Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 3.5

5

Roughly an hour had passed.

The sun was now hidden beyond the western horizon, and we had prepared everything for dinner at the Fa house right on schedule.

Naturally, the women from the other clans had all returned to their own homes, meaning it was now just us members of the Fa house and our two guests. We were seated at the head spots, while Myme and Mikel were seated in the lower ones, with tonight’s dinner laid out in front of us.

“It wouldn’t do to let this dinner you both prepared grow cold, so let’s go ahead and eat.”

Ai Fa and I then said the pre-meal chant that was customary at the forest’s edge, while Myme and Mikel just silently bowed their heads.

With that, dinner finally kicked off, but this was an even more satisfying meal than usual. On the menu was my meat dish and Myme’s soup dish, the baked poitan, and the boiled giba head.

Out of those, Ai Fa and I were naturally most focused on Myme’s soup dish.

“Hmm, it smells just as strong as Asuta’s myamuu giba,” Ai Fa stated, sounding deeply curious as she took the plate.

The other women had all given it a taste test before heading home, but I hadn’t gotten to try it yet. However, I had gotten to observe it being made from start to finish.

After boiling the giba thigh meat for such a long time, Myme first sautéed some finely-chopped myamuu and then paired it with giba meat stock. Then she finally added the vegetables and thoroughly boiled everything again. This time around, she thinly sliced the aria, cut the tino into chunks, and quartered the nenon, which was all fairly standard.

Then in the meantime, she baked the fuwano. After kneading it in water, she rolled it out flat at a thickness of around five millimeters, then cooked it up nice and crispy. She tore off bits a pinch at a time and added them to the pot, and when the fuwano softened she adjusted the flavor with salt and pico leaves. Perhaps Myme was putting the lesson from earlier to use in employing pico leaves for an additional seasoning.

Finally she added a beaten kimyuus egg and stirred it about, and once that was heated through, the dish was complete.

The fuwano floated up in the cloudy soup, and the yellow egg added a further accent to the dish. As for the aroma, that was primarily dominated by the myamuu.

There really wasn’t anything especially novel in the steps. Still, the method of adding torn chunks of fuwano to a soup was the same one Timalo had used, while Roy had added beaten egg to his dish, so I couldn’t help but be reminded of the castle town.

“Well then, time to dig in,” I said, shooting the rather nervous-looking Myme a smile as I scooped up some soup with a bit of fuwano and egg.

The giba fat had formed a film on top, which was shining away as it reflected the light from the candle. At last, I gently brought that captivating soup to my mouth.

The first thing that hit me was the powerful aroma from the myamuu flowing up through my nose. Then my mouth was filled with the herb’s sharp taste, the punch from the pico leaves, and the deliciousness of the giba meat.

Having absorbed the soup, the fuwano now had a pleasant squishy feel. And the kimyuus egg added a nice, smooth texture that was a bit more low-key.

Despite the powerful aroma, it really was a pretty mild flavor.

The sweetness of the giba fat and vegetables seeped into my tongue. And I was filled with an even greater sense of satisfaction as I ate some of the meat and vegetables.

“This is delicious,” I stated, earnestly feeling that way from the bottom of my heart. “It’s on a whole other level than the soup from earlier in the day. So much so that I’d really have to call it a proper full-fledged giba dish.”

“You’re exaggerating. The giba fat really was strong, so the flavor ended up a bit rough,” Myme stated, but her expression was shining bright. “But I believe I was able to make something tastier than when I use kimyuus or karon leg meat back home. That really goes to show the power of giba meat.”

At that, I turned to face my clan head, only to find her wearing an awfully serious look.

“What do you say, Ai Fa? Myme’s skills really are something else, aren’t they?”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

“And yet you’re wearing quite the expression, aren’t you...?”

“No, it’s not as if I have any issues with the taste. It’s just...” Ai Fa replied and then stopped, her gaze wandering as she seemed to search for the words. “How should I put it...? I couldn’t help but think it was as if this was something you had prepared, Asuta... If I ate it without knowing otherwise, I might well have been confident in saying you had made it.”

“Ooh, really?”

