Tao's concentration was on the iron that he was working into steel so he let his insult slide as it just typical coming from a froufrou guy like him.  Unlike Aldous he did not immediately work on the iron but instead let it melt completely and then he lowered the crucible to pour the molten metal into a mold where it would be given a similar treatment to the steel. The iron itself was molten with an nice red-orange color that reminded him of a peach but radiant.Thinking back to Aldous' haughtiness he'd knew his tune would change the moment he sinks his teeth into that cooked pork, with his meat cooking skills it'd take a real special person to deny the scrumptiousness of the cooked pork. "Damn right," Tao said as he worked, "My real skill is roasting meats with an open fire in case you couldn't tell, but my real talent laid in the control of heat. In this biz heat is an essential part almost like an ingredient who's importance is secondary to the meat. Obviously if it's too low or too high you risk either creating shoe leather or it's simply raw. However, there's another secret component to heat... it's a little silly to hear, but trust me it's something real. Your usage of heat can impart a certain essence to the meat and if you do it well you get a certain indescribable aspect to the meat that you just [b]tell[/b] in it when it's done well or missing when it's done poorly." 

Tao went off to fetch a knife and a piece of the wood which he then began to slowly start whittling away at. With long slow strokes flakes of wood fell to the floor in a delicate shower. Tao was deliberately slow not just to ensure the wood carving would be done well but also to make sure he didn't finish too early while waiting for the meat to cook. He then continued talking to Aldous while carving away, "Turns out controlling the fire is really essential in alchemy when you're trying to mess with ingredients. Also it turns out that having that skill and having a discerning eye when it comes to ingredients is also vital, so I ended up catching this of this old lady and I said yes to deal because it was better paying plus it was new and interesting.  I learned a bunch of stuff and got interested in the application of alchemy with crafting and so I enrolled here and promptly set up my place so I can have everything I need. "

He took a moment to pause in between his talk to mentally calculate how much longer he'd let the pork cook before he'd check on it and give some more marinade. However his predication was that it was gonna be great. Amidst the soot and smoke there was a smell of sweetness, spices, and meat wafting. He then continued his monologue, "Way I see it there's plenty of cross-applicable skills here: you need a good eye, patience, and a certain resourcefulness to make due with crap materials cuz you can't always have the best plus sometimes even with something crappy you can make something good. Any ole' idiot can bang something out, but it takes finesse to create something good. You gotta... I don't know I guess you, gotta make love to your materials man. Gotta take your time and do it right, but sometimes you can't neglect need to do it fast too."