Chapter 78
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: A Diet for the Minority (3)
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Dominic's kitchen was properly fired up for the first time in ages.
Flames roared from every stove, and the cauldron in the backyard behind the kitchen was back in action after a long hiatus.
Tak-tak-tak.
Bubble bubble.
"Vegetable prep is done!"
"The water's starting to boil!"
With the twenty elves, the administrative officials who'd come to watch, and even the Old Lord, they had to prepare a meal for nearly thirty people.
This wasn't about whipping up one or two dishes to share—it was a full spread, so Dominic had quickly pulled in the kitchen staff from the resort. Thanks to their shared experience, the cooks knew exactly what to do without being told, making Dominic's commands shine even brighter.
"Bring the prepped mountain greens over here. I'll handle the seasoning myself. You can manage the soup on your own, right?"
"Yes. Should we make the sauce using the resort's purified recipe?"
"Yeah. But when marinating, skip the aged soy sauce and just use regular soy sauce instead."
"Got it!"
Since they were rushing, they couldn't remake every menu from scratch.
They'd keep a few familiar dishes the cooks already knew well and introduce just a handful of new ones.
'That should be plenty.'
On the carriage ride over, Dominic had shared quite a few stories with Heinrich, the elves' leader.
[So how did you manage meals during the voyage? Fresh ingredients must have been hard to come by.]
[We mainly ate dried noodles with a few sauces.]
[That much pasta...]
[It's all gifts from nature, so we simply give thanks to the Goddess of the Earth.]
Dominic's pity for the elves grew upon hearing they'd alternated between tomato pasta and basil-mixed herb pesto sauces for the long journey.
'Meatless, sausageless—not even a scrap of cheese? Just two sauces on repeat?'
He knew pitying someone else's beliefs wasn't right, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for them.
'This place really lags in vegetable cooking.'
Of course, no cuisine here could compare to 21st-century Earth, but vegetable dishes were especially dismal.
Truth be told, it made sense when he thought about it.
For wealthy commoners or nobles who could be picky about food, vegetables were just side ingredients to vary the flavors of meat, fish, and desserts—or at best, something to eat occasionally for an upset stomach.
Even the Old Lord, tormented by gout, had suffered from excessive meat consumption.
He'd raved about the diet Dominic had designed back then: "The shock of it—I can't even describe it. It was the first time I ever thought vegetables could taste that good!"
In the end, the ones who made vegetables a staple were the poor commoners.
They tried to liven up their tables by boiling, grilling, blanching, or drying them in various ways.
'But spices are pricey.'
Ultimately, culinary variety required both techniques and diverse ingredients, but the poor folks striving to eat veggies diversely couldn't easily use herbs, spices, or even a mix of vegetables for one dish.
That was why vegetable-focused cuisine hadn't developed in this world.
Of course, it didn't matter to Dominic.
"Heinrich, are you sure this is okay?"
"I know what you're worried about, Mishan. But we checked ourselves—the ingredients for the food have no trace of magical fertilizer scent."
"True, but..."
Two long tables were set up in the kitchen courtyard.
The elves seated there waited for their first meal in this new land, half anxious, half excited.
"I'm amazed. Vegetables without magical fertilizer, piled up by type like that."
"It's not exactly in line with the Goddess of the Earth's will like we do, but all rivers flow to the same sea, don't they?"
Gulp.
They sat in perfect posture, conversing elegantly, but someone finally couldn't hold back and swallowed hard.
It was the aroma wafting from the kitchen windows.
First, it smelled like oil extracted from fruits, then complex scents blended until no one could guess the ingredients.
'What on earth are they making?'
As Heinrich's curiosity peaked and he considered peeking inside, the food finally emerged.
Each cook carried a rectangular wooden tray.
Atop the trays sat various large and small bowls, overflowing with dishes of different ingredients, methods, colors, and shapes that captured the elves' eyes.
"My goodness."
One elf, unable to tear their gaze from the food despite constant swallowing, let out an exclamation—and it sparked murmurs of awe all around.
"Is all this really vegetable dishes?"
"They seem far more advanced than our methods! Though we'll have to taste them..."
"I can't even guess what's in that little bowl!"
"I'd love to learn a trick or two from the cook... but that's probably impossible."