“Indeed,” Ai Fa answered with just a bit of a frown. “I can understand the Ruu women and Toor Deen preparing dishes with similar flavors to yours, as you did teach them. But why do I feel the taste of this dish is so similar to something you would prepare?”

“Well, that’s probably because there were a lot of similarities in our cooking methods. I saw Roy cooking plenty of times at the Turan manor, but for better or worse, those techniques felt like they had come from another culture entirely. Compared to that, Myme’s cooking process seemed a lot more familiar.”

“Hmm...”

As she kept on eating, the uncertain expression remained fixed on my clan head’s face.

Maybe Ai Fa had been expecting something like the dishes Timalo had prepared. It did make sense to think that way, considering Myme had been instructed by Mikel, who had also been a chef in the castle town.

Having listened silently to the conversation between me and Ai Fa, Myme now gave a seriously embarrassed smile.

“It’s far greater of an honor than my cooking deserves, for it to be described as similar to Asuta’s dishes. I still haven’t succeeded at drawing out the delicious flavor of giba meat, after all.”

“I don’t think that’s true at all. This dish is very tasty, and the flavor feels perfected too.”

“No, I believe my dish was overwhelmed by the presence of the giba meat. To me, cooking with it felt like riding on the back of a wild totos.”

“Ooh, that’s an interesting simile,” I chimed in with an unwitting chuckle, causing Myme to break out in a bashful grin.

“That’s why I think you’re amazing for being able to ride it so smoothly, Asuta. Thinking about it, since I haven’t had anything but kimyuus and karon leg meat to work with until now, it’s like I’ve only ever ridden a well behaved totos walking leisurely along flat ground.”

“Honestly, I think you’re amazing for being able to make such delicious dishes with meat as bland as karon legs and skinless kimyuus.”

My words caused Myme to freeze in place.

“Then do you perhaps have trouble handling karon leg meat and skinless kimyuus, Asuta?”

“That’s right. To be blunt, I’m not confident I could make anything tastier than you can with those meats.”

“Ah, so that’s why you have such an opinion of me...?” Myme replied, her eyes shining bright in understanding. “I definitely get that. So bland meats and strongly flavorful ones each need their own techniques and experience to handle. I had thought it strange how you kept on talking so highly of me... But you weren’t especially trying to flatter me or anything, were you?”

“I don’t think I ever use empty flattery when it comes to cooking.”

“If you’ve been earnestly praising someone like me, then that really is something to be proud of...” Myme said, and then seemed to hug her own body. “Thank you. I’m so happy it’s making me feel all choked up for some reason.”

“Now that’s overblowing things. Why don’t you just give my dish a try instead?”

“Right, thank you for the meal.”

Myme reached out and grabbed the plate with the meat dish, her eyes shining bright.

It was a new recipe I was currently experimenting with, based on twice-cooked pork. I started by boiling giba rib meat, then sauteed it with aria, tino, and pula. For flavoring I went with a tau oil base, to which I added sugar, myamuu, chitt seeds, and ramanpa nuts.

Since I didn’t have anything resembling the Chinese chili paste needed for seasoning twice-cooked pork, it was made in a rather Japanese style, but I was still pretty confident when it came to the flavor.

And when she bit into the dish, Myme let out a wistful sigh.

“Eating something as delicious as this really shatters my hard-earned confidence. Does this sweetness come from that seasoning from Jagar called sugar?”

“Yeah. The ability to use sugar instantly expanded the breadth of flavors I can achieve.”

“But no matter how wonderful the seasoning may be, if you don’t know how to use it you’ll just ruin the flavor. That was what my dad taught me.” At that, Myme stole a glance at her father, but the man just kept on silently eating his meal. “So it makes me even more amazed at your skills that you can use it so well. I truly am impressed.”

“There was stuff like sugar and tau oil back in my home country, so I’m just used to having them around, is all. The chefs in the castle town all probably know how to use seasonings like that better than I do.”

“No. If you were the same as the chefs from the castle town, I don’t think dad would have had me eat your cooking.” Myme had a gentle look in her eyes as she stared at her father. “In the past, I had asked him if I could try food from the castle town, even just once. I know I must have lived there up until I was five, but unfortunately I can hardly remember anything from back then at all.”

Personally, all I could remember of the time before I entered elementary school was vague recollections of playing with friends at home or in the park.

