Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 1.2

2

Roughly ninety minutes passed after that, during which the black fuwano dipping soba was completed without a hitch. We had also made a variety of tempura in that time too, though not too much. The folks who had tried them were now enthusiastically sharing their opinions with one another.

“This is such a strange dish.”

“I never imagined fuwano could be eaten like this. The noodles are a little difficult to handle, however.”

“But it truly is delicious. And it seems to pair quite well with this fried dish.”

The few people who had tried my soba before, such as Yang, were quietly observing those who were trying it for the first time. Shilly Rou was currently absent, though, as she had left to summon Varkas, since we would be inspecting the freshly delivered ingredients after this.

As we were waiting for Varkas to arrive, the chefs continued discussing the food in detail.

“Does this texture come from how the ingredients are heated separately rather than all together?”

“I believe the long and thin shape plays a major role in creating that texture. However, the way it is heated for only a short period of time must also be kept in mind... Hmm. I suppose I will need to do a fair bit of experimenting before I can say so definitively, though.”

“Well, this is made using fuwano from Banarm, and it’s been combined with an ingredient as unfamiliar to us as poitan on top of that, so half of my experience with this sort of thing is probably going to be completely useless.”

Polarth had also eaten his portion of the test dish, which had been prepared by Toor Deen, and after listening to their discussion with a look of satisfaction for a while, he eventually clapped his hands and loudly stated, “Now then, that concludes Sir Asuta’s lesson for today. What did you all think? I am an amateur when it comes to cooking, so I haven’t the slightest idea how long it will take to master this technique.”

Yang stepped forward to speak for the group of chefs. “None of the steps are particularly difficult, so there should be no further need to trouble Sir Asuta for his assistance. Now we simply need to spend time experimenting to come up with some delicious dishes of our own.”

“I am glad to hear it. After all, I would feel quite bad about having to keep summoning Sir Asuta here to the castle town again and again. Do the rest of you have any objections?”

It seemed none of them did.

Somehow, I got the feeling that the chefs all had sharper looks in their eyes now than they previously had before the taste testing, as if they wanted to hurry back to their own kitchens to give it a try. However, Polarth was smiling brightly at them in a way that seemed to be meant to calm them back down.

“Well then, the next task at hand is examining the new ingredients. This is yet another big job, just as important as the black fuwano dish. During the revival festival, a great many merchant groups visited Genos, and thanks to them, the pantry here has received deliveries of a large variety of ingredients that it had previously been lacking. It seems the previous Count Turan truly did make business deals with every place you can imagine.”

The chefs looked deadly serious as they listened to his words. Though he was just the second son, Polarth was still a member of the main bloodline of the house of Daleim. Normally, someone like him would never even set foot in a kitchen.

“Those among you who have never been associates of the house of Turan will likely not have much knowledge of how to utilize these ingredients, so I would like to ask Sir Varkas and Sir Timalo to explain some things about them for us. It seems a good number of them are difficult to handle, but the novelty they provide will surely be most pleasing to the people of the castle town. Duke Marstein Genos himself has said that he wishes to ensure that these precious ingredients will not be allowed to go bad, and that the previous count’s wicked dealings should be utilized to instead bring happiness to the people.”

Unsurprisingly, the chefs just silently bowed in response. Polarth was acting the same as always, but all these people showing such deference to him made him seem a lot more like a noble. It all felt really weird to watch.

As that pointless thought was passing through my head, the door to the kitchen swung open from the outside. Shilly Rou had returned with Varkas.

“My apologies for the wait...”

“Ah, Sir Varkas. Well then, I shall go ahead and leave the rest to you. I have already given a basic explanation.”

“Understood...”

Varkas stood there before us, looking rather listless.

Timalo, meanwhile, puffed up his chest and walked over beside him.

“So you have finally arrived. I am sure you must be rather displeased, being forced to stand here beside me, Sir Varkas.”

“Not at all...”

“They simply concluded that you would likely not be able to do this on your own. After all, you would hate to see anyone snatch the goods in the pantry here away from you. It may be disrespectful to say this, but how much of a difference is there, really, between that and the previous count’s desire to monopolize rare ingredients?”

