Cooking with Wild Game (LN) - Volume 29 - Chapter 3.3

3

“Next, we have the vegetable dish.”

This one was also brought in and served by Tatumai, Shilly Rou, and the old woman. There were no covers over the plates this time around, but even so, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. They seemed to be hemispherical in shape, but they were covered in highly viscous creamy white sauce that completely obscured whatever was underneath.

They looked like they had a diameter of around six or seven centimeters, or about the size of a tennis ball that had been sliced in half. Rather than being nice and smooth, though, their surfaces were uneven enough that even the thick, plentiful sauce wasn’t enough to totally smooth them out. It almost looked like he had simply piled the ingredients up in order to create that shape. It certainly wasn’t a very substantial dish, but that was in line with how Varkas typically planned meals—he liked to serve light dishes after heavy ones.

“Some rather rare vegetables came into my possession for the first time in a while, so I used them to prepare this dish. It is called ‘tinfa and lemirom with fermented gyama milk.’”

I was even less sure of what it was after hearing the name. Still, it seemed I had at least learned what the sauce was. In all likelihood, it was the fermented gyama milk he had mentioned.

“You decided to use that tinfa and lemirom this soon? And I certainly did not expect to taste fermented gyama milk here in Selva,” Kukuluel said.

Varkas’s absent-minded gaze turned toward the merchant. “I hardly ever receive ingredients from the Barud region. It is an abundant land blessed with an inland sea and a number of major rivers, so I am told it is quite rare for people there to engage in trade by land. I would be truly grateful if more people would go there.”

“If the path through the forest’s edge sees use in the future, I would imagine the number of merchants from Sym passing by Barud will increase by a fair bit. I’ve found it to be a very appealing place to visit.”

Polarth, who had been listening closely to their exchange, then grabbed his fork. “Tinfa, lemirom, and fermented gyama milk are all ingredients I know only by name! I cannot wait to find out how they taste!”

“I’m very much looking forward to it too,” Merrim commented. And with that, she and a number of the other guests also excitedly reached for their forks.

Ai Fa leaned in close to my ear with a pensive look. “Asuta, this white milky substance on top seems similar to something we saw in Dabagg.”

“Yeah, that was probably some sort of fermented food too. But that was karon and this is gyama.”

A good while back, we had traveled to the nearby town of Dabagg, where we had been able to sample a wide variety of dishes made with karon meat. We had also eaten something very similar to this fermented milk there.

As I recall, they made it by stuffing karon milk into a sausage casing and letting it ferment. It went down smoothly and was basically like yogurt without much sweetness to it. I wonder what it’ll taste like this time.

The ingredients hidden underneath were also a complete mystery. And so, with great anticipation and curiosity welling up inside of me, I gave it a try.

I stabbed my fork into the top of my helping, and found it to be soft and tender. When I gently pulled back, a piece of a vegetable in the shape of a flat square came loose. It was around five millimeters thick, and when I checked the underside of the vegetable where the sauce wasn’t covering it, I found that it was white as well. Also, there seemed to be another layer of that same vegetable underneath the bit I had removed. It looked like he had made the dish by layering five-centimeter-wide square cuts of the vegetable on top of one another.

Is it soft because it was boiled, or because the vegetable was soft to begin with? I suppose I won’t know until I try it.

Having finished my analysis, I took a bite of the white sauce-covered vegetable, and an unexpected taste burst forth, leaving me somewhat surprised. I had been expecting it to be sour, typical of dairy products of this type, but instead I was hit with the flavors of all sorts of herbs.

I should’ve known. Of course simple fermented milk wouldn’t be enough for Varkas.

The chef had already astounded me in the past with one of his other vegetable dishes. I had assumed that he would use this course to give our tongues a rest after the shaska and meat dish, but that had been foolish of me. The dish had an amazing aroma, and its flavor was incredibly complex.

I found it difficult to hazard a guess as to what sort of ingredient fermented gyama milk was. It was indeed primarily sour, but rather than just being plain fermented milk, there seemed to be some other source of sourness in it, perhaps originating from mamaria vinegar, or some kind of fruit or herb.

