Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 22 - Chapter 1.3

3

Ingredients from other towns in Selva were also shown off, but none of them were new to me.

They included the familiar chan and ro’hyoi, green tarapa, especially large chatchi, and a variety of nenon that was white and very sweet. A far-off place like the capital, Algrad, would probably have an abundance of remarkable ingredients, but this time around, only merchant groups from nearby towns had made deliveries. The chefs that were gathered also knew about chan and ro’hyoi, so there was no need to offer an explanation before making deals to purchase them.

With that, Timalo and the other chefs picked up their shares of the ingredients and left the kitchen, leaving only us chefs from the forest’s edge, Varkas’s group, and Polarth. At this point, it was half past the lower fourth hour. The leading clan heads’ meeting had started at the lower third hour, so it was possible they would be heading home soon. However, we still had the crucial back half of our job here to take care of.

“My apologies for the late introduction. You are Sir Mikel’s daughter, are you not?” Varkas said, offering her a bow as they stood with a workstation separating them. “I am Varkas of The Silver Star. Though Sir Mikel and I were not acquaintances, I tasted his cooking many times at The Maiden in White. Our methods differed greatly, but I always felt that he was one of the foremost chefs in all of Genos.”

“Thank you. I’m sure if my father heard that, it would make him very happy,” Myme replied, her cheeks flushed as she bowed back. “I’ve heard of you from my father too. Would it be possible to sample your cooking today?”

“Yes. It would not do to have only your group trouble yourselves.”

“I’m very glad to hear it, and honored too. I can’t imagine you’ll be very satisfied with my cooking, but I prepared the best dish I can manage at the moment, so I would very much appreciate hearing your impressions.”

The members of our group had already completed our dishes, and they were just being kept warm now. So, what sort of dish would Varkas, Myme, Reina Ruu, Sheera Ruu, and I be trying first?

“We’re the most inexperienced out of everyone here, so could you sample our dish first?” Reina Ruu called out.

Rimee Ruu and Yun Sudra helped set the table, putting plates in front of Varkas’s group. The dish in question was their teriyaki stew. Polarth was excitedly wringing his hands as he looked at it.

“Yes, this looks truly delicious. My stomach has been making quite a commotion since we sampled the black fuwano dipping soba. Though it is a time in between meals, I’ve been terribly hungry for quite a while now.”

“I hope it’s to your liking...” Reina Ruu replied, but she and Sheera Ruu were staring straight at Varkas and no one else.

“Well then, let’s give it a try.”

Showing no enthusiasm at all, Varkas picked up his metal spoon, and everyone else did the same.

For a while there was nothing to be heard but the sound of slurping soup, and I felt even more nervous than I did at the thought of my own dish being tasted. Unlike their stew from last time, this was one of Reina and Sheera Ruu’s two most well-developed original dishes. If Varkas said this one was no good as well, there was a good chance the two of them would be left feeling pretty depressed about it.

Finally, Varkas broke the stifling silence by saying, “Delicious... The tau oil and sugar have come together in perfect harmony. And this flavor... Did you use mamaria wine from Genos?”

“Yes. Asuta taught us that the sweetness from the fruit wine is more important than the sweetness from the sugar in this dish,” Sheera Ruu replied, as Reina Ruu had fallen silent.

“You added tau oil and fruit wine to the tarapa base, correct? Then you added sugar, salt, dried pico leaves...and is that panam honey as well?”

“Yes, we used a little of it when grilling the giba meat.”

“I see. Giba meat comes from undomesticated animals, so it has an incredibly powerful, wild flavor. And yet, this blend manages to bring everything into a proper balance,” Varkas commented with a nod, then he silently looked over Sheera and Reina Ruu. “My apologies, but are you truly the same women who attended the previous taste testing?”

“Huh? What do you...?”

“I am truly sorry. I am very bad at remembering faces. And though I know it is quite rude to say so, the fact that you all wear the same attire makes it even harder for me to tell you apart.”

Sheera Ruu broke out in a somewhat troubled smile and replied, “Yes, we are absolutely the same chefs from the forest’s edge who attended that event. I’m very sorry that we served such a poor dish last time.”