“I cannot say what my previous employer’s feelings might have been, but I simply do not wish to see precious ingredients wasted,” Varkas said with a small sigh. His pale face, which had a look about it that made it hard to guess his age, wasn’t showing any emotion to speak of, and yet he still looked somehow downhearted.

Timalo snorted, “Hmph,” then jerked his chin toward Shilly Rou and the others who were standing by off to the side. “Well then, would you mind asking your apprentices to bring out the ingredients? We have limited time to work with, after all.”

Unsurprisingly, Shilly Rou shot Timalo a piercing glare, but the other three politely bowed and then turned to go. I suspected they had been Varkas’s apprentices at least as far back as when he had worked at this manor. Roy had worked here too, even if it was in a different role, so they must have all known Timalo for a long time.

At any rate, the four of them went ahead and brought out a variety of different ingredients. Though the chefs from the forest’s edge had been silent for some time, I could see the clear anticipation on their faces.

“We will begin with the ingredients from Jagar. These are hoboi seeds and tau beans, this is keru root, these are sheema, ma pula, and ma gigo, and lastly we have nyatta sparkling wine and spirits,” Timalo said.

The daikon-like sheema, paprika-like ma pula, and taro-like ma gigo were already familiar to me, but the rest were complete unknowns. I started to check them out as I pondered what sort of ingredients they were. I saw that keru root was a white root vegetable shaped like ginseng. But as for the hoboi seeds and tau beans, they had been brought out in bags, so I wasn’t able to get a look at them just yet, and the two types of alcohol were both sealed in bottles.

“Sheema, ma pula, and ma gigo have been available in the pantry for a while now, but they haven’t seen much circulation yet in the castle town, so we’re including them in this presentation to be on the safe side. Do any of you need us to speak about them?”

“Yes, that would be appreciated.” Around half of the chefs replied along those lines. Four months had passed now since the ingredients that were constantly being delivered to this manor’s pantry had been released onto the market, but apparently some of their businesses hadn’t had an opportunity to get their hands on any yet.

“As their names imply, ma pula and ma gigo are subspecies of pula and gigo. These ingredients come not only from Jagar, but also the western part of Selva. Ma pula isn’t bitter like pula, while ma gigo lacks the stickiness of gigo. If you think about them like that, it should not be difficult to apply them to existing recipes.”

“Then what about sheema? It seems to have a rather odd shape for a vegetable.”

“Sheema is a vegetable only grown in Jagar. It can be eaten raw, but frying it in tau oil and the like is more common.”

I had already heard all of this from Mikel. Sheema was an ingredient similar to daikon, but its skin looked just like a sponge gourd.

“These vegetables have already been circulating to a limited extent within the castle town. My understanding is that they have only been available to a very limited number of businesses, since the large merchant groups have exclusively been doing business through the house of Turan. However, it has already been some time since they were unveiled at a previous gathering like this one, is that not so, Sir Varkas?”

Timalo’s question went unanswered.

“Thanks to the efforts of Sir Asuta and Sir Yang, these vegetables are already seeing quite a bit of use in the post town. Taking that into consideration, it feels rather strange that a number of chefs in the castle town are still unfamiliar with how to use them. Explaining such things should hardly have been a difficult task, would you not agree?”

It seemed Timalo was willing to even go as far as raising me up if it meant being able to criticize Varkas at the same time. There was some serious animosity between the two of them.

Also, I hadn’t heard anything about that “previous gathering.” Did that mean they had held a gathering here in the castle town to unveil ingredients before? And Varkas had been assigned the role of speaker, but he hadn’t given a proper explanation because of his desire to monopolize the ingredients? Timalo’s statements all made sense when I looked at them from that perspective.

Varkas sure is a sinful man.

If Yang and I had failed to popularize those ingredients in the post town, they could well have been left to rot in the pantry instead. Torst’s excessive gratitude toward us might not have been so exaggerated after all, with that in mind.

“Now then, let us move on to the hoboi seeds, tau beans, and keru root. It is no exaggeration to say that these ingredients have only ever been available to the house of Count Turan, so this should be the first time those of you who have not worked in this manor have seen them.”