There was also a mellow sweetness layered on top of the sourness, and this time where it came from was no mystery. I was easily able to pick out the flavors of the panam honey and minmi fruit juice that had produced it.

There was even a fair bit of saltiness and spiciness to it as well. The spiciness was sharp, and reminded me of sansho pepper, and I had also noticed a bit of that in the shaska from before. The aroma that accompanied it contained some bitter notes as well.

As for the unfamiliar vegetable, the crisp texture it had was quite pleasant. Due to the overly striking flavor of the fermented-gyama-milk-based sauce, I couldn’t make out the taste of the vegetable itself, but I could certainly tell that its texture paired very well with the taste of the sauce.

What is this? Its texture feels really familiar somehow...

It was a little rude to do so, but I decided to push aside a bit of the sauce on one of the vegetable pieces. It was white and square, though I had no clue what shape it had been originally. The surface was slippery, and I saw what looked like faint leafy veins running along the flesh.

Further observation revealed that it didn’t have a consistent thickness. It was five millimeters at its thickest, but was only two or three at its thinnest. I felt like the previous piece that I had eaten had been thicker overall, but this one was sagging under the weight of gravity in its thinner parts.

So then, it wasn’t cut to this thickness; this is the shape it had originally, huh? Taking its sort of leafy appearance into account, is it a leafy vegetable like tino?

I took a little bite of the vegetable without any sauce on it, and a shocking sweetness filled my mouth—the sweetness of panam honey and minmi that I had picked up on before. It had been coming from the vegetable.

I’m at a loss. This stuff must have been steeped in panam honey and minmi fruit juice. There’s no way I can make out its original flavor like this.

But where had that sense of déjà vu I had felt before come from, then? If it wasn’t because of the flavor, then that just left the texture. It was crisp and brimming with moisture. If you removed the peach- and maple-syrup-like tastes from the equation...it seemed like the texture might have been similar to that of napa cabbage.

What’s the actual answer, though? If it really is something like napa cabbage, I’d definitely love to use it, I thought.

A moment later, Polarth spoke up with a question. “Hmm, this is yet another mysterious taste! Which is the tinfa and which is the lemirom?”

“The tinfa is found along the surface, while the lemirom is hidden inside,” Varkas said.

Upon hearing that there was another ingredient within the little hemisphere, I started digging further into it as I ate. There wasn’t all that much volume to the dish, so the lemirom showed itself after I went through around three more layers of tinfa.

“My, how adorable! It’s like a little baby dumpling!” Eulifia said excitedly.

Sure enough, it was a perfectly round little dumpling, three centimeters or so in diameter. It was deep green in color, and when I added some sauce to it and took a bite, I found that it had a unique, pleasant crumbly texture that easily broke down in my mouth. It had a candy-like sweetness to it, and it seemed like some minmi that had been boiled down into a sort of jam had been mixed into it as well.

“Both tinfa and lemirom have textures you cannot find in other vegetables, and I believe that they harmonize well with sweet flavors. The fermented gyama milk I prepared to go with them is what I find to be the most fitting pairing,” Varkas explained.

“Then, when you aren’t able to get ahold of tinfa and lemirom, would you use other vegetables as substitutes?” Polarth asked.

“Yes. I will often use sweet boiled tino and nenon, or even chamcham,” Varkas said, and then his gaze shifted my way. “Sir Asuta, what are your thoughts regarding tinfa and lemirom?”

“Well, I’d say this is definitely good. But you added so many different flavors that I can’t make out the original tastes of the vegetables at all.”

“I see. Would it be difficult for you to make delicious food using these ingredients?”

“Huh? Well, there’s no way for me to know until I actually give it a try. But these ingredients are rare, aren’t they?”

“They are indeed. But if other chefs begin seeking out tinfa and lemirom, the nobles may begin to take an interest in promoting trade with the Barud region. In order to achieve that goal, I believe that it will be essential to...share them...with you, Sir Asuta,” Varkas said, placing a hand to his chest and knitting his brows with a pained look. It caused him distress to share precious ingredients with anyone, but if more people were to learn about what could be done with them, that would benefit him in the long run. That must have been the dilemma playing out in his mind. It really was just like him.

