Side Story 5:
Beef Curry
I first encountered this particular dish forty-nine days after I began working at Western Cuisine Nekoya, also known as the Restaurant to Another World. In other words, on my eighth visit.
As usual, I’d made my way from the end of the sky to the other world. From the kitchen, I saw the remnants of a mysterious memory in which a group was enjoying a meal.
They were clearly residents of this world and had brown and black hair. They appeared to be devouring something on the same plates used for chicken curry. According to the otherworldly words they used, it was delicious.
However, what they were eating was a much darker color than the chicken curry I was familiar with.
Of course, I was curious about the memory, so I assessed the group’s food using my sense of smell. It was ever-so-slightly different from the curry dishes that I knew about but was indeed curry.
The scent of the curry eaten here the previous night lingered in the restaurant.
I smell curry. It’s different from usual.
When I pointed out the scent, the master seemed surprised by my sense of smell. “Huh? Oh, nice catch. I planned on serving you all some leftovers from yesterday’s daily special.”
He pulled something from the fridge. “I was gonna have you ladies try it out, so I put some aside for you.”
The pot was small enough for the master to hold in one hand. He opened it and showed me its contents.
The food inside the pot was indeed the same as in the memory I’d seen. Some kind of curry-like stuff filled the pot. Its scent was weak, since it was chilled, but it was undoubtedly curry. However, it was a much darker brown than chicken curry, or curry and rice, and had a unique aroma all its own. I couldn’t see anything but meat inside the curry.
This is curry?
“Yup! Leftovers from yesterday’s special.”
Aletta also seemed curious about the pot’s contents. “Wow. It’s much darker than Alphonse’s curry and rice, or Kuro’s favorite chicken curry. This is curry, too?”
The master nodded and began to explain.
“See, I wanted to make curry without pork, so I cooked two test dishes. After having my people try them both, we decided to put chicken curry on the menu. But this one here turned out pretty well, too. So, yesterday, I offered it as a daily special.”
“Oh, I see. Wow! You thought of multiple new dishes at once? You’re amazing, Master!”
Aletta looked at the master, flashing what was called a “smile” at him as she spoke. In turn, he “smiled” back, looking at a photo on the wall of him and the previous master posing together.
“The curry here is Gramps’s recipe,” the master explained. “It’s damn good, and it has plenty of fans, but I’ve been thinking that it’s about time to come up with my own curry. The problem is that I have to make two different types: Indian and European.”
It appeared as though the current master and his blood relative had some sort of internal ruleset when it came to the most delicious dish of all—curry.
I briefly searched through the master’s memories, entering the consciousness stored inside his words.
I found a memory in which the master was still young. The previous master had scolded him for his form as he cut vegetables and meats, and for leaving food on the fire too long, telling him that he’d never make Nekoya’s curry right at that rate.
The master should have found a memory like that unpleasant, but for some odd reason, he didn’t.
“See, European-style curry focuses on savoriness over spiciness. And since it uses muscle meat, it ends up tasting very different from other curry-and-rice dishes.”
As the master continued to explain, I saw yet another memory. This one was of the master working on two different curry recipes.
It appeared that he’d made lots of curry dishes that tasted similar, eaten them, and then rebuilt them from scratch about seventeen times. Then, I saw him finally taste both curries and nod firmly.
Having seen into the master’s memories, I found myself quite curious. I want to try it.
Fortunately, the master understood that. “Excellent. Later tonight.”
Apparently, he felt that curry wasn’t a good breakfast, since he asked me to wait until the evening. “I know that you can handle morning curry, but this is a little heavy for Aletta. I’ve also got chicken curry ready to go, along with her usual breakfast, so make do with that for now.”
Okay.
I ended up politely following his instructions, just as I’d promised I would when I started working at the restaurant. How unfortunate.
“Oh! I’m looking forward to it,” Aletta said.
I was slightly pleased to find that she was in the same headspace as me. I ate my chicken curry as usual and got to work.
Aletta and I tidied the restaurant, grabbed whatever ingredients the master needed, and cleaned the tableware. Once our first visitor of the day from my world arrived, I took their order, brought them their food, and took their dirty plates to the kitchen. As I performed my usual work, time flew by.
“I shall return,” said Red.
As usual, I watched her head back to her territory with a large golden pot of beef stew, marking the end of the day.
Master saw Red exit through the door and stretched his arms out widely. “Okay, that’s it for today! I’ve already heated up the curry, so it won’t take long to serve. We’re gonna eat in the cafeteria tonight, so you two grab a table. Kuro, are you good with the beef curry to start?”
“Yay!” Hearing the master’s words, Aletta seemingly regained her energy.
I, however, was the same as always. Yes, that’s fine.