Chapter 567: Fran"s Cooking
Fran and her group had decided on the dish they were going to make and started cooking it, but the way they cooked was very different from the other groups.
While the other groups were cooking with pans over the fire, they were using improvised stoves made with Earth Magic.
Moreover, Fran provided them with top-grade knives and pans from her dimensional storage. It was a very high-quality product made by a Dwarven master.
The seasoning used in the preparation and the milk used to remove the smells was also used lavishly.
She also used a makes.h.i.+ft pressure cooker made with a combination of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water Magic to cook the meat until it was tender.
The makes.h.i.+ft-pressure cooker looked simple at first glance, but it was actually a technique that required a high level of skill and was very difficult to maintain and adjust in combination with magic.
Well, no one was aware of that though. But if a Magic Teacher were to see it, they would be amazed at the waste of its use.
Yafi, the teacher in charge of the Cooking Cla.s.s, was admiring all the dishes that Fran and her group had laid out in front of her.
「Hee? It has no distinctive pungent smell at all. It’s almost hard to believe that you used Skunk Racc.o.o.n meat for this」
From the white porcelain dishes, it was hard to believe that they were used for outdoor cooking. No, it was not only Yafi but the rest of the groups seemed to think so as well.
「What kind of cooking is this?」
「Well, I wonder…?」
「It looks delicious… Moreover, they even made four dishes in such a short time…」
It was not just the cooking that the students were impressed with.
「Did you see how fast they dismantled it? That was amazing」
「I also listened to her explanation, and it was very informative」
「As expected of a real active adventurer…」
「Or rather, I never thought that magic can be used like that」
「One day, I’m gonna be able to do the same…」
Even if she had simply cooked outdoors, they could feel the difference in their abilities. They looked exhausted and looked at Fran with envy.
Well, the students were probably tired because they were physically and mentally drained from the multiple foul smell disturbances that had occurred. Perhaps, half of the groups had failed to dismantle and damaged its poison glands. If they had smelled the fainting stench over and over again, they must have been exhausted.
「This looks delicious」
Yafi’s words probably summed up her feelings pretty well. As far as I could tell, the food had not been good so far.
It was all about herb-crusted grilled food and salty soup. She couldn’t stop eating for the a.s.sessment, and it was quite hard for her.
The only thing that seemed to be better was the cooking of the group that received good reviews in this cla.s.s every time. A brown-skinned, platinum-blonde, fresh-looking man from another continent was in charge of the cooking as the leader of that group.
He seemed to come from a desert country called the Kingdom of Azalea, which was apparently famous for its cuisine that used a lot of spices. In this cla.s.s, he was also making Azalean soup and a tortilla-like dish with grilled meat sandwiched between flour dough.
At first glance, I thought the soup might be a curry soup, but it seemed more like a stew with spices.
The filling of the tortilla was a layer of thinly sliced meat that has been baked and then sliced into thin strips, just like a kebab.
The spices and coconut milk seemed to have removed a lot of the smell from the meat, but it was not perfect due to the lack of preparation such as draining the blood. Yafi’s a.s.sessment of it was 「It’s so-so」.
Now, how would the cooking that Fran and her group had cooked, be evaluated?
「I’ll dig in then」
「Nn」
「I wonder if this is pounded and minced Skunk Racc.o.o.n meat? Is that cheese on top?」
「After removing as much fat as possible from the abdomen, we crushed it into small pieces, mixed with special seasoning, rolled up and baked」
Well, to put it simply, it was a hamburger steak mixed with curry powder and baked, with cheese on top of it.
「And how does it taste――」
Yafi then used her fork to cut up the hamburger and slowly brought it to her mouth.
「Mogu mogu…!」
(*munching SFX)
Immediately after chewing once and twice, her eyes widened in surprise.
「Delicious! What the h.e.l.l is this!? It tastes like something that you’d normally need to pay for! And it has the most complex taste I’ve ever had… It’s a little bit spicier than Azalean food, but… What is this spiciness――」
Yafi was surprisingly accurate in her a.n.a.lysis of flavors. I thought she was just an adventurer who wanted to teach outdoor cooking, but it seemed she was well versed in food and cooking.
「Is this jerky? You did a great job making it in such a short time」
「Fresh jerky made with magic」
「Your magic is quite amazing then… Hmm… It has a unique taste from the seasoning and spices. Aah, it made me want to have some alcohol」
「And this. I made it with meat miso. Wrap it in this flour crepe」
「Another unusual dish. Mogu mogu―― it’s also delicious. Incredible!」
Fran, whose Cooking Skill was already at its highest level, had used spices and miso to cover up the smell and taste. She chose a dish that she could make right here from the many dishes I’ve made in the past and recreated it.
「And last but not least, the mysterious soup… Is it soup? It looks oddly thick」
「It’s curry. The most delicious food in the world」
「Th-that’s quite a big one. Let’s find out how it tastes… Mogu mogu」
The other dish that Fran prepared was a curry with a lot of ingredients. There was no rice though.
It was a slightly spicy red curry with meat and vegetables tenderized in a makes.h.i.+ft pressure cooker. When Yafi took a bite of the curry, she looked even more surprised than before.
「Th-this is! What a complex taste! It’s spicy, but it only makes me want to eat more of it…!」
Yafi, who had only eaten a few bites of the other group’s dishes before, said that she couldn’t judge well if she was full, but right now, she was gobbling up Fran and her group’s cooking.
This would be an unquestionably high evaluation.
「W-we’ll have some of that too」
Charon and the others, who had been holding out so Yafi could a.s.sess it first, couldn’t wait any longer.
「Nn」
「I-I can finally eat it」
「It looks delicious」
「I-ta-da-ki-ma-su!」 (Note: Thanks for the food!)
「Woof woof!」
Urus.h.i.+ also came out and got some curry. However, his actions were quite disgraceful. He then ate the curry while paying attention to Fran who made it, but I could tell by the way his tail wagged how happy he was.
But Fran was not angry at him. Rather, Fran herself had a subtle expression on her face. For Fran, who loved curry, the taste must not be satisfactory.
Even so, it was very well received by her group. Fran was comparing it to my cooking, so it’s a harsh a.s.sessment, but I’m sure it was a lot better than most of the cooking the other groups made.
The other cla.s.smates looked enviously as Charon and her group ate their curry while saying how delicious it was. The rule was that they had to eat everything they made, so all the groups were forced to eat their food.
「…H-hey. If you have any leftover, could I have a bite of that food?」
The first person who approached her was the handsome young man who made the Azalean dish. He was good at cooking and seemed to be very interested in it.
「Sure」
「Really!? Thank you!」
「Eh! I want some too!」
「Me too! Me too!」
In the end, everyone raised their hands in the air. However, there was not enough for everyone who wanted it.
Well, to the students who lost in rock-paper-scissors, good luck next time!