Chapter 57: Time to Unveil the Milk-based Cooking (Actually It Is Processing Milk rather than Cooking)!
T/N: This is a shortened version as I kept out the whole stew making business. I kept everything related to milk processing since it’s interesting as a read.
The guildmaster had put up a big notice at a conspicuous place in the merchant guild, announcing, 『Indra ― member of the S-Rank adventurer party Allrounders, a great mage, and a grand sorcerer ― is researching ground-breaking dishes that use milk as main ingredient!』.
I had stored the milk at the guild, filled it into a huge bottle, and was now observing the progress inside the bottle. The adventurer guildmaster was present as well, and so were interested merchants, restaurant aunties, and even the stall boy.
“…As you can see, the upper part has hardened into a more solid body while the lower part has remained fluent, right? This is a sign that water and oil within the milk have separated.”
“””Ooohhh!!”””
They were amazed, but did they actually understand what I said?
Well, even if they don’t get it, it might be fine as long as they get the desired results.
“So, now it’s divided into three sections: a clear top layer, a middle layer, and a bottom layer. You could watch the progress of separation in the milk as I filled it into a bottle for easier observation, but usually you’d put it into a barrel which makes it easier to scoop it out later, so use that method. Also, the barrel you use for this has to be washed out with boiling hot water! That’s absolutely necessary! Doing or not doing it has a big impact on the durability of the milk!”
“””Ooohhh!!”””
They were amazed, but did they actually understand what I said (second time)?
“The top layer is rich in fat. As such it already has a wide range of utility even in this state, but what I’d like you to make out of it by all means is…”
I filled the top layer into another bottle, and shook it. At high speed.
It was done in no time.
“Ah! Somehow it separated!”
“Yes, that! If you shake it, the water and fat will separate even further, resulting in a solid oil. This has a great taste, and if you store it in a cool place, it’ll last longer than milk. Though I can’t tell you how long since I haven’t actually tried it out myself yet.”
I smeared the solid oil on a slice of bread, and bit into it.
…At once I was on the verge of crying.
“Great, ［butter］ is just a dream!”
The people around me swarmed towards the bread and butter, sampling it.
“Oh! Amazing! This is superb!”
“It has a milky aroma, but it’s really dense!”
“Yeah, this is definitely great stuff. It’s a tad different from your ［pseudo-butter］, isn’t it?” Sword remarked while eating.
“Yep, that one contains various ingredients. …This one here can be eaten just like that, and if you add it to fried food, it’ll give the stir-fry an aroma that makes it taste like high-class food. Also, since I’m going to use this for the creation of your local specialty, make sure that you’re able to make this while blindfolded. By the way, use the creamy part of the top layer. You can also use the liquid, but it’ll increase the time needed for shaking, okay? I need less than ten seconds, but any ordinary person is going to need around ten to thirty minutes, so resolve yourself and keep shaking.”
Everyone froze.
＊
“Now then, as for the remaining liquid, the middle layer can be drunk just like that. It’s lost its thickness, but in reverse, it’s become possible to drink it easily. As for the bottom layer, I’ll experiment on changing it into another foodstuff next.”
I poured it into a pot, and heated it up over a low flame.
At that point, I got praised, “It’s magic…!” “Nothing less of a great Mage…!”
…I see. I used it very naturally, but for them it’s not that common a sight.
“When steam starts to rise, stop it before bubbles appear on the surface. At this point, you enter plenty of sour fruit juice.”
And then I stirred the mass around.
“When it cools down, heat it up once more. …I think it should be fine like this.”
I divided it, put it into a cloth, and filtered the water out.
“Usually it’d be better to filter it after around a day. I’ll leave it to rest like this, but feel free to sample this version which is somewhat watery.”
Before straining, I prepared two versions, one dressed with sweet fruits and another dressed with salty meat, and sampled them.
“Uuhh…it’s ［cheese］…!” I was deeply moved.
“It’s slightly sour, but still sweet.”
“What a funny taste.”
