Mushroom Ahjio「It’s delicious today, too.」
Hans had just left after finis.h.i.+ng his lunch, leaving only Arnoux and Ingrid in the restaurant.
Even though Izakaya n.o.bu only started serving in the evening, the regulars came before that.
They couldn’t bring themselves to send them away, so they served them until Arnoux and Ingrid felt comfortable enough to come almost every day.
「Are you going to eat tempura again?」
「And are you going to eat pudding again, Granny Ingrid?」
They always ordered tempura and pudding. s.h.i.+n.o.bu had even started preparations for them way before those two even knocked on the gla.s.s door.
「Since you came to this izakaya that serves delicious food, how about trying other things besides tempura?」
「If you put it that way, then shouldn’t Granny Ingrid order something else besides pudding?」
「I’m good. I do not have many years left. I should eat my favourite food before this short life disappears.」
「I think that you’re healthy enough to live to a hundred.」
Although they were trading barbs, there was no ill will between them. Even though there didn’t seem to be any common grounds between a doctor and a prodigal son, for some reason, they got along well.
Ingrid, who was repeating this kind of exchange, suddenly dropped her gaze to Arnoux’s plate. It was maitake tempura. As n.o.buyuki had stocked up on some good maitake mushrooms today, he was able to serve them confidently.
~Maitake mushroom tempura~
「Mushrooms, huh. That’s an unusual species.」
「Y-yeah, I got it from a special supplier.」
Ingrid stabbed the maitake mushroom with a fork while replying with a 「Hmm~」
「Speaking of mushrooms, I have a silly story.」
It was probably due to the alcohol that Ingrid was talking in a sleepy tone while chuckling to herself.
「Once there was a nun, Beanpole, and a trainee priest, Shorty, from the Holy Kingdom. Shorty was a diligent person, but people always made fun of him for being small. He was always waiting for a chance to win them over, when one day, an important task appeared.」
The important task was to receive the senior n.o.bles, who came on a pilgrimage to the Magisterium in the Holy Capital, for the feast held by the Church Headquarters. Since there would be huge donations from these n.o.bles, failure was unacceptable.
Two young people were entrusted with the duty to investigate the dishes. Even though they had hired chefs from distinguished inns in the Holy Capital, they still had to review the menu that was to be served during the reception. Their role was to check the recipes to identify which ingredients would be used. Beanpole was in charge of the alcohol and desserts, while Shorty was in charge of the main course.
「Shorty was very eager. He steadily began to hunt down old doc.u.ments and books. He even made some small discoveries, you know. But…」
「But?」
Ingrid chuckled louder at s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s impatience.
「He forgot to investigate the most crucial point, the customs in the territory of Marquis Sachnussenburg.」
Arnoux reacted slightly to the name of Marquis Sachnussenburg, but Ingrid continued talking without paying him any heed.
「That marquis’s territory is just in the vicinity of the Old Capital (Aiteria), you know? They do not eat mushrooms in that area. Shorty had not investigated it, so he had overlooked the large plate that was served first, which made use of plenty of mushrooms. It was a silly story.」
(TL: after much contemplation, I’ve decided to use the official name of the Old Capital, Aiteria, which is used in the LN and manga. I’ll still put in “Old Capital” for now and replace it completely with Aiteria after some time.)
An unpleasant, cold sweat ran down s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s back. It was important for a ryotei to know what sort of food the customers avoided. However, it didn’t mean nothing came to mind from the current story.
From s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s knowledge, a big mistake like that never happened in Yukitsuna. However, among the chefs they hired, some had caused similar incidents, which resulted in their expulsion.
「And then, what happened to Sachnussenburg?」
Ingrid smiled at Arnoux, who asked that with a sorrowful expression.
「You don’t have to worry about what happened, Arnoux. Shorty was safe. At that time, Sachnussenburg was known to be a benevolent lord. However, it was necessary for someone to take responsibility.」
「The marquis wasn’t offended?」
「s.h.i.+n.o.bu isn’t a child, so you will probably understand? The two people for this role were chosen from a somewhat large group. This was why they were troubled and discussed who to choose among the two of them.」
「Then, was it the trainee priest…」
「No, it was the nun who left the Holy Kingdom. All the blame was put on her shoulders.」
A letter about her bearing full responsibility was sent to her by the authorities, but it seemed that by the next morning, there were no longer any signs of Beanstalk the nun in the Holy Capital. It seemed that the talk was settled by having Beanstalk, who had conveniently escaped, as the true culprit and Shorty was just dragged into it.
「After all was said and done, Shorty was able to continue his studies and had a promising future. Everything was settled and he lived happily ever after.」
「Then, what about Beanstalk-san?」
「I wonder. She might have unexpectedly become successful somewhere.」
Ingrid laughed while saying so as she seemed brighter than usual.
「At any rate, mushrooms can’t be served around here, huh. I did not know because everyone was eating it normally.」
Arnoux responded to s.h.i.+n.o.bu’s murmurs.