“Right now, you are the only buyer for the ingredients Sir Kukuluel brought from Barud, correct, Sir Varkas? Around half of what was delivered is still in storage in a pantry, so could we ask for your assistance with popularizing them in the post town once more, Sir Asuta?” Polarth asked.

“Of course,” I replied with a nod. “I’m still not too sure what sort of ingredients they are, but they don’t seem to be overly quirky. I would definitely be happy to do what I can if that’s all right.”

“In that case, I would like to have you give them a close examination sometime. It would be nice to have easterners do more business with Barud, but it would also be very beneficial to enter into dealings with a land we have not had ties with up until now, especially considering our surplus of fuwano,” Polarth said.

There had been a dramatic decrease in the use of fuwano in the Genos domain, and this would provide new customers for it. From the other side of the table, I noticed Torst shooting me a pleading look.

“Barud is located half a month’s journey from Genos by wagon, correct, Sir Kukuluel?” Polarth continued.

“Yes. I have heard that people from Genos purchase live fish from the rivers between here and there. If you follow those rivers northwest, you shall arrive at the inland sea of Barud.”

“Ah yes, I see. If a route can be properly established, travel to and from should not prove difficult. In that case, I would like to officially request that you examine those ingredients, Sir Asuta. There should be a number of other ones besides the tinfa and lemirom for you to take a look at as well.”

“Of course.”

We had been talking for some time, so at that point, Varkas bowed and addressed the room. “Well then, I must briefly depart in order to put the finishing touches on the meat dish. This is something I must attend to personally. I thank you for your patience.”

We were still in the midst of eating the vegetable dish, so we all went back to savoring it as we waited for Varkas to return.

The people most responsible for driving the conversations in the room were Polarth and Merrim at our table, and Eulifia at the other one. Neither easterners nor people of the forest’s edge were big talkers, so it seemed only natural that the nobles were taking the lead.

“Shumiral, I was surprised, when I heard, that you changed gods...” I heard Arishuna say, which immediately caught my attention. “My people, were exiled, from Sym. But we did not, change gods, to Selva. Perhaps that, has made me, overly curious, about the subject, and yet I can’t, help but ask...what does, it feel like, to do so?”

Shumiral brought a hand to his mouth and pondered the question. Beside him, Vina Ruu’s gaze turned down toward the table. I didn’t think even Arishuna could’ve guessed that the one who had caused the man to choose to discard his homeland was seated right there. I found myself unable to look away from them.

“Well...even if I have, changed gods, it does not, change the fact, that I was born, in Sym. I shall remain, eternally grateful, for that.”

“Does that not, make it all, the more painful?”

“It does not. I am happy, with my new life, at the forest’s edge. Selva is the one, who brought me, this joy, so I have, no hesitation, declaring myself, a child of, the western god.”

“I see... You are, a very strong person. I am, impressed.”

“I do not know, if I am strong, or not. But I am, often told, that I am, a strange man,” Shumiral replied with a faint smile. That expression by itself was proof that he considered himself a westerner now.

Arishuna narrowed her eyes as if she were staring at something dazzling as she looked at him. “Shumiral, you...”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Ah, no... It is forbidden, to speak of, the movements, of the stars, of those who, do not wish, to hear. Do you want, to know, where your star, is heading?”

“No. I wish to decide, my future, by myself.”

“Very well,” Arishuna said, holding her tongue.

Next to Shumiral, I breathed a stealthy sigh, and Vina Ruu silently looked back up from the table.

After that, Merrim asked Kukuluel about his travels, and they discussed that for a bit. Once everyone had cleared their plates, Varkas finally reappeared pushing a cart, with three people following him. This time, though, Tatumai had been replaced by Bozl.

“Thank you for waiting. We shall now present the meat dish.”

Bozl went around laying out plates with silver dome covers in front of each of us, smiling and bowing as he went. Out of everyone in Varkas’s group, this southerner was the only one who was particularly friendly. A few of us, such as Rimee Ruu, were happy to smile back at him in return.

