“My, that does sound promising! I’m ready to learn, Chef!” I smiled at him.
Scratching his face bashfully, Salamander started to swish his tail back and forth even more vigorously. “I’m a full-fledged chef now?! I’m sure movin’ on up in the world!”
The way he spoke was a clear indication of how close he used to be to human activity. Though the flames around his body were in contact with my skin, they didn’t harm me in any way. Perhaps it was a little rude of me to think so, but I was surprised to discover how cute he could be, given his drawl. As he squirmed about, I gently stroked his forehead with a fingertip, and his vermilion eyes narrowed contentedly. Again, my finger went right through those flames, but I didn’t get burned. The flames didn’t even feel hot. It was all so strange.
“However, I think that today we should order some meat that has already been cooked,” I said. “I can begin to refine my cooking skills bit by bit afterward.”
“Ah. Then I suppose I shall have to make do with looking forward to your cooking for the time being,” Alk said.
“What’s this nonsense about takin’ it slow?” Salamander protested. “With me teaching, you’ll be whippin’ up five-star meals in no time!”
Considering Alk’s original form, he was unlikely to suffer from eating raw meat. However, now that he looked like a human, I couldn’t help but think that it would be safer to cook it first.
Wait a moment... Meat sashimi? There’s meat that can be eaten raw?! Not just meat, but...organ meat?!
It seemed that there was some wildly fringe cuisine in Teiren’s world...
Alk’s throat rumbled with deep, quiet laughter, and Salamander’s tail swished about in my lap. Both of them were staring at me, so I decided to stop delaying. I ordered a variety of items. Admittedly, I did give in to a few of my curiosities, but I knew those items wouldn’t go to waste. If I couldn’t eat them myself, Alk probably would.
“What are you plotting, Fran?” The dragon shot me an especially dark glance.
“You make me sound like a villain! I was simply contemplating how important it is that food be enjoyed.” I gave him my best smile as I pressed my finger to the button enshrined in the center of the screen.
There came a series of thumps as paper boxes piled up next to me once more.
Salamander’s eyes lit up, and he whistled. “Again with the fine paper, m’lady! You’ll lemme have it, right?” His tail swayed with excitement.
“Of course! You will be patient, though, won’t you? I need to remove the contents first.”
I started with the box that was primarily black. It gave off an air of majesty. Flipping the lid open, I was met with a certificate proving the beef’s superior origin and a leaflet explaining the recommended way to eat it. I moved both of those items to one side, which revealed a smaller wooden box within.
My heart was pounding—it felt like I was opening a treasure chest! I was sure that this too would prove an excellent source of mana for Salamander, so it wouldn’t go to waste. I pulled the rather weighty box out and carefully opened the lid. On a piece of red cloth, a white, frosted bag held two portions of meat. A small bottle of seasoning sat between them.
“What is that, Fran?”
“This is dry-aged Japanese Black roast beef! Here, we have one cut of round and one of sirloin.”
“Dry...aged?”
“I’m not entirely certain about the specifics myself, but it seems that the meat is stored at a cold temperature that is just a little too high to freeze it. Then, it is allowed to age gradually,” I explained.
Apparently, the long aging process brought out the meat’s umami flavor. I’d forever be impressed by the techniques developed in Teiren’s world! This meat was said to taste better if it was left at room temperature for a while, so I removed it from the container to let it rest.
Now, it was time to look through the rest of the order!
I gave the packing materials from the roast beef, including the boxes and cloth, over to Salamander. His eyes sparkled with glee as he gobbled them up one by one to bolster his mana. The bag used to hold the meat itself was apparently made from a flammable liquid called oil, so perhaps he would be able to make use of that too.
“This next item is a tasting set of roast beef from different producers! In Teiren’s world, there are different brands of beef. I ordered this to see how they differed.”
Alk hummed. “Will the differences be so great? I had always thought that all beef was the same, more or less.”
“I haven’t tried them, so I can’t be sure, but according to the description, the cattle were raised differently and had unique diets.”
This next box was such a deep shade of brown that it was almost black. Inside it sat four pieces of meat, each one a whole size bigger than my fist. They were individually wrapped in transparent pouches that had the different beef producer’s brand names on them. Just like the last box, this one also included proof-of-origin certificates and instructions on how best to enjoy the product.
Teiren told me that the authenticity of food was taken very seriously in her world. Here, there were malicious meat vendors who bulked up their products with meat from other animals when selling to commoners. Sometimes, that led to disease outbreaks. Though attempts were made to expose and crack down on such businesses within the duchy and even the capital, the fraudsters would immediately set up new storefronts. It was an endless game of cat and mouse.
Teiren’s world had much higher standards for hygiene and quality, and that was exactly why I had chosen to order the next item I announced to the others.
“This is a carpaccio set made with Japanese black beef. It’s meat you can have raw!”
“Is that so unusual?” Alk asked.
“Perhaps not for a dragon such as yourself, but I have never eaten raw meat in my entire life,” I explained to him.
He continued to cock his head as though he was struggling with the concept of what was normal. It was a stark reminder that despite his appearance, he was still a dragon. In this world, eating raw meat would make one sick. Even so, I had still ordered some because I couldn’t help but be curious. After all, it had looked exceptionally delicious on the tablet—and it looked even tastier in real life!
The carpaccio set was perfectly wrapped so as to be impenetrable to the air, and the meat itself was a vivid, light crimson. The white fat strewn through the red muscle—which Teiren told me was called “marbling”—created a contrast that was very appealing to the eye. It was like I was looking at a large red flower with mottled petals. That gorgeous meat was accompanied by thin shavings of hard cheese, a small bottle of fresh olive oil, and a petite spice mill containing grains of rock salt. Of course, this box had its own literature about how to enjoy it and to guarantee the meat’s quality as well. It claimed that to enjoy this meat best, one should serve it on a plate, sprinkle it with cheese, drizzle oil on top of that, and then season it with salt! There was an additional certificate proving that this meat had passed a safety test to be able to be eaten raw—yet another piece of evidence proving the high food standards in Teiren’s world.
A strange mix of anxiety and anticipation stretched my nerves taut as I arranged the carpaccio on one of the plates I’d ordered.