Chapter Sixty-nine: With All Due Respect: Enjoying Roasted Meat Together
I gently remove the aluminum foil wrapped around the roast beef. The remnants of the slight heat and steam that has been trapped inside caress my cheeks, and in the next instant, the tender aroma of the meat wafts all around. Having been steamed inside the foil, it isn’t the aggressive smell that would have attacked an empty stomach like freshly grilled meat, but rather a soft, mellow fragrance. Is it just my imagination, or does even the browned surface look somehow gentle…?
“W-Well then, let me slice it…!”
Under the watchful gaze of eight eyes swallowing hard, I gently inserted a knife into the meat chunk—now a proper roast beef. As the light brown slice falls away effortlessly, the rosy meat underneath peeks through.
“Ooooohhh! I did a great job on the browning!”
“Such a nice color. It seems absolutely delicious…!”
“…! Amazing! The meat! Looks so tasty!”
The appetizing light brown surface, the pinkish middle layer cooked through but still tinged with red, the rare-looking but thoroughly cooked rosy center… The meat chunk revealed a beautiful gradient as it was sliced, though no juices seemed to drip onto the plate despite not appearing dry and tough either. Thanks to the proper resting time, meat fibers had absorbed all those juices.
I thinly sliced about half… and cut the rest with a moderate thickness. Roast beef is great because you can enjoy both the pleasure of biting into thin slices and the satisfaction of chewing thicker cuts!
“…The roast beef is done. Next up, steak…!”
Figuring the juices have settled by this point, I start cutting the steak. Where the blade enters, fat and juices ooze out, dripping onto the pure white plate.
Perhaps due to aiming for slightly rarer doneness when cooking, contrary to the glistening dark caramel surface, the insides of the sliced meat revealed a vivid rose color. The core part looks dewy and lustrous, and the cross-section has an almost sensual hue of pink rawness. The way the juices pool on the surface of the sliced pieces is just…!
The bone made it a bit trickier to slice, but they do say the meat around the bone is tasty… I’ll gnaw on that part later.
“Phew… I’ve made about three sauce varieties for the meat, but salt, pepper, and lemon juice are also options if you’d prefer those! Help yourselves to the pull-apart bread and rice!”
“Rin, that’s enough. Come sit down now.”
“That’s right! Food tastes better when we all eat together!”
Just slicing the meat has me feeling quite sentimental… I exhale deeply to vent that welling emotion when I suddenly realize: the table is completely filled with large plates of roast beef and steak, three sauces, and a plate of torn bread. The veggies are left on the now-empty kitchen counter.
Maybe it’s time to consider buying another table.
As I gestured to the overflow items, Mr. Ville and Mr. Ed gently urged me to take a seat, while Ms. Aria silently tugged my sleeve, guiding me to my chair.
“I’m grateful to have food again today.”
“Bless this bounty I’m about to consume.”
“Gratitude for thy manifold blessings.”
“Humbly accepting thy kindness, I partake of this day’s fare.”
“Itadakimasu!”
Each expressed their gratitude for the food… and the table became a battlefield.
Forks clashed like swords scattering sparks, and in the blink of an eye, the sliced meats found their way into everyone’s bellies. It feels even more bloodthirsty than fighting monsters, yup. Just as someone’s arm swept over the meat, their fork firmly speared a piece—only for another arm to stretch in from my blind spot.
…Huh? How am I eating in such a situation, you ask? Our kind party leader Mr. Ville and the lovely Ms. Aria, seated beside this battle-inept cook, make sure to pass me shares too! Companions are what matter most, truly… I’m so grateful…!
…Now then. Let’s start with the steak… Yup. The filet looks good.
“…Hhah…! S-So tender…!”
“The perfect degree of cooking… Crisp on the outside, yet tender inside—exactly how I like it!”
“I thought a lean filet would just dry out when roasted, but I can’t believe it’s this juicy…!”
The meat isn’t piping hot or lukewarm; it’s perfectly heated and has an alluring color.
Whether it’s the well-rubbed salt and pepper, or the high-heat searing with butter and juices… the surface has a crisp feel when bitten, but it’s not tough at all. The well-cooked surface is easy to bite through, and an astonishing amount of juices floods your mouth…! The filet appeared lean at first glance, but the butter adds richness. Additionally, the more I chew, the more a nutty, toasty aroma fills my nose, with umami and meat juices bursting in my mouth.
Lean cuts like filet can turn tough if overcooked even slightly, but this time it turned out perfectly!