「About a hundred years ago, there was a witch hunt around here. They suspected the witch spread food poisoning using mushrooms. They were groundless accusations in the end, but they did not feel sorry about it. There were a lot of poisonous mushrooms that were difficult to tell apart around here. There were also stories about mushrooms that were poisonous only when alcohol was ingested.」
「You’re considerably well-informed, Arnoux.」
「Everyone knows about this in the neighbourhood, but this young chap isn’t worried about it, since it is wasteful to leave what has been served.」
Arnoux laughed while taking a bite of the maitake tempura.
「So, s.h.i.+n.o.bu and Taisho. Here’s some friendly advice, I recommend that you stop serving mushrooms or mushroom-like dishes around this area.」
「We have already sold a lot, though.」
「When a hundred years have pa.s.sed, even the practice of abstaining from mushrooms will also fade. It is better to use them with caution. It is difficult to recognise through a dish like tempura, so it may not be a problem.」
「I see.」s.h.i.+n.o.bu nodded while n.o.buyuki sent a regretful look at her.
「Taisho, don’t tell me that you–?!」
「I have…stocked up on a lot of mushrooms…」
One of n.o.buyuki’s bad habits was stocking up on too many ingredients.
When he found a good ingredient, he would stock up on more than the necessary amount.
s.h.i.+n.o.bu looked inside the sack that n.o.buyuki pointed, and let out a gasp.
「What, what do we do with this…」
「They can’t be kept for a long time either, so I wanted to serve them as soon as possible.」
Arnoux and Ingrid both faced n.o.buyuki, who was feeling troubled, and gave pleasant smiles.
「Fortunately, Arnoux and I do not mind mushrooms, so please prepare to serve them rapidly. We’ll help you in disposing of your stockpile.」
Ingrid’s words lit a fire under n.o.buyuki. He rolled up his sleeves and began preparing the mushrooms.
He cut the mushrooms into large, bite-sized pieces and then heated them in some olive oil in a frying pan. He did not forget the red capsic.u.m either.
「Hoh, are you going to stew them in oil?」
「Do you know about this, Ingrid-san?」
「I ate it many times when I was young. It was pretty cheap and delicious. I even tried to make it for Camilla, but it is hard to get good olive oil here, in the North.」
The aromatic fragrance of the olive oil tickled her nose. The smell of the garlic n.o.buyuki threw into the pan tantalized their empty stomachs.
After that, he added some salt and parsley and completed the ahijo.
~Mushroom ahijo~
「Come to think of it, Taisho, didn’t you make ahijo the other day too?」
「I used octopus that time, though.」
「Up till now, you have devoted yourself completely to j.a.panese dishes. Was there a turn of events? That being said, I think it’s good to have a variety of things on the menu, since n.o.bu is an izakaya.」
「Shuhari. It’s shuhari.」
He successfully distracted s.h.i.+n.o.bu because the ahijo on the plate looked too tasty. If using mushrooms was not a problem, he would’ve liked to add it to the menu.
Arnoux, from the tempura faction, and Ingrid, from the pudding faction, were also waiting with forks in hand as they swallowed their saliva.
「Here, please enjoy.」
After serving the dishes, n.o.buyuki began to grill some bread.
It was an orthodox way of toasting the baguette, so it wasn’t as thoroughly prepared as he had expected.
It was something n.o.buyuki, who lived on the second floor of the store, would buy for breakfast.
He dipped the bread in the olive oil, which had soaked up the flavour of the mushrooms and garlic, and ate it. It was better than he had thought.
He wanted to eat it. He had to eat it.
s.h.i.+n.o.bu was about to ask to split it with her, but Taisho just smiled.
「Sorry, s.h.i.+n.o.bu-chan. I put in too much garlic.」
「Ta-Taisho…」
Since she was in charge of serving people, she couldn’t eat a lot of garlic before opening hours.
n.o.buyuki started on the next dish immediately, ignoring s.h.i.+n.o.bu voicing her resentment while shedding tears of blood.
He boiled water in a stockpot and cooked pasta.
He then heated up the rest of the ahijo in the frying pan and threw the pasta into it.
He mixed them together properly, turning it into an oil pasta with mushrooms. Since he added some red capsic.u.m and basil leaves, it would probably be easy to eat.
~Mushroom aglio e olio peperoncini~
「Master, are you here today too?」
Camilla made an appearance at just the right time.
Previously, she had worn a red robe, but it seemed the black one that she had gotten from Ingrid was her recent favourite.
If anything, the reason she put on the same appearance as Ingrid was probably because she wanted to be a doctor from the Ichin Inst.i.tute, just like her master.
「Ah, that’s not fair master! You’re eating something delicious!」
「How about you, Camilla? Tais...o...b..iled pasta, you know.」
「Thank you very much!」
Camilla challenged n.o.buyuki’s boiled peperoncino with a fork.
「Spicy!」
It seemed to be a little bit too spicy for Camilla’s tongue, but she ate it with gusto, despite her wheezing.
n.o.buyuki made up his mind to make an ahijo pasta without garlic for s.h.i.+n.o.bu before he finished using up the stockpile of mushrooms.