“Oh, hamburger steak today, huh?”
Kousuke exclaimed happily as he looked at the dishes laid out on the dining hall table.
“Hamburger steak? Oh, this is it!”
Floria tilted her head at Kousuke’s voice and then looked at the table, nodding with a look of understanding.
In the first place, the management layer’s table was always filled with a wide variety of side dishes.
While the main dish being white rice was to accommodate Kousuke, Japanese food centered around rice could be made to work with side dishes from any country’s cuisine.
For this reason, side dishes were often made to suit the preferences of the women. Part of this was also because Mitsuki and another person helped prepare the meals.
Floria also had a happy expression when she saw the hamburger steak.
Floria had liked it and eaten it when she had it before. By the way, due to the aforementioned reasons, Floria became the queen of Razek Amamiya soon after coming to the management layer, so compared to the other women, she had eaten Japanese food far fewer times.
Silvia was in a similar situation in terms of the number of days she had spent in the management layer, but because she had learned cooking from Mitsuki and made her own dishes, her situation was different from Floria’s.
Although Floria should have had her homeland’s cuisine from the Florece Kingdom, for some reason, she preferred Japanese food.
“Speaking of which, why do you like Japanese food, Floria?”
Kousuke’s sudden question made Floria’s eyes blink. She then crossed her arms and tilted her head for a moment before shaking her head left and right.
“I don’t really know why. I can only say it suits my palate.”
“Huh, is that so?”
For Kousuke, in his previous world, Japanese food was more of a general category compared to Chinese or Western food, so he couldn’t quite understand Floria’s sentiment. However, it could also be said that Japanese food itself was made by “demonizing” dishes from various countries. If anything, it could be said that those side dishes were made to match the taste of soy sauce and miso, but that was likely too strong an opinion.
In the first place, apart from Floria, the women in the management layer were not raised in places with unique culinary cultures.
Silvia, as a child, had stayed in one place, but before she came of age, she left her homeland and traveled to various regions.
Shurein, the Vampire, did not have a food culture that could be called unique; rather, it was normal for her to eat a mix of dishes from different places. Colette, an Elf, sometimes ate monster meat, so she was not a complete vegetarian, and the usual cooking method for meat was to grill it. Peach, on the other hand, lived a life where there were no proper cooking spaces in households, so her meals could hardly be called refined.
When put like this, it turned out that only Floria had eaten the best food in this world during her childhood. However, it was also strange that Floria was the one who was the worst at cooking. Conversely, it could be said that it was precisely because she was in an environment where she didn’t have to cook for herself that she was able to eat delicious meals.
“I, for one, am more surprised that even when there are similar dishes, they are further improved,” Silvia, who had brought the food, joined Kousuke and Floria’s conversation.
The Central Continent, where Silvia had traveled for a long time, was a place where cuisines from various continents were intricately mixed and mingled. Therefore, Silvia knew a wide variety of dishes, but even so, the Japanese food she discovered after coming to the management layer was unlike any other.
“Hmm. I don’t know about that. I don’t know the specific reasons why each dish was made.”
“Isn’t that fine? At least you can still eat delicious food.”
Floria gave Kousuke an answer that cut through his pondering.
“That’s true too.”
Kousuke, too, readily agreed, feeling that he didn’t need to use his head on such trivial matters before eating.
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“You’re worrying about strange things again.”
“I think as long as it’s delicious, it’s all good~”
As they sat at the table and ate their meal for the day, Shurein and Peach voiced their respective thoughts.
“But, meals develop in accordance with the circumstances and climate of each country, so I think they’re quite important?”
“Perhaps so, but I suspect the situation regarding meals that Kousuke envisions and the situation in this world may differ?”
“Eh? Is that so?”
Kousuke, told something he had never considered before, blinked and looked at Shurein.
“There are monsters in this world, you see. Food culture began with how to cook their meat.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true, but it’s the same in the world I was in before, isn’t it?”
Although there were no monsters, hunting was the primary means of sustenance before farming began, as taught by common sense. There was no way that was mistaken. In terms of strength, they might not be a match for monsters, but it was undeniable that they hunted wild animals, which sometimes attacked, by cooperating in groups.
“Hmm? If that’s the case, then all that’s left to consider are seasonings and cooking methods?”
“I believe so.”
As for cooking methods, they were largely the same in this world as well. Just as the same ingredients would result in different dishes depending on the country in the original world, different dishes would naturally be created in this world. Moreover, since the basic ingredient, meat, was replaced by that of monsters, it was natural to see dishes that Kousuke had never seen before.
If there were no differences in history or cooking methods, then only one thing remained.
“Then, it’s just about seasonings.”
“Indeed, there seem to be many seasonings I don’t know.” Silvia, who was the most knowledgeable about cooking (?), excluding Mitsuki, agreed, thinking of the seasonings she had come to know.
“Also, there are few fermented or aged dishes here. Ah, does this count as a cooking method?” Mitsuki added further after Silvia.
“You mean there are few foods that require fermentation or aging?”
“Rather than few, wouldn’t it be better to say none?” Peach said. Kousuke shook his head.
“No, that’s an exaggeration. After all, you have alcohol here too.”
“While what Peach said might be too extreme, I don’t think she’s entirely wrong?”
“Eh!? Really?”
Floria nodded at Kousuke’s surprise.
“Even if not now, in the past, there were times when entire towns were destroyed by great floods. While smoking might be one thing, things that require years to preserve were not developed.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Furthermore, I believe the practice of storing food has only begun in the last few hundred years or so?”
“Ah, that’s probably true.” Shurein, who knew the past conditions, and Floria, who knew it as history, were the most knowledgeable about such trivia among them. Kousuke, who had not paid much attention to such matters before, became somewhat interested after hearing the story.
Sensing that Kousuke’s thoughts were heading in that direction, or perhaps by mere coincidence, Kouhi, who noticed the conversation was about to get too deep, interrupted.
“Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but shouldn’t we continue this after we finish eating? The food will get cold.”
At Kouhi’s words, everyone realized they had been so engrossed in the conversation that they had barely touched their food, and proceeded to eat.
… I was planning to write about food… how did it turn out like this? It just became a disorganized story about meal situations >_< I haven't written stories like this before, so I'll leave it as is with the intention of it being a summary lol.
