Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 117

————– 117/203 ————–

@

The Buttermilk Chicken that Oracle was making was the most popular chicken dish in Britannia.

Kainchel had also made it several times.

However, she wasn’t confident she could make it as perfectly as Oracle.

‘What, she’s using different breading for each part? That’ll make the breast meat even more tender and the wings crispier. Is Oracle planning to make several dishes with just one Buttermilk Chicken?!’

That was an impossible method for a chef who had to make food for hundreds of people every day.

But what she was making now was a dish for the judging, which only needed to satisfy one person.

It didn’t matter if it took several times more effort.

Goethe, who was sitting in the judge’s seat, approached the cooking station with a sly expression.

“I clearly asked for a chicken dish that even a devil would fall for. But this is just ordinary Buttermilk Chicken, isn’t it?”

Oracle coated the chicken with breading and replied.

“Buttermilk Chicken is the most common chicken dish in Britannia. If a devil were to come down to earth, wouldn’t this be the most likely dish they’d eat first?”

“The dish most likely to make a devil fall for it… It’s not a perfect score, but it’s hard to say it’s wrong. Certainly, the first time is always the most passionate. But a devil? It’ll be very difficult to get a ‘delicious’ evaluation from his mouth.”

Goethe chuckled as if he had become a devil himself, then turned his gaze to Kainchel.

“Hmm? This one’s also coating chicken with breading. Certainly, fried chicken is easy to make and delicious. I’ll evaluate in the order they’re completed, so your turn will be last. It’ll be hard to get a ‘delicious’ evaluation with ordinary fried chicken.”

Kainchel politely bowed, holding her waist with her hand. Then, she shielded the cooking station.

“What, are you being sneaky and hiding it?”

“I’m sorry, but I’d like to leave the enjoyment of what happens here until after it’s finished.”

Goethe grumbled and returned to his seat. The audience burst into laughter at his strangely comical appearance.

“Haha! Mr. Goethe tried to tease the clown, but he got a taste of his own medicine.”

“But did you see the chicken Miss Skull is frying? How can she make it sound so delicious?”

The secret was near-perfect oil management.

The chicken soaked in buttermilk is coated very evenly with breading.

It is placed one by one into oil heated to 170 degrees Celsius every 5 seconds.

Then the breading hardens appropriately and doesn’t stick together.

Oracle didn’t miss the temperature drop of the oil when she put in the cold chicken.

It was like she had Fallen Star.

Kainchel recalled that Oracle had a burn-like scar on her left hand.

‘Oracle is a chef. And a chef who has been taught Gordon’s skills.’

However, it was strange that it was her left hand, not her right. She didn’t seem to be left-handed.

Perhaps she had baptized herself with fire?

Kainchel’s hands moved quickly. No matter how great the recipe, she had to make it herself.

‘Coating it with breading and frying it in oil is the same as fried chicken. The important thing is the sauce you put on it.’

First, she soaked the chicken in milk, then made the sauce to put on it.

But a huge problem arose.

One of the ingredients in the recipe, ‘Gochujang,’ was missing. Judging by the name, it seemed to be an Eastern seasoning like soy sauce.

‘I’ll have to make hot sauce to replace it.’

If it hadn’t been for the duel with Percival, she wouldn’t have been able to change the recipe like this.

The audience’s eyes widened as they saw Kainchel bringing a large amount of chili peppers to the cooking station.

“What? Weren’t they making fried chicken? But why are they bringing so many chili peppers?”

“Damn it! I’m curious about what kind of dish they’re making! Show us!”

The spicy smell of chili peppers made the audience’s bodies even hotter.

Seeing the excited audience, Mayor Wilson smiled contentedly.

“As expected, it’s Hool. He turned cooking into a great show.”

That’s how the curtain raised expectations for the dish Kainchel was making.

‘Cut the cleanly trimmed chili peppers into small pieces, steam them in a pot, then add very strong vinegar and grind them finely.’

And when she added a little soy sauce, a hot sauce with a unique flavor was completed.

Based on that, she began to make the seasoning in earnest.

‘The spicy taste is from the hot sauce. And the sweet taste is…’

Kainchel then juggled a jar of strawberry jam, throwing it upwards.

Seeing this, one audience member shouted.

“What, strawberry jam this time? Chili peppers and strawberry jam! Ah, I’m going crazy!”

‘…This is it.’

Kainchel lightly stir-fried tomato sauce, removing the sour taste and leaving only the savory taste.

When she added hot sauce and strawberry jam to it, a spicy and sweet aroma began to waft.

It was the moment when Britannia’s first seasoned chicken was born.

@

The audience’s eyes popped out at the combination of ingredients that seemed completely incompatible.

“What? What kind of dish are they making that smells so delicious…”

Among the audience was Bruno, who was running a stall nearby.

He muttered with surprised eyes.

“It was definitely the skill of someone who had worked in a proper kitchen for five years. Especially the knife skills are really skillful. What kind of clown is he?”

He couldn’t see it now because it was covered, but just the way he handled the chicken was not ordinary.

Then the person next to him asked.

“Chef Bruno, are those clowns really that good at cooking?”

“Both clowns have the skills to work in a top-class restaurant right now… But how do you know my name? Huh? He disappeared?”

Bruno tilted his head.

The person who spoke to him disappeared before his eyes.

It was impossible without using magic.

“…Was I tired?”

But that answer never came back.

The man who disappeared into the shadows revealed himself behind the tent.

He was an ordinary-looking man who could be seen everywhere. A face with no distinguishing features that you would forget as soon as you turned around.

The ordinary man took out a small book from his pocket.

It contained a list of chefs in Citizen.

“Bruno, a 5-star chef, is impressed, so he must be at least 4-star. If Goethe is impressed and says it’s delicious, I can think of him as 5-star.”