The evaluation was somewhat lacking in comparison to the butter.
“It tastes like it’d go well with wine,” was Sword’s assessment.
“This is something you’d usually use for making sweets, but if you sprinkle it over fruits or grilled veggies, the dish will 『look high-class』.”
“””I see.”””
Everyone agreed.
“The remaining juice over here has a high nutritional content even if you drink it just like that, but if you add salt to it and thoroughly pickle veggies in it, they’ll become long-lasting and sour. Since it’s also good for your body, I think it’d be a great idea to sell it as food pickled in milk acid. Especially during winter when green veggies are scarce, you can eat those as a substitute since the pickled veggies become very long-lasting if you keep them stored in the coolest place available to you.
Now then, the next part is going to take some time. But it’s totally worth it. It’d be best to use this as your restaurants’ special local dish. I call it 『Stew with White Sauce』.”
The room fell silent.
“…Umm.” The boy raised his hand.
“What is it, boy?”
“Milk stew already exists, you know?”
I grinned broadly, “It’s probably different from what you know. You’ll understand once you try it.”
Afterwards, I meticulously explained how to make white stew and which parts of the milk layers to use while cooking it live in front of them.
“This here is 『Stew with White Sauce』. 『White Sauce』 has extremely many uses for cooking. You can also roast meat, finely cut up veggies and fry them, and finish it up by pouring the 『White Sauce』 over the meat and veggies. In such a case it’ll 『look high-class』. Also, if you fry the veggies in the pot where you roasted the meat without washing it first, and add the 『White Sauce』 to it, the taste will improve even further.”
I’m calling each and every single dish 『high-class』, but since those are supposed to become their local specialties, I want them to regard the dishes as important.
They swarmed towards the table with the food samples like starving wolves, and after eating, they were extremely pleased with the stew.
“I’ve never eaten anything so delicious!”
“Even nobility doesn’t get to eat something so great!”
“This is going to sell! I’m absolutely sure!”
“Oh, it does resemble the usual soy milk stew you make, but it’s got its differences.” Sword commented.
“That one is fine in its own right, and I’ll keep making it in the future. But, sometimes I crave to eat something richer like this.”
Above all, I can’t obtain milk as easily as soybeans, and since there’s plenty of other dishes made out of butter, I plan to keep using soy milk for stew.
＊
Now then, there’s still plenty of other recipes left. I haven’t used the 【Fresh Cream】 yet, but even if I taught them any more recipes, their memorization capacity should have reached its limit around now, so I’d like them to individually research the rest after seeing the dishes. I taught them basic variations, so it’s up to them to come up with ideas how to put them to use.
＊
Given that everyone in the town willingly agreed with me catching a few charge cows, I wanted to go catch them right away…but before that I had to prepare a bit. I produced fodder resembling silage (at least I think it’s called that).
“Now it’s time to depart!”
Sword smiled wryly at me, who was super motivated, but as he apparently understood the greatness of milk-based dishes, he readily got on board with this endeavor.
Since he said that it might be dangerous, Sword got the guild to put up a notification telling everyone to fetch the milk until noon and stay away from the mountains afterwards since we’d go there in the afternoon. Because of that, the people had already descended the mountains and started their businesses.
Everyone was amiably waving their hands at me as I headed out in high spirits.
“Please do your best at capturing them, okay?”
“If you make some new, delicious dishes, teach us as well~”
“Sure! I’ll make sure to properly choose the cows agreeing to accompany me! You make sure to develop milk dishes yourself! Milk is a great ingredient with an infinite amount of possibilities!”
When I waved back while replying this, everyone suddenly broke out into laughter.
Why?
Sword was also laughing.
“Why?”
“It’s just that bottomless cheerful adventurers are too radiant.”
“What are you talking about? You’re the same, aren’t you? After all, we’re a party!”
“Haha, come to think of it, you’ve got a point there. That means they’re thinkin’ the same of me as well, huh?”
Once I nodded, Sword laughed once more while caressing my head.