“But dad said there was nothing at all to learn from the chefs there. He always said the majority of chefs didn’t know how to properly use the great number of ingredients available to them, and that it was like they were just being dragged along by wild totos.”

“Hmm, I see...”

“So I started my training by seeing how good I could make my dishes using just salt, vegetables, and meat. By keeping not just stuff like tau oil and chitt seeds but even herbs and myamuu to an absolute minimum, dad taught me to put the flavor of my ingredients to full use. How much of each ingredient did I need, and how long should I be cooking it for with how strong of a flame...? That’s what I practiced for four years.”

Four years... That certainly was quite some time.

My old man was a chef too, but he hadn’t started training me to cook at quite such a young age.

“Just a month or so ago, dad brought your cooking back home, and then he permitted me to start using fruit wine for flavoring.”

Upon hearing that, I shot Mikel a surprised look. However, the man just kept on eating with a frown.

“You meant I should aim for being a chef like Asuta, right? I think you see your old self in Asuta’s cooking, dad.”

Was that the case? If the basic principles behind my cooking and Mikel’s were similar to start with, then that could explain why I had no trouble whatsoever seeing Myme’s dishes as delicious.

Still, Mikel hadn’t said so much as a word. Instead, he was just shooting me and Myme disgruntled glares.

“Seems you two are more interested in talking than eating. And just how long do you intend to leave that pot boiling for,” Mikel finally interjected, referring to the boiling giba head. It had been left atop the stove, and was being kept warm on the lowest flame possible. “If you keep it over the flame too long, the brain and eyeballs will go and dissolve on you. And maybe that would be a fine dish in and of itself, but it wouldn’t exactly be good for testing them as ingredients.”

“That’s true. In that case, let’s go ahead and give them a shot.” If Mikel didn’t want to chat, then I didn’t see a need to force him. And so I just said that with a nod and a smile before heading over to the stove.

Besides, I was looking forward to trying these out too. And so I did my best to calm my rapidly-beating heart as I removed the board serving as a lid.

Instantly, the room was enveloped in a vivid meaty smell.

Ultimately I had decided to add salt, tau oil, and chitt seeds to the giba head soup. I made the decision because it seemed like the brain and eyeballs would have every bit as strong of a scent as dishes made with innards, so I made those additions for some flavor and aroma.

“As far as soups go, it seems like it managed to make a real high-quality stock. But how are the fillings, I wonder?”

“How should I know? And let me just say in advance, there’s no guarantee the eyes and brain’ll be tasty.”

“Huh? R-Really? But before, you said...”

“Brains and eyeballs are valued highly in the castle town. But they’re prized as delicacies for their rarity, not their flavor. If it was something everyone would find delicious, it wouldn’t be called a delicacy in the first place.”

However, the giba tongue ended up being as tasty as torso meat. And the people of the forest’s edge had a real favorable reception toward giba hearts and the like too. So I had raised my expectations at least a little in regard to the eyeballs and brain.

“Hmm, we can’t really split the eyeballs, so should we take charge of taste testing them, Ai Fa?”

“Indeed, since we cannot go feeding things we’ve never even tried to our guests.”

Ai Fa didn’t seem stirred in the least.

Back when we were first trying the innards dishes, the people of the forest’s edge didn’t especially show reluctance or revulsion. To them, the brain and eyeballs and innards were all just more of the forest’s blessings. So as long as they tasted fine, there was no reason at all to avoid them.

Meanwhile, I might just have become even more of a chicken since I had come to live here at the forest’s edge. Heart, liver, and intestines were one thing, but as far as I knew, eating eyeballs and brains wasn’t exactly all that common back in my old world.

Still, even so, I had no intention of running from this dish. Donda Ruu used to call giba torso ‘mundt feed,’ while Jas Deen had said innards seemed like they would taste bad. I had urged everybody to eat them even then, so I couldn’t exactly let myself get cold feet now.

“All right, then let’s start with the eyeballs.”

Using metal skewers, I dragged up half of the skull that had sunk down into the pot. The chunks of meat and fat had pretty much all sloughed off, leaving just a white skull along with eyeballs that had gone the same color.

