Quote Originally Posted by shinta|hikari View Post
Isn't this exactly what gave it away and decided the victory? He chose a specific type of honey to match the bear meat, which indicates the amount of effort he made vs. just selecting any honey (or any thyme, or any juniper berry, in Hayama's case). Even if you have a good idea about matching ingredients, you still have to test them first.
But how would you know that the special honey was something Souma specifically sought out, as opposed to having it lying around?
On the flip side, how did they know Hayama didn't actually think about all sorts of combinations before settling on "normal" spices being the most effective?

It relies on the story, rather than the taste. Also, a flaw here is that Hayama's dish could well have used special thyme etc - but no one else would know that because they don't have superhuman noses.