The gnomes were sad.
When we reported about their pet cow, they cried and wailed all together.
However, they did not reject me preparing the meal or trying to eat the remains of their pet cow.
Rather, they gathered around in a swarm, asking if there was anything they could do to help.
“Um, then… could you prepare something to use instead of a large pot?”
When I made that request, the gnomes manipulated the ground.
They gathered iron sand, melted it, and instantly made a giant iron pot.
“……To think spirits would be this cooperative.”
“Now that I think of it, they are natural beings. Eating what has died might be a natural rule of providence for them, much more so than we think.”
We all cooperated to mourn the cow.
Now, the cooking process is simpler than ever.
I threw beef and aromatic vegetables marinated in salt and spices into red wine, and just let it simmer away.
“In a typical red wine stew, you sear the surface of the meat before simmering… but I will not do that this time.”
“Why?”
“The texture inevitably becomes tough. This time, I will simmer it slowly over low heat and pursue only a texture that melts away into smoothness.”
The original meat is also on the hard side, and above all, Belze dislikes the feeling of crumbly fibers.
However, as a substitute for that fragrance, I boiled down sugar and red wine until they formed a caramel state and added them, and I roasted the cross-sections of the vegetables thoroughly before throwing them in. I also roasted the bones to make a broth.
“Bones can cause a bad smell if you mess up, so I will try boiling them in a separate pot to see if I can get a clear broth. If it goes well, I will add it.”
“……You take precautions, too.”
“What do you take me for? This depends entirely on the ingredients, after all.”
The broth made from adult cow bones, scraps of meat, and aromatic vegetables is called fond de bœuf in my previous life’s language. If it were a calf, it would be fond de veau.
It is improvised, but I will do everything I can and make it a single dish of mourning.
◆
──By the time it was finished, morning had arrived.
“Princess Belze, it is done.”
“U, uu…”
Starting the butchering from the night, pre-processing, simmering. It is only natural that it takes time.
When I gently called out to Belze, who had gone to sleep earlier, she woke up sluggishly.
“Do you want to sleep a little more?”
“No, I will eat…”
As Belze sat on a log bench and the gnomes lined up expectantly around her, I served the plates one by one.
“This is the red wine stew of the mad bull, boeuf bourguignon.”
“Thank you. It smells very good.”
I grandly plated chunks of meat and the accompanying round vegetables.
The finished soup is light and smooth, yet the deep aroma of red wine and aromatic vegetables is wonderfully rich.
“……Where did the stewed vegetables go?”
“They melted. I strained the soup once, so not even a single fiber remains.”
The mushy aromatic vegetables that Belze dislikes are now nothing more than umami and aroma.
The accompanying Brussels sprouts, pearl onions, and mushrooms that I served alongside them were seared on the surface with oil to kill the grassy smell while keeping a crisp texture.
When Belze cautiously brought a round vegetable to her mouth, she tilted her head.
“It is crisp, but the flavor reaches the inside…”
“After briefly searing them, I let them float in the room-temperature soup I moved to a separate dish. While keeping a texture like raw vegetables, I made them absorb only the saltiness and umami deep inside.”
“I see. There is no grassy smell or unpleasant sweetness.”
“Vegetables without salt reaching deep inside tend to have their original flavors stand out in a bad way. Just by creating a sense of unity with the soup like this, the atmosphere changes greatly. Also, I added a little citrus juice.”
The faint acidity, just enough that you do not feel it is sour, also plays the role of masking the negative aspects of the vegetables while giving a slight difference to the tastes of the vegetables and the soup.
This is a balance between unity and contrast.
Belze then turned her hand to the meat, and she looked surprised at this as well.
“……It is wobbly. Does it turn out like this?”
“Tendons turn into gelatin when simmered. Especially the part I served to you is the shank.”
“Shank?”
“Muscles are highly developed and there are plenty of tendons… Normally, it is a hardness that you could not eat, but it is meat that becomes the softest through long hours of heating.”
No chewing power is needed.
Biting into a wobbly and soft bite, yet packed tightly with the umami of the meat, Belze let out a small smile.
“I see. It is delicious.”
The gnomes also frantically stuffed their cheeks with the meat and sipped the soup.
They do not need food. Even so, perhaps for the mourning, or perhaps because they found it delicious, they finished a bowl in the blink of an eye and begged for seconds.
“When you chose this request without knowing anything, I thought a disappointing end awaited us for sure.”
While gazing at the spirits, Belze murmured that.
“But that did not happen. Though the gnomes are still engulfed in sadness, I can tell they are now eating their fallen friend to mourn and trying to look forward.”
If so, I am truly glad.
I nodded.
“Pino.”
“What is it?”
“I…”
“I have started to genuinely like you a little, for real.”
…………
Eh.
At those words that Belze muttered casually, I froze.