A satisfied smile appeared on the ordinary man’s lips.

“Following 6-star chef Gordon, there are two cooking clowns. Algedi will be very happy.”

The ordinary man blended back into the audience with an indifferent expression.

His identity was an informant from the Assassin Guild who collected a lot of information with the skill of blurring impressions.

However, the ordinary man did not notice the meringue stuck to his body.

@

Using Fallen Star allows you to sense the hostility of enemies targeting you.

No matter how skilled an assassin is, it is impossible to hide their presence by penetrating Fallen Star.

‘About six people, including the man who is exuding hostility over there.’

Of course, not all of them are the culprits who kidnapped Gordon.

Some people may simply dislike Hool.

That’s why I hid the cooking process.

The culprit would want to check Hool and Oracle’s cooking skills no matter what.

Then this time, two hostilities moved towards Oracle. Surely the culprit is among them.

Kainchel put meringue on them to avoid missing them.

‘I put seven on each, so it will last about thirty minutes. Shall we go get judged then?’

It was very difficult to cook and chase the culprit’s presence. But Kainchel eventually accomplished both of them wonderfully.

Goethe was eating the first completed Buttermilk Chicken.

“Indeed. It’s a very delicious dish as Miss Skull said. This is the first time I’ve eaten such delicious Buttermilk Chicken. The outside is crispy and the inside is moist…”

Oracle bowed her head at the continued praise.

“Thank you. I’m happy that you enjoy it.”

“Especially the collard greens and hash seasoned with apple cider vinegar are really amazing. Thanks to the refreshing taste, it neatly cuts through the richness of the Buttermilk Chicken, which can be a bit greasy. Certainly, with this taste, even a devil would fall for it.”

Oracle’s eyes turned red.

She already had the skills to become a royal chef.

The reason why her name was not known was all because of the disease that was eating away at her body.

Goethe wiped the grease from his mouth and asked.

“Especially the skill of handling chicken is really outstanding, since when have you been holding a knife?”

Oracle replaced the answer with a bright smile.

She didn’t know the exact time either.

Because she always had a knife in her hand.

Goethe got up from his seat and approached Kainchel this time.

“Then it’s time to eat the dish made by Hool this time. Well, it seems like the game is almost decided. Miss Skull’s dish was almost royal cuisine level.”

Kainchel smiled and placed a plate of seasoned chicken in front of Goethe.

“What, this bright red chicken.”

“It’s called seasoned chicken.”

“Seasoned chicken?”

“Yes, it is fried chicken stir-fried in sauce.”

“…What kind of dish are you making? I’m sorry, but I’m not good at eating spicy food?”

Goethe tapped the table with his finger with a prickly expression.

Usually, when this happens, the other person gets embarrassed. But Kainchel calmly replied.

“It contains hot sauce, but it’s not just a spicy dish. To be exact, it should be called spicy and sweet.”

“Spicy and sweet?”

Seasoned chicken. It was like a dish that brought the flames of hell as they were.

Rather, it was the audience who was embarrassed.

“What? Seasoned chicken? What kind of dish is it?”

“If Mr. Goethe doesn’t eat it, I’ll eat it instead!”

Goethe waved his hand at the excited audience.

“No, it’s not that I’m not eating it. Well, it’s no fun if the judge refuses to judge. But it’s true that I hate spicy food. So I should only eat one bite.”

Goethe picked up the seasoned chicken with a fork. Then, a surprisingly crisp sound rang out.

“…What, it’s not soggy at all even though it’s covered in so much sauce?”

It was thanks to frying the chicken twice.

Then it will continue to maintain its crispness until you eat it all.

Goethe brought the crispy seasoned chicken to his mouth.

“Then where…”

The seasoned chicken was filled with a sweet smell along with a pungent spicy scent.

When he bit into it, the crispy batter and the spicy and sweet sauce taste spread throughout his mouth in an instant.

“…!”

Goethe’s pupils widened. The bright red sauce was spicy but not overwhelmingly so. It was because the taste of sweet strawberry jam neutralized the spicy taste and left only the savory taste.

The well-fried chicken was so tender that it seemed to melt in his mouth.

What was especially great was the spicy and sweet taste of the sauce.

It was so spicy and sweet that it seemed to go well with any fried dish.

‘I’ve eaten so many dishes so far, but this was the first time I’ve had such a sauce,’ Goethe thought.

“Ugh, he said he would only eat one bite, but he keeps eating it!”

“What, what does it taste like! Mr. Goethe! What does seasoned chicken taste like!”

Goethe quietly got up from his seat and said.

“It’s spicy and sweet. It was literally a spicy and sweet taste. And it’s delicious.”

Unlike Miss Skull, who had been praising for nearly a minute, it was a very concise evaluation.

“Then is the victory Miss Skull’s victory?”

“No, this game is Hool’s victory. Seasoned chicken is delicious. No, it *was* delicious. It was really delicious.”

Food that even the great writer Goethe could only describe as delicious.

How delicious is it to get such a reaction?

[6-star dish ‘Spicy and Sweet Seasoned Chicken’ has been completed.]

[Other guests want to eat the food you made.]

‘6, 6 stars!’

Kainchel’s hands began to tremble with excitement.

Maybe she made an absurdly delicious dish?

The excited audience was about to rush to eat seasoned chicken right now.

Goethe scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry for eating alone. But that was really delicious. If you make that and sell it, the whole of Britannia might become a prisoner of the taste of seasoned chicken?”

At that moment, one of the hostile presences targeting Hool intensified.

Kainchel looked at the man mixed in with the audience.

An ordinary man that you would pass by without noticing if you didn’t look carefully.

‘Bingo. That’s the guy.’

Hool and Oracle #3