Chapter Thirty-five: Shall We Pick the Red Berries Before They Burst and Enjoy Them With Cheese?
With a pattering sound of moisture bursting out, the oil that was supposed to be plentiful gets absorbed into the eggplant in no time.
…They say, "Eggplant and oil go well together", but where did that absorbed oil go, I wonder?
There are many things I’d rather not think about like calories, but it’s really enjoyable watching the skin of the deep purple eggplant that absorbed the oil, and its slightly greenish flesh melting smoothly.
And more than anything, since the eggplant that absorbed the oil is so delicious, diets and whatnot can be forgotten entirely.
Yes, I’ve tried a little bit of everything! You can’t cook without knowing the flavors! My impression after tasting them is "They’re all delicious.”
Sure, I felt like "the eggplant skin is a bit tough" or "the tomatoes are quite sour", but it seems fine if you cook them properly. Rather, the fact that the eggplant skin is firm means the texture should hold up well when heated, and I expect the tomato’s sourness to create a refreshing flavor when cooked. If you think of them as sides for meat dishes, the sour taste of raw tomatoes should also nicely refresh the aftertaste. The potatoes are nice and fluffy, and the cucumbers are crispy—the quality of vegetables in this world is high…
“To-ma-to-es and egg-plants♪”
“…Eh… veggies…”
“Ah, Ms. Aria!? Did you… forget something?”
“I’ve done a round, but everything seems normal, so… I’ll guard you, Rin!”
As I was humming an improvised tune while working as usual, the cabin door suddenly opened. I immediately fell silent and looked towards the entrance to see Ms. Aria with a sour expression, hand on the door. Ah… my humming was heard and the main ingredients were revealed, I got careless…
As always, Ms. Aria’s tremendously blessed chest heaves up and down as she takes on a new responsibility. It’s incredibly appreciated, but even though everything seems fine, is she really okay with her patrol duties…? And also, don’t we have a delivery quest?
…Hmm. In Ms. Aria’s left and right hands are what looked like nets used yesterday to catch the "Lucky Clover" members, except the mesh was finer than yesterday’s.
Inside are…
“Ah! Could those be sarri clams?”
“Yes. With these, the delivery quota is secured.”
“I see… so this was the ‘trick’ Mr. Ville mentioned!”
“Yes. I dredged them up from the depths of the sea… other people were there too.”
The bivalves have been around 10cm in size. Striped patterns, speckled patterns, wavy patterns—various patterns peek through the mesh. With their plump, round shapes and the grooved rings etched into the shells, they resemble common orient clams more than hard clams.
Ms. Aria must have cast her large net towards the sea where the tide hadn’t receded yet, scooping them all up at once. By making the mesh slightly larger, smaller shells would slip through the net, leaving only the delivery-sized shells behind. That’s the idea, I suppose… In a way, it’s like bottom trawling, yup…
Anyway, should I put them in the cooler box for both storage and sand removal?
I put the rough-shelled clams into the cooler box usually used for caught fish and add enough salt water to soak them, then leave them in a dark place… Now, let’s make sure they expel all the sand properly!
“…Also, I caught this too.”
“Whoa! Is that a sea bass!? It’s huge! Are we delivering this too?”
“No. We can have it… for lunch.”
“That’s great! Can I take it and start prepping it right away?”
“Mhm. Looking forward to it…! But, don’t like… veggies that much…”
In the other net is a brilliantly silver-scaled sea bass, around 70cm long… a fish closely resembling the Japanese sea bass.
And it’s still alive!? Crap! I need to kill it quickly!
I take the sea bass from Ms. Aria and swiftly cut the gills and area near the tail before submerging it in water. The water immediately turns red, so it seems I make it in time. If we let it thrash around too much, the flesh gets bloodied…
As I watch the summer veggies sizzle and turn vivid colors in the frying pan, Ms. Aria lets out a disappointed sigh.
“So you’re also not a veggie person, Ms. Aria?”
“It’s not the taste, it’s… just that eating them doesn’t feel nourishing.”
“Mr. Ville says similar things…”
I set the perfectly cooked eggplant on a plate and add two slices each of cheese and tomato to the still-oily frying pan. The cheese is cut about 5mm thick, the tomatoes 1cm, both lightly coated in flour. I quickly pan-fry both sides until they turn a nice brown, then place the cheese on the tomatoes.
“Here’s a tasting portion of the cheese tomatoes!”
“…Cheezu… tomato…”
“Of course, I wouldn’t serve such a cruel all-veggie lunch!”
I offer one of the plates to Ms. Aria. It’s not a snack, it’s a tasting! The chef’s privilege, you see!
After a slight hesitation, Ms. Aria takes the plate, probably compromising since there’s cheese. It seems the reason Mr. Ville and everyone avoid vegetables isn’t about the taste per se, but because they don’t feel filling… So if I add oil, cheese, and other ingredients for volume, maybe they’d eat the veggies too?
The ultimate goal is to start with cooked vegetables and gradually develop a balanced diet of meat, fish, and raw vegetables. Starting with just raw veggies would set the bar too high. Raw has more vitamin C, sure, but there’s fruit too, so it’s better to go slowly.
Well then, time for a tasting bite of the freshly made cheese tomatoes before they cool… Let’s forget about manners, for now, I’ll just pinch a cheese tomato and pop it in my mouth!
Contrary to the crispy outer layer, the cheese inside melts smoothly, with a rich taste of milk. Because it’s a fermented food, it has a subtle sourness and a unique flavor, but thanks to the gentle sweetness of the milk fat that rounds out the overall taste, neither the sourness nor the flavor is overpowering. Instead, even after swallowing, a rich umami and sweetness linger on the tongue.
The richness of the fat, clinging to the base of the tongue, is effortlessly cleansed by the refreshing acidity of the softened tomato, disappearing smoothly down the throat.
The cheese and tomato, without a trace of heaviness, smoothly descend into the stomach, leaving only the scent of milk and a faint hint of greenness lingering at the tip of the nose.
Certainly, preserving the acidity and freshness even after heating is crucial.
I glance over at Ms. Aria and notice her staring into space with a dreamy expression as if lost in thought.
“…This is delicious…”
“Veggies do taste great with cheese, meat, and the like, right?”
“Mhm. If it’s like this, I’ll eat them…!”
Ah, I’m glad. Seems she liked it.
With her lips slightly parted and cheeks puffed up, Ms. Aria looks so adorable.
Even as she shows a hint of disappointment, I put the plate she returned to me in the sink and start prepping the de-blooded sea bass…
Today, I think I’ll make baked eggplant and tomato with cheese, tomato rice, and sautéed sea bass. I retrieve a big and sturdy knife from the knife rack under the sink and start by removing the scales from the sea bass…
“Do you… like Ville, Rin…?”
“Wha-!?!?”
The unexpected question made the knife slip as I was painstakingly descaling. I managed to avoid it just in time, but I almost chopped my hand instead of the sea bass!
…Huh? What? What kind of question is that!? Huh?? Ehh???
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