Cooking Swordmaster [EN]: Chapter 43

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“Hyung, are you really going to cook for your close friend with *that*?”

Kainchel shrugged, looking at the item Zeke had brought.

A wooden box riddled with air holes.

Inside were the ingredients he planned to use.

“Actually, it’s an enemy, not a friend, right? Right? Ah, come on, it’s true. Otherwise, you wouldn’t normally think of cooking with *that*.” Kainchel wanted to tell Zeke to shut up, but he decided to hold back.

“Anyway, thank you for bringing this. It’s a rare ingredient on land. As expected, the Merchant Guild’s distribution network is amazing.”

“Ehehe! I was feeling guilty because I was just lazing around except for the weekends when you come to the mansion, Hyung. It’s a good thing. Call me, Zeke, anytime you need anything, Hyung!”

Carefully opening the lid of the box, a lobster tied with string was revealed.

Zeke clicked his tongue.

“Isn’t that the thing that’s so common on the beach that no one eats it? They just boil it roughly and feed it to prisoners in jail or use it for starving poor people.”

Kainchel gave a wry smile.

Zeke was right. Lobster was a very easy ingredient to find on the coast.

Usually, it’s boiled in salted water and eaten.

But the problem was that it tasted terrible.

Like other crustaceans, it has a thick shell with a little bit of flesh inside. Even if you eat it, it’s just mushy and doesn’t taste like anything.

Boiling it makes it somewhat edible, but it’s never a delicious ingredient.

“There’s even a saying that ‘living on lobster for the rest of your life’ is used as an insult, you know?”

That wasn’t far from the truth. If you commit a crime and go to jail, you’ll eat it until you’re sick of it.

The Stanise Knight Academy’s library was full of cookbooks that seemed to belong to Gordon Lambulton.

He was kicked out of the royal palace and had no place to put them, so he kept them there in the form of a donation.

‘There was a book there that said that in other countries, lobster is called *lobster* and is used as a very high-end ingredient. In the end, the problem is not the ingredient but the cooking method. Boiling it doesn’t bring out the flavor of the lobster properly.’

Lobster was like Abel.

It looks strong on the outside, but it’s more delicate than anyone else on the inside.

So, he wanted to make Abel the best lobster dish possible.

Zeke asked.

“But Hyung, can you really make a delicious dish with this?”

“I only know how to boil it.”

“······Ah, I see! It’s not a friend, it’s an enemy, right? Woops······. I’m sorry, Hyung. I used to eat only that for a while when I was rolling around on the beach. So, just looking at it makes my mouth feel mushy······.”

“But I know someone who can make even these ingredients delicious.”

The face of Gordon Lambulton, with a rotten smile, came to Kainchel’s mind.

He would surely know how to cook lobster deliciously.

He was going to ask him to teach him.

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When he handed over the box full of lobsters, Gordon swore in disbelief.

“You’re crazy. I was wondering where you disappeared to every weekend, and you went to get this stuff?”

“Yes, Chef. I had fond memories of eating it when I was a kid. It was so delicious when I boiled it in a pot with salt······.”

Then Gordon got up from his seat and shouted.

“Damn it! It makes me sick just hearing it! You can’t cook lobster like that! I can’t stand to see you treat the ingredients you brought like that. I happen to be free, so I’ll feed you a proper lobster dish. You’ll realize that what you’ve been eating so far was just a sponge.”

Kainchel had to pinch his thigh to keep from laughing.

Kainchel had now completely mastered how to handle Gordon.

When he took the lobster out of the box, a small bottle sealed with wax was inside.

‘Oh, I almost forgot this.’

It’s not something he needs right now.

A secret weapon to take the taste of the honey butter sandwich to the next level.

‘How does the distribution network get things from the Galia Kingdom in less than half a month?’

While Kainchel was hiding the bottle containing the secret weapon in a corner of the kitchen, Gordon was preparing to cook the lobster.

“First, you have to make a cut in the head to quickly kill it. Then, put it in boiling water and blanch it.”

“Ah, so you mean don’t cook it completely, just blanch it enough to keep its shape?”

“That’s right. If you cook it for too long, all the flavors in the lobster will melt into the water. Then the flesh will become tough. Blanching it once and then separating the flesh to cook it again is how you can eat lobster deliciously.”

Kainchel paid attention to every word Gordon said and committed it to memory.

Gordon was the only person in Britannia who cooked lobster like this.

‘Gordon Lambulton is definitely interested in cooking methods from other countries. He was studying them while looking at those books.’

Kainchel licked his lips.

He thought he was a Sword Master in the culinary world, but maybe he’s more than that.

‘There are many kingdoms near Britannia, and there is a union of countries across the sea. There must be many cooking methods there. What if I learned them all?’

