“Jinwoo, this is so delicious! I think you could leave out the cheese... but that’s just my taste, so ignore that.”
“I’m glad it suits your palate. How’s the sauce?”
“Right, the sauce! The sauce is really good. I liked that it smelled like Noirudel. How did you make it?”
“That’s the World Tree’s leaf.”
“Eh...?”
Your eyes have opened, Eilenna...
Eilenna, who had been excitedly giving her impressions of the egg cheese toast, had learned the truth.
For a while, she froze in shock and couldn’t continue speaking.
Well... the first time is the hard part. The second and third are easy.
Come to think of it, last time she almost ate that Chicago pizza with World Tree sap on it too.
Though it got derailed at the last moment because she couldn’t eat sausage.
The moment you break the frame of prejudice, the horizons of gastronomy become vast.
Like dipping sliced raw halibut into a sauce of lemon juice and olive oil.
Or trying dark chocolate in curry.
Or putting herb mint in chocolate ice cream.
‘Ah, the last one is definitely wrong.’
Mint chocolate is a sin.
In any case, food existed in as much variety as the world was wide.
You have to live while eating a bit of World Tree too if you want to make tastier food and brew excellent liquor.
“How, how could you feed me the World Tree’s leaves? That’s too much...”
“Lady Trea said the World Tree wished to be used this way too.”
“Even so. If you’d at least warned me...”
“Oh, come on. So are you not going to eat it?”
Pook—!
Lady Trea, the only one who could converse with the World Tree, said it was fine, so why was she being so dramatic?
I cut off Eilenna and put a piece of egg cheese toast, cut into four easy-to-eat pieces, into her mouth.
“Mmmp, mmm!!”
“How is it? It’s good, right? Then that’s all that matters.”
Nod, nod—
Eilenna’s eyes went round in surprise.
Unable to resist the addictive taste she had already discovered, she blushed and nodded.
Mm, now that’s the right reaction.
“Munch, munch... Haa, fine. If it tastes good, that’s enough.”
“Right? Then try this too. This toast only has milk, eggs, and butter in it.”
I offered Eilenna the French toast.
Since she had skipped both breakfast and lunch, I figured she still wouldn’t be full even after polishing off one toast already.
And this was a meal, yes, but strictly speaking, it was also a test for the food stall menu.
If she was going to work with me, she had an obligation to try everything and give feedback.
Unlike the other toasts, I planned to cut and serve the French toast in bite-sized pieces.
It was too soft to hold and eat with your hands, and it wasn’t a sandwich toast with fillings inside either.
Eilenna speared a piece of French toast with her fork.
“Oh, it’s much fluffier than the egg cheese toast. Then let me try... Haaap—”
“How is it? Does it taste all right?”
“Oooooooh!!!”
Nodnodnodnod—!
Her head started bobbing violently almost the instant it entered her mouth.
Eilenna chewed the French toast, her cheeks puffing and moving, then said,
“I thought the egg cheese toast was soft too, but this is on another level. Would eating clouds in the sky feel like this?”
“Wow, talk about overselling it.”
No, was it really that good? She was praising it so much it was almost burdensome.
I felt a bit awkward at Eilenna’s over-the-top reaction, but whether I did or not, she showed no sign of hiding her excitement.
“Overselling? I’m not really sure what that means... Anyway, it’s so sweet and soft. It’s as delicious as the tart you made for me back then!”
“Ah... then I should’ve made this for you back then.”
To be honest, the peach tart I made back then had turned out better than I’d expected.
It was a dessert I had taken pride in even until now... but to think it was on the same level as French toast.
Should I be happy about this, or sad?
‘Good is good. The cost-performance is incredible, at least.’
Making everything from the tart dough to the lemon custard cream had taken more than half a day.
I had recreated that impression in about an hour, so anyway, nice.
Eilenna and I finished the feedback and the meal together like that.
As we ate, one ham cheese toast and one French toast ended up left over.
The more people you received feedback from, the more helpful it was.
I warmed the toast for Callius, who returned when it was already night.
“Thank you for your hard work. Please try this. It’s toast I’m planning to sell as a food stall menu.”
“Mm? Thank you, Jinwoo. To think you even saved some for me... I’m touched.”
It wasn’t that I’d saved it for him, it was just leftovers... but there are some things in this world you’re better off not knowing.
I said nothing and handed him the toast with a benevolent smile.
Drawn in by the aroma of toast that stimulated instinctive hunger,
Callius immediately took a big bite of the ham cheese toast.
And then came an outpouring of admiration as if on cue.
“Mmmmm!!! Chomp, this is truly... chomp chomp, delicious enough to die for!!”
“Ugh, please finish eating before you talk.”
“Ah, excuse me.”
I can endure anything else, but not a smacking chewer.
Callius chewed the toast thoroughly and swallowed, only then continuing.
“The salty ham and cheese, the tender egg pancake, even the crunchy cabbage—it’s fantastic! Especially this sauce. How on earth did you make this?”
