Your cookies are always great. I'll have to give you full marks."
Yui sighed but gripped the spatula a little tighter. She heard a 'but' in Ms. Honda's voice.
"However, they are missing something," Ms. Honda said.
Yui grabbed the table, dropping the spatula on the floor. "I knew it. What are they missing?" she asked.
"It's hard to say." Ms. Honda scratched her chin. "They aren't too sweet, and the cinnamon works well. They don't break apart when you bite them. I don't like crumbly cookies." She took another bite. "You could sell these in any store and have a hit."
"I want them to be perfect," said Yui. "What can I do?"
Ms. Honda was silent. "I can't tell you that. It's up to you to find it. However, I can say one thing. They are lacking a spark that makes them come alive."
"Huh?" said Yui. "That doesn't make any sense."
"All art needs a spark." Ms. Honda made a popping motion with her fingers. "An inspiration to create. I found my spark when I created the apple pie that started my bakery. Think of your cookies as art. That means looking for inspiration. Try something new with the recipe and don't be afraid to experiment." She gave Yui a small smile.
"A spark?" Yui bit her lip. "I don't get it."
"You'll figure it out." Ms. Honda touched Yui's arm.
Ms. Honda went to the front of the class. "Attention, everyone. Thank you for today. I will post the results of your test soon," she said.
There was a loud sigh in the class.
"Don't be like that." Ms. Honda raised a fist. "Remember that every failure is just a new way to learn."
"Hai, Ms. Honda." People started cleaning up.
"One last thing before you go." Ms. Honda continued. "The annual Kansai baking finals are next week. It will be on TV, so please be ready. For those of you taking part in it, good luck. This is a great start for anyone hoping to open their own bakery." She smiled. "I will be one of the judges, along with three of the top bakers in the city."
Yui pulled out her phone. "I need you, Ka-chan," she typed. "Bring the comedy duo and come to my house this weekend." She put her phone in her pocket and cleaned up her station.
✦
"How many onigiri did you buy, Kaoru?" asked Takumi. He stood with Daichi outside an older-looking house. There was a tree growing inside a stone wall.
"Seven," said Kaoru.
"Why did you buy so many?" asked Daichi.
"The store near her house was sold out." Kaoru shook her head. "She wanted ten."
"I see. How stressed is Yui about this contest?" asked Daichi.
"What do you mean?" asked Takumi.
"When Yui is stressed, she inhales onigiri," said Daichi. "Do you remember what happened when she sent the wrong Line message to her boss?"
Takumi nodded. "Oh, yeah. I remember that."
"This is worse," said Kaoru. She rang the doorbell.
"This is my first time here." Takumi checked out the front. "She has a nice house."
"It's small but perfect for her and her mom," said Kaoru.
"Oh?" Takumi forgot how to speak for a second. "Is her father... dead?" he asked.
"No. Her mother divorced when Yui was in high school," Daichi said.
The door opened, allowing the scent of baked goods to escape. Yui stood there, her hair a mess, a smear of flour on her nose.
"Did you bring the onigiri, Ka-chan?" Yui asked.
Kaoru held up the bag.
"You're the best." Yui grabbed the bag. "I needed these. Come in. Mom's gone shopping today. She won't be back until late."
"Really?" Daichi took off his shoes. "I was looking forward to seeing Nori-chan." He put some slippers on the floor for Kaoru and Takumi. "I haven't seen her in a long time." He held up a small bag. "I even brought some strawberry daifuku for her."
"She'll love it." Yui pulled out an onigiri and devoured it in two bites.
Takumi rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't bring anything," he said. "I didn't realize I had to."
"Rat's rokay (That's okay)," said Yui, covering her mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Kaoru. "And take smaller bites."
"Sorry, Ka-chan. Come to the kitchen. I have some cookies for you to try." Yui led them through the house.
"The kitchen is very small, but it smells great." Takumi stuck his head over a pile of cookies and sniffed.
"Most Japanese houses are small," said Kaoru.
"Our house back in the States was so much bigger." Takumi twitched for a cookie. "We could even play volleyball in the backyard."