I had never seen Timalo so lively. It seemed this role suited his personality quite well. It just went to show how important it was to assign the right person to any given task.

“Hoboi seeds may prove to be somewhat difficult to handle. Though they are unlikely to ruin the flavor of a dish, they are also quite tricky to utilize effectively.”

With that, Timalo dumped out the contents of one of the bags onto a wooden plate, and sounds of bewilderment spread throughout the crowd. They certainly looked like little seeds, only around two millimeters in size each.

“Are these...something similar to the seeds from Sym that are used to add fragrance?”

“That is correct. If you grind them down, they will give off a sweet aroma. I often employ these hoboi seeds in soup dishes alongside karon milk and milk fat,” Timalo replied with a nod, handing the plate to the nearest chef. “These have already been heated through, so please, go ahead and see what you think of their flavor and scent. They may seem insignificant at first, but these hoboi seeds are bursting with nutrition. In Jagar, anyone and everyone would be happy to have them in their meal.”

The chefs began sniffing and biting the little seeds, but they still all looked befuddled. Their expressions made it clear that they were uncertain about how exactly they would employ such an ingredient in their cooking.

Finally, the plate made it over to us, and we were able to smell and taste the seeds for ourselves... Right away, I became the first person to get excited about this new ingredient. “Ah, this is great. If they aren’t too expensive, I would love to purchase some.”

“Oh?” Timalo said as he turned my way. “They should cost about the same amount as chitt seeds by weight. Still, are you truly confident you can make use of them in your cooking?”

“Definitely. There was an ingredient a lot like this back in my home country, after all.”

These hoboi seeds had a very similar flavor to sesame seeds. They were akin to white sesame seeds, or maybe golden ones, with a sweet yet gentle taste. The way you could easily bite through them meant they could provide some pleasant texture too.

“It’s true that it would be difficult to make a dish where their flavor comes through clearly, unlike most herbs from Sym, but I think I could apply them to all sorts of recipes. Oh, and is it possible to get oil out of these seeds?”

“Oil? Why do you ask?”

“That was the main way they were used back in my home country. But, well, if they only taste similar and don’t have much oil content, then I guess it wouldn’t be possible to use them that way.”

“No, in the south of Jagar they use just as much hoboi oil as reten oil. And there’s not much difference in how they’re made either,” Bozl chimed in, as he was a southerner. “I was born in the north of Jagar, so I haven’t had it often myself, but I recall it being a most flavorful kind of oil.”

“Really? It would make me very happy if we could use hoboi oil here in Genos too.”

More than the sesame seeds themselves, sesame oil would greatly expand the breadth of what I could make. I was actually pushing ahead with a number of Chinese dishes even now, but a lot of them felt lacking without sesame oil.

“Well, if they are used that way in Jagar, then it may be interesting to give it a try...” Timalo replied, sounding a little evasive. But then he got back on track and loudly declared, “Now then, next we have tau beans! As you may have assumed from the name, this is the ingredient from which tau oil is made. They have a weak flavor, so they can prove difficult to utilize.”

At that, the ingredient in question was dumped out onto a fresh plate for us. They were round, with each being about the size of the nail on my thumb. And since they were pure white and shiny, they looked a lot like soybeans.

“So tau oil is made from these beans? They’re an entirely different color, though, and I cannot pick up much of a smell from them,” someone said.

“Tau oil is made with a process known as fermentation, which you are likely not especially familiar with here in Genos. Sym and Jagar have many locations where the average temperature is higher than in Genos, so they had to come up with this rather unusual technique in order to preserve certain foods effectively. Oh, and these have not been heated through, so they cannot be eaten right now. If I had to pick something to compare them to, it would have to be fuwano,” Timalo explained.

“Fuwano? Then, do you grind them into flour?”

“No. If you boil them as is, they will grow soft, and then you can eat them. Whether you leave them in their original shape or mash them is a matter of personal taste, but in parts of Jagar and Sym, they are eaten in place of fuwano.”

Timalo then looked over at Tatumai, and the man stepped forward.

“Fuwano and shaska are staple foods in Sym, but as I understand it, tau beans are eaten in the southwest, where the crops needed to make shaska are difficult to grow.”