“That’s a trade secret. It’s good, right?”
“It’s beyond good. I’ve traveled here and there doing trade, but I’ve never tasted a sauce like this. Jinwoo, why don’t you cancel the food stall and open a restaurant in the city instead...”
“Come on, that’s a no.”
This man was great in every way, but whenever something happened, he tried to drag it into business.
In any case, if the experienced Callius was praising it this highly, I judged that it had more than enough commercial potential.
The ketchup wasn’t even complete yet, so I hadn’t even shown him the street toast.
I was worried that the destructive power of “that sauce” was so strong that it might bury the sweet-and-sour umami of the ketchup.
The tomatoes I had put on the fire around lunchtime had simmered down, bubbling, and every bit of flavor had been extracted.
Ketchup with the aromas of bay leaves, pepper, onion, and cinnamon powder all blended together.
I strained out all the solids through a fine sieve and put it straight into the refrigerator.
After letting it age chilled until tomorrow morning, I would check the taste and viscosity, then decide on the final seasoning and thickness. Then it would be complete.
“I’ll head in first. Good night.”
“Very well. Have a good night.”
It didn’t feel like I’d done much, but moving around nonstop from morning until now had made me tired.
Eilenna had already gone in and gone to sleep too.
The next morning, I headed to the kitchen as soon as I opened my eyes.
At the thought of finally meeting ketchup soon, I had even dreamed of ketchup.
A dream where I made pasta with ketchup and boiled ramyeon with a spoonful of it added.
Ketchup was a sauce made by taking tomatoes and spices as its main ingredients and concentrating them to the limit.
Because of that, even adding just a spoonful to a dish that made you think, “You can put it in here?” would make the umami that clung to your tongue surge.
Slurp—
I opened the refrigerator door and immediately tasted the ketchup.
Mm, it tastes bad.
But I didn’t panic. It tasted exactly as expected.
This ketchup base still lacked the proper seasoning and spices.
Taste is quite an interesting sense, so even the temperature and viscosity of food change how you perceive flavor.
Therefore, the cool state in which ketchup would mainly be stored.
Only by tasting it in that state and seasoning it accordingly could you call the seasoning proper.
I exchanged the onion powder and garlic powder I had made before through the [Mana Market].
Shooo—
Since I was only going to add a small amount anyway, very little mana drained away.
Unlike onion and garlic powder from modern Earth, this was truly powder made by drying and grinding nothing but 100% onion and garlic.
In other words,
‘It has no taste, but the aroma is strong. That’s what it means.’
There’s no MSG or anything in it, so what flavor would it have?
Of course, the ingredients did have their own natural umami, but it couldn’t compare to monosodium glutamate.
But what I wanted was the aroma, and that was enough, so I added the onion and garlic powder little by little while tasting.
Then I slowly stirred in salt, sugar, and vinegar too.
I warmed it over low heat only enough for the ingredients inside to dissolve.
Then now... it was really finished.
I dipped up a bit of the sticky, red-colored ketchup and tasted it.
The moment it touched my tongue, an intense sourness spread.
It wasn’t the freshness of herbs or citrus, but an acidic sourness that snapped my mind awake.
Soon after came the sweetness and the collaboration of all sorts of spices.
Cola, which people enjoy drinking in the modern world, also contains various spices, but thanks to its excellent blend, it doesn’t feel off-putting.
In the same way, this ketchup’s blend of spices had also come together exquisitely.
Sweet, sour, and salty, with complex aromas pushing forward without a moment to grow dull.
It was impossible for it not to taste good. Otherworld ketchup was complete.
I didn’t forget to register the finished ketchup in the [Mana Market].
Swaaaa—
With this, the sauces, the biggest problem for the toast menu, were all solved.
Then should I try making the street toast I couldn’t make yesterday?
Among all the many foods, street toast—
In other words... the reason “cabbage egg pancake + ketchup toast” became a common street food in Korea.
It lay in its extremely efficient cooking method.
First, melt butter over low heat and put the bread slices on.
Don’t forget about them; flip them every two minutes and toast them golden-brown.
During that time, shred the cabbage and carrot.
I didn’t have a slicer, so I cut them with a knife, but with a slicer, it would be done quickly.
Now mix the eggs with the shredded cabbage and carrot to make the egg mixture, then pour it into an oiled frying pan.
Chiiiiiik—!
Compared to a plain egg pancake, it was thick, but there was no need to cook it over too low a heat.
The point was for the cabbage and carrot inside to stay crunchy, so it was enough as long as they warmed through.
Cook over medium heat until it turned a pretty light brown, and it was done.
The time taken up to this point was barely ten minutes.
At a stall, I’d have the vegetables shredded in advance, so it would be much faster than now.
I laid down the savory, well-toasted bread, then placed the egg pancake on top.
And here was the kick.
While the surface of the egg pancake was still heated by the hot oil, I slammed on a heaping spoonful of sugar.
Suuuk—!
