Chapter 36: Dinner at the Mansion (Part 2)

The pineapple and black pepper beef cubes are naturally flavorful. In fact, Aunt Wolf Talia has never eaten such delicious dishes before, and she never thought that pineapple can be made into a dish!

This isn't to say the people of Huntington never use fruit in their dishes. In fact, as a country with a widespread preference for sweets, in addition to making jam out of oranges with the skins on, they also enjoy making soft fruit soups from frozen apricots and peaches to warm themselves up in the winter...

However, for the people here, adding fruits to dishes is not for the pursuit of a more delicious or sweet taste, but simply as a means to process the surplus fruits that are difficult to preserve after the summer harvest and have to be randomly frozen with magic to a standard of "barely edible".

Logically speaking, these fruits, after being cooked with sugar, taste like sweet soup or canned syrup, so they shouldn't be unpalatable... But the problem is that the sugar industry in the Principality of Huntington is really underdeveloped, and people are often reluctant to add extra sugar when making these "dishes". The frozen fruits become soft and mushy after being cooked, and the sour and astringent taste is stimulated, and they do not taste as good as fresh ones.

...But, if it is not cooked, who would want to eat a frozen peach covered with ice chips in a cold wooden house with drafts on all sides?

But then again, who would bother trying to cook magically preserved food when they could have a bite of fresh food? The Huntingtonians, unskilled in cooking, could only struggle with the few methods they had mastered with the few ingredients they had, silently enduring the awful dishes their own poor cooking methods produced.

Ultimately, the people of this land possess a strange resilience. They lack a 5,000-year-old culinary tradition, and they have no expectations of how most foods will taste, or what conditions will produce them. Yet, they simply endure, living with the best they can.

Having never had their dietary standards improved, never having tasted true delicacies, it's natural that they can survive on hard bread and sour fruit soup. People only know that their food doesn't taste very good, but they don't know how good true delicacies can be, so naturally they have no direction to strive for.

This is a bunch of culinary noobs fighting each other, occasionally randomly creating one or two delicious dishes that become national hits. But honestly, neither the developers nor the consumers understand the elements that make a dish delicious or the principles of cooking.

Raw vegetables, roasted meats, stewed fruits, and puff pastry that can wrap anything – this is the food culture that has been passed down in this land.

But Jiangyou was different. Running through her veins was five thousand years of culinary culture and the Cantonese people's innate love of fine dining. Even though she couldn't taste the true flavor of a dish now as a lich, as long as the cooking steps were correct, the ingredients were measured correctly, and the seasoning ratios were right, how bad could it be?

The pineapple soaked in salt water was cut into hollow rings and roasted over charcoal fire to release the juice and slightly browned edges. It was then cut into small cubes with a knife and "swooshed" with the rising steam to join the beef cubes that were completing the Maillard reaction in the pot.

Jiangyou skillfully flipped the pan, stir-fried the food, sprinkled with ground black pepper, put it on a plate, and served it!

The dice-sized beef cubes were pan-fried to perfection, crispy around the edges and perfectly pink inside. The juiciness overflowed with every bite. The pineapple's sweet and sour juices evenly coated each piece of beef, removing the greasiness and fishy flavor of the fat.

The stimulating black pepper is the most beautiful embellishment in this sweet and sour dream. It is like fireworks blooming on the tip of the tongue, spicy and dazzling, with a slightly pungent but not unpleasant smell, sweeping away the dullness and leaving only full of novelty.

The beef is so tender that it slides directly from the mouth into the throat. After eating a piece, you will feel unsatisfied and want to eat the next piece.

This stir-fried lamb with scallions doesn't use any special sauces; simply sauté scallions, ginger, and onions in peanut oil until fragrant, sprinkle with Sichuan peppercorns and chili peppers, and then add the thinly sliced, tender lamb. The bright red lamb slides through the sizzling iron pan, quickly turning a glossy brown. Simply season with salt and pepper, then remove from the pan and serve.

Lemon Basil Shredded Chicken is a cold dish. Steamed and chilled, the tender chicken, slightly shrunken and chewy, is removed from the bones and tossed with basil, lemongrass, salt, and sugar. Fresh lemon juice is squeezed over the chicken and topped with fried peanuts. It's refreshing yet carries a hint of summery Southeast Asian charm.

There was no rice vinegar in the kitchen, and Jiangyou didn't bring the crucible, so the stir-fried shredded potatoes were simply seasoned with salt, pepper and chopped green onions. It lacked some freshness, but was still fragrant and refreshing, which was definitely enough to deal with these foreigners who had never eaten good food.

The garlic lettuce was juicy green, the rice grains were distinct and translucent like white jade, and paired with the three delicious meat dishes, everyone couldn't stop eating. Knives, forks, and spoons flew everywhere, and no one spoke at the table. The only sound was the involuntary sighs of delight and the deafening sound of chewing.

Jiangyou cooked the same dish for two tables, one table for themselves and one table for the five servants.

At first, only Holly, who was unaware of the situation, was trying to be reserved and humble at their table. Fortunately, Aunt Wolf was quick to give him a spoonful of each dish, otherwise he might not even be able to lick the bottom of the bowl.

Andrei and Jericho, master and servant, picked up spoons and plates, their expressions identically solemn, like knights bearing swords and shields, about to face a mighty host. Their long spoons were unsheathed, and with a flourish of light and movement, the mountain of dishes suddenly vanished.

"Hey! You two, eat your fill!" Aunt Wolf protested, quickly scooping the remaining food into her and Holly's bowls. "This is too much to fight over food!"

She said so, but her method of snatching food was equally skillful. By the time Jiangyou finished delivering the food to the next table and sat down, there were several empty plates neatly arranged on the table, and there was a small mountain of food on the plate in front of each person.

Takumi Yuu: "? Western-style separate dining?"

Once the food was on their plates, it was temporarily safe. Everyone guarded their plates like a dragon guarding its treasure. Andrei, who had the highest martial arts ability at the table, was too embarrassed to snatch food from the plates of his followers, the old lady - Aunt Wolf: "?" - and the underage kids.

Thus, the food war at the table came to an end, and both the winners and losers began to enjoy their spoils comfortably.

From the servants' table in the kitchen, there was a clatter of clattering noises: "Ah! That's my beef!" "Damn it! Give me back the last piece of chicken!" "Spit it out! Spit it out!"

Amid the background sounds of fighting coming from the kitchen, the four people at the table lowered their heads and quickened their chewing pace.

Jiang You: “……?” What’s going on?