“Ah, in Jagar it’s the northeast. In other words, they’re eaten a lot in the area where the battles with Sym tend to happen,” Bozl noted.

I was a little shocked for a moment when I heard Bozl just outright say that, but Tatumai seemed indifferent to the comment, despite his heritage. Well, in the end, he was a citizen of the west, so he didn’t have any stake in the war between the south and east. His wrinkled face remained expressionless as he quietly regarded the tau beans.

“They do not have a strong flavor, so if you think about them as you would fuwano, it should be simple to find a use for them. Now then, lastly, we have keru root,” Timalo said.

The root vegetable had a strange, winding shape to it. Using a vegetable knife that was sitting on the workstation, Timalo swiftly chopped it up into fine pieces.

“They have an incredibly strong flavor and aroma. You should approach using them the same as you would with herbs from Sym.”

Everyone took a pinch to smell and taste, but when Rimee Ruu reached out to take her own small helping and tossed it into her mouth, she let out a choked shriek. “Gyah! Spicy! It reminds me of raw myamuu!”

“It’s true. Though the flavor is quite different, the spiciness does seem to be comparable to that of myamuu,” Yang agreed from elsewhere in the crowd.

Sure enough, it had an intense smell and flavor, just like everyone had said. I had only put a small amount of the finely chopped root in my mouth, but I was struck by a sharp tingling sensation. It definitely seemed like something best used as a seasoning, in the same vein as the garlic-like myamuu and several other herbs I had encountered.

Still, it has a rather refreshing aftertaste. I sort of feel like it’s kinda similar to ginger. In that case, I expected it would pair well with giba meat.

As I was thinking that, Timalo asked me, “What do you think, Sir Asuta? I hear that your skill with herbs is impressive enough to even astonish Sir Varkas. So, will you be able to properly utilize an ingredient with as strong a flavor as keru root?”

“Well, for now I’d like to check its compatibility with tau oil, sugar, and fruit wine. And it may be suitable as a condiment for the black fuwano dipping soba everyone tried before too,” I said.

Timalo’s eyes shot open wide in surprise. “How precise... Sir Asuta, was there an ingredient similar to this one as well in your home country?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. At least, I believe it may be rather similar. I’m also curious about how it would pair with myamuu.”

If my hunch was accurate, this would help me bring our myamuu giba closer to my ideal flavor, as it was based on ginger pork originally. I was probably even happier to get my hands on this keru root than I was about the hoboi seeds and tau beans.

“That just leaves the nyatta sparkling wine and spirits. They’ve been selling quite poorly so far, since Genos is rather fond of its mamaria wine, but southern chefs will sometimes simmer meat in them, so perhaps they can be used in the same way here.”

I was already familiar with the sparkling wine, but it cost more than mamaria fruit wine and didn’t have all that strong of a taste, so I had ended up not using it. Naudis employed it as a marinade to make the meat he cooked nice and tender, which was a practical use for it, certainly. However, the price had proved to be too much of an issue in the end.

The nyatta spirits, on the other hand, turned out to be quite flavorful, even though both were made from the same ingredients. I didn’t drink, but I felt like it had a sweet and mellow aroma similar to that of refined sake. Even if I didn’t plan to use it as the core of a dish, I could see it improving the flavor of our cubed giba meat stew and meat and chatchi stew.

“That concludes the ingredients from Jagar. You should all take some of each back with you and experiment with making use of them. Sir Varkas, do you have anything that you wish to add?”

“No, not particularly...”

“If you don’t wish for ingredients to be wasted, then would it not be wise to take the initiative and offer advice?”

“It isn’t as if they could achieve the same taste even if they use the same methods as I do, and it is only natural that each chef has their own unique way of utilizing ingredients... Your explanation of how these ingredients are used and their backgrounds was sufficient, Sir Timalo, so I have nothing to add,” Varkas halfheartedly replied.

In response, Timalo shrugged and said, “I see. But after this, we have the ingredients from Sym. You possess more knowledge on herbs and the like than anyone, Sir Varkas, so surely you cannot remain silent now.”

That comment received no response.

“Well then, please bring out the ingredients from Sym,” Timalo instructed Varkas’s apprentices, who once again disappeared into the pantry.

When they returned, they were holding a colorful assortment of herbs. The various scents were jumbled all together and struck my nose with quite a bit of force.

“Starting from the right, you have ira, shishi, nafua, and yural. The meat is smoked gyama. In this jar we have gyama horn. And then lastly, this is charred ramuria.”

“Ramuria? Is that the name of an animal rather than an herb?”

“Yes. It is apparently a type of red snake that lives on the plains of Sym.”

The word “snake” alone was enough to cause the chefs to go pale. Someone even staggered backward in response.

“They eat snakes in Sym? What a terribly repulsive custom...”

“Even in Sym, they are not well liked as an ingredient. However, charred ramuria is highly nutritious. There should also still be ramuria steeped in wine back in the pantry,” Varkas stated, turning toward Polarth. “Lord Polarth, gyama horns and charred ramuria are considered to be more like medicine than food in the east. It would require several years of training to utilize them in cooking. If you make a mistake with the amount you use, they can even be poisonous, so I believe it would be best for you to refrain from trying to sell them in town.”

“I see. In that case, we shall refrain from using those two ingredients. It is not as if an excess of either gets delivered,” Polarth said.

“You have my thanks...” Varkas replied. Though he remained expressionless, he looked quite relieved.

And so, that left the four varieties of herbs and the smoked gyama meat. The smoked meat had been cut into flat strips that reminded me of beef jerky. They were reddish-brown and looked a bit blackened, but I also spied a fair number of white lines of fat.

“We have fresh kimyuus and karon meat in Genos, so wouldn’t it be quite unusual for anyone to be interested in eating smoked meat? And the price is around double that of karon...” Timalo said.

“Yes, but one of the other chefs here may still be able to find a way to make something good with it. Whether they use it or not should be up to each individual chef to decide. I believe we should have everyone take a slice back with them to start,” Polarth countered.

“I suppose...”

“And that reminds me, there are some live gyama in the pens in the rear, are there not? That was certainly a surprise to see.”

Varkas almost seemed pained as he narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to Polarth. “Those gyama were specially delivered here on my personal request. The merchant group that brought them here is the only one in all of Sym that can deliver live gyama. They only visit Genos twice a year, and have said it is difficult to transport more than ten at a time. I can make use of all of them myself with no issues, so there is no need for anyone else to be brought in to deal with them...”

“But the house of Turan is in charge of paying for their feed while they are still alive, correct?”

“I will compensate them for that personally. And I can have a gyama pen built for them at my own house if I must.”

I didn’t think I had ever seen Varkas so flustered. Though his expression remained indecipherable, he was talking a bit quicker than usual, so I was pretty sure I was reading him right. In the face of his agitation, even Polarth had to let out a bit of an astounded chuckle.

“Very well. Then you shall take charge of the feed for the gyama and pay for the servants who have been tasked with looking after them. Does anyone else here wish to handle gyama meat badly enough to take on the same burden?”

Not a single chef replied.

However, I went ahead and raised my hand, then said, “Um...I specialize in giba meat, so I have no need for gyama meat, but would it be possible for us to see a live one? I’d like to know what they look like, since I’ve only ever seen a stuffed gyama head.”

“Yes, that would of course be fine. Don’t you agree, Sir Varkas?”

“Indeed, as long as you are simply looking.” At that, Varkas let out a heavy sigh, as if he had just finished a difficult task.

Glancing at the master chef out of the corner of his eye, Polarth brought a hand up to his plump cheek. “Still, a merchant group that can transport ten gyama... Sir Varkas, were you perhaps referring to the Black Flight Feathers?”

“Yes. The previous Count Turan had dealings with them going back seven years, I believe.”

“Ah, I see,” Polarth stated, glancing our way. However, he didn’t say anything further before turning his gaze back toward Varkas. “Well then, we shall have each of the chefs take some smoked gyama meat back with them, so could you offer an explanation on the herbs?”

“Yes... Ira strengthens the pumping of the heart, shishi promotes stomach and intestinal function, nafua helps with throat pain, and yural is said to weaken the potency of poisons.”

