Kaerton and Maester walked to Su Ye's side and looked at the fresh, creamy-white delicacy in the four bowls. Their expressions were curious.
The doubt in Kaerton's eyes disappeared, as did the fury in Maester's heart.
They had truly never seen such a dish.
Even though its appearance was lackluster, it seemed to have been made to Su Ye's satisfaction. Under the radiance of the chandelier, the dish had a unique beauty.
"What is this?" Maester asked hurriedly.
Su Ye smiled. "You have heard of salads, right?"
Kaerton was the first to speak. "Of course, they are from Persia. Just some raw vegetables sprinkled with salt and spices, really. Nothing too edible."
"I don't like them," Maester said.
Su Ye was shocked. He hadn't known that salads already existed in this era. He had thought that salads appeared at the same time as salad dressings, but now it appeared that salads were already known in Greece. However, the salads of this era were the simplest of cold or mixed vegetables. Salad dressings didn't emerge until two thousand years later.
Su Ye quickly smiled and said, "This dish is called salad dressing. It can transform the grass-like salad into a delectable dish…"
Maester couldn't hold himself back any longer. Without waiting for Su Ye to continue, he grabbed a clean knife and dipped the tip of the knife into the salad dressing. He placed a little of it in his mouth.
Maester's face puckered instantly as he tasted the dish, and his expression twisted more and more as he explored the flavor.
Kaerton saw that something was off and hurriedly put a little salad dressing in his mouth. He nearly spat the dressing out when he tasted it.
Kaerton set his knife back on the table and looked down on Su Ye from above. He no longer had a smile on his face.
He gently spun the snake-headed ring on his left ring finger.
"Maester, you be the judge." Kaerton's voice seemed to have come from the wintery edges of Northern Europe. The five men who had created the salad dressing trembled, their bodies rigid.
Su Ye still had a faint smile.
Maester didn't reply immediately. He prodded the tip of his knife into the second bowl of salad dressing, then raised it slightly and observed it under the light of the chandelier.
It was glistening and alluring, glossy and thick.
"This bowl has also succeeded?" Maester asked.
"It is passable, but it is still some distance from perfection," Su Ye answered smoothly.
Maester placed the salad dressing from the second bowl into his mouth and tasted it carefully. He then finished sampling the rest of the four bowls in order.
Under the eyes of the entire group, Maester said slowly, "It has a unique texture and the refreshing scent of lemon. However, it is a little cloying and clearly lacks something special. It is not worth ten Golden Eagles."
Kaerton took a deep breath, then exhaled. He looked icily at Su Ye and said with a tone that was calm to the point of being cold, "Su Ye, do you know the price of deceiving me?"
Su Ye said innocently, "I know."
"Then you…"
"The fundamental salad dressing has been completed, but it can only be eaten after we add something else. I did not ask the two of you to try it. Lead Chef Maester tasted it before I finished my sentence. How can you blame me for that?"
Kaerton froze for a moment. Instead of becoming angry, he looked at Su Ye with a surprised gaze. It was only now that he realized that Su Ye had never lost control of the situation.
"What do we still have to add?" Maester looked at Su Ye anxiously. He felt that this dish lacked something important.
"A suitable amount of honey," Su Ye said. It was regrettable that no white sugar was available. Originally, the recipe called for putting the sugar into the egg yolks as the first step, but honey could serve as a perfect substitute. In ancient Greece, honey was an extremely important seasoning.
"Indeed! I knew it was lacking something! If it had honey, then it would be completely different!" Maester's expression turned from disapproval to exhilaration.
Kaerton's eyes widened, and his heart rose with elation. Maester only lost his calm when he tasted an exquisite delicacy.
"How much should I add?" Maester grabbed Su Ye's shoulders, his eyes brighter than the magic lights above them.
"That is the reason why I asked you to come," Su Ye said deferentially.
"Thank you, generous Su Ye!" Maester was simply elated. He only got this way when he was participating in the creation of a completely new delicacy.
Maester suddenly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had regained his usual calm. However, deep within his eyes, the glimmer still burned brightly.
He once again tasted the salad dressings from the four bowls one after the other, then finally selected a bowl and said, "The color and texture of this is the most ideal. I'll adjust the flavor with this bowl as the base."
He carefully scooped out a little salad dressing with a clean seashell and placed it into a separate clean porcelain bowl. He then introduced a suitable amount of honey and personally mixed it evenly.
He sampled a little of the end product and then knitted his brows. He tasted the mixture two more times before adding a little more honey and mixing it well once again.
His eyes widened when he tasted the dressing a final time. He had an indescribable look of joy on his face. It was as if lava was boiling within his eyes.
"A miracle dish! This is a miracle dish! A dish gifted by the deities! Su Ye, I apologize for my crass and rude comments just now! You were right; this salad dressing will change the food culture of Greece! No, of the world! I can envision every food critic in the world frothing at the mouth over this salad dressing! Su Ye, I thank you for giving me the chance to add the honey!"
Lead Chef Maester once again grabbed Su Ye's shoulders with his hands.
"You deserved it." Su Ye smiled.
Kaerton looked at Maester, suddenly realizing that Su Ye wasn't paying attention to him anymore. He immediately took out a clean knife and scooped up a little of Maester's finished salad dressing. His eyes gleamed when he placed the dressing into his mouth.
With the addition of honey, the salad dressing