They hadn't taken a single bite yet, but after weeks of pasta, just knowing it wasn't tomato pasta earned it ninety out of a hundred points.
"Oh, seaweed soup—it's been ages."
The first full spread went not to the elves' leader Heinrich, but to the Old Lord.
'Of course. Gotta prioritize the VIP.'
It was Dominic's favoritism in action—never miss the small details for building rapport.
The Old Lord was delighted, naturally.
"I considered vegetable soup but went with seaweed soup to showcase more variety."
"Good choice. It's an Evergreen specialty, after all."
"Um, Mayor? What's this black stuff in the soup?"
"It's seaweed, a sea plant."
"A sea plant?"
After a brief explanation, the elves grasped it faster than the southerners and showed keen curiosity.
White rice and seaweed soup.
Fortunately, many of the warehouse rices were confirmed free of magical fertilizer by the elves.
Dominic had splurged to import them from the eastern continent because he hated the fluffy varieties—and the elves verified they had no magical scent, enabling this setup.
'Good thing magic isn't advanced over there.'
With rice sorted, everything else fell into place.
First, three kinds of seasoned greens.
Mountain greens gathered, dried, and stored were tossed with sesame oil and salt for nutty aged greens. Next, sweet radish sliced thin and braised in perilla oil for radish greens. Finally, blanched sea herbs from seaweed harvest, mixed with minced garlic and vinegar for tangy sea herb salad.
Unique aromas and textures made this a popular full-course menu at Dominic's central plaza restaurant.
And the pickles? Even better.
Cucumber pickled with a touch of chili paste for spicy cucumber pickles. Sharp plum pickles that sharpened the mind were exquisite too.
Then two fritters, golden and crisp.
Even before tasting, they were guaranteed hits: small potato pancakes from shredded potatoes, fried like egg sunny-sides. And...
'Cabbage pancakes. Only those who've tried them know!'
A simple batter-dipped cabbage pancake, but anyone who knew the flavor would thumbs-up without hesitation.
The crowning touch: deep-fried mushrooms, lotus root, and tofu drizzled with soy sauce—sweet-and-sour tofu!
Possible because they made tofu every other day for the resort's purified meals.
Slurp.
Crunch!
Crunch.
As the twenty elves prayed to the goddess, they dove in without waiting.
Some slurped soup, some grabbed greens, others snatched fritters.
Choices varied, but reactions were identical.
"...!"
Eyes widened, hands sped up, words vanished from the table.
Forty beautiful eyes—male and female alike—overflowed with pure bliss.
"Heinrich."
Dominic whispered to the blissfully eating leader.
"So..."
"...! Yes, that's fine."
With mysterious permission granted, Dominic ducked back into the kitchen.
Minutes later, elves began setting down spoons one by one.
'What's that smell?'
Smoke and a nutty aroma wafted from the kitchen windows.
Dominic stepped forward again.
"Sorry we couldn't serve it with the rest. We got it while prepping..."
As he finished, cooks brought plates with crisply grilled fish filets.
"Heinrich confirmed it's okay since it wasn't caught on purpose. Dig in!"
The seaweed farm used stone-weighted nets below the surface to divide areas and prevent storms from carrying off the crop. Small fish sometimes got caught anyway.
Too tiny to sell, they'd normally go home with farm workers—but Dominic had messaged hoping for some today, and they delivered.
He'd double-checked with Heinrich: since the net wasn't set to catch meat intentionally, it was fine.
The elves receiving the fish seemed to glow.
"Oh!"
"Such fatty fish!"
"Gulp."
They were ecstatic.
'They don't hate meat—they just avoid it.'
Dominic realized a simple truth: they knew protein's allure but shunned it for faith.
'How much to charge for board to make this a success story?'
Not from Sahara, but the Sultan footing the elves' study abroad bill—Dominic figured he could hike prices and still negotiate.
His mouth corners threatened to split in a grin for the first time in ages.
"Dominic! Er, Mayor!"
But an anxious shout echoed from afar.
Anyone could tell work was incoming.
'Not now. Harvest isn't even done—again?'
How many times already!
What kind of luck was this? Dominic sighed, tensing up again.
"The turtle's here! A turtle!"
"...Damn it, for real!"
That turtle—supposedly once every few years!
Didn't last year's visit mean a break this year?!