Chapter 79

The Failure Alchemist of the Royal Capital

Mayonnaise and the Forbidden Marriage of Fried Food #

“Hey, hey, Miina. Doesn’t the sauce accompanying this raw meat tartare look delicious?”

Beside the neatly shaped raw meat, there was a mound of sauce.

“Mayonnaise, is it?”

Miina peered into the cookbook I was holding.

“It’s because I brought back something made on Mayo Island, so it’s called ‘mayonnaise’ after the island’s name.”

“What’s this…?” Miina began checking the ingredients.

“The main ingredients are egg yolk, salt, vinegar, and vegetable oil… I can’t quite grasp how oil and vinegar can turn into this kind of consistency…”

“Let’s make it ourselves!”

I handed Miina the whisk I had bought recently (a bundle of thin wooden branches tied together).

“I thought it would be tough to whisk with a fork, so I bought this!”

Saying that, I passed the whisk to Miina.

“Well, it’s my duty to make what the master wants to eat… Let’s get a bowl…”

Miina cracked eggs into the bowl, added salt and vinegar, and mixed them well.

“Then, we gradually add oil to prevent separation…”

As she mixed in the oil bit by bit, the color of the egg mixture changed from deep yellow to a pale, creamy sauce.

After seeing the appraiser, we decided to wait a few days since it seemed consuming it within a short time could lead to food poisoning.

◆

And a few days later, we scooped some onto spoons and both tasted the mayonnaise.

“It’s delicious!”

“If you put this on, even kids could eat disliked vegetables because of this sauce, don’t you think?”

Miina said, twirling the end of her long tail. She must have really liked it.

“Well, wouldn’t male customers who expect hearty dishes be even happier if this sauce were on something even heartier?”

No, I don’t have a concrete plan, but for men who work physically demanding jobs, I felt like adding an even richer sauce on something hearty might be well-received.

Just then, I spotted a bottle with breadcrumbs on the kitchen table.

“Hey, what’s today’s main ingredient for dinner?”

“I thought we’d make Crazy Chicken sauté.”

Miina answered, so I grabbed the breadcrumbs and peeked into the fridge. Indeed, there was Crazy Chicken breast meat inside.

… Is it really amazing? I want to try it!

“Hey, Miina. I want to fry this meat in vegetable oil. Could you do it, please?”

“Fry meat in vegetable oil?”

Miina tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“If it fails, we can just buy more meat! See, please!”

Saying that, I clasped my hands together and begged Miina.

“Well, Daisy-sama’s intuition tends to work out unexpectedly well… Let’s give it a try! But you’re talking about frying with vegetable oil this time. Vegetable oil is a luxury item, and you’re being quite extravagant.”

… No, it’s not intuition… but it’s convenient, so let’s just say that. And let’s accept that wanting to use vegetable oil is luxurious. I want to try the delicious fried food that the appraiser recommends!

Actually, in our world, we have dishes that are deep-fried or baked using lard or animal fat, but we don’t use vegetable oil that much.

And I conveyed the method of processing the breast meat as recommended by the appraiser.

Miina prepared the frying oil in a pan and heated it. Then she seasoned the thinly sliced breast meat with salt and pepper after firmly pounding it with the back of a knife to prevent shrinkage. She coated it with flour, then egg, and finally breadcrumbs.

“Following what Daisy-sama said, it’s got lots of breadcrumbs! Alright… the oil seems to be heated too. Let’s try frying it!”

When Miina placed the meat into the frying pan, the meat coated in breadcrumb batter formed a frothy layer that turned fox-colored after a while.

“Hmm, looks good. I wonder how it tastes!”

Miina grabbed it with tongs, making a light “crispy” sound. The breadcrumb-coated meat, fried in generous amounts of vegetable oil, emitted a fragrant aroma.

“There’s quite a bit of oil on it… What should we do?”

“Can we drain it on a strainer? Oh, but this is wooden, so the oil might seep in…”

I brought a bowl and a strainer from the kitchen, but then I thought that wooden might not be suitable.

“Shall we get dedicated frying equipment? Daisy-sama, including new tongs, please allow me to buy some later.”

Upon closer inspection of Miina’s tools, I noticed that even the tongs were made of wood. I nodded in agreement.

“…Well, shall we give it a taste?”

Miina divided the fried food, which had been drained on the cutting board, into three equal portions. Then, she arranged the fried food and mayonnaise on three small plates.

“Marcus~! If you’re not busy, come and have a taste!”

I called out to Marcus, who was tending to the store.

“I’m coming now!”

Hastily, Marcus joined us for the taste test.

“Cheers!”

We each took a bite of the half-sized Crazy Chicken breast meat as it was.

“Hot…!”

…It’s hot!

I need to be careful; it seems like I might burn the inside of my mouth.

But the crispy texture of the batter on the outside was lively, and the innermost layer of the batter had probably absorbed the meat juices, creating an irresistible combination of saltiness and the deliciousness of chicken. And the meat itself was tender and moist, making it delicious.

Then, I dipped the remaining bite into mayonnaise.

“So delicious.”

The light-tasting breast meat, combined with the robust umami and refreshing acidity of the sauce, was incredibly tasty.

“Adding finely chopped pickles to the mayonnaise sounds like a good idea… I’ll think of a few more variations!”

Miina seemed satisfied with the fried food, which she had initially approached with some skepticism, and her creative spirit was ignited.

By the way, the version with pickles that Miina came up with also included finely chopped boiled eggs. Since it was inspired by the sauce served with the raw meat “tartare steak,” it was named “Tartar Sauce.”

◆

The next day.

“Shadow” and “Bird,” once again disguised as adventurers, arrived at Atelier Daisy. They were each biting into a soft bread containing the newly created “Chicken Breast Fry with Tartar Sauce.”

“Shadow…!”

“Bird…!”

They confirmed each other with hushed voices and nodded.

Then, they placed an additional order for souvenir items with Miina, received the items, and disappeared into the back alley. After looking around to ensure no one was watching, “Bird” teleported to the castle.

“…Our country remains peaceful today as well.”

The man known as “Shadow,” who remained, muttered to himself. The fact that they weren’t being deployed for another mission meant that the country was currently at peace. On this day, he closed his eyes as an expression of gratitude for the present peace.