"The kitchen is big enough for baking," said Yui. "I need your help."
Daichi clapped his hands together. "That's right! Enough chit-chat. Kaoru told us you need cookie testers. Bring them on."
"Yes. I can't wait to try your cookies." Takumi licked his lips.
"Thanks, Dai-chan, Ta-kun," said Yui. She unwrapped another onigiri. "Did Ka-chan tell you why?"
"No. Only that you needed us," said Daichi. "As long as I get cookies, I'm always willing to lend a mouth."
"I entered a baking contest. My cookies made it to the final event. It's next week, but the judge already hates them." Yui ate this one in three bites.
"Really? He hates them?" asked Takumi. "I don't believe that."
"The judge is a she," said Yui. "Well, maybe she doesn't hate them, but she said they were missing a spark."
"What do you mean by spark?" asked Takumi. He looked over the cookies sitting on the counter. "Is that one green?"
"I asked her that," said Yui. "She said I need to find inspiration, but I think she meant my cookies are boring. So, I tried a bunch of different things to spice them up. Can you tell me what you think?" She pointed to four piles of cookies on the table.
"Did you find a new recipe?" asked Daichi.
"No recipes are boring." Yui smiled. "I was experimenting."
"Well, they smell great," said Kaoru. She picked up the first one. "What kind of cookie is this one?"
"I don't want to tell you." Yui picked up a notebook. "I want your honest opinions."
Daichi and Takumi took a cookie from the first pile.
"Let's eat," said Daichi. The three friends took a bite.
"Wow! These are sweet." Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "I don't mind them, but my teeth hurt." She rubbed her jaw.
"I like them," said Takumi. "They remind me of the cookies from the stores back home." He finished off the cookie.
Daichi placed his half-eaten cookie down. "That was beyond awful." He stuck out his tongue. "I like sugar, but that cookie was an assault."
Yui's face turned red. "Sorry. Try the next cookie. It's not as sweet."
Kaoru and Takumi picked one up. "What is this one?" asked Kaoru.
"Try it," said Yui.
Takumi took a bite. "It's good." He smiled.
"Really?" Yui clapped her hands together. "Does it speak to you?"
Kaoru took a bite. "I wouldn't say that. It's too bitter, but it has an orange tang to it. There's something else," she said. "I can't quite tell what it is."
"Let me try." Daichi picked up the cookie and took a big bite. "You're right. It's very bitter. What's in it?"
"I ground up orange zest and mixed it with some white chocolate," said Yui.
"Orange zest. That's the white part of the peel, right?" Daichi scratched his head.
"No, the orange part," said Yui. "But I did use some of the white part. I was trying a new taste."
"It's a good idea, but I think you went too far," said Kaoru.
Daichi glanced at a third cookie. "What's in this one? It's green." He made a strange face, holding the cookie at arm's length.
Yui bit her lip. "I was trying something very different. Strawberries, milk chocolate." She counted the ingredients on her fingers. "And a touch of goya."
Takumi reached for the cookie. "Goya? I love goya. I've never had a cookie with that in it."
"You gave me the idea after Ka-chan got sick," said Yui. "What if I added Okinawan food?"
Daichi put the cookie down. "I'll wait till Takumi tries it," he said.
Takumi smiled and took a bite. He chewed slowly and put the cookie down. "I hate you, Daichi," he said.
"Why's that?" Daichi asked.
"That was terrible. The strawberry and goya don't go together," said Takumi. He turned to Yui. "Do you have any coffee?"
"I do. Why?" Yui asked.
"I want to clean this taste out of my mouth." Takumi stuck out his tongue.
Yui's lip started to shake. "But I tried so hard... Ms. Honda said I needed a spark, but how..." She collapsed to the floor. "Everything's going wrong!"
"That wasn't nice, Takumi!" Kaoru rubbed Yui's back. "You made her cry."
"Do you want to try one of the cookies?" Takumi asked, giving Kaoru one.
"Umm, no, that's okay." Kaoru shook her head.
"You all hate my cooking," said Yui. "Maybe I should just drop out of the contest."