“By the way, I wonder how Deek Dom is doing...”

“Hmm? Why are you bringing him up all of a sudden?”

“I mean, he just suddenly came to mind when I looked at the giba skull. All the hunters in the Dom clan wear them on their heads, right?”

“You certainly have some strange thoughts in the middle of dinner...” Ai Fa also used metal skewers to pull up the other half of the skull, then with no hesitation at all she shoved a wooden spoon into the eye socket and popped out the eyeball. “Hmm, what an odd shape,” she murmured, and then just tossed it into her mouth like it was nothing.

“W-Well? How is it?”

“Hrmm... It has a bit of an unusual taste,” Ai Fa replied, slightly furrowing her brow. “The flavor is light, but the scent is harsh. It has an even odder smell than giba meat that hasn’t been bled... I’m sure you will be able to come up with a superior way of preparing it with experience.”

“I-I see. So the taste didn’t turn out to be all that satisfying, huh?”

“If I was satisfied with this, it would be like denying the worth of the dishes you usually make.”

The more I heard, the more my cowardice reared its head.

But at this point, there was no turning back. If this was a dish that needed improving, then that was all the more reason I needed to confirm that with my own tongue. So I firmed up my resolve and just went for it, shoving the eyeball into my mouth.

“Hrngh...”

“Hey, don’t go making such strange noises, you fool.”

“Oh, er, well... It’s true that this is definitely a bit lacking in terms of seasoning.”

Despite how thoroughly I had boiled it, I could still feel that raw animalistic stench filling my mouth. The texture was sorta squishy but also sorta tough... Honestly, it was a bit hard to describe.

With a ladle I scooped up some broth so I could gulp it down together with the eyeball I had been chewing.

“Ugh, that was rough. That’s the first time eating giba has caused me to break out in a cold sweat.”

“Really? Aside from the stench, I didn’t have any particular issues with the taste.”

“Yeah, I guess I just don’t have much experience when it comes to eating eyeballs. The next chance I get, I think I’ll try using plenty of myamuu and tarapa to add a strong smell and taste of their own.”

“Well then, next is the brain,” Ai Fa said, flipping over the skull. Apparently the brain was buried there in the half she had.

After breaking away the bits of bone that made an indent at the base, Ai Fa was able to completely expose it. And the giba’s brain had also boiled up moist and white.

“Will you have some too, Myme and Mikel?”

The answer to that question was yes. Apparently I was the most timid when it came to trying new things.

At any rate, I went ahead and moved the brain over to a flat dish and sliced it into four parts, but since there wasn’t any stench to it, this one wasn’t that hard to eat. The taste was like the tender cod milt I had eaten one time back home.

“This is delicious. But I think I can see why it’s called a delicacy too.”

“It’s at least as good as karon...”

It seemed our guests didn’t have any complaints.

“And the broth is tasty too! I can sense a bit of stench about it, but I’m sure you can prepare it even tastier than this, right Asuta?”

“That’s true. I’ll try a couple different things later.”

“How amazing. To think you can use not just the meat but even the brain, eyes, and innards as ingredients... It makes me quite envious, considering only very limited cuts of kimyuus and karon are sold in the post town,” Myme said as she pecked at another bite of what was left of her pseudo-twice-cooked pork. “What sort of taste do karon torso and kimyuus wings have, I wonder? Just thinking about it is enough to get my heart pounding.”

“That’s for sure. I’ve only ever had them in dishes with some seriously complex flavoring myself, so I can’t really say I know a thing about karon torso either. I’ve gotten to do a little taste test of kimyuus wings before though.”

“They must be quite tasty, seeing how the folks from the castle town buy them all up. But at least for now, I just can’t imagine there being a more delicious meat out there than giba,” Myme remarked with a cherubic smile. “Still, working with kimyuus and karon leg meat is all I can handle now. Even if it’s like riding on the back of a well-tamed totos, you can still fall to the ground if you’re not careful, so I’ll keep my guard up and just keep on trying my best.”

I almost reflexively responded, but held myself back.

Meanwhile, Mikel just kept on eating what was left on his plate with a look of feigned disinterest.

And so, the dinner we had invited Myme and Mikel to headed toward a nice, peaceful conclusion.