“The cumin and cardamom I used in testing worked great with curry... ... but they were too sharp for the stew. After trying lots of stuff, I settled on the heavy and mildly sweet flavor of cloves... ... and some black pepper to give it just a little bit of bite! "Oh, I get it! Cloves will help highlight the mellow yet deep flavor of the sauce! That he rubbed only salt and pepper on the oxtails themselves makes sense too. If he dusted them with cloves, that would give them too much flavor, making them stick out from the rest of the dish. " "Look! Now he's dicing some vegetables!" "Is he going to simmer those with the stew as well?" That combination of vegetables- a Matignon! He really did think this through! MATIGNON Celery, carrots and onions are minced and then sautéed with diced ham or bacon in butter, white wine or Madeira wine. Meant primarily to impart its sweetness onto other meats or fish, Matignon is more commonly used as a bed on which other things are cooked as opposed to being served in its own right. Yet another thing that will preserve the gentle flavor of the dish while still giving it impact. This stew he's making now... ... is going to taste better than the one he made only last week by an order of magnitude!” CookingVegetablesBeefStewSouma YukihiraClovesMatignon Book:食戟のソーマ 11 [Shokugeki no Souma 11] Source: 食戟のソーマ 11 [Shokugeki no Souma 11]