Gordon began to separate the lobster meat from the shell in earnest.

First, he cut off the claws and twisted off the joints. Next was the tail.

He slowly applied pressure to the tail to extract the meat inside.

“Don’t forget. Always be careful not to break the shell.”

“Are you going to use it for plating after the dish is finished?”

“······Hmm. Correct.”

Gordon took out a dough rolling pin.

He slowly pushed the removed legs with it, and the flesh fell off neatly.

‘That, that kind of method!’

“Then, how should we plate it? First, if you carefully make a cut in the tail, it will become flat overall, making it easier to put on the plate.”

Gordon carefully placed the remaining claws and joints on the plate. Finally, he cut off the head with all the flesh inside and stood it up, and it was complete.

“Now, after cooking the flesh, you can plate it with this. If the shell lacks shine, you can apply olive oil to make it very pretty. Now, I’ll show you how delicious properly cooked lobster is.”

Kainchel’s eyes lit up. He learned how to handle lobster with this. That means…

Maybe······.

“There’s a box full of it. Can I try handling the rest?”

“What? I told you I hate reckless people the most. If you ruin the ingredients, it will be difficult for you to work in my kitchen in the future. If you’re okay with that, go ahead.”

“Yes, Chef!”

Kainchel took a lobster out of the box and headed to the cooking table.

And he slowly grabbed the kitchen knife.

It was a more tense moment than when he faced Kundam with a sword.

But he had to do it to improve his cooking skills.

‘First, quickly end the lobster’s life!’

And the lobster in front of Kainchel was dismantled.

In perfect condition, just like Gordon did.

Tting-

Then the Joma Mirror he was wearing around his neck began to ring.

[You have skillfully handled ‘Lobster’.]

[The level of Disarm has increased.]

······.

···.

[Disarm: ★★★★]

― A technique to destroy the opponent’s equipped weapons and armor using a sword.

‘This is, Disarm 4 stars! Huh? But what’s added below?’

Kainchel began to read the message that appeared on the Joma Mirror.

― Proficiency has increased, allowing you to destroy the desired armor.

You can destroy the armor you want?

What does that mean?

‘······Should I ask Abel to help me test it this weekend?’

As the Disarm skill increased, he became more skilled at handling lobster.

Lobsters with their shells peeled off quickly piled up in front of Kainchel.

Gordon Lambulton was watching the scene with narrowed eyes.

“Hmm······. You’re doing pretty well. Then, is it my turn to show my skills?”

And the lobster dish Gordon made was really amazing.

His level, which had been silent for a while after reaching 36Lv, rose by one.

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The secret weapon that will take the level of honey butter sandwiches to the next level.

Its identity was *levain*, natural yeast used in the Galia Kingdom, which is famous for its bread.

Originally, bread was a food that took a long time to ferment, like yogurt or cheese.

However, since the advent of powdered yeast, the time has been greatly shortened.

‘It takes about 30 minutes to leaven the dough using yeast. Using Fire Fist makes it even faster. But if you use this······.’

*Levain*, a natural yeast used in bakeries in the Galia Kingdom.

When fermented using it, it goes through a different process than yeast. I don’t know exactly what happens,

but using *Levain* greatly increases the fermentation time.

‘It takes about five hours. You can’t shorten the time even if you use Fire Fist.’

However, bread made with *Levain* has a thick crust and a dense, irregular soft dough inside. It holds more air.

In addition, mold does not grow on the bread even after a few days.

‘All the bakeries in Galia have their own *Levain*. I wouldn’t have been able to get it like this unless it was through the Merchant Guild.’

Because each bakery has a different yeast, even the same bread tastes different.

That’s why there are so many unique bakeries in Galia.

‘I’ve been using baguettes for honey butter sandwiches so far, but if I have this, I can make Cuban bread. Then the honey butter sandwich will definitely be upgraded.’

Bread made with *Levain* cannot be easily distinguished from regular bread with the naked eye.

But you can definitely feel the difference when you touch it.

Because it expands slowly, the bread’s texture is even, making it heavier than other breads.

Kainchel recalled what he had read in the book.

‘People who are used to bread made with yeast may find the texture of *Levain* bread strange. But once you get used to the slightly sour, chewy texture and the savory aroma of yeast, you won’t be able to eat any other bread.’

First, he was going to make a simple baguette to serve with the lobster dish.

Kainchel smiled as he looked at the *Levain* in the bottle.

‘It takes too long to make, so I can’t use it for distribution bread [bread given to the knights]. So, I’ll only use it for Abel and Frelia.’

He was already looking forward to how delicious the bread would be.

A Dish for a Friend #3