Save the Starving Frontier! The “Buyer” of the Reversed Chastity World - 23

Chapter 23: Let’s Gather the Cook!

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

While distributing food, a suggestion came up.

“We want vegetables. We want to try making dishes like the ones you make ourselves.”

I see. They had a point. The thing was, meat in this world seemed to taste really good. Apparently, magic beast meat tasted even better than pork or chicken, and since the veteran adventurers were now out hunting, they could get delicious beast meat.

So, they wanted to get vegetables, wheat, and seasonings to cook meals of their own. They said they couldn’t rely on my cooking forever. After all, there were cooks and people who made home-style meals in this city. I understood their desire to make tasty food. The fact that they now had the leeway to think about something beyond mere eating was a good sign.

“Sure thing. I don’t know what kind of vegetables here will be useful, but I’ll bring out a variety. You just tell me which ones could work in cooking.”

“Got it. I’m a cook too, so leave judging the ingredients’ flavors to me!”

The female cook braced herself with enthusiasm. Having that kind of motivation was a good thing. It meant the city’s vitality was beginning to return.

There were actually plenty of usable vegetables. First, taro root—that one had already been confirmed. Then cabbage, leeks, carrots, and spinach. There were turnips, but no daikon radish. When she bit into one by mistake, thinking it was turnip, the pungency of the daikon surprised the female cook.

There were no green peppers, but there were bell peppers. It looked like aromatic vegetables were available. There were also onions, though the ones here were shallots, closer to Western onions. She was surprised by how large they were. Well, shallots were usually small. There was also seri (Japanese parsley), celery, and winter melon.

She asked if I had anything like rhubarb, with its stalk-like stems. When I searched, I found some. I should’ve checked the Western produce section from the start. Herbs were also available, though apparently some were already sprouting locally. Seeds that had been left behind were now growing in kitchen gardens.

“Try the seasonings too.”

We sampled a variety of seasonings. Soy sauce and miso, being fermented soy products, didn’t exist in this cultural sphere. However, the fermented smell itself was at least tolerated. Since butter was also a fermented product, when I explained that it was the same kind of strong aroma, she understood.

Salt, sugar, and pepper. Sugar and pepper seemed to be luxury goods, so they were well received. They even asked me to provide just the seasonings. They winced at grain vinegar, but accepted flavored cooking vinegars. These had added salt and sugar, making them easy to use in cooking. They weren’t as sharply sour as grain vinegar.

Surprisingly, “mirin” was accepted too. They said it tasted like a very sweet kind of alcohol. Which was true—authentic mirin was indeed a type of alcoholic beverage. It contained alcohol and was a seasoning made from sake.

“Do you know about dashi?”

Powdered bonito stock, powdered chicken broth, and blended Chinese seasoning pastes. All of them were new flavors to them, so they asked for everything. On Japanese online malls, seasonings made up a massive part of the product lineup. Including niche items, the variety was incredible.

I also recommended chili powder and ground sesame. They weren’t used to spicy flavors, so the chili heat shocked them. They were familiar with sesame, but apparently it was the first time they’d seen ground sesame. Sesame was well received too.

“This spicy stuff is interesting. It sharpens the flavor. Don’t you have more kinds?”

“When it comes to spicy stuff, I guess that’d be wasabi and karashi.”

When they tried the tube versions, it turned into a hellish tasting session. The kick was far too strong for them. So instead, I prepared horseradish—Western wasabi with milder heat—and mustard, which was much gentler than Japanese karashi.

Mustard was often thought of as spicy, but actually it wasn’t. Karashi and mustard were made from different varieties of mustard seed. Karashi came from the Oriental variety, while Western mustard was from yellow seeds. They were pastes made from different plants.

Compared to Oriental seeds, yellow seeds were overwhelmingly milder. The famous Dijon mustard, for example, used yellow seeds. When eaten with sausages or pot-au-feu, the mellow spiciness made it easy to enjoy.

“This mustard is nice. I’d like to try using it in sauces.”

“Sounds good. Try mixing it with honey—it’s delicious.”

That was the classic honey mustard sauce. It went well with processed meat dishes that had a salty flavor. And when it came to condiments, of course there were also these. Mayonnaise, ketchup, and okonomiyaki sauce.

“…Even licking it plain tastes good. What is this seasoning…!? Just pouring it on makes food delicious!?”

Well, that was exactly what they were for. In Japan, mayonnaise was seen as a condiment, but in its country of origin, it was considered a proper sauce. It was treated as the most basic of “sauces.”

So, as mayo-lovers would proudly point out, they were eating food with sauce, properly speaking. Not that I was such a mayonnaise fanatic myself. The other sauces too. You could make a complete dish by simmering vegetables down with them. 

“If you want them, take them all. And if possible, help out with distributing meals. Better than just sitting around doing nothing, right?”

“Yeah! Starting tomorrow, I’ll cook right next to you! Can I borrow a fire source?”

By fire source, she meant a stove. Since I had portable gas burners, that was no problem. Street cooking was perfectly doable. In the South District, people had grilled meat and eaten it, after all.

“Of course. I’ll even prepare work tables for you.”

“In that case, I’ll call over the butchers too! Let’s butcher magic beasts and cook them on the spot. It’ll be like a festival!”

That was a good idea. Street butchering and street cooking. Even just grilling and eating freshly cooked meat had brought back energy. With proper dishes, the excitement would be even greater.

“Then call the other cooks too. This isn’t the time to be charging money, right? Just think of it as advertising for when currency starts circulating again, and gather anyone who can cook.”

“Good idea, leave it to me! I’ll spread the word!”

At this moment, there were no business rivals or competitors. There wasn’t any business to be had in the first place. So, the female cook dashed off to call the cooks and butchers she knew.

When she returned a while later, about ten cooks and butchers had gathered. Some of them had originally run street stalls in the area. Their shops had apparently been reduced to rubble by the disaster.

I told the assembled cooks.

“I’ll prepare ingredients and seasonings for all of you! Cook to your heart’s content!”

“Thanks! That’s a huge help!”

The female cooks cheered joyfully.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー