Red Witch's Finger Poppers from the Greenhouse (1)

Corvus patiently endured Alicia's tantrum for quite some time.

Alicia swung her fists with such fervor that she worked up a sweat.

The monster on the receiving end merely clacked his beak, gazing at her as if she were an adorable little rabbit.

But he couldn't keep that up forever. Having carefully sheathed his claws, Corvus lightly scooped Alicia into his arms.

"That will be enough for now."

"Alicia! Still! Hasn't! Fully! Taken it out on Karem—"

"Sir Karem says he will prepare a new menu as a gift."

"—yet! Yeah! Hurry up ahead!"

Alicia's sulky face lasted only a moment. Her change of attitude was faster than flipping a hand over. Radiating curiosity and delight, she urged Corvus onward by tapping his arm.

After asking Corvus's leave and borrowing a basket, Karem packed it full of the variant Red Witch's Fingers and followed the two—or rather, one person and one monster.

"Though it may be more modest than the other kitchens in Winterhome, I shall guide you to the kitchen I use."

"A kitchen? So you cook quite a bit, then?"

Corvus nodded, playing along with Alicia's teasing.

"As you can see ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with this body of mine, receiving hospitality from others is a distant prospect, and my duties are limited as well."

He turned his beak and lightly plucked a feather that stuck out precariously from his shoulder, placing it in Alicia's hand.

"Naturally I found myself turning to cooking. There are all sorts of vegetables and fruits in the greenhouse, and provisions come in steadily."

"You use the greenhouse plants rather freely, then?"

"One might call it a privilege of the greenhouse manager. Thanks to that, even in the dead of winter I can enjoy fresh, sweet fruit or rare crops."

Corvus boasted that it was one of his few joys. The source of the fresh fruit supplied to the kitchens was, indeed, the greenhouse.

They crossed the forest within the greenhouse and were led to the greenhouse manager's kitchen—or rather, a space closer to his dwelling. Karem could not be sure. Beneath the shade of a great tree in a clearing sat a massive nest woven of branches and straw, with furniture scattered sparsely around it.

"Kitchen? Dwelling? It's confusing."

"Those two words are a bit human-centric, so I ask that you call it a nest."

"Sure, whatever. Where are the ingredients?"

"Oh, have you decided on a menu?"

"Yes. A few things have come to mind."

In truth, it was a lie. Karem had not thought about the menu at all.

"I plan to decide for certain after looking at the prepared ingredients."

"Then please come this way."

Still holding Alicia, Corvus guided Karem to a proper little cabin on the outskirts of the nest.

Wait—he left a perfectly good house sitting there and nested outside? Why?

As if guessing Karem's thoughts, Corvus set Alicia down on the ground and opened his beak.

"Though I am considered introverted among my kind, I find the outdoors more comfortable than indoors."

"So the remaining cabin is used as a storeroom?"

"Yes."

Whether he was serious about using it as a storeroom, the cabin was packed from floor to shelves with every kind of provision—more thoroughly than even the tower's kitchen before the population had grown. It was a disaster for Karem, who had planned to look around first and then decide on a dish. With so many ingredients, even more recipes floated up in his mind.

"I think I'll need to take a closer look inside."

"Feel free to look around. I shall prepare the cooking utensils in advance. This is exciting. Just in case, I should light the oven as well."

"Corvus ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠will definitely like Karem's cooking too!"

"That's something to look forward to, Lady Alicia."

As Alicia dragged Corvus away by his feathers, Karem set the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠basket he was holding down on the floor so he could thoroughly examine the cabin's interior.

Stepping inside, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he felt a cool air—a chill similar to the warehouse of the Mage's Tower. It was clearly magic. And into Karem's eyes came vegetables and fruits he was seeing for the first time. In that moment he suppressed the curiosity that suddenly bloomed.

Not now. First the ingredients.

Karem was certainly confident in cooking. But he was not confident enough to whip up a recipe from nothing more than a light taste. With people waiting—or rather, guests—he could not experiment right away, so he explored the cabin focusing on familiar ingredients.

Beef? Bell-pepper jeon and green-pepper beef stir-fry? Without oyster sauce, the latter is out of the question, of course.

Though bell peppers are a vegetable that famously divides opinions because of their unique aroma, grassy notes, and genetic quirks, they are still used as main or supporting ingredients in all sorts of dishes: green-pepper beef stir-fry better known as gochu japchae, bell-pepper jeon stuffed with meat and grilled, stuffed and steamed bell-pepper dolma, bell-pepper tsukune made famous by a drama, and more.

Going deeper into the cabin, a room packed solely with countless kinds of cheese appeared. And somehow, sitting alone among the cheeses, a single barrel. A sudden barrel in a storage room full of nothing but cheese. This time Karem found it hard to contain his curiosity.

When he picked up the barrel and opened the lid, a musty yet faint smell for cheese rose with a weak sour note. Inside was a white paste denser and richer than whipped cream. It was a sight very familiar even to the Karem of his previous life.

Could this be cream cheese?

No way—really? Still, just in case. He quickly grabbed a cheese knife from a nearby shelf. The traces and texture left as the knife moved were certainly familiar evidence. Even so, with the thought that he should at least taste it, Karem ate the cream cheese (presumed) clinging to the blade.

"It really is cream cheese?"

The dense, soft texture on his tongue. A flavor several times richer than cream, with a subtle acidity. And the aroma as well. Everything was cream cheese. Along with that, the countless recipes that had been pointing guns at one another in Karem's mind vanished, leaving only one victorious recipe.

Poppers.