“I see. I find it hard to believe both dishes were made by the same people. If you had told me Sir Asuta prepared this, I might well have believed you,” Varkas stated, and then he turned his gaze toward Roy. “It seems you were right to say the chefs of the forest’s edge were not to be underestimated, uh...”

“It’s Roy. Don’t you think it’s about time you at least remembered my name?” Roy replied with a sour look.

“My apologies,” Varkas said back with a bow. “It is just as you said, Sir Roy. It is quite a surprise that there are other chefs besides Sir Asuta there who can prepare such a dish.”

“Varkas, you don’t need to call a mere assistant ‘sir,’” Shilly Rou instantly remarked, only for Varkas to tilt his head.

“But it is not as if I have hired Sir Roy, so I cannot treat him so impolitely. I have no intention of referring to someone such as him without a title.”

“Huh? You didn’t take Roy on as an apprentice, Varkas?” I interjected without thinking.

“No,” Varkas replied, shaking his head. “These three are more than enough for me, so I do not have the leeway to take on any more. That is why I decided to decline his request to become my apprentice.”

“But he wouldn’t back down, so he’s been helping with our work rather than Varkas’s, on the condition that he doesn’t get in Varkas’s way,” Bozl added with a largehearted grin. “He isn’t even being paid, so you can’t really call him an assistant either. He simply wishes to stand alongside us and assist with our work so he can study even a little of Varkas’s techniques.”

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

I glanced at Roy, but he turned away in a huff. There was plenty I wanted to say to him, but most of it would have been too embarrassing for him at a place and time like this. And so, I just secretly admired his determination.

“Still, this dish truly is delicious. You show excellent skill at handling meat, just as Sir Asuta does. It’s a lively flavor, no doubt precisely because it is giba rather than kimyuus or karon. That is undoubtedly why Varkas feels this dish is just so right,” Bozl remarked, then with a joking shrug of his thick shoulders added, “Well, I already realized how skilled you two are when I went to the post town. I told Varkas as much too, but it doesn’t seem my words reached his ears at all.”

“It did indeed reach my ears. However, as I have said, I cannot truly know such a thing until I have tasted a dish with my own tongue.” Varkas’s elusive gaze then slowly turned our way. “At any rate, this dish seems to have been created along the same lines as yours, Sir Asuta. Are these women your apprentices?”

“I wouldn’t say that, but I’ve taught them a variety of things.”

“I see. Then that places them in the same position as my apprentices... I very much look forward to seeing what sort of dishes Bozl and the others will invent someday, having studied my techniques.” With that, Varkas’s gaze fixated on Reina and Sheera Ruu. “You two will surely also begin to walk a different path than Sir Asuta eventually. When that time comes, I will be eagerly awaiting all the new dishes you are going to create as well.”

“Thank you very much. Your cooking shook us quite a bit, so it is quite an honor to hear you say that,” Sheera Ruu said with a deep bow, and then she turned toward Reina Ruu with a smile. At the same moment, all the strength seemed to drain from Reina Ruu’s body, and she had to start leaning against Sheera Ruu. “Wh-What’s the matter, Reina Ruu? Are you not feeling well?”

“I’m sorry... I just suddenly felt all weak...” As Sheera Ruu helped to support her, Reina Ruu also bowed to Varkas with some barely noticeable tears welling up in her eyes. “Thank you, Varkas. I am truly grateful to hear those words, from the depths of my heart.”

“My words carry no such weight. What you should value instead are Sir Asuta’s words alone.”

Varkas was quite blunt, but that didn’t matter at all. After all, Reina and Sheera Ruu looked utterly overjoyed, huddled up against one another. To them, Varkas was someone special, so I felt just as happy for them as I would if it had been me receiving his acknowledgment.

“Well then, could we try my dish next?” Myme asked, and fresh plates were quickly handed out. It was a dish made with giba meat and vegetables boiled in a karon-milk-based broth and then sandwiched between two pieces of baked poitan.

“Hmm. This is the dish you sold in the post town, isn’t it?” Bozl asked.

“Yes!” Myme answered with an energetic nod. “I was busy running my stall during the revival festival, so I wasn’t able to focus on my studies. As such, I haven’t had time to come up with a recipe better than this one yet. My apologies for presenting such a crude dish.”

