Chapter 63: The Magician and the Soul Fire Business (Part 2)
These quirky magicians clearly had plenty of money. They paid the innkeeper for the kitchen and the ingredients, then happily awaited their (second) lunch. Takumi didn't disappoint, quickly serving up a meal nearly identical to the previous one: bacon and mushroom soup, and stir-fried bacon with wild vegetables. The only difference was that the fish and mushroom sandwiches had been replaced with mushroom and sausage sandwiches.
After all, the smoked fish was the food that Jiangyou and his friends brought with them. Andre caught it with great effort and then marinated and smoked it overnight. Jiangyou didn't plan to share it, so he replaced it with the smoked sausage hung on the beam by the innkeeper.
——Anyway, it tastes great with fried mushrooms and sausages fried in butter.
The three wizards' mouths watered, the oatmeal they had just drunk seemed a century ago, long since digested. They eagerly scooped themselves a bowl of soup, then each grabbed a sandwich and took a big bite.
To be honest, as the third son of Baron Emmatilan, Eslan thought he had eaten a lot of delicacies from land and sea.
He had been to royal banquets, tasted fine wines that even marquises and earls raved about, eaten roe deer from the mountains, sharks from the sea, and even tasted the pickled puffins and mature seals that were tributes from the northern countries... But before today, he felt that most of the "delicacies" were hyped up by people with ulterior motives, most of them tasted mediocre, and the few exotic dishes were even difficult to eat.
But how could this seemingly ordinary black bread and smoked sausage sandwich be so delicious?!
This wasn't their first visit to this shop. The three of them, working with the same instructor, were conducting a magical experiment in a nearby forest enclosure, and they'd frequently come in to record the latest data. The owner's black bread and smoked sausages had always been on their bad list—the black bread was dry and hard, the smoked sausages were greasy, and everything was bland...but how come they were so delicious now?!
The re-toasted rye bread slices had their rough fibers slightly charred, giving them a more appealing color and a subtle sweetness when chewed. The excess fat from the grilled smoked sausage and the juices from the butter-fried mushrooms seeped into the bread, enriching the otherwise bland, oil-free bread with flavor. The previously hard bread slices also absorbed the excess juices from the filling perfectly, achieving a texture that was neither too hard to bite nor too soft to the touch.
Everything is just right, not too much, not too little, and perfectly blended together. The ingredients that originally tasted unpalatable when eaten alone can be transformed into something magical with such simple processing and seasoning!
The best part was the fried mushrooms in butter! The aroma of the fresh mushrooms was fully brought out by the butter, and it was obvious that the lich did not use too much seasoning, just a little salt and black pepper, which completely highlighted the dominant aroma of the mushrooms.
"It doesn't overpower the food at all, and the flavors of the ingredients are fully revealed!"
While wolfing down the food, Eslan memorized this trick in his heart. He would go home and teach it to his chefs so that they would not pour a lethal amount of basil into every dish every time!
The bacon and wild vegetables were also excellent. In the past, Eslan would never have touched salty, fatty pork or these weed-like, nameless wild vegetables. But now, the bacon was fried to a crispy, dry consistency, the fat sizzling with enticing golden bubbles. After being stir-fried over high heat, the wild vegetables were rolled several times in the lard released from the bacon, becoming glossy and oily. The bitter, fishy smell was gone, and instead, the flavor was rich and fragrant.
The crispy and smooth texture and the wonderful aroma of wild vegetables make people unable to stop and put spoonful after spoonful into their mouths.
After a hearty meal, I took a sip of the mixed mushroom soup, and instantly a wave of complex and varied flavors washed over me. A storm of flavors swept from the tip of my tongue to the depths of my brain, stirring my soul into a trance, as if it were soaring to the heavens.
Fresh! Very fresh! Eslan felt that even someone who didn't know the word before would understand its meaning after drinking this bowl of soup.
A variety of mushrooms are cut into thin slices, each one is plump and tender, and the juice is squeezed out by the lips and teeth, filling the entire mouth.
"Are these fresh mushrooms?" Eslan asked.
"No, these are the dried mushrooms that the boss dried, and I soaked them again." Jiang You said. What she didn't explain was that in order to save time, she used the little trick of the Crucible of Time.
Of course, you must be especially careful when using the Crucible of Time to soak food. You must use the Purification Spell to kill bacteria, and you must also change the water regularly to prevent the dry food in the crucible from producing toxic and harmful bacteria during the soaking process.
"Delicious, absolutely delicious!" The three magicians devoured the dishes on the table like a whirlwind, slumping back in their chairs with their hands full. "It would be great if I could eat such delicious food every time I come here to record data!"
"That's unlikely," Andre said. "We just happened to be passing by and took shelter here."
"Well, in that case, you'll only be here until tomorrow morning. The rain caused by this wave of ice elemental riot will only last until tomorrow morning," Henry said. "I wonder if I can still trouble you with dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning? We'll provide more types of soul fire for you to experiment with!"
"It's not impossible, but we only have a few ingredients in the kitchen, and there aren't many dishes we can make." Jiang You pondered, "It would be better if we had some game."
"Isn't this easy?" Eslan said excitedly, "Whatever ingredients you want, give them all to us!"
The brown-haired son of the baron said confidently, "We are very familiar with the forests around here. Getting some game is no problem for us. We can even provide the food for you and your companions!"
"Oh, that's great!" said Jiang You. "Whether it's pheasant, hare, deer, or fish, as long as there's meat!"
There are a lot of wild vegetables in the kitchen, and the only meat is bacon, sausage and butter. They all taste the same no matter how you cook them. It feels like the whole meal is just bacon working hard, and its appearance rate is really too high.
"No problem! Leave it to us!" The three magicians stood up quickly, their blood boiling. "We'll be right back!"
They rushed into the rain and fog happily.
“…It’s good to be young.” Jiang You muttered, looking at the glass bottles filled with strange soul fire on the table.
"What are we going to do this afternoon?" André asked. "We can't even walk in this weather... Wanna play cards?"
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