Chapter 103:
Fruit Gratin
THE SUN ROSE late on this crisp autumn day.
Victoria had finished breakfast and gotten ready earlier than normal. She now stood before the door that had appeared just as the sun rose.
I’ve got a request today, she thought, swallowing nervously as she remembered receiving the assignment beyond the door just a week ago.
Victoria’s job had once belonged to her master, Altorius, and now belonged to her. Specifically, she wrote descriptions of otherworldly desserts. Today, she’d try Nekoya’s brand-new dish and pen such a description, including the dessert’s name and price for the menu.
Resting her hand on the door, she focused on what awaited. I wonder what kind of confection the master made this time.
Victoria loved the other world’s desserts. Eight years ago, Altorius—who wasn’t particularly fond of sweets—had led her beyond the restaurant door, where she’d gotten to try all sorts of delicacies. Since then, she’d made a point of going to the restaurant once a week to eat the various creations they served.
Victoria thought the other world’s desserts were more technically advanced and delicious than any from the Duchy—no, from her whole world. Apparently, that wasn’t a stretch. Over the last few years, a staggering number of visitors had gradually come to the restaurant in search of those transcendent sweets.
According to the master, the restaurant’s menu had included barely any sweet items eight years ago, before he began stocking desserts from a proper professional.
As far as Victoria was concerned, the most delicious treat on the menu was the egg-and-milk mixture called “pudding.” However, cakes, ice cream, and jelly were delicious as well. Victoria found that she also looked forward to the undiscovered desserts she’d yet to try, so when she was occasionally offered an assignment, she happily accepted.
As usual, the bell rang when Victoria opened the door, signaling her arrival. To her surprise, she found only the master and waitresses in the restaurant. Still, it was perfectly clean and ready for visitors.
The smiling master, Aletta, and Kuro greeted Victoria.
“Ah, welcome, Victoria!”
“Welcome to Western Cuisine Nekoya!”
Welcome.
“Hi! Good morning,” Victoria greeted them with a grin. “So, what’s the new dessert?”
“I’ll have you try our fruit gratin today,” the master replied, revealing the dish’s name. “It’ll be right out.”
Victoria watched him retreat into the back. Fruit gratin? I wonder what that’s like.
Victoria knew that “gratin” was a dish in which the cook mixed meat or seafood, vegetables, mashruums, and wheat noodles with knight sauce and loaded them into a ceramic dish. Then it was topped with cheese, covered, and cooked so all the ingredients melded together. It was a delicious meal, and very popular during the cold seasons—but not a dessert.
Victoria had never seen fruit used in gratin, and she had a hunch the other world’s sweet fruit wouldn’t suit the dish. Still, the master would never serve something unappetizing. She’d been a Nekoya regular for years, so she knew he didn’t offer recipes he himself didn’t find delicious. Whatever fruit gratin was, it’d be tasty.
With that in mind, Victoria waited unconcernedly. When Aletta brought out the dessert, she greeted the waitress with a smile.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Aletta said. “Here’s your fruit gratin.”
“Thank you kindly!”
“It’s still hot, so please be careful. Enjoy!” Aletta nodded once.
Victoria nodded in return, then focused on the fruit gratin in front of her, which was in a smaller dish than the usual gratin.
Her first impression was that the dessert’s surface was lightly browned, and its filling was in the center, exactly as she’d expect from a normal, savory gratin. However, the dish differed from savory gratin in several ways. For one thing, the ingredients were primarily sweet, cooked fruit. What stood out most was the sauce. It’s yellow, but this isn’t cheese or knight sauce. It’s probably…
Victoria picked up the small spoon on the table and broke the gratin’s golden, crunchy surface, scooping up the yellow sauce and fruit beneath. After gently licking the spoonful of fruit gratin with her pink tongue, she put it in her mouth.
I knew it! The sauce is custard. Wait, no… It’s a little different. She tried to assess the sweet flavors spreading through her mouth. What exactly is it?
First of all, the fruit was likely parboiled. Uncooked fruit was tougher and more sour, but the fruit in the gratin was quite soft, and each bite pressed out sweet juices. The first flavor Victoria recognized was the fruit known as “peach.” She often saw that colorful orange and yellow fruit on cakes and the like.
The ingredient that was tripping her up was the sauce. Since it was a yellow dessert sauce, Victoria had guessed it to be custard, an egg-and-milk concoction used in pudding and similar recipes. But though the sweet flavor and consistency were similar, the sauce lacked custard’s milkiness. I don’t think this has any milk in it. Actually, it smells like wine. Perhaps a bit was mixed in.
Holding the sauce contemplatively on her tongue, Victoria concluded that it did indeed contain wine. Since this dish was a type of gratin, the sauce was also warm. Perhaps that was why it wasn’t topped with custard; the master usually poured that on chilled desserts.
I see, Victoria thought. This is quite good. With that thought, she gazed at the seemingly infinite number of fruits within the gratin, all likely cooked to softness.
Victoria made sure to taste each fruit individually. She started with the peach; her teeth pierced its soft flesh easily. It was incredibly sweet and juicy. Each time she chewed, plenty of warm juice flowed into her mouth.
The next fruit she chose was mikun. It was also orange but slightly different from a peach. The mikun was both sweet and sour, and its texture was excellent as well. Mikun was quite common in the Duchy in the fall, and cooking somehow didn’t rob it of its unique flavor or texture. The yellow sauce’s thick, sweet flavor and the mikun enhanced each other; mikun gave the sauce a brighter taste than the other fruits.
The last fruit Victoria tried was known as “banana” in the other world. It was sticky and had a pronounced sweetness. Bananas weren’t particularly common in the Duchy. They were apparently easy to find in the Western Continent’s southern region; however, on the Eastern Continent, one only ever saw shipments imported by boat. She’d heard that bananas were seldom available.
These otherworldly fruits were all much sweeter than those Victoria was familiar with. Having been parcooked, mixed with the sticky egg-and-wine sauce, and baked, the fruits somehow each retained their distinctive flavors. The fruit gratin also contained a spice called cinnamon that lent its warm flavor and aroma to the mixture.
The gratin’s slightly browned and bitter surface brought out the sweetness in the sauce and fruit, leading Victoria to eat spoonful after spoonful of the stuff until there was no gratin left. I knew this’d be good.
As she placed her spoon down, Victoria thought once again that no matter what new sweets the master wanted to add to Nekoya’s menu, they were sure to be delicious.
Afterward, as always, she wrote her description into the menu the master brought her. “Fruit Gratin: Fresh fruit cooked with sweet egg-and-wine sauce. Both the fruit and sauce are delicious! Four copper coins.”
“Done!” Victoria called. “Is this all right?”
“Absolutely,” the master nodded. “I really appreciate your help every time.” He took the menu Victoria had written on.
“Thank goodness,” said Victoria. “Could I get the usual pudding to go? Oh, and is it possible to order a fruit gratin to go, too?” Having requested her usual, she realized now was a good time to ask about the fruit gratin as well.
“Yes!” the master nodded again. “Fruit gratin tastes pretty different when it’s cool. In a good way.”
Victoria’s niece and nephew had been dropping by to play lately, so Victoria wanted to enjoy the fruit gratin with them. With that in mind, she made her order: “Then I’ll take three servings, please. I’d like my little brother’s children to try some.”