Chapter 84 – Iris’s curious recipe for concoction

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We pick up the dismantled frogs from the caregivers and move out of the remote hut.

“Luke-sama, this wind attribute defensive magic comes in handy.”

It’s still drizzling outside, but I’m not getting wet because I’m wearing wind magic and playing it.

“It’s beginner level wind magic, why don’t you learn it too Iris?”

“I don’t want to waste my practice time on wind magic. I want to use that time to learn water magic since I was given the blessing of water by the goddess.”

“I see, well, it would be useful if you had it, but you can just use rain gear, and even if you get wet, Iris can just use [Clean] to dispel the moisture, right?”

“Yes. By the way, what kind of work are you going to do now?”

“You know, you helped me grind the herbs into powder at the dormitory, and I was thinking of finishing that.”

“Is that so? I have been wondering about it ever since. That’s the medicine for Lara-chan’s stomach, right?”

“What is wrong with Lara-chan?”

The maid girl who is following me around interrupted the conversation between me and Iris as if she was in a hurry.

“Iris, I told you it wasn’t medicine. You don’t need to worry either, Lara is a healthy child.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting your conversation.”

“You don’t have to be so frightened…..”

The notoriety of ‘Orc Prince’ is known even in the neighboring countries….. I’m sure she’s trying to be careful not to spoil my good mood.

I was thinking of making it in the caregivers’ hut, but the equipped kitchen is too small for anything more than boiling tea. So we are currently on the move to rent the kitchen of the duke’s house.

****************

After arriving at the kitchen, I asked the head cook for permission and placed the ingredients that I had ground into powder and put in a jar on the cooking table.

“I am happy to lend you the place, but is it safe to smell it? I have heard that many of the things that the apothecary makes have a terrible smell that is hard to taste when they are being prepared.”

Even though it was in a sealed jar, various smells began to leak out and drift into the air.

If you put it that way, the “Nutritional tonic” that the master makes certainly smells bad when it is prepared. The apothecaries have gotten used to it, but the cooks are probably not too happy about it.

“Ah, yeah…. sorry. I think the one I’m going to make this time smells pretty bad. But it’s not a bad smell, it’s more like a pungent smell that tingles your nose.”

“A pungent smell? As a cook, the sense of smell is as necessary as the sense of taste to make delicious food, may we stay out of the kitchen while Your Highness Luke is mixing? If our noses go silly, it will affect your dinner.”

“I understand. When I’m done, I will call you after ventilating the kitchen, so please take a break until then.”

I was going to ask him to help me chop vegetables, but he ran away when he told me he didn’t want his nose to get weird.

『♪Wouldn’t that be better? This recipe is worth an awful lot of money, you know? Of course you know the value of this, don’t you Master? 』

“I know its value, but it takes a lot of time and effort to make it profitable. Currently, it’s a material for medicine, so it’s too expensive to be profitable. 』

『♪Yes, that’s right. It is only handled by the apothecary guild as a material for medicine. In order to start a business, we need to send out regular requests to the Adventurers’ Guild to collect it in dungeons, or, although it is not realistic, we need to have it cultivated in warmer southern countries. 』

“Navi you’re right, it’s not realistic to request cultivation in a southern country, because the cost of transportation and other expenses would make it unrealistic. If I manage my assets, I can make enough profit just by selling cosmetic products and restoratives. I think I need to defeat the evil gods first before I can devote our energies to business.”

『♪Of course you should put that first. But I don’t think you need to go out of your way to tell the cooks about it. 』

“As for me, I also have the idea of opening it up to the public so that people can enjoy different tastes in different places.”

After the cooks left the restaurant, I asked them to call the caregivers. I knew I wanted to have more people.

Now, how many people should I cook for–?

『♪Since you don’t yet possess a large frying pan or skillet, wouldn’t it be a good idea to borrow a large pot from the duke’s house at this time to make a lot and store it in your [inventory]? After you get the mithril steel, Navi will make you a variety of rustproof and non-stick cooking utensils. 』

“That’s good. I’m sure there will be refills, so I’ll make more this time. 』

The largest pot in the duke’s house, which is often used for parties, is said to be capable of cooking for 300 people at once. It’s as big as a pot in an elementary school lunch center.

This time, I decided to borrow a small pot that could serve about 100 people.

“Can you peel the various vegetables and cut them into pieces about this size?”

I’ll ask them to chop the onions into two types: chopped and wedges.

“”Leave it to us.””

“Iris here. The base of the dish is these six spices.”

Conbine Cumin, cilantro, cardamom, allspice, chili pepper, and turmeric in the ratio 15:15:23:12:12:23.

“So that’s the secret ratio… So what is this supposed to be a medicine for?”

“I’ve told you many times that this isn’t medicine, It’s a recipe for a delicious food concoction that can be mixed and matched in subtle ways to create completely different tastes, so it’s fun to experiment.”

“Eh? It really isn’t medicine? But all these ingredients, all of them are beneficial to the stomach–“

Iris’s face changed to a clearly disappointed expression.

“The basic ingredients are these six, to which I add ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, laurel, and black pepper, just as a secret ingredient. All of these spices have their own unique characteristics, so it is difficult to find the right amount of each spice. So, measure them out every time you make it, and be sure to note down the distribution of the spices when it is done well. This time, I made two kinds: sweet and medium-hot.”

Dry roast the mixture in a large frying pan. The secret is to roast it slowly over low heat so that it does not burn.