“This dish consists of three varieties of herb-grilled meat.”

As the covers were removed, the most striking aroma yet filled the air. Up until now, all of the dishes aside from the shaska had been served cold, so their scents had been nothing but an appetizer leading up to this one.

Sure enough, there were three different pieces of meat atop the plates. They were long and narrow in shape, and were positioned so that they radiated out from a central point. Colorful vegetables and herbs filled the spaces between them, and a dark green sauce had been drizzled over everything.

“This certainly does have a luxurious appearance!” Polarth remarked in admiration alongside the other residents of the castle town. Naturally, I shared that opinion.

“What meat is this, exactly?” Kukuluel asked, and Varkas turned his way, leaving the cleaning up of the carts to his apprentices.

“Karon back meat, kimyuus chest meat, and finally eraupa.”

“Eraupa?”

“It is a type of freshwater fish, of a kind that we briefly discussed a moment ago.”

Sure enough, there was what looked like a slice of fish on our plates. It seemed to be from a white fish, but the surface had been well cooked to a golden brown. If I recalled correctly, among the four kinds of freshwater fish that I knew about, there was one type called a gilebuss that was basically a huge snakehead, and another char-like one called a rillione. That left two other types of freshwater fish: one that looked like a black porgy and another that resembled a parrotfish.

This cut looks pretty thick, so I guess it’s from that parrotfish-like one. I remember them looking like they’d be pretty tasty when cooked.

As for the other cuts, the karon had been grilled to a reddish-brown, while the kimyuus was more whitish. Both were around one and a half centimeters thick, and the kimyuus meat still had skin on it. Judging from how they were seared, I figured he must have cooked them in an oven.

“To use kimyuus, karon, and freshwater fish all at once... Just what I’ve come to expect from you, Sir Varkas! I’ve never seen a dish like this before!” Polarth declared.

“I am honored. Please, eat while the food is still hot.”

It seemed like this dish would call for a knife and fork. For the sake of my fellow people of the forest’s edge, I went ahead and took the lead, picking up both utensils. Once I had provided them with a demonstration of what to do, they all followed along and cut into the meat.

I started with the safest choice, the kimyuus chest meat. The mildly flavorful meat was similar to chicken tenders, but with the skin still on, it certainly didn’t come across as being overly basic. Besides, the herbs it had been grilled in had given it an incredibly striking aroma, so there was no way it would have a dull taste.

It also had an impressive array of vegetables accompanying it, but I started with just a bite of the meat on its own, and when I tried it, an even richer flavor than I had expected spread all throughout my mouth. Sourness had been the core of the last dish, but this time around, I found myself unsure how to describe the taste. It was very much the sort of unbelievably complex flavor that Varkas specialized in—sweet, spicy, bitter, and sour. A dizzying torrent of scents and flavors washed over me. The courses we’d had so far had utilized a huge range of herbs, but it never got to be too much, which really spoke to the chef’s skills.

No matter what he was working on, he was meticulous in his craft. Just looking at the sweet part of the flavor, he had used sugar, honey, fruits, and even herbs all blended together to produce it.

The spiciness felt chili-pepper-like at its core. But in addition to the readily identifiable chitt seeds and ira leaves, there seemed to be a number of other aromas mixed in. Even if chitt seeds had served as the base, numerous other herbs had been incorporated in order to both make the chitt stand out and harmonize it with the other flavors.

For the sourness, there was a strong taste of mamaria, but it also seemed like he might have added fermented gyama milk here too.

As for the bitterness, he had used not only gigi leaves, but also something with an astringent flavor that I was unfamiliar with. Whether it was fish liver or medicinal alcohol from Sym, Varkas often employed a bunch of ingredients that I had never used. That being the case, there was no real point in trying to figure out what I was tasting.

“This is truly delicious! I cannot possibly imagine offering any complaints!” Polarth joyfully exclaimed.

“And this fish is very good as well. What a truly mysterious taste,” Merrim excitedly chimed in.

