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Volume 2 Chapter 6-4: Fire Fox Traditional Cuisine

 

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「Alright since we want the meat to be fresh we have to cut the meat, tenderize it, and soak it in cranberry juice. We need at least 260 portions so we need to hurry. Can you do this?」
「We’ll show you that we can.」
「We can easily do it with this many people.」

I received a heartening response. I smiled and opened my mouth.

「Okay in that case I’ll tell you the final step. I had said earlier that we skipped a step so let me show you it now. We need to make the sauce.」

Yes indeed. Since we were making the most delicious steak it’d be a shame to eat it with just salt.

「First we soak the meat in the cranberry juice. We do that to soften the meat, but no matter what we do a small portion of the meat’s flavor will be left behind in the juice. Since it’s already like that we might as well use it for sauce.」

I took out a small pot and poured the cranberry sauce into it. I then had the Fire Foxes heat it up just before it boiled.

「When you boil down cranberry juice its acidity increases and so does the sweetness. Even with just that it tastes delicious. However, we can’t be satisfied with just that. In order to make it even more delicious we add this…」

I placed the leftover tendons and unusable meat on top of the iron plate.

「With such poor cuts of meat you can’t really eat them. However, if you prepare these correctly you can use them to create a great bouillon.」

I said as I pressed down on the leftover meats. They sizzled and a large amount of meat juice flowed out.

It wasn’t fat, just pure meat juice. In order to make a sauce, this kind of juice was way better than using lard. If you used this then the flavor of the meat would be reinforced in the sauce without making it greasy.

The overflowing savory smell was almost enough to entrance us.

「This iron pan has a special feature. It has a slight incline and a small groove that lets these juices flow out and into a bottle.」

The juices that flowed out of the leftover tendons and meat poured into the small jar. I squeezed them until it filled the jar.

Furthermore because I had crafted this pan to have mirror-like smoothness and slickness most of the juices and meats simply slid off of it without sacrificing any of the produce.

「Then we pour the meat sauce into the cranberry sauce, flavor with salt, add some edible plants, and that will finish the special sauce. If we pour it on the meat then the taste will become several times more delicious.」

A sweet and sour sauce overflowing with meaty flavor. The addition of this with the side of french fries would be irresistible. You could even eat them together to get a different flavor.

「Here, give this a taste.」

The fire foxes stuck a finger into the sauce and tasted it.

Then their tails suddenly stiffened up.

It was the best reaction I’d gotten so far.

「I don’t even need the meat anymore. Just give me some of this sauce and some bread for dipping.」
「Me too me too! It’d probably be good with some steamed mushrooms too.」
「Ah that sounds good!」
「Cyril-sama said that we’d be getting some wheat tomorrow. Maybe we could make some noodles and mix it together?」
「That sounds amazing!」

As expected of the housewives. They even thought of different ways to make their everyday meals better using this new technique.

「As you prepare the meat and today’s portion of the sauce you can also make it in bulk. It is easily preserved and is made of stuff that we’d eventually throw away anyways.」
「「「Understood! We’ll make plenty of it!」」」

They quickly took to their task in order to improve the dishes for tomorrow and their daily lives.

It almost felt as if it were more for the latter…but I’m sure it was my imagination.
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「Alright now all that’s left is the final groups.」

The potato group and steak group had taken more time than anticipated so I hurried a bit towards the soup and deer groups.

These two were all in one set.

I wanted to make some of the best soup using the deer meat.

「Sorry for making you wait everyone!」
「It’s fine Cyril-sama」
「Yep, we also mixed with the other groups to taste test as well. We can’t wait to eat our fill of those.」
「Ahhh! Kona that was a secret!」

The final group was made of Fire Foxes in their late teens and early twenties.

This was the group that increased my motivation the most.

「Well then Cyril-sama we’ll be in your care.」

Kuu said while bowing slightly.

All of the Fire Foxes showed me respect, but as expected there were few who were as well bred as Kuu.

Kuu had a certain type of elegance.

「Okay then, we’ll be making some soup. I say that, but this will take some time so the process is important.」

I grabbed a hind leg.

In truth, the hind legs of four legged animals were more delicious than the forelegs.

「First we fill this up with plenty of water, then we put some shank meat and chip bones into it.」

As always I had the Fire Foxes heat up the pot.

This made it so we didn’t need to use fuel and there was no smoke.

When we used our indoor kitchens we needed to go out and gather firewood every time and the smoke would dirty our homes making it necessary to clean. I was jealous of the ease with which they could cook.

Even today when I accidentally entered the workshop while they were changing the insides were perfectly warm.

The girls had been maintaining the temperature in there using fire magic.

In contrast they would lower the temperature in summer and cool their homes. As long as you were in the room with a Fire Fox the temperature would always be temperate.

They were great enough that any household would want them. That was the Fire Fox race.

「Then put in plenty of the dried mushrooms I prepared before salting it.」

I liberally threw in the dried mushrooms.

I had found mushrooms that were similar to shiitake mushrooms. After throwing in dried mushrooms the flavor of the soup would increase greatly. Mushrooms were superior ingredients when creating a soup.

「All that’s left is to stir it until the start of the party and skim the scum from the top. This soup when made well should be nearly transparent. If you don’t stir enough it can get white and muddy. If you slack off I’ll know immediately so do your best.」

I smiled and handed one of the girls the ladle for stirring and scooping the pot.

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