Let’s Make It
“Since it’s the cooks’ first time making this today, don’t get mad if they mess up.”
“Got it.” “Understood.”
“Roger that.” “Alright.” “Okay~”
Nanally and Maria, Atre, Lucas, and Cherry.
The other contracted beasts came too, but since they can’t talk, they either nodded or raised a hand in acknowledgment.
Atre and the others seemed interested in watching the process, so they gathered around the magic tool, and with the head chef observing as well, the cook assigned to do the work looked a bit nervous.
Apparently he was in charge of the dorayaki.
Since he wasn’t used to it, we first had him scoop the bean paste into the long bean-paste tool.
I instructed him to level it flat on both sides and on top.
At first he struggled to scoop the bean paste cleanly with the long tool, but after practicing a few times, he seemed to get the hang of it, so I gave him a pass.
Next was applying oil to the copper plate.
The oil brush Maria made was a bundle of multiple strands from an unraveled section of a brand-new cotton rope, gathered into a stick shape and wrapped tightly with the same rope to form a handle.
I had assumed she would bring something where the unraveled rope was tied to a wooden handle with separate thread, so I was impressed.
Then he poured the dorayaki batter into the measuring tool and poured it onto the copper plate.
Out of the four rows, he began placing bean paste on two.
The amount of bean paste kept varying—sometimes too much, sometimes too little.
“If we mark the outside of the bean-paste tool, the amount should come out more uniform.”
“That’s right. If we’re selling these, the bean paste needs to be consistent.”
We had prepared bean paste in two of the long tools, but it wasn’t enough for twenty pieces, and refilling took time.
The batter had begun to bubble, so the rounds without bean paste needed to be placed on top of those with bean paste.
Another cook jumped in to help with covering them, but some of the batter stuck to the copper plate here and there.
This really requires practiced skill.
I should have let them rehearse—sorry.
The batch was somehow finished, so it was time for tasting.
Hmm… since it’s dorayaki batter, it’s basically dorayaki in a different shape.
The head chef didn’t comment.
He was probably thinking the same thing I was.
It’s fine as is, but since I want it to be distinct from dorayaki, I want a different batter.
If possible, I want it to have a chewy texture. But we don’t have sticky rice…
“Young Master Reinhardt, what should we do with the bread from Zwei Town and the food we received from Savai Village?” Edgar entered the kitchen.
“Edgar, welcome back, and good work. Give one hundred portions to Brother Chris and the others, three hundred to the cooks, and one hundred to Georges,” I said while handing him a taiyaki-shaped cake as thanks.
Edgar took a bite. “Did you change the shape of dorayaki?”
Makes sense he’d think that—he doesn’t know anything yet.
While I was wondering how to answer, Edgar finished eating and said,
“I also brought petit barley itself from Savai Village. Should I give it to the head chef?”
“Edgar, excellent. Well done.” I patted his shoulder.
I handed the petit-barley bread and the petit barley itself to the cook who made them and to the head chef.
After tasting the petit-barley bread, the head chef said,
“So you want to mix petit-barley flour into the dorayaki batter.”
He seemed to understand what I’d been thinking.
“Can you do it right away?”
“I can.”
I left the proportions to the head chef and the others.
This time, they made the cakes with batter mixed with petit barley, and the texture became pleasantly chewy, and the flavor changed from dorayaki.
“This is delicious. The batter is chewy and completely different from earlier.”
“As promised, give me some of these as souvenirs too.”
Atre and the others said it was delicious and this time demanded different fillings—white bean paste and matcha bean paste—so the cooks were working busily.
“We don’t have enough magic tools and dedicated tools, do we?”
“Nanally, wouldn’t it be better if we made it so we can cook thirty at once?”
“If it’s that amount, like Maria said, we can increase it. Young Master Reinhardt, I’ll make additional sets, so let me have some souvenirs and also feed me fresh ones when they’re done.”
“Sure. Can you make five extra magic tools that can cook thirty at a time?”
“Alright. I’ll make them fast!”
The tasting session came to an end, but since we still needed portions for the gods and the family, two of the cooks continued making them.
As for the staff portions, that will have to wait until Nanally makes additional tools.
The new cakes were popular with my family as well.
“Hardt, if you’re using petit barley, won’t you need more petit barley?”
Right.
I need to ask the head chef how much he used, and depending on the amount, we might not be able to make any for Brother Chris and the staff.
That would be bad. Brother Chris would send a letter of resentment over food.
We’ll have to ask Savai Village again to expand their petit-barley fields.
I can’t just grow it myself using my blessing from the Plant God…
Wait, maybe we can do it in Helios Village.
Either way, it looks like I need to hurry over to Savai Village.
What do you think about this chapter?
