Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 100

“I’m sorry…”

Nimue apologized, bowing her head to Alfredo.

A slight misstep could have escalated into a diplomatic issue, not just affecting this trade mission.

Alfredo clutched his head and said,

“It’s fortunate that Nimue-nim is an Elf. If a human had said such a thing, they would have faced Erich von Gustav’s sword before even gaining His Highness Phiedel’s attention.”

“Then I’ll just run away to Eldrad.”

“…If only it were as simple as going to the Elven Autonomous Region.”

The Elves’ city, Eldrad.

Deutschland [Germany] was one of the few countries that recognized the Elves’ sovereignty.

That was why Nimue had chosen Deutschland as her destination to obtain the World Tree sapling.

“Hoo! I hope the dish Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] made suits Phiedel’s taste.”

If the dish Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] made pleased Phiedel, it would end as a small incident.

However, if the opposite were to happen, Phiedel would have to apologize for something he didn’t need to.

Someone would have to take responsibility for that.

Nimue’s ears drooped.

Why did she get so upset hearing Kেইন첼’s [Keinchel’s] cooking being dismissed?

Whenever she ate the food he made, her heart fluttered.

The sausage-flavored bean dish, the vegetarian cookies, and the mock meat steak were all delicious.

Perhaps she really did like the food he made.

Thinking that, Nimue shook her head in surprise.

‘Am I falling for food made by a human? It’s just because I ate it when I was incredibly hungry. Yes, that’s the reason.’

Nimue tried to calm her strangely racing heart and said,

“Don’t worry. The food Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] makes is really delicious. Phiedel will definitely like it.”

@

Nimue’s words were conveyed to Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] as well.

She had told Phiedel, who was disparaging Britannian cuisine, that Kেইন첼’s [Keinchel’s] food was different.

It was more pleasing than any other compliment he had received.

‘Now that it’s come to this, I have to make food so delicious that it captivates the heart of the foreign prince.’

Phiedel was someone who cared so much about food that he even brought his personal chef to the battlefield.

If he could create a dish with overwhelming flavor, Phiedel would laughingly forgive Nimue’s minor rudeness.

It was Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] who had prepared the meat the mercenaries were eating.

However, now that the situation had escalated this far, he couldn’t just give them that.

He needed a menu that he could confidently present to the guest under his own name.

‘Is that what they call a signature dish?’

The first things that came to mind were Honey Butter Sandwiches and Jewel Ice Cream.

Those two dishes represented Hool and Kেইন첼 [Keinchel], respectively.

However, to make them, he needed special ingredients like Le Beng and ice.

‘Then Wild Duck is out of the question too.’

The Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] party was currently in the Great Plains.

It would be difficult to find lotus leaves to wrap the duck in such a place.

‘In the end, it means I need a new dish that will satisfy Phiedel’s taste.’

In Britannia, even nobles found it difficult to enjoy gourmet food.

However, this was Deutschland [Germany], the land of sausages and beer.

Prince Phiedel would usually eat very luxurious and delicious food.

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] recalled Princess Katrin, whom he had met at the Magic Tower.

He had made medicinal cuisine for her when she complained of the side effects of magical tools.

‘Perhaps a simple dish would be better than something too extravagant.’

For royalty who lived on all sorts of delicacies, popular food might feel new.

Princess Katrin had also really liked the cold tomato soup, Gazpacho.

‘Then I need a very popular dish… Yes, let’s use pork as the ingredient.’

The Deutschlanders’ [Germans’] love for pork was exceptional.

The meat was grilled, and the skin and legs were braised in a sweet sauce.

They made pudding with the blood, and the offal, which other countries didn’t eat because of the smell, was wrapped in flour and made into pies.

Was that not enough to eat?

They put the remaining bones and meat scraps into a stew.

It was a sight that even felt like a fixation on pork.

Now that the ingredient to use was decided, it was time to decide what dish to make.

‘I have to cook it in the Britannian style. That’s the only way the dish I’m making now will have meaning.’

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] decided to get help from Brilliant Road.