“It smells so good, and you use 12 different kinds of herbs. It’s super luxurious.”

“Well, it’s a luxury item. The spiciness can be adjusted by adding more peppercorns. Garlic is good to give it richness and depth, but it too has a strong habit, so if you put too much of it in, it tastes bad.”

Iris was disappointed to find out that it wasn’t a medicine, but the good smell of the garlic seemed to have gradually increased her interest in it.

When the dry roasting is finished, I remove the pots from the fire, remove the heat, put them in a large jar, and store them in an airtight container.

I ventilate the cooking area with wind magic just to be safe. This way, if the head chef comes in unexpectedly, he won’t be disgusted.

“One jar has enough for several servings, so if you keep it sealed up like this, it will be pretty easy to cook the next time.”

“Really? I thought it would be a lot of work if it would be gone in two or three times.”

“To be more specific, three tablespoons are enough for one group member’s supper.”

“With only three tablespoons? Do you dilute it with water?”

“Well, watch, it looks like you’ve finished chopping the vegetables, so we’ll move on to the next step.”

Put the jar in [inventory] and give instructions to Nabi.

“Navi, I want you to advance the time in the ripening room for about a month.”

『♪The ageing room’s skill level is low, so a month would take a few days, right? 』

『♪I understand.”

“You’ve chopped the vegetables. Okay, you guys over there, can you grate this up for me? And Iris, can you cut this meat into bite-sized pieces?”

The youngest one grates the onions, which is hard on the eyes. The other girl grates apples. Grating is pretty hard work, isn’t it?

I was torn between beef and oak for the meat, but this time I used lean beef with less fat. If you have a pressure cooker, you can use beef tendon.

Meanwhile, I prepare about 5 cups of rice and put it on the fire. While I watch, I fry chopped onions in two large frying pans on the stove next to mine with rapeseed oil until they are golden brown.

“Luke-sama, the meat is ready.”

“I also finished grinding the apples and onions.”

“Thank you.”

When the onions have reached a nice amber-like color, I add the meat and fry it again.

When the surface of the meat has changed color all over, add the chopped carrots, onions, and potatoes and saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Since there is a large amount of meat, it is quite a task just to stir-fry it.

≪Luke Curry Recipe≫ (approx. for 5 servings)

200 g beef diced (bite-sized)

1/2 medium onion (100 g), finely chopped

1 medium onion, cut into wedges (200g)

1/2 medium onion, grated (100g)

1 large potato, cut into chunks (200g)

1 small carrot, roughly chopped (100g)

1/3 apple, grated

1 medium tablespoon honey

2 1/2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

500 ml water

200 ml consommé soup or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

[Curry Roux]

1 tablespoon salad oil and 1 medium spoon

1 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons curry powder

This time, make 100 servings at once, so just multiply these quantities by 20.

Add the grated ingredients, water, and consomme soup to the stir-fried ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium heat.

“Luke-sama, how is the consommé soup made?”

“It’s a broth made from stewed beef, but it takes a long time, so I’ll teach you slowly next time.”

Iris was interested in the fragrant consommé soup, but I told her that it was a very time-consuming process and that I would teach her later.

“I see, you’ll have to teach me properly.”

“Then you can scrape off the lye as it comes out.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Meanwhile, I finish the curry roux.

In a large frying pan, I put salad oil, butter, and flour (light flour) and fry them until they turn light golden brown. The trick is to fry the flour carefully so that it does not burn, especially in the latter half of the cooking process, because the temperature of the oil rises as it fries and it burns easily.

When golden brown, turn off the heat, cool the pan on a damp cloth, add the curry powder and mix well to make a curry roux. The curry powder is added after lowering the temperature so that the original aroma of the curry powder is not lost and the dish tastes great.

“Luke-sama, the vegetables are now soft and tender.”

“Then, turn off the heat. The rice has just finished cooking.”

The vegetables’ cooking liquid is added to the roux with a ladle and spread evenly, then put into the skillet that has been finished cooking and turned off the heat. Dissolve and mix the roux well, then turn the heat back on and simmer gently to thicken, adding salt, sugar, and honey to taste.

It’s in the seasoning stage, but it’s already insanely good!

“Iris, would you like a taste?”

“I’d love to taste it!”

I put a small amount in a small dish and ask her to try two different tastes: medium-spicy and sweet.

“It’s delicious. It’s a little tangy on the tongue, but very tasty.”

Iris seems to prefer the sweet one.

I had the two caregivers who helped me and the maid who followed me around to taste it.

“It’s delicious!”

“What is this dish called? I’ve never tasted this dish before, but it has a spicy and addictive taste.”

”It’s a tropical dish called curry, but made to my liking.

Japanese curry and authentic curry are actually quite different. What I made this time is a Japanese taste that suits Japanese palates and is acceptable to all.

I gave nine cups of curry to the caregiver girl who helped me, and gave her four cups of rice and three loaves of bread to take with her.

I take it to the servant girl, who stays at home in the hut, and feed it to her. It’s good over rice, and the bread goes well with it.”

“Thank you, Luke-sama.”

The caregivers were overjoyed when I gave them this as payment for their help.

That way, the roux will be absorbed and the curry will be richer.

After ventilating the kitchen and removing the smell, I called out to the chefs.

Just then, Natalie came to call me.

Emilia wants to talk to me before Sasha’s bath.

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