"Don't say that." Kaoru hugged Yui. "You made it this far."
"It's on TV," said Yui. "I can't bring those cookies with me. I should quit baking. Maybe I can join a temple as a miko."
"Say something, Takumi." Kaoru snapped.
Takumi crouched down next to Yui. "None of these cookies are you. They have spice, but no soul," he said. "My grandmother made good food with goya, but she would never put it in cookies."
"What can I do?" asked Yui. "I want to open my own bakery someday. My teacher has six, and she's only twenty-two years old."
"Do you remember my presentation? You said to trust myself, trust the material and not worry about making mistakes," said Takumi.
"I remember." Yui sniffed.
"You aren't trusting yourself. Why?" asked Takumi softly
Yui sniffed again.
"The big meat-head is right," said Kaoru.
"Hey!" Takumi crossed his arms.
"You are, but don't worry. You're our meat-head." Daichi took another orange zest cookie. "These aren't bad. They grow on you."
"You have to trust yourself," Kaoru said to Yui. "Your cookies are delicious. I liked the orange zest one, but it was a bit bitter."
"It's hard." Yui sniffed. "I've been trying to impress Ms. Honda. I guess I forgot to trust myself."
"What's the flavor of the last pile of cookies?" asked Daichi.
"Those are my regular cookies," Yui said.
"Great." Daichi picked one up. "I love your regular cookies." He took a bite and stopped. His eyes went wide.
"You didn't let me finish, Dai-chan," said Yui. "They were my regular cookies, but I added jalapeño ghost peppers to them." She smiled. "I tried them, but they were too spicy. I was going to throw them away."
"Milk!" Daichi tried to say. He ran to the refrigerator, yanking open the door.
"Like I said, I tried them earlier and drank it all." Yui covered her mouth. "There's a convenience store down the street."
Daichi ran out of the kitchen. Kaoru and Takumi hunched over. They were holding their stomachs, laughing.
✦
Yui waved to Kaoru in the audience. It was small, only twenty people. Takumi and Daichi wanted to come, but Yui could only get one extra ticket. They were watching the contest live on TV. Yui stood on a stage with nine other people. There were ten small ovens behind them.
Ms. Honda walked past Yui's table. "Yui. I'm glad to see you here. I think you are the only one from my class to make it this far."
"Thank you, Ms. Honda." Yui bowed. "I hope my cookies are better than the ones I made in class."
Ms. Honda smiled. "I'm sure they will be. You were always one of my best students."
Yui smiled.
Ms. Honda went to the next table. She spoke quietly to the man there, but Yui stopped listening. She took a deep breath and let it out.
"I can do this," she said to herself.
There was a loud buzzer. An older man stood at the front of the stage. He faced the audience. "Thank you, everybody, for coming here today. This is the Kansai Regional baking contest. For the next two hours, our contestants will bake something delicious." He pointed to the side of the stage.
"We are happy to welcome Ms. Honda from Honda Bakery here as our celebrity judge," he said. "She was recently on the variety show Yoshiari's Classroom."
Yui clapped with the rest. Ms. Honda bowed.
"Afterwards, everyone can share in the delicious food, so please stay around to the end," said the man.
The audience clapped harder.
"Okay, everyone," the older man said. "Begin!" He moved to the side of the stage with Ms. Honda.
Yui took a deep breath and went to her station. The girl standing next to her nodded but didn't say anything. She was too busy counting eggs.
"I can do this," Yui said quietly. She took the flour, butter, eggs, sugar, baking soda, wasabi, white chocolate, orange zest, vanilla, and cinnamon from her ingredients bag and put them on the table.
"Why did I bring wasabi?" asked Yui quietly. She picked up the tube, turning it over in her hand. "It's good in ice cream, maybe..." She bit her lip.
There was a loud noise from across the stage. Yui looked up. One man dropped his bowl, spilling flour everywhere.
"No! I can't do this!" He ran off the stage.
"Keisuke!" Ms. Honda followed him into the back room.
Yui took a deep breath and let it out. "No. I will trust myself." She put the tube to the side. "Don't worry about him. You can do it!" She picked up her mixing bowl. "Time to get to work. First, the flour."
