Save the Starving Frontier! The “Buyer” of the Reversed Chastity World - 18

Chapter 18: Let’s Eat Pasta!

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

After completing the distribution to both the commoner and noble districts, the knight order returned. Commander Sharon looked completely unfazed, even though she had been the one drawing up plans and giving orders—the toughest position of all—she still had energy to spare.

As expected of the knight commander.

“Good work. Want some lunch?”

“Lunch? We eat at noon as well? We just ate in the morning.”

Apparently, in this world even nobles normally only ate two meals a day. Sure, now three meals was common, but I’d heard that in the past it used to be just one or two meals a day. That explained how they could eat such a heavy breakfast without batting an eye.

“You don’t get hungry on just two meals?”

“We do snack, to some extent. But not at a set time in the day.”

That sounded unhealthy. But then again, thinking about it… Even the famous afternoon tea had originally started as a habit to stave off hunger, since people got hungry with only two meals a day.

That was why the lowest tier of an afternoon tea set came with sandwiches. But, as sandwiches showed, it wasn’t meant to be a full meal, just a light bite.

“So basically, a light meal. …Got it. If that’s all right, I’ll prepare something.”

“Very well, in that case, I’ll accept it. Thank you.”

Great. So they didn’t even have a lunch habit here. The only reason Etna and the others had been eating at noon was because they’d just come out of a famine. 

If food was prepared, they would’ve eaten five meals a day without hesitation. In fact, they’d already been eating bread that often.

“For a light meal, pasta comes to mind. …Does this city have noodles?”

“Of course it does. Cheese macaroni is a favorite of mine.”

I relaxed for a moment—too soon. Apparently, in this world macaroni didn’t have holes. They kneaded wheat into rods, cut them short, and that was the common pasta. The simplest kind of short pasta.

Even in Japan, the macaroni used in minestrone wasn’t always hollow—it could be small shell-shaped pasta grains.

“Wonder if long pasta will be okay… Anyway, I will give it a try.”

I ordered a pasta set from Pierrot, famous for its delicious dressings. It was a pasta specialty shop, but their salads were also excellent. Especially the crushed mixed nuts sprinkled over the vegetables—they were downright addictive.

Looking at the long cream pasta, Commander Sharon tilted her head.

“Long… Isn’t it? How do you eat this?”

“You stab a little with your fork, twist it to wrap, and bring it to your mouth. It’s spinach and bacon pasta, so the taste should be close to the ham I served you before.”

“I see.” 

Commander Sharon gave it a try. By the second or third attempt, she managed to twist the fork properly and bring it to her mouth.

“Mmm, delicious! I can taste wheat, milk, and butter! The vegetables are sweet and melt in the mouth!”

It seemed like the flavor was familiar to her. So white sauce suited her palate. When I asked, it turned out béchamel sauce hadn’t been developed here yet—in fact, she asked me how to make it.

In this world, the standard sauces seemed to be either cheese-based or butter-based. Well, béchamel—white sauce—was basically a butter sauce too. You sauté flour in butter, season it, and then stretch it with milk.

“I see. Next time, I’ll have the head chef try to make it.”

“When you stretch the sauce, make sure to warm the milk. Otherwise, the gelatinized flour will cool, harden, and won’t dissolve properly.”

“Gelatinize?” 

She asked. Did they not make paste from wheat the way rice was used to make glue? It turned out, they did. Once I explained, she finally understood the concept.

Yeah, when wheat thickens while hot, if it cools suddenly it clumps up. That creates lumps of flour, and the sauce doesn’t come out smooth.

“Indeed, flour lumps sound unpleasant on the tongue. I’ll be careful then.”

“If you pour that sauce over cheese macaroni and bake it, it becomes a dish called ‘gratin.’”

White sauce really was versatile. Simmer chicken in it, and you had cream stew—called fricassée in French cuisine. Add it to a bouillon stew, and you got the ever-popular white stew.

“Hm…? You pour wheat sauce over wheat macaroni and bake it?”

“You’re already pouring wheat sauce over wheat noodles with this pasta, aren’t you? That’s the kind of taste it makes.”

“I see.” 

Commander Sharon nodded. This commander had a surprisingly clueless side, didn’t she? Serious to a fault, or maybe just stiff-minded.

Rather than argue, I ordered a macaroni gratin from the Western-style restaurant Bistro Ken. When she ate it, Commander Sharon’s eyes widened.

“This macaroni has holes! …I see, so this is the taste. It feels comforting somehow. And with holes, the sauce comes out from inside too! It’s delicious!”

She asked how the holes were made. Well…I’d seen something in a video about hand-made pasta.

“You wrap the dough around a thin skewer, stretch it a little, then pull the skewer out.”

“Ah, I understand!”

Basically the hole wasn’t drilled—it was made by shaping. If they could already make short pasta, all they’d need was skewers to make the hole.

“I see, indeed. If that’s how it’s made, this macaroni would suit sauce-based dishes. The flavor soaks inside and comes out nicely.”

Exactly. With solid rods of dough, the sauce never reached the center. That was why I preferred thin-sheet pastas like lasagna over clump types like gnocchi. Even in Japan, wide noodles like kishimen or Taihaku’s thick vermicelli were popular because they could retain the sauce more.

“Hmm. Seeing such cooking methods, I truly feel you might be a messenger from the heavens. So then, what other heavenly dishes are there? Surely, there are more?”

There were too many to know where to start. I didn’t even know what dishes already existed in this world.

“I’ll tell you when I remember.”

“Very well. Someday, I’d like you to meet the head chef at the Margrave’s mansion. You might both learn a lot from each other.”

I wondered, did this world have tomatoes? To test, I ordered Napolitan, meat sauce, and Bolognese from Bistro Ken. Bolognese was basically meat sauce mixed in a pan. Add anchovies and garlic, and it became puttanesca—“prostitute” pasta.

“Ah, this is the taste of tomato. We do have it in this region. A rare vegetable grown in the mountains.”

So they had it after all. Tomatoes originated in highland climates. Since they made good broth, I could see why they were valued. The reason they hadn’t spread to the commoner district was because they were expensive.

The mountains were essentially monster nests, making cultivation difficult. Harvesting was usually left to adventurers, so only small amounts reached the market. The pasta seemed well received, so we decided to share it with the entire knight order. 

Etna and the others happily joined in as well. Etna and Pirika were especially delighted by the taste of tomato, consciously experiencing it for the first time.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー