Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

Kuu, the Fire Foxes, and I entered the ex-workshop.

Inside were piles of tightly packed Imperial equipment. I wanted to make a third workshop but I was short of both materials and time. I would need to take measures to remedy that.

The reason we came to the ex-workshop was for cookware and some ingredients I had hidden away.

The cookware were things I had been making little by little in anticipation for the Potato Harvest Festival we had planned to hold.

As I gathered the cookware I directed the girls to dismantle the boars and deer.

「Amazing…there’s so much weapons and armor. Feels like there’s enough to go to war.」

Kuu said wide-eyed as she looked at the swords and armor.

「Well most of them have arrow holes shot through them and they’re poorly made so I’m using them for raw materials. In the first place most elves hate wearing heavy equipment.」

Agility was the natural characteristic of elves. It was unthinkable to destroy that advantage by putting on a heavy iron suit of armor.

In fact if we elves attempted to fight the Empire using the same tactics then we would be crushed and killed through sheer force of numbers.

「Umm what we need to take out are the iron pan, the pot, the big bowl, the iron plate, the table maybe…that jar, and a couple other things.」

These things were pretty heavy so we would need several people to carry each.

As we carried the cookware out I indicated where the girls should place them and split them into various groups.

I had plenty of instructions to give out. First I gave orders to the Fire Foxes that surrounded the iron pot.

「You guys are on potato duty. What you’ll be making are potato chips and french fries.」

It was what most of the potatoes on Earth were used to create. I was sure that they would be the most delicious way of eating potatoes in this world as well.

「We will be melting the fat from the boar meat, heat it up, put the potatoes in, and finally sprinkle them with salt. So first we need to get the fat and grease ready.」

「「「Okay!」」」

I said and the Fire Foxes energetically answered back.

Kemin, her friends, and most of the comparatively younger Foxes were in this group.

As I interact with them my ‘big brother’ components came out more than usual.

I went to the group of foxes who had been dismantling the animals and grabbed the back fat from them. The back fat was literally a large amount of tendons and fat along the back of the boar that couldn’t be eaten.

That’s why we elves normally discarded it without eating it, but as long as you knew how to use it in cooking it could become an essential ingredient.

「Let’s start by melting this. Start shaving the back fat into the pot. I’m going to need you girls to heat up the pot.」

I had them shave the fat more finely so it would melt easily. The girls nodded and began their tasks.

The pot heated up as sizzling sounds started emerging from the fat. The entire pot was bubbling with heat.

「Uwaa it’s super hot. Even hotter than a boiling hot bath.」

「Yes, this temperature is important. The fat can reach higher temperatures than water and the potatoes need that for this dish.」

The Fire Fox girls were staring at the pot with great interest.

The fat could be as hot as 200 degrees Celsius. As you looked the leftover meat and sinew began rising to the top and was cooked to a light brown color.

The first thing that escaped the boiling fat would be water leaving only pure fat behind.

「Un this looks good. Now we just have to scoop out this brown stuff and our cooking oil will be complete.」

「Got it Cyril-sama! Then we throw it out?」

「Throw it out? No of course not! It tastes delicious and has a long shelf life.」

「This stuff is really delicious?」

「Yeah, the meat and tendons are filled with the flavor of the fat and salt. If you cook the tendons normally they toughen up and can’t be eaten. However, if you cook them in fat or oil….and overheat them past what’s normal then you can cook them properly. It makes them crunchy and delicious.」

In truth frying scraps was truly delicious. Even in the Heisei Era of Japan food cooked in pig fat were considerably high class goods. You probably couldn’t attach a proper cost to this back fat from a natural boar.

It can be used in sandwiches, tastes great in soup, and can even make fried rice and yakisoba taste even more delicious.

The girls looked at me doubtfully but one of them scooped out the scraps with a ladle.

Then she carefully took a bite.

「Uwaa, it’s delicious. The meaty taste is really good.」

「Ahh, you can’t keep it to yourself Yuki! Me too me too!」

「No stealing a march Kurone!!」

The girls closest to the pot all scrambled for their share.

「Okay, that’s enough. If you eat too much you won’t have an appetite for the lunch part later. Also I want other people to get a chance to try it. Only one for each of you. We just have to put them in jars so they stay fresh.」

「「「Okay~」」」

The girls obediently listened to me and placed the fried leftovers into a jar.

After all these leftovers had been dried out. All we need to do is salt them and they wouldn’t rot.

You just fill the jar with fried leftovers, poured in salt, placed the lid on, and shook it. That would mix it with plenty of salt.

「We’ll preserve the lard we just made since it has plenty of uses. You can stop heating it now.」

「Okay then, we’ll stop the power.」

After letting the lard cool a bit I threw in a handful of salt.

「Next could you keep this oil at a constant temperature?」

「That’s easy!」

Fire magic wasn’t truly a magic that simply created heat. It was in fact a form of temperature control magic.

It also had the ability to rob things of their heat.

I checked that the lard was at an appropriate temperature before pouring it into a jug/pot.

「Alright now. Cool this jug please.」

「I’ll do it this time!」

Now the girl Yuki stepped forward to cool the container. The lard quickly cooled and hardened into a white creamy substance.

Fat with all of the impurities removed became smooth and creamy.

「Look see how nice and soft it looks? This cream stuff is called Lard.」

I placed the ladle into the lard and it easily sank into it.