“Oh-ho, this dish smells truly delicious as well,” Polarth said, being the first to have picked up his plate. “Yes, this is fantastic!” he remarked, eyes sparkling. “It’s absolutely delectable, and not crude in the least... Ah, and Yang has been praising you quite a lot as well. I’ve been so busy that I keep completely forgetting to mention it when I visit the post town. Yes, your skills truly rival those of Sir Asuta.”

“Thank you very much,” Myme replied with a sigh of relief. It seemed her greatest concern really had been earning the displeasure of a noble like Polarth.

Meanwhile, Varkas and his apprentices, Shilly Rou aside, were all reacting in the same way as they had when eating Reina and Sheera Ruu’s dish. Which is to say, Varkas and Tatumai remained expressionless, Bozl smiled, and Roy wore a sour look.

As for Shilly Rou, the look on her face was incredibly serious. The portions of Myme’s dish that we had been given only amounted to about three bites’ worth, but she was taking her time meticulously chewing every last morsel. There was an almost bloodcurdling level of intensity about her.

“This is Sir Mikel’s cooking,” Varkas eventually said in a tone I couldn’t read any emotion from. “Ah, no, I do not mean that Sir Mikel created this same dish in the past. But it was made using his techniques.”

“Yes, my father is the one who instructed me... Of course, I believe I’ve also been influenced by Asuta lately too.”

“Sir Asuta’s skills are rather similar to Sir Mikel’s, to be sure. However, you truly are Sir Mikel’s child,” Varkas stated, his gaze fixed directly onto Myme. “You are Lady Myme, correct? Just how old are you, exactly?”

“As of this silver month, I’m eleven years old.”

“Eleven... Then you are seven years younger than Sir Asuta and Shilly Rou.”

Now that he mentioned it, Shilly Rou had been the same age as me, but now that the new year had arrived, she had turned eighteen. However, I had decided that the twenty-fourth of the yellow month, the day when I had appeared at the forest’s edge, would be my new birthday, so I still considered myself to be seventeen.

At any rate, Varkas seemed to be in really high spirits, even if he was silent and unmoving at the moment.

“I sense that you have already grasped the flavor that you are seeking. While it may be rude of me to say so, this single dish may even be closer to perfection than the ones that Sir Asuta has presented.”

“N-No, that’s not true at all...”

“However, a chef who can only produce one dish cannot be called full-fledged. You are still so young, but the thought of all the dishes you will make from here on out... Just imagining it is enough to make me tremble with excitement.” At that, Varkas gave a small shake of his head and sighed. “However, I do have one concern. As Sir Asuta has said, young children possess quite a sharp sense of taste.”

“Huh?” I said without thinking. Was he referring to what I had said to Rimee Ruu and Toor Deen back when we were examining ingredients? But I had been lowering my voice to make sure no one else would overhear at the time...

“The level of sensitivity that your tongue retains in the long term could determine your future path. If you keep that fantastic sense of taste and continue to grow...I have no doubt that you will become a chef whose skill exceeds that of myself and Sir Mikel.”

“I could never exceed my father,” Myme replied with the exact same earnest smile as always. “But I’m honored just to hear you say that, Varkas. I want to continue following my father’s teachings and move forward step by step.”

“Yes, and I wish to live long enough to see the chef you will eventually grow to become,” Varkas said, and then he glanced at Shilly Rou. “Shilly Rou, a chef even younger than you has now proven her exquisite skills to us. I hope that you will keep on striving your hardest as well.”

“Of course...” Shilly Rou replied in a low voice. She didn’t seem to be as thrown out of sorts as when Varkas had praised me, but her eyes were blazing even more intensely than they had been back then.

“Well then, my dish is next up. Toor Deen, could you lend me a hand?” I said.

“Y-Yes, understood.”

My dish still needed some finishing touches, so we hurriedly finished them up, and Yun Sudra and the others carried it out for us.

“Ah, I have been looking forward to this dish,” Varkas stated, but then he tilted his head a little. “However, it seems to have a somewhat different aroma about it. Did you use dried seaweed and fish?”

“I’m impressed. You can figure out that much just from the smell, huh?”

The dish I had made was curry soba.

Varkas had been thoroughly taken with the giba curry that Bozl had brought back from the post town, and I had already been tasked with making black fuwano dipping soba today. With that in mind, I had figured this would be both the most fitting and least burdensome dish to prepare.

I had prepared it alongside the curry I made to sell, then combined it with the soup base I had thrown together here. The only thing I had added after that was some chatchi starch to maintain the creaminess.

Personally, I preferred curry udon, but it wasn’t as if it was bad with soba. During our one day off on the first of the silver month, I had carefully experimented with the ratio of the broth to the noodles, and I felt it had come out pretty good in the end.

“You said to make a curry using the best ingredients available in the pantry here, Varkas, but I was already able to get ahold of all the fresh ingredients I needed in the post town, so I don’t think much has changed about it. But it wouldn’t feel right to offer you the same dish you already ate, so I prepared this to go along with black fuwano soba.”

“So that thin and narrow black fuwano is inside of there?”

“Yes. It may be a little tricky to eat, but you seemed interested in hot soba too, so it felt just right.”

“Thank you. I feel as if my heart is beating faster before I’ve even tasted it,” Varkas stated, remaining expressionless all the same.

This dish was also being unveiled to Myme and the chefs of the forest’s edge for the first time, so I had prepared enough for everyone.

Reina Ruu, Sheera Ruu, and Toor Deen were using chopsticks for practice, but everyone else was using a fork-like utensil. Since Tatumai was the only one of them accustomed to eating noodle dishes, the rest all spun the soba around like it was pasta, then supported it with a spoon so it wouldn’t spill as they brought it to their mouths.

Unsurprisingly, the first one to speak up was once again Polarth. “Yes, this is delicious as well! In fact, I like it even better than the cold broth style you taught to the chefs earlier!”

“Is that so? Well, thank you very much. Still, preparing curry takes more time and is more expensive than the broth from before.”

“In the castle town, the cost would be no issue. It’s true that it is more difficult to eat this way, but I believe the people of Genos tend to enjoy hot dishes better.”

In that case, should I have gone with soba served in a hot broth instead of dipping soba? Well, eating the noodles would have been harder if they were coated in thick curry rather than thin broth, and if someone had had too much difficulty with it, the noodles could have gotten soggy in the meantime. That was why I had gone with the cold dipping soba instead of using a hot broth.

Polarth was still talking. “And besides, this curry dish was already fantastic to begin with! If even citizens of the post town who are utterly unfamiliar with Sym cooking can accept it, then it would surely be even more popular in the castle town. If you could teach the chefs of the castle town how to make it, then we could purchase even more herbs from Sym and...”

“That would not do,” Varkas calmly interjected.

In the short time that I had been looking away, he had completely cleared his teacup-sized portion. There wasn’t even any broth left.

“This was already discussed at the previous taste testing, but the recipes for delicious dishes are like treasure to chefs. One should refrain from giving them away carelessly.”

“But Sir Asuta just gave away his black fuwano noodle recipe a short while ago, and you said you would tell everyone exactly how you use herbs if it was necessary, did you not?”

“Methods to handle herbs and the complete recipe of a dish are different things entirely. As for the black fuwano noodles, once it becomes known that there is a recipe where fuwano is cut long and thin, others would be more or less capable of imitating it right away. Sir Asuta simply saved some time and effort in that process,” Varkas stated, still expressionless but now talking a little faster. “However, could anyone truly imitate this dish? This is Sir Asuta’s accomplishment and no one else’s. As such, only those whom he acknowledges should be taught how to prepare it. I certainly have no intention of teaching anyone but my apprentices how to make my dishes. That is how it should be for chefs.”

“Hmm, is that so? What are your thoughts on the matter, Sir Asuta?”

“Well, this dish was a perfectly common one back in my home country, so it doesn’t feel like anything I should need to hide...” But then I stopped and gave it some thought. Though I had a somewhat different perspective than Varkas, there was still something bothering me. “However, it took a great deal of time and effort to recreate the dish here, and the women of the forest’s edge helped me out a lot along the way. Naturally, that includes the women who are with us now. We grated a huge amount of herbs, checked the taste over and over, tried out all sorts of combinations, and finally managed to recreate this flavor. It’s possible I never would have completed the dish if I had tried to tackle it all on my own.”

At both the Ruu settlement and the Fa house, a great many women had been helping me with my work. I had gotten a ton of assistance on all of the dishes I had created lately, but the curry was definitely the one that had taken the greatest effort.

“It wouldn’t feel fair to all of them if I just carelessly gave away the recipe we worked so hard to perfect. I obviously very much welcome the use of our curry base to create unique dishes, like a couple people have been doing in the post town. But I want to take some more time and think carefully about what we should allow to be done with the spice blend we created together.”

“I see. If that is how you feel, Sir Asuta, then I of course shall not attempt to force you. Besides, the herbs that are used to make your curry are running a bit low at the moment,” Polarth said with a smile as he carefully wiped the yellow stains from around his mouth. “And it makes me truly glad to hear you express your honest feelings. After all, I want to continue working alongside the people of the forest’s edge, so please speak freely if I unwittingly make any more unreasonable requests.”

“Right. Thank you.”

“Still, it seems you are quite taken, Sir Varkas. You did not even participate in the taste testing for the black fuwano dipping soba, and yet your eyes seem to have caught fire after trying this dish.”

“This dish is special. Even in the castle town, not many chefs show such skill in handling herbs from Sym. And today, Sir Asuta included dried seaweed and fish in the recipe, enriching it even further.” Varkas’s deep green eyes slowly turned my way. “This dish has been perfected. The only room for additional consideration that I can see is in the selection of vegetables...”

“Ah, this is a dish I sell in the post town, so I try to keep the cost low. But when I make it at home, I use different vegetables and mushrooms.”

“But I told you I wished to try this dish in its perfected form...” Varkas stated, his graceful eyebrows drooping ever so slightly.

“Sorry about that. However—and I would say this about any other dish too—I don’t believe dishes have just one singular absolute form.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, take this dish for example. There’s no need to fixate on only using giba meat with it. You could make something similarly tasty with kimyuus or karon, and the vegetables that you use can be changed out based on personal tastes. The inn owners in the post town use their own preferred vegetables, and some people may just happen to find those versions tastier.” It seemed like the meaning of my words still hadn’t made it through to him, so I continued. “Back in my home country, there are restaurants that specialize in curry, where you can enjoy tons of different varieties. For example, it could be served with fried meat, have a cooked egg on top, or use lots of vegetables and mushrooms... And they would also adjust the level of spiciness and decide which type of broth to use for each recipe.”

“Even if you just change the broth you use, would it not be an entirely different dish at that point?”

“No. Thanks to the powerful flavor and aroma of the spices, they were all still considered curry. And everyone has their own favorite variety, so there’s no single absolute way to make it.”

After falling silent for a while, Varkas said, “I see... You most certainly are an extraordinary chef, Sir Asuta. That much is obvious, considering the fact that you come from overseas, but I feel like I finally understand what that means in the truest sense.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Lady Myme and those women from the forest’s edge are most certainly not all that far behind you in terms of skill. This curry feels special to me, but looking at the other dishes you have presented, their creations would seem to equal yours. And yet, you are still truly exceptional. Having been born in a completely foreign land, your way of thinking and the techniques you use are totally unique. That is why I have become so fixated on you, Sir Asuta,” Varkas stated, gently closing his eyes. “I cannot imitate your methods. However, I feel a desire to have more of your cooking, and I wish to know you better. I do not feel that way about any other chef. To me, you are a person no other can compare to, Sir Asuta.”

I bowed my head to him. “Thank you...”

Still, while Varkas looked to be in high spirits, I was feeling a bit lonesome. It wasn’t my own efforts that had made me unique. I had just been brought here from far away by some unseen hand of fate. It could very well be true that I was someone special here in this world, but that didn’t feel like something to be proud of.

Even so, it’s allowed me to be of use to everyone from the forest’s edge.

And by the same token, I had also been able to form a rather unusual bond with a chef like Varkas. So, instead of pointlessly withdrawing into myself, I made up my mind to just feel happy about the way things had played out.

And then, to wrap things up, it was finally time for us to sample Varkas’s cooking...