Varkas stopped talking at that point, causing Timalo to interject, “Er... Those are their medicinal effects. What we wish to know is how they can be used in cooking.”

“Ira will quickly break down when placed directly over flames, so it is not suitable for being used as a potherb. And when yural is heated, the aroma soon vanishes.”

Silence fell over the room.

“As I said, Sir Varkas...”

“How much more do you expect me to explain? I always utilize a great many herbs together, and each chef must use their own skills to determine how to pair them and in which amounts, is that not so?”

Timalo did not seem to know what to say in response.

“If you are asking me to reveal everything, I am willing to do so, but the combinations and quantities vary by dish. Before I can tell you all of that, you will first need an understanding of each of the more than twenty herbs I employ...”

“That’s enough. We will simply examine the taste and aroma of these four,” Timalo shot back, sounding like he was having to stop himself from clicking his tongue. Then he began personally cutting up the herbs.

The ira was shaped like a red maple leaf, the shishi looked like a yellow señorita banana, the nafua was long and narrow like bamboo grass, and the yural was like a pea green spring onion. Aside from the yural, they had each been dried out. We had been handed samples of all four at once, so it was difficult to tell which smell was coming from where at the moment.

“Ah, Rimee Ruu, you don’t have to force yourself to try these,” I whispered.

The young girl’s eyebrows drooped as she said, “I don’t? But I came along as a chef, so is it really okay for me to be the only one not doing my job?”

“There’s no need to push yourself to take part. Besides, the tongues of young children are highly sensitive, so you taste bitterness and spiciness more intensely than the rest of us.”

“Is that really true? But Lala’s worse with bitter stuff than I am.”

“Yeah, so maybe Lala Ruu’s tongue is still like a child’s.”

Rimee Ruu shot me a bright smile, apparently having decided that just smelling the herbs was enough.

“Oh, and you don’t need to push yourself either, Toor Deen. You’re only two years older than Rimee Ruu, after all.”

“No. I want to do all I can for my own sake too.”

Having said that, Toor Deen brought a bit of red ira leaf to her mouth, and instantly her eyes grew teary. It didn’t have all that strong of a smell, but when I bit into it, it was incredibly spicy. It seemed to be even more potent than chitt seeds, with a spiciness resembling that of a chili pepper.

Is this stuff actually good for your heart? It feels more like it would raise your blood pressure.

Next up was the banana-like shishi, which was pretty surprising as well. It had a refreshing scent, but its flavor stung sharply all the way up through my nose, and I could easily see it bringing someone to tears if you got your amounts wrong.

The nafua had an oddly grassy smell despite being dried out, and when I bit into it, I was greeted by an overwhelming bitterness. It was so strong that it seemed like it would be utterly unusable on its own.

Then you had the spring onion-like yural. When I touched it, I could feel how dense it was inside. It was so tough that it might have been more accurate to call it a branch rather than a stalk. It had a light, faint smell to it, and a minty taste. It was probably also going to prove difficult to cook with.

“These herbs all seem difficult to use... If you cook the yural, the aroma gets weaker, correct?” Timalo asked with a sour look.

“Yes,” Varkas replied with a small nod. “A bit of sweetness remains, but the flavor vanishes. It can be combined with something else that is sweet like sugar, honey, or fruit to give a dish a bit of color, or you can add it raw after cooking. Apparently, children will chew on it in place of sweets in Sym.”

“Hmm. So making confections with it is one possible route to take, then,” Timalo remarked, agreeing with Varkas for the first time. If it really was a mint-like herb, then that probably was the ideal way to use it.

“Still, as for the other herbs... Hmm, this ira leaf doesn’t seem all that different from chitt seeds, but its price is much higher, correct?”

“Yes. One leaf costs as much as fifty chitt seeds...so you would be better off using the latter if you cannot sense any significant difference between the two.”

With a sulky look, Timalo placed the plate back down on the workstation. “As Sir Varkas has stated, all of these herbs need to be paired with others in order to produce a good result. Please take some of each of them back with you and experiment in your own kitchens.”

“Indeed...” Varkas quietly added. There was still no emotion showing on his face, but he still looked incredibly disappointed to me.