As he touched the pork and activated the skill, numerous recipes came to mind.

Looking at them, he began to choose what to make.

Black Pie, made by mixing blood and oatmeal into pork intestines.

Chip Butties, made by spreading lard on bread and sandwiching bacon.

Haggis, made by filling a pig’s bladder with vegetables and boiling it.

“…Damn it, every single one of them is a bizarre dish.”

To Kেইন첼 [Keinchel], who had been focused on making French cuisine for a while, these were dishes he couldn’t understand at all.

Roasted pork with a sweet glaze seemed the most normal.

However, that was too common a cooking method.

As he pushed the useless recipes to the side, there was one that caught his eye.

“This is it.”

The recipe for a Britannian sausage roll.

It was different in shape from Deutschland [German] sausages, which were made by putting leftover meat, offal, and blood into intestines.

Sausage rolls, made by wrapping minced meat in fluffy bread and baking it, were a dish that everyone in Britannia loved.

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] checked the sausage roll recipe.

And without realizing it, he shouted.

“This isn’t a normal sausage roll?!”

It was normal up to the part where the sausage filling was made with smoked pork belly and shoulder, seasoned with lemon, thyme, and fresh thyme. But the method after that was incredibly unique.

“Wrap the outside with puff pastry and bake it? It’ll burn black in the oven!”

However, the recipe stated to maintain the temperature inside the oven accurately with Fallen Star.

After reading that far, Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] swallowed hard.

Puff pastry, filled with butter, was a bread that represented French cuisine. And it was also Joffrey’s specialty.

“It’s definitely difficult to make puff pastry sausage rolls with a thin layered structure using a wood-fired oven. But if you use Fallen Star, you can do it, right?”

What Brilliant Road was showing was a recipe optimized for him.

That meant it was a dish that only Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] could make.

Now that it had come to this, he had no choice but to make it.

No, he wanted to make it.

A dish that only he could make.

What could be more fitting as a signature dish than that?

In the end, Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] decided to make sausage rolls wrapped in puff pastry and moved quickly.

The first thing he touched was the pork.

He needed pork belly, shoulder, and a bit of bacon. He ground them, put them in a bowl, and mixed in nutmeg.

That would cleanly remove the gamey smell of the meat.

‘Next, add finely chopped thyme and sage leaves, season with salt and pepper, and mix it all together.’

Fresh thyme must be used for sausage rolls. That way, the unique fragrance would be well infused.

Before he knew it, Phiedel, who had come to watch, was standing next to the cooking table, his eyes shining.

What kind of dish was he going to make to satisfy his taste?

“Is that thyme I smell? And flour? You’re thinking of making sausage rolls.”

Phiedel crossed his arms and quietly nodded.

“Certainly, sausage rolls were the most decent dish I’ve eaten in Britannia. But that only means it was decent among Britannian food. Can you satisfy my tongue with such an ordinary dish?”

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel], who was kneading the flour, put strength into his hands.

What he was making now was not an ordinary sausage roll.

The dough, kneaded with his iron fists, was so smooth that it would bounce back if pressed with a finger.

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] rolled it out wide with a rolling pin. And then he folded it in half.

Repeating that would complete the puff pastry with multiple layers.

The savory butter scent spread so strongly that it stung his nose.

“Wait a minute… Just how did you knead it to make it so elastic? And you’re making puff pastry!”

It was difficult to bake puff pastry with thin layers without burning it.

But to bake it with sausage inside?!

If he made even a slight mistake in temperature control, the meat would be undercooked and the outside would be burnt black.

That was a difficult task even for someone who had been baking bread for decades. But the one in front of him was a young man.

Moreover, hadn’t they said he wasn’t even a chef?

Phiedel’s lips twisted.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself and attempting an impossible dish.”

He had expected it since he was making a dish that even an Elf praised. It seemed he didn’t have the capacity to make a dish for royalty to eat.

Phiedel got up from his seat as if there was no more point in watching.

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] was putting the puff pastry filled with sausage into the oven as if he didn’t care at all.

That made Phiedel, who was about to leave, stop in his tracks.

