Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

“Okay, Abby. Let’s get everything in place. Farro mafaldine, black truffle butter, and the mushrooms,” John

says, his hand passing over each individual ingredient—and lingering over the coveted black truffles—as

he speaks.

I nod. My body feels like it’s about to burst, I’m so excited. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,” I say. “If

we can just nail this dish, the cook-off is ours.”

Karl chuckles from the sidelines. “No pressure, huh?”

John and I share a quick glance and a collective breath before diving in.

He works on preparing the handmade pasta, expertly feeding the farro mafaldine through the machine. I

focus on the mushrooms, slicing them with surgical precision before turning to the star of our dish: the

black truffles.

Enter title…

truffles, letting them fall into the small pot of melted

intoxicating, filling the room and

dish is finally complete.

truffle butter, and mushrooms sitting

a generous portion onto three plates for

a fork, the atmosphere between us thick with

I know something is wrong. The flavors

in response. The black truffle butter, rather than enhancing the dish

dish with a dirty,

food out instinctively, my eyes going wide as I

soil. “Oh, this is bad. This is really, really

as he puts his fork down

say anything, but the slight grimace on his face

I mutter, already dumping the disgusting dish into the trash. “I’ve never

before. I didn’t realize they could overpower a dish

But let’s try again,” John suggests,

of

making adjustments

the ratios of

worse than the first attempt. The three of us almost spit out