Episode 7: The Table of Blessings
I collected edible wild plants that grow along the riverside.
Build a hearth lightly surrounded by stones, make a tripod from branches, and hang a bark pot.
Quickly pour boiling water over the wildflowers you’ve gathered, then expose them to the water you prepared.
In a different pot, I put the backbone and ribs and simmered them. The scum from the bone marrow is being boiled so slowly that it almost boils over, but surprisingly the bonfire’s flames don’t slow down.
Somehow, I feel like each piece of firewood in this forest burns for quite a long time.
“Oh wait! Oh, are you making dinner?”
As I was leisurely looking at the pot while making a wooden plate with a knife, Mystia came back.
“Welcome home. We just caught a rabbit. I thought you’d get some salt too.”
“I see. Now, please put this away.”
Mystia took out a white lump from the large bag she carried on her back and respectfully held it out to me.
“Rock salt? I would appreciate it.”
When I put my hands up and worshiped, Mystia smiled.
“This is still not enough, so please let me return the favor even more from now on. I’m your neighbor after all.”
After saying that, she frowned a little awkwardly.
“Ah, but I’ll only be using daggers and magic for a while, so I might not be able to rely on you a little. I’m sorry.”
I tilted my head to Mystia’s words while using my
“You bought the tent somewhere, right? Why don’t you go and replenish your supplies in a deserted area?”
I definitely thought she would do that.
Mystia laughed and waved her hands.
“It’s impossible because I don’t have anything on hand. I’ve lost everything I could barter with.”
After saying that, I patted the puppy who was playing with the rabbit’s peach bone.
“I think it’s going to be a little difficult to prepare both trade goods and bases while taking care of this child. I’m going to take it easy.”
“Really……”
“Ah, I mean, I had to keep it for you again. I’m sorry.”
“Okay, I like dogs too.”
“Huh, Soujirou is a nice person, isn’t he?”
“Not as good as you.”
When I replied that, Mystia smiled happily.
“Eh heh heh heh. Thank you.”
After saying that, Mystia looked intently at the pot.
“But Soujiro, I’ve been wondering about this for a long time…is this a boiled rabbit?”
“No, I’m taking the dashi (broth) from the bones.”
“Dashi…? Da, sh…?…Hmm? What is that?”
This seemingly inexplicable reaction… maybe they don’t have a concept of dashi?
“Ah…I was thinking, If you don’t mind, would you like to eat with me?”
“Really!? Eat, eat! Thank you, that’s very helpful!”
“I didn’t have time to say that I don’t like the food I don’t understand.”
“What are you talking about? Even the nobles would be overjoyed to catch such a big rabbit, right?”
“……nothing?”
“Yeah?”
They both tilted their heads.
There seems to be a fatal misunderstanding.
“…By the way, what would Mystia do if she caught a rabbit?”
“I’ll give the innards to this kid. I’ll probably peel off the skin and roast them whole.”
“Huh…”
“If you have spices and herbs in addition to salt, you can have a feast!”
That’s probably true. Traditional dark history British style.
All you have to do is take out the ingredients, whether they are simmered or simply grilled, and arrange the seasonings on the table. All you have to do is sprinkle it with seasonings to your liking.
It’s not like a soto recipe or anything like that.
“Okay. I’ll make dinner right away. So, Mystia, please play with the dog.”
“Ah, that’s right. People try to steal your meat here. Come on, come over there and play with me.”
At my request, Mystia took the puppy and left for a while.
…I’m sorry. I come from a world of world-renowned paranoid foodies.
When you finally reach a place where you can enjoy delicious food, you can’t give up on it.
While apologizing in my heart, I decided to finish cooking.
There are two menus. A soup made with a dashi made from rabbit bones and Japanese parsley (a type of wildflower). Once you have brought out the full flavor, remove the bones, carefully remove the scum, and use only the supernatant. I really want to strain it.
Grill the fillet on a stone plate, then mix the ground mustard greens and fat with a small amount of stock to make the sauce. As a garnish, lightly heated nobile and watercress salad.
By the way, I ate the wildflowers beforehand, but they only tasted familiar and didn’t upset my stomach. I invested in it because it was possible.
Then, when I served the finished product on wooden tableware and presented it to Mystia,
“Amazing!? Eh, what is this!? I’ve never seen such beautiful soup! And the meat too! It’s so beautiful!”
If you boil all the ingredients together and don’t remove the scum, the soup will be very cloudy and dirty…
Mystia was surprised to see this. And when they ate it, they were even more excited and moved.
“It’s delicious…!! It’s so delicious that I haven’t eaten it in over a hundred years…!”
The reaction is a bit exaggerated, but it’s a happy one.
By the way, the salt soaked into my body and was delicious. Actually, the meat is really delicious. Fillet is a high-quality red meat that has a strong flavor and is tender. Although it doesn’t have the same texture as rabbit, the fat that has entered the muscle fibers keeps the meat juicy.
This potential is in the Wagyu class.
The soup has the flavor of bones, and the scent of nobile and watercress will warm your stomach.
The taste of special A-grade local chicken and the moist texture that you can enjoy with steak. If this rabbit lived in Japan, it would have become extinct due to overhunting.
However, the fillet steak I ate yesterday…
“…It’s even more delicious than yesterday.”
As I watched Mystia happily enjoying the food, I couldn’t help but feel the same way.
“Really? Looks like a lucky day.”
The elf says that in a bouncy voice.
It’s all thanks to Mystia eating deliciously. —I haven’t become young enough at heart to say that.
However, even if he can’t say it out loud, she seems to have a wide chest to the extent that he thinks about this.
…The spirit is affected by the body. I guess that’s what they mean.
Maybe it’s because of my healthy and young body. When I saw Mystia happily eating the food that I had put so much effort into, I felt my heart lift.
I don’t feel bad. Really.
“Ah, lucky day.”
However, that’s all I said out loud.
After all, it feels good to eat delicious food.
With that feeling in mind, I moved forward with my chopsticks.