Across from the married couple, Vina Ruu’s and Shumiral’s eyes were wide with amazement.

“How surprising. This is, the first time, I have eaten a dish, like this.”

“Truly. I’m at a complete loss for words.”

As I listened to the chatter around the table, I gave the karon meat a try, and it really shocked me. It was as if I was eating an entirely different dish.

Karon had a stronger flavor than kimyuus, and it reminded me of high-quality beef. Despite everything that had been added to it in the dish we were currently eating, the way that it had been prepared seemed to emphasize that delicious flavor, rather than muting it.

I feel like the vibe suddenly shifted, even though the sauce is exactly the same.

I was a bit thrown, but it seemed clear that these weren’t dishes that had been prepared separately. The karon had been imbued with the same complex flavoring as the kimyuus chest meat, but the addition of the clear sense of presence it had resulted in an incredible change in the impression it gave.

My heart started beating a bit quicker in anticipation as I reached for the slice of fish, which turned out to be equally surprising. The sauce and herb flavors harmonized so perfectly with the fish that it felt like they had to have been specifically tailored to it. And as I chewed, I felt confusion wash over me.

If I switch back to the kimyuus chest meat here, will it feel lacking? I thought, but that was not the case at all. When I gave the kimyuus meat yet another try, I felt like that one was the best version. The tenderness of the kimyuus and the oily skin that was nice and fragrant after having been grilled combined splendidly with the complex flavoring. It had a deliciousness that was truly distinct.

Holding on to that thought, I gave the karon and eraupa another try, and once again found them to be absolutely sublime as well. Amazed, I continued to go around and around the dish, eating it in a cycle.

It is no simple feat to use karon, kimyuus, and fish at the same time, and then make them all stand out to boot.

In order to calm myself back down a bit, I tried some of the accompanying vegetables, and found that they were exceptionally tasty too.

Tino, nenon, pula, ma pula, chamcham, ro’hyoi, chan... Those seemed to be the vegetables he had used. They were equivalent to cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, paprika, bamboo shoots, arugula, and zucchini respectively. On top of that, I noticed the cloud-ear-like and brown-beech-like mushrooms, as well as a variety of herbs.

Some of the herbs had been sliced finely and cooked alongside the vegetables in the oven, while others seemed to have been cooked in advance and powdered. And knowing Varkas, he had probably removed any herbs that had only been meant to add flavoring after the cooking process. After all, I couldn’t imagine such a complex taste coming from just the herbs I could see in the dish.

Of course, he must have employed a good number of seasonings and herbs in the sauce that had been added to the entire dish. And he had clearly done something to the meat and vegetables in advance as well before cooking them together in an oven. In all likelihood, he had marinated them in a totally different sauce.

He had put in an absolute ton of effort, and the end result was a dish that felt truly complete. It felt like I was being shown Varkas’s true skill for the first time.

“Asuta, eating them all at once may be the best way to approach this dish,” Ai Fa whispered to me.

“Huh?” I said, turning toward her.

My clan head was pointing at the end of her own fork, which had small pieces of karon, kimyuus, and eraupa skewered on it together. “I tried mimicking what that Kukuluel man was doing, and I found it was most delicious this way. Of course, it’s still quite tasty otherwise as well.”

Finding myself at a loss for words, I went ahead and did as Ai Fa had instructed. And when I tried the result, I found that she had undoubtedly been speaking the truth. Now, all three types of meat were serving to elevate one another while also harmonizing sublimely.

After that, I tried each of the different combinations of two as well, and astoundingly, all of them were incomparably delicious. At that point, I was feeling an incredibly deep sense of admiration for Varkas’s work. It was almost as if he had cast some sort of spell on me.

“Is it to your tastes, Sir Asuta?” Varkas asked.

“Of course,” I replied. “After the last few months, it seems like I’ve started to forget how much you’ve always surprised me. This is just as shocking as the first time I tried your cooking.”

“I am honored to hear you say as such,” Varkas stated. But of course, he didn’t show any emotion even then. However, his eyes seemed to be staring intently at me and me alone.