✦
Time passed. Baking smells filled the stage. Yui leaned over the pan, adjusting the cookies. Suddenly, a loud buzzing filled the stage. "What the heck?"
"Ten minutes left," said the old man. "Please put your finishing touches on your food."
Yui looked around. Kaoru was still in the audience. She waved. Yui gave a small wave back.
"I'm finished." Keisuke leaned against the counter. He came back after talking with Ms. Honda. He was smiling, but his face looked very tired.
Yui stepped back. Her cookies sat on a plate, doing nothing. "I need a spark." Before she could stop herself, her hands moved towards the tube of wasabi. "Forget that. I can use this instead." She picked up the jar of cinnamon powder, giving them a slight dusting. "Finished," she said quietly.
Just then, a loud buzz rang through the stage. "Okay, everyone, step back from your counters," said the old man. "No more tweaking allowed. It's time for the judges to check your baking."
The TV cameras pointed at the three judges, giving each a close-up on the monitors over the stage. "Ms. Honda looks great. I wish I..." Yui bit her lip. She was fifth in line, but her stomach had already jumped to first. She gripped her cookies tightly.
Keisuke gave his cake to the judges, apologized for dropping the bowl earlier, and stepped back. The judges didn't say anything while they tried his cake.
Yui looked at Kaoru and smiled nervously. She gave Yui a victory sign.
Yui moved forward. Her heart pounded in her ears when she put her cookies on the table.
Ms. Honda picked up one of Yui's cookies and took a bite. "Hmm?" She looked at the cookie.
Yui held her breath.
Ms. Honda finished the cookie. Then she made some notes and gave Yui a small nod.
Yui let out her breath. Her cookies were okay. She moved to the side of the stage to wait for the final results. The tension was quieter here. "I think I can breathe again."
"I'm so nervous," said Keisuke.
"Me too," said Yui. "I want an onigiri."
The man smiled. "Sorry about the trouble earlier."
"No problem," said Yui. "I'm Higashino Yui," she said.
"Honda Keisuke," he said. He started biting his fingernails.
"Honda?" Yui pointed to the judges. "Are you related to Ms. Honda?"
Keisuke smiled. "She's my younger sister, but don't worry. She always judges my baking harder than anyone else."
Yui nodded.
After trying all the baked goods, the judges talked quietly to each other. Every time Ms. Honda tapped her notes and looked at the bakers, Yui stopped breathing.
"I wish they would make a decision," said Keisuke.
"Me too," said Yui.
After five minutes, Ms. Honda stood up. "We'd like to thank everyone for coming out here today. All of the bakers made delicious food, but we could only pick one winner."
Yui held her breath.
"Tied for third place, for their delicious cakes, are Keisuke and Emi," said Ms. Honda.
Keisuke and another woman with grey in her hair stepped forward. Ms. Honda gave both of them a piece of paper. They shook Ms. Honda's hand, bowed and stepped back.
"It was difficult to decide the second-place winner," said Ms. Honda. "But second place goes to Yui for her wonderful orange zest cookies."
Yui breathed. "Almost." She stopped thinking. When she took the paper and a small trophy, she was smiling.
Ms. Honda shook her hand. "You found a spark," she said in a quiet voice. "Keep up the inspiration."
"Thank you." Yui bowed. How she got back into the line after that was a mystery.
Kaoru stood in the audience, clapping like her life depended on it. Yui waved to her.
"Congratulations," said Keisuke quietly. "Those cookies smell mouthwatering. Much better than my cake."
"Thank you, but I wouldn't say that," said Yui.
"You can try it later and let me know." Keisuke smiled.
"I'd love that, but shush!" Yui put her fingers to her lips.
Ms. Honda was still standing. "In first place, for her wonderful rolled cake, Shizuka."
A young woman stepped forward.
Yui stopped listening. Ms. Honda liked her cookies. She didn't change anything big and made a new friend. Experimenting had been fun, but wasabi was still out. What could she try next? Yui smiled. Her bakery felt a little closer.