Unlike the original made with jalapeños, later versions used all sorts of ingredients—one of the few traditional American dishes.

Poppers would be fine to make right now, but…

Poppers made by stuffing cream cheese mixed with various ingredients into halved peppers, bell peppers, or mini paprika and baking them were excellent as snacks or as drinking food. Even better if wrapped in bacon according to taste. In fact, it was a combination almost impossible to dislike. Moreover, the Red Witch's Fingers Karem had packed full in the basket—whose flavor was a little similar to bell peppers—were still smaller than ordinary peppers, making them perfect for poppers. And the cabin overflowed with spices to mix into the cream cheese. There was bacon too. Of course it was loin bacon, but if he simply cut the parts with fat attached, everything would be fine.

Since not many ingredients were needed, Karem quickly filled the basket and left the cabin. In the nest, Corvus, who had finished preparing the utensils, was lighting the oven. Beside him Alicia had begun spacing out, staring at the flames blazing inside. When the boy made his presence known, Corvus turned his head.

"Ah, Sir Karem. You've arrived."

"I'm not a 'Sir'."

"Then I shall address you as Mr. By the way—hm?"

Seeing the ingredients packed with the variant Red Witch's Fingers, Corvus clacked his beak.

"That barrel is the cream one into which I accidentally dropped a few drops of vinegar this morning. The condition was strange, so I was storing it temporarily to throw away later—"

"Oh my, throwing away something this delicious."

Alicia, who had been blankly staring at the oven, reacted at once.

"Delicious thing!"

"Lady Alicia. Would you like to taste it?"

There was no need to hear the answer. Karem took bread from the basket, sliced it thinly, carefully spread the cream cheese, and handed it over.

"Ohhh, it's somehow like butter. The color is a bit whiter, though."

"But the taste will be completely different. In a good way."

Alicia immediately took a big bite. Her eyes flew wide and she stomped her feet in place. The pure white cream cheese spread on the slightly dried, crispy bread—lighter and fresher than butter yet denser than whipped cream, a rich flavor as if milk had been concentrated into jam—conquered her mouth.

While Alicia was distracted by a taste utterly different from the jams, butters, and creams she had ever spread on bread, Karem borrowed a knife and cutting board. Corvus approached, polishing his claws to a shine with a damp towel.

"Mr. Karem. There seems to be quite a lot to prep, so I shall help a little."

"Ah, then please take care of the Red Witch's Fingers in the basket."

"How should I prepare them?"

"Remove the stems, cut them in half, and just take out the seeds and pith inside."

Karem immediately grated salt and various spices brought from the cabin, along with Somerset (cheddar) and Parma (parmesan) cheeses, into the cream-cheese container and mixed them thoroughly. He then generously filled the emptied insides of the variant Red Witch's Fingers with the filling.

Corvus opened and closed his beak for a moment, as if he could guess the method. Dishes that filled hollows were common the world over, so it was only natural. Even dishes similar to pan-fried or boiled dumplings using flour wrappers, like those from Karem's previous life, were common on the Europa continent. Even without wrappers, dishes that stuffed the empty cavities of meat or vegetables and then baked or boiled them were ordinary. In the first place, whether cow, pig, chicken or anything else, filling the inside full of fruit or whatever and roasting it whole was the average practice in the Seophon Kingdom.

"Karem. Are you going to wrap bacon around them like that and bake?"

"Slightly off. Like this."

Karem joined the halved, filled Red Witch's Fingers back into one. Thanks to the somewhat viscous cream cheese they stuck together, but he could not cook them that way, so he immediately wrapped them tightly in bacon.

"Bake them in the oven like this and they're done."

"Looks delicious! But it seems like it will take a long time. Hmm."

"Well, it's the work of individually joining the filled Red Witch's Fingers and wrapping them in bacon, so it can't be helped."

But the more hands-on a dish is, the sweeter the fruits of labor. Of course Alicia—who would mercilessly absorb Karem's efforts like a pink steamed-bun alien—was already sparkling with anticipation, yet that too was joy. A chef's joy was precisely watching the guests eat the food with gusto.

"Hmm, Karem. I want to try too."

"Feel free to try as much as you like. But tools…"

"Use this butter knife here. I shall contribute my claws as well."

Of course Alicia played with the ingredients rather than properly making poppers. Naturally her poppers came out lumpy, with filling oozing out, looking thoroughly crude.

The moment the poppers were ready, Corvus lined them up in a pan and slid them into the hot oven that had been waiting to be filled.

"Hmm, the cooking method is quite simple."

"It's just a dish of filling the emptied insides with contents, wrapping them in bacon, and baking. Poppers."

"How long will it take?"

"Just bake until the bacon is crispy."

Alicia, who had been opening and closing her hands with a regretful air, lifted her head.

"Karem. I want to eat more of that bread with cream cheese spread."

"Let's see—there's still enough left for us to share."

"Hmm, just cream with a bit of vinegar added, yet such a rich and dense flavor…"

Toast slices that quickly turned golden from the oven's heat. Spreading the spice-mixed cream cheese on top sent up a rich aroma. It was a very simple open sandwich of nothing more than that, yet for that very reason the taste of the ingredients came through all the more vividly. With various spices and other cheeses added, the pure cream-cheese flavor was not so noticeable—but thanks to the harmony of the diverse ingredients, the taste was even richer.

And as time passed, around the moment the remaining cream cheese and bread had all disappeared, a unique and mouth-watering smell that Alicia and Corvus had never once encountered began to rise from the oven.

These are pictures drawn by ChatGPT.