Savoring the tender steak as Mr. Xenon ate with evident satisfaction and Mr. Ville murmured appreciatively, I next tried the sirloin portion that Ms. Aria passed me.
“…Oh? Not as heavy as I expected. There’s definitely some fattiness there, but it’s not at all overwhelming or anything…”
“Maybe it’s the meat itself? It feels balanced!”
The sirloin’s sweet fat melts on my tongue, mingling with the robust meat juices to refresh it. The marbled meat is so tender it easily breaks apart and swiftly slips down my throat. The meat has enough texture to discern the fibers, but it bites cleanly, releasing a flood of flavorful meat juices in my mouth.
My mouth doesn’t feel greasy at all; rather, it is fragrant and light. More than anything, the sheer bliss of stuffing my cheeks with a big piece of tender meat and chewing it thoroughly! The feeling of "I’m eating meat!" is just irresistible…!
By the way, Ms. Aria hasn’t said a word since her "Let’s eat" and is busy dividing meat between her plate and mine, while eating non-stop. Even without words, you can tell she’s enjoying the meal from her sparkling eyes and slightly blushing cheeks.
A cook’s greatest reward!
“You know, Aria doesn’t like talking when eating something delicious—she says it lets the ‘delicious aura’ escape!”
“She says she hates having her food taken while her mouth is open for talk.”
“…Didn’t she also say it’s better to eat a lot rather than waste time talking…?”
“…No, I didn’t…!”
After portioning out thinly sliced roast beef piles and thicker slices each onto both our plates, Ms. Aria suddenly spoke up.
…Oh, some sauce on your lips… Before I could say anything, Mr. Ed had already wiped it with a tissue. What a perfect sync… Well, Mr. Ed looks happy, so it’s all good!
Setting her plate down, Ms. Aria turned to me and squeezed my hand tightly. Cold, but soft.
“Rin, I love you and your cooking… Thank you for joining the Gourmands…!”
“I’m also glad you all let me join your group! Now, let’s just eat for now. We’ll need to discuss future plans later, right?”
“…Right. For today, we’ll camp here once we’ve finished eating. Four more mana springs remain, but judging from today’s progress, we should be able to clear them by tomorrow or the day after.”
“It looks like it’ll be a pretty tough march. I’ll prepare some travel rations.”
Receiving that sweet smile from the adorable beauty in front of me… Even as a woman myself, I couldn’t help but blush a little! Squeezing Ms. Aria’s hand back as if to hide my shyness, I addressed our party leader Mr. Ville, who had been happily chewing on a large piece of meat. Swallowing his roast beef, Mr. Ville roughly outlined our upcoming plans.
Four more by tomorrow or the day after… If the distance is close, maybe we can finish by tomorrow… is that what he’s thinking? In that case, I should prepare some travel-friendly foods besides just savory cakes and salads that can be eaten on the move.
But for now…
“The roast beef turned out so delicious! Tender and juicy—I really outdid myself!”
“The sensation of chewing several thin slices of meat at once is heavenly…!”
“As for me, I like rolling up the slightly thicker slices to make them even thicker before eating ‘em!”
As I brought the still slightly warm roast beef to my mouth, the tender, velvety smooth slices seemed to cling to my tongue. Even the surface, once crispy when freshly cooked, has been properly steamed in the foil, becoming tender to the touch. I couldn’t help but praise myself, but this really is top-tier in my cooking history! Of course, the quality of the meat itself was excellent too, but I worked hard on this!
As Mr. Ville, who seems to be savoring every bite, said, when you put several thinly sliced pieces in your mouth at the same time, the pieces of meat fall apart with each bite, unleashing a burst of flavor on your tongue. It’s almost a violent assault of flavor, satisfying a primal urge.
Eating the thicker slices like Mr. Ed, they have a solid texture and bite, almost like a steak. Utterly delicious on their own, but the meat is flavorful enough to stand up to any sauce too.
Having a slice of tomato now and then helps cleanse the palate, making the next bite of meat taste even better…
The baking powder did its job well too—even without yeast, the pull-apart bread came out fluffy. Wrapping that slightly sweet, cloud-like bread around roast beef… it’s like a roast beef hand roll sushi!
But someday, I want to bake yeast bread… I have apples, so maybe I can try cultivating a starter?
Watching everyone casually consume thick-cut roast beef topped with cheese, a high-protein dish, I too reach out with my chopsticks to join the meat battle.
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