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THE recipe for frozen cherries in fermented milk drink is extremely simple.
Wash your cherries carefully and take off the stems. Arrange them in containers such as ice cube trays or freezer trays. Pour in your fermented milk drink concentrate. Chill in the freezer until your mixture solidifies.
As I repeated this series of tasks, I said absentmindedly, “If the cherries don’t lose flavor for a long time when frozen like this, I can probably use the frozen cherries in all kinds of recipes during autumn and winter. That sounds fun. Especially with fruit pie—I personally feel that they are more delicious when you dig in during those two colder seasons, so if they can hold out for that long, I’d love to bake some cherry pie and see how it turns out.”
Kon, who was watching over me from his usual chair, began sniffing audibly. “Cherry pie! I don’t think I’ve had any of those before. Rei makes things like apple pie and strawberry pie though!” He paused. “Oh yeah, by the way, there are all kinds of pies out there, right? Like meat pie?”
I nodded. “Yep, meat pie certainly exists. There’s even fish pie. You can probably make a pie out of anything.”
“Huuuh… Fish pie…” Kon inclined his head with intrigue. “When I hear the word pie, I only think of sweet things… I can’t really imagine what a meat or fish pie would be like.”
“Hmm, but from what I remember, people mainly used to fill pie with meat, fish, and vegetables in the past. But gradually, as the times changed, putting in sweet things like fruits gradually became more popular. That’s what I heard, at least. It’s because pie is designed to be a portable meal you can carry along wherever you go, such as when you’re on a journey.”
Kon’s big, doe eyes blinked. He looked up at the ceiling and tried his best to remember what he knew about pies before turning to me again and blinking with confusion. “Mikura, um… I don’t really think you can carry pies around with you though,” he said in a gentle, persuasive tone, like an adult trying to explain something to a child.
I let out hearty laughter and grinned. “Well, Kon, the pies a long time ago aren’t like the ones you’re imagining. How do I put this… With most pies, you didn’t, no, couldn’t eat the crust outside—ah, that’s the shell. They were thick and hard so that they could withstand prolonged baking inside a stove with high firepower, so the shells were actually more of a baking dish.”
I continued, “The pies didn’t have a lattice crust like the ones we put on top of pies nowadays. The thick crust covered the entire filling like armor. After they were cooked through, people used to wrap the pies up with cloths and store them in their bags before they headed out somewhere. When you want to eat them, you cut open the crust with a knife and scoop out the filling, along with a small part of the inner crust that slightly softened, with a spoon. You were never meant to eat the outside from the beginning, so it’s fine even if it gets dirty or damaged. They are quite sturdy too, which made them good as portable food.”
Kon’s eyes widened. “That’s cool… Hm, but I’m still having trouble imagining it! Sounds like people from a long time ago carried around strange things as food.”
“Yep. Over in Europe, where pie was widespread, long-distance travel wasn’t really long-distance travel. Unlike medieval Japan, if you walked a couple of days or so over there, you’d come across a town or a monastery. That’s why they carried around food that prioritized taste—maybe they never considered traveling nonstop for a long time in the first place.”
I continued, “Anyway, that’s basically what ancient pies were like at the beginning, but our ovens improved with time, and thick crusts to that extent were no longer necessary. Eventually, it evolved into our modern-day pie, where the crust is edible too. Or at least, that’s what I read. Around the same time, sweet baked goods, such as sweet pastry, saw an incredible rise in popularity. Because of that, sweet pies with fillings such as fruits also became more mainstream.”
“That’s so interesting!” Kon exclaimed. “Did they also invent the lattice covering that lets you see inside around the same time?”
“Probably? I’m not too knowledgeable about the history of pies, to be honest.” I shrugged. “Nowadays, you even have pies where you stack up a big pile of fruits on top of the pie shell without any coverings whatsoever, so you could say that modern pies are nothing like their ancestors. This kind of heaped fruit pie…probably isn’t that portable.”
Kon waved his hands enthusiastically. “Oh, but Mikura, I love those kinds of pies! Rei makes the kind of strawberry pie with loads of strawberries, but it’s so good! They’re amazing! I like them just as much as your toast with jam!”
I couldn’t fight off a wry smile at that. Ranking the pie of a professional on the same level as the toast with jam of an amateur? If Rei hears this, he might faint on the spot. “I-I’m honored to hear that, thanks. But, uh… Maybe you shouldn’t say things like that around Rei, just in case.”
Kon inclined his head with bewilderment, unable to grasp why I’d said that. Meanwhile, I’d finished getting through all the cherries and was in the middle of cleaning and putting things away. In the back of my mind, I wondered whether I should make an extra batch of frozen cherries.
Cherries were heavenly and versatile in all kinds of recipes, whether it be pie or cakes. If I could find a way to preserve them for a long time, it would be fantastic. The problem was their price—even if they preserved well, purchasing in bulk would burn a hefty hole in my wallet. Hmm… This is tough. Either way, I would have to check whether my current batch of frozen cherries turned out well first before I could think about the next step.
Just as I was weighing options in my head, I noticed Kon’s ears twitching slightly. The next moment, the phone in the pocket of Kon’s overalls began ringing, signaling a call.
Now that was rare—a call on Kon’s phone? As I blinked in surprise, Kon stood up, took out his phone nimbly, and tapped on the accept button. He struggled slightly to hold up the phone that was quite large for his face as he answered the call.
“Yes, this is Sanmaya speaking. …Ah, right, this is Kon speaking. Mmhmm… Yeah… Okay, got it. Yes, I know. …Yes, yes, Mommy, I hear you loud and clear! Okay, see you later.” He tapped on the end call button and put his phone away in his pocket. After letting out a small sigh, he sat back down on his chair as if nothing had happened.
I frowned slightly. “Can I ask what happened? Is it an emergency?”
Kon said in a nonchalant voice, “Oh, Mommy just said that they’ve just scheduled the date for my arranged marriage inta-view.”
Ahh, it’s only an arranged marriage interview, thank good… My thoughts ground to an abrupt halt. Wait. Arranged marriage interview?! For Kon?!
I gaped. Though I’d heard he was going to have arranged marriage interviews a while ago, I still couldn’t help but be surprised when I heard it again, especially since it had a definite date now. I wasn’t Kon’s family, direct or even indirect, so this should be none of my business. But even while knowing that in my mind, this came as a greater shock than the scuffle with Techi’s uncle. My heart pounded hard against my chest, and an odd sense of anxiety gripped every cell of my body.