I spread it evenly so the sugar would stick well to the heat,
then squeezed enough ketchup over it to cover the entire surface.
Ha, damn. I hadn’t even eaten it yet, but it already tasted good.
When you pour sugar and ketchup on it this idiotically, there’s no way it won’t taste good.
And when you cover it neatly with the other slice of bread...
Despite being toast, it had a balanced amount of carbs, protein, and fat, and even plenty of dietary fiber. A complete food.
If you ate it with milk, you could consider that day’s hunger completely murdered. Insanely filling.
The pinnacle of how frightening familiar flavors can be: street toast was born.
Callius had gone out early in the morning, so he couldn’t try it.
Come to think of it, for Eilenna, who disliked ham and cheese, this toast would be more suitable.
‘She said she was going to get some air in the front yard.’
Eilenna always went outside to breathe in the refreshing air when she woke up in the morning.
Should I take her routine into consideration and eat outside with her?
We could also prepare milk to drink with it and enjoy a leisurely moment amid the busy morning crowd.
Jjorororok—
I took two glasses of milk that the mansion’s servants had procured at dawn.
They said you had to go buy dairy products and delicious bread from the early dawn.
It was such a filling food that I wondered if extra portions were needed, but it was better than not having enough.
I loaded three street toasts, two glasses of milk, and extra milk for refills onto a tray, then went out to the front yard.
“Oh, Jinwoo! What brings you out here?”
“I just thought it’d be nice to eat breakfast outside today. It’s another toast I couldn’t make yesterday, and I think this one will suit your tastes better.”
“Wow, really? Thank you!”
Eilenna smiled, her long, fresh light-green hair fluttering softly.
When we first met, she hadn’t been this lively, but now she was completely like a puppy that had opened its heart.
Together with Eilenna, who was humming to herself, I sat down at the outdoor table in the yard.
Then I briefly explained the street toast.
“It’s toast with a cabbage egg pancake, sugar, and ketchup between toasted bread.”
“Mm... What’s ketchup? Is it this red sauce I see on the side?”
“Yes. It’s made by simmering down tomatoes... but it’s different from tomato sauce. It’s sweet and sour, so I think you’ll like it.”
“Hehe, thanks. Then what’s the name of this toast?”
“I’m thinking of calling it street toast.”
“That’s rather commoner-ish.”
After sprinkling it with World Tree parsley, I could probably draw attention by calling it “World Tree Toast That Even Makes Elves Weep!” but I hadn’t forgotten my original goal.
Now that even the school meals had been cut off, the commoner students going hungry were my main customers.
For that customer base, it would be easier to approach an ordinary menu item like “street toast” than something with a name that sounded expensive.
Eilenna and I each picked up a toast.
Just as I opened my mouth wide, full of anticipation, about to take a big bite, my eyes met someone else’s.
“Huh? That girl is...”
“Hiiik!”
The brown-haired female student who had been staggering around the day I went to the Academy to sign the hardtack contract.
Our eyes had met over the low wall of the mansion.
It had only been for an instant, but I was sure of it...
Her gaze was desperate, yet unable to reach what it wanted.
“Ah, this toast?”
Last time, she’d been hungry too, and had immediately accepted the hardtack I gave her.
Then I could conclude it was for the same reason this time as well.
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I’ll leave right away!”
“No, kid. Wait just a moment. Don’t go anywhere!”
“Uh, come to think of it, you’re that hardtack mister...?”
“You’re our stall’s first customer.”
I held back the female student as she tried to flee in a panic, as if she’d committed some crime,
then quickly went into the mansion and brought out some paper wrapping.
Shashashak—
With practiced movements, I wrapped up the extra street toast.
I handed the female student the toast, still brimming with warmth since it had just been made.
“Here, eat it on your way. You saw that we were about to eat it just now, right? It’s not anything weird.”
“No. You gave me hardtack last time too, so how could I possibly accept this again? I’m sorry for peeking...”
“You’re misunderstanding something. This isn’t free.”
“Yes...?”
The girl kept trying to refuse with both hands.
I forced the toast into those hands and said,
“I’m going to sell these in front of the Academy, so eat it well and spread the word. Bring all your friends too, got it?”
“You’re really giving it to me just for that? This looks incredibly delicious...”
“Of course it’s delicious, and I’ll be selling it cheap too. If you bring a lot of friends, I’ll give you one for free.”
“O-okay. Thank you...!!”
Unable to resist my urging, the female student accepted the toast and walked away.
Good. Another seed had been sown.
The most important thing when running a street food business in front of a school was word of mouth.
One student brings a friend, and that friend brings another friend, and before long, the number of customers grows exponentially.
A school district market that prioritizes cost-effectiveness and stimulating flavors.
But... as long as my mana allowed, I had unlimited orders of top-grade ingredients, and a cook who could make insanely delicious food infused with [Handmade Flavor].
“How are they supposed to resist this?”
I hadn’t even opened the stall yet, but I already felt like a favorable wind was blowing for business.