I prepare the white liver.
I remove the blood by soaking it in salt water several times to eliminate the odor, then soak it in white wine for a few minutes.
Dishes paired with wine taste better when made using the same wine.
“Princess Belze! Could I have about two glasses worth of the wine you plan to open?”
“Sure. Take the whole bottle.”
She agreed readily. Moreover, she gave me the whole bottle.
I gratefully accepted the white wine and used it for the cooking.
When I returned to the kitchen, the cooks glared at me with displeasure.
“Tch, acting so familiar with Her Highness…”
Stop clicking your tongue.
She can hear you, you know.
…But well, it is true that we are acting familiar.
That young lady, despite seeming cold-hearted, is surprisingly tolerant of rudeness.
Now, the basic method for removing the odor of liver is long-term soaking.
However, since I do not have time, I will use a shortcut. I will mince the liver into small pieces.
The larger the surface area exposed to the wine, the faster the blood and odor will be removed.
“H-He is mashing the liver like that… how vulgar…!”
“Does he intend to serve something like that to Her Highness?”
Yes, yes, please move your hands instead of watching me.
Besides, this time, being mashed is perfectly fine.
I slowly sauté aromatic vegetables, herbs, and spices with a little butter, then add the blood-drained white liver and white wine.
Once cooked over low heat, I remove only the liver to prevent it from becoming smelly due to overcooking, and then I continue to simmer the wine and vegetables remaining in the bottom of the pot.
While I was cooking, the other cooks finished their dishes one after another.
One by one, the required dishes were lined up on Belze’s table.
They were certainly pretty. Everyone was beautifully plated, and the colors and aromas of the ingredients were well-defined.
Belze tries them in order, but—
“This is a warm salad of bubbles beans and Mibu cheese. Please enjoy it with white bread.”
“Did you select varieties with weak flavors to suit me because I dislike strong aromas? But do not underestimate my sense of smell. Both the beans and the cheese still have too strong a presence. Rejected.”
“This is a quiche of salt pork and Minea potatoes.”
“Too heavy. The pork, potatoes, and quiche crust are too filling. Can you not even imagine how many plates I will eat from now on? Rejected.”
“T-This is a meunière of giant-jaw fish, with a sauce of white wine and autumn mushrooms!”
“The theme is good. But the fish meat is dry, and the mushrooms are too strong. Rejected.”
T-That is harsh.
Facing the princess’s strict judgment, the cooks were defeated one after another.
I was a bit curious, so I called out to the last person.
“What is it? Did you come to laugh, stray dog!”
“No. If it is alright, I was wondering if you would let me taste that before you throw it away.”
The cook raised his face, “Eh?”
“W-Why?”
“I grew up in a farming village, so I have never eaten ocean fish. Also, it looked very delicious, and I was curious.”
“Is that so? W-Well, if you say so much…”
The man hesitantly handed me the plate.
Meunière of giant-jaw fish, with a sauce of white wine and autumn mushrooms.
I took a piece with a knife and tasted it.
“……Delicious.”
“R-Right? It is delicious, isn’t it!?”
I nodded. It is incredibly delicious.
A cream sauce with a strong aroma reminiscent of porcini mushrooms and a white fish with crispy skin. Yes, it is truly delicious.
Honestly, I do not even feel like it is dry.
It is just how cooked fish is—moist and carefully heated.
However, I am sure even that is unforgivable to Belze.
She simply does not like the fibrous texture that meat and fish have when cooked.
And, if I had to say—
“It is a dish that feels like the taste of the ingredients themselves.”
This is just a matter of preference.
Because this is a peak kitchen where high-quality ingredients and top-level food gather, a court cooking culture that tries to highlight the taste of fine ingredients has developed. Conversely, vulgar cooking that mixes various flavors together is disliked.
But that does not suit Belze’s palate.
“Is the taste and aroma of ingredients sharpened to a single point too intense for her? I am sure she has a good tongue and nose.”
Belze, who has taken in the abilities of various monsters through “Gluttony,” must have a sense of taste and smell that is sharpened beyond comparison to ordinary people.
“Do you only use one kind of herb?”
“Of course. How much do you think this bundle of herbs costs? There is no way I could mix in other herbs and ruin this wonderful aroma!”
I see. No wonder it does not suit Belze’s taste.
And I was relieved.
My approach, it seems, was not wrong after all.
Before long, it was my turn.
All the other cooks had finished their evaluations.
I presented the completed dish to Belze.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. This is white liver and apple canapé.”
“Ho. A liver pâté, then.”
Yes, as you say.
The reason I minced the white liver thoroughly during the preparation stage was because I was going to turn it into a pâté anyway.
A pale pink pâté, strained thoroughly to make it smooth on the palate.
I placed it on thin, crunchy slices of toasted white bread. It is a dish called a canapé. Please enjoy it with apple jam if you like.
Facing the liver she hated so much, Belze looked a little nervous.
But she did not hesitate. In one bite, she bit into the bread as if crushing it.
“…………”
No one said a word.
In the quiet dining room where only the pleasant sound of Belze chewing echoed—
“Delicious.”
With just that single word, she gave her evaluation.
The entire kitchen was flustered.
The cooks and the maids became noisy all at once.
Belze did not mind that at all, and stared intently at me standing beside her.
“I can certainly feel the aroma and umami of the liver. But it is not unpleasant. What exactly did you do?”
“Yes. Actually, this pâté is mainly made of aromatic vegetables, herbs, and butter. I kneaded equal amounts of aromatic vegetables and cold butter as the white liver in a mortar. The rest is reduced white wine and chicken bone broth.”
In other words, the proportion of liver is at most about 30 percent.
So, strictly speaking, it is accurate to describe this not as liver pâté, but as “liver-flavored aromatic butter.”
Within the complex aromas layered over one another, the liver’s odor does not stand out in a bad way, and you can enjoy only the concentrated umami.
“An intricate richness where no single ingredient asserts itself too much, aroma, and the creamy, rich taste of liver and butter… indeed, this is delicious.”
Next, Belze added the apple jam and ate it as well.
“……I might prefer this more than the jam I usually have made.”
At those words, one of the cooks fell to his knees as if crushed, saying, “Impossible!?”
It was the man who clicked his tongue at me earlier. It seems he is usually the one who makes the jam.
“The sweetness is quite restrained. And it is crisp.”
“Yes. Because there is also the sweetness of the vegetables and butter, the sugar is minimal. To pair it with pâté, which easily gets tiresome in texture, I cooked it just enough to leave the crunch of the apples.”
“I see. It also has a somewhat refreshing flavor and acidity. It is not just apples, is it?”
“It is the peel and juice of unripe citrus. I also added the white wine I was given, reduced together with herbs and cinnamon.”
If you are going to pair it with a heavy pâté, it should have a clear flavor like this.
When I finished my explanation, Belze nodded in a good mood.
She stuffed her cheeks with the canapé, chewed, and washed it down her throat with the crisp white wine. There was no way it wouldn’t fit.
She lifted the corners of her mouth and smiled just enough for only me to see.
Her expression seemed to say, “Well done.”
Facing such a Belze, I was checking the answers to my own deductions.
Generally, I understand now.
Dishes served to Belze should have overly complex flavors.
For Belze, who has the sense of smell and taste of a magical beast, trying to cover up unpleasant odors with flavorless ingredients is counterproductive.
No matter how much I try to suppress it, she accurately detects the unique flavor of those ingredients.
So, I take the opposite path.
Countless herbs, aromatic vegetables, and strong-tasting meat and bones—I combine layered sharp aromas to provide a flavor so complex that one cannot even guess what is being used.
Judging by the court cooking culture of this country, my method is surely as unorthodox as it gets.
But that does not matter. I wanted to cook for this princess. Mobilizing all the knowledge from my previous life, I want to make a dish that will make her smile.
If she says it is delicious, that is all I need.
“Pino, I will have clothing prepared for you here, but make any other necessary preparations.”
“Eh, preparations for what?”
“A journey. We are leaving tomorrow; I am taking you with me. No one has any complaints, do they?”
It seems I passed the test.
The cooks looked up at the sky in silence, and the maids celebrated with grand applause.