Chapter 478

Dried Fish as a Tea Snack
Lunch was incredibly satisfying.
The first portion that came out wasn’t quite enough, so I ordered more, and that was delicious too.
I ordered the seasonal seafood platter, and that was a big hit as well.
This season has not only a good selection of fish, but also an abundance of shellfish, and the platter came with all sorts of items.
However, thinking about it more carefully, the “oysters” I ate had a crunchy texture, and the “abalone” I was served was soft and melty, which seemed different from what I remember their textures being like in my past life.
Well, there’s no point in getting hung up on that, so I won’t.
Incidentally, it wasn’t just me eating the seasonal seafood platter—Amira and Plum also had some.

“It was really good. What did you think, Talat and Kiblinki Saltas?”

(There was a sweetness different from meat. The saltiness brought that out, and I think I quite liked it.)

(I prefer vegetables and fruits, of course. This was good in its own way, but we like foods that have the scent of soil.)

So the Kiblinki Saltas are looking for something earthy while eating?
Only the ones acting as Amira’s guards came along, but should we get souvenirs for the others too?

(A souvenir for our companions, you say. In that case, rather than raw or grilled fish or shellfish, wouldn’t dried fish be more suitable?)

“Dried fish?”

(Dried fish carries the scent of the sun. With the distinct flavor of this island’s fish added to it, wouldn’t it make for a fitting souvenir to show we've visited a different land?)

Is that how it works?
Well, they’re the ones saying it, so I’ll go with that.

I asked Mr. Kouro for a recommendation on dried fish, and he said that away from the pier where we disembarked, there’s another dock for fishing boats.
Apparently, in that area, there’s a corner where the fishers process both their catch and farmed fish or shellfish into dried goods and sell them.
Let’s check it out.

“Wow, I haven’t been there in a while. When I used to live on the Isles of the Eight Gods, I’d stop by every time I came to the main port.”

“Is the dried fish there really that good, Mr. Kouro?”

“Yes. Perfect for tea snacks.”

Dried fish that’s good with tea?
Even on the Isles of the Eight Gods, I think they drink mostly black tea, so what kind of dried fish could that be?

Apparently, we’ll understand once we try it, so we followed Mr. Kouro to the dried fish shop.
From the outside, it looked like they only sold normal dried fish, though?

“We’re here. Let’s go in.”

“Sure. But what kind of dried fish is it?”

“Originally, it was developed to be a snack for drinking. But when they actually made it, it turned out to be faintly sweet, and people found it better suited as a tea snack than something for alcohol. Anyway, let’s go.”

Urged along by Mr. Kouro, we entered the shop.
It was big enough to fit all of us comfortably, and they had a wide variety of items.
When we spoke with the staff, they told us that they handle nearly all the dried goods produced in the main port.
If it’s not available here, it’s probably something developed by a private shop.

When Mr. Kouro placed the order, they brought out some reddish dried goods cut into bite-sized pieces from the back of the store.
Apparently, this was the item in question.
There were two types in the bag—one looked hard, and the other looked soft.

“Mr. Kouro, what’s this?”

“Oh, this. There’s a soft type and a hard type, so I asked them to bring both. People have different preferences, you see.”

Hmm, preferences, huh.
I tried a sample, and it was definitely dried fish, but with a subtle sweetness that would pair well with tea.
I preferred the hard type, while Talat and Amira liked the soft type.
As for the Kiblinki Saltas, they could enjoy both, so it really does come down to personal taste.

The production method is apparently a secret, but they can be stored long-term, so if I end up liking them, it might be worth importing them back to the McFarlane Dukedom.
… It’s strange, isn’t it? Dried fish that goes with tea.

What do you think about this chapter?