Crack, crack, crack.

Along with the pleasant sound of burning firewood, the puff pastry filled with butter began to bake.

“…What is this smell….”

The sausage inside emitted an incredibly fragrant smell.

There were over thousands of types of sausages in Deutschland [Germany]. But this was the first time he had smelled a sausage that stimulated his sense of smell to this extent.

Phiedel muttered with a hollow expression.

“To think that such a well-made sausage would be burnt because of the chef’s overreach…”

Even if it was just an ordinary sausage roll, it would have been enough.

Phiedel looked at Kেইন첼 [Keinchel], who was cooking. A mysterious atmosphere that made him look like a knight and a chef.

If this sausage roll were to be baked properly, what would it taste like?

Gulp.

Phiedel swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his mouth without realizing it.

But then an amazing thing happened.

Even after baking for nearly 20 minutes, there was no smell of burning at all. Rather, the savory aroma of the bread and the fragrant aroma of the sausage became even stronger.

The chef was adjusting the temperature by stirring the firewood with his hands, as if the oven wasn’t hot at all.

Perhaps he had some special know-how to not burn the bread.

He wanted to jump up from his seat, snatch the dish he was making, and eat it.

Phiedel’s body trembled. He had eaten countless delicacies so far. But this was the first dish that gave him such anticipation.

It was being made by a young knight who looked to be only about twenty years old.

It was more than amazing; it was shocking.

“Hoo, it’s baked very well. It’s a sausage roll wrapped in puff pastry.”

“…!”

Phiedel walked towards the chef without realizing it.

The puff pastry on the plate was baked very golden brown.

It was impossible without temperature control close to magic.

“Give it to me. I, I want to eat it quickly.”

“Could you wait just a moment? I’m thinking of making a sauce with tomato cream, garlic, and smoked paprika.”

“…Even a sauce? Hoo! That’s quite 기대되는군 [something to look forward to]. Then I’ll be waiting. Let me eat delicious food.”

He felt like he couldn’t stand it if he stayed here any longer. Phiedel waved his hand and returned to where Erich was.

Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] quietly muttered.

“It will be very delicious.”

The Zoma Mirror hanging around his neck sparkled.

There, the words “6-Star” were written.

@

When Phiedel returned with a face as if he were possessed by a ghost, Erich asked.

“It seems he’s making a better dish than you thought.”

Just how amazing a dish was he making for his lord to make such an expression?

“…He was making sausage rolls.”

“Yes? So you’re making that expression because you want to eat sausage rolls?”

Phiedel looked at Erich with sunken eyes.

“Don’t underestimate sausage rolls. That’s not an ordinary sausage roll.”

Following the Elf, even his lord was praising the dish of a chef whose identity he couldn’t figure out.

Moreover, Phiedel hadn’t even eaten the dish.

Erich wondered what the name of the knight who made the dish was.

He called Alfredo, who was sitting across from him, quietly watching.

“Alfredo, I’m sorry, but would you tell me the name of the knight who is cooking now?”

“Kেইন첼 [Keinchel]… He is a free knight, Sir Kেইন첼 [Keinchel].”

“What? Kেইন첼 [Keinchel]?”

In an instant, Erich stood up from his seat without realizing it.

Phiedel was equally shocked.

Princess Katrin, who was dying without even knowing she had mercury poisoning.

Why was the name of the benefactor who saved her life appearing here?

But surely the benefactor was a cooking knight.

Phiedel had contacted the Magic Tower several times to find the benefactor. But all that came back was that he had left for the north to fulfill his duties as a free knight.

Could it be,

Could it be….

To think he would meet the benefactor he had been searching for in such a place.

Was he just blankly watching the benefactor cook for 30 minutes?

Alfredo, seeing that the atmosphere of the two was unusual, raised his hand.

“Ah, there, Sir Kেইন첼 [Keinchel] is bringing the dish. Oh, it’s a really delicious-looking sausage roll.”

However, that voice did not reach the ears of Phiedel and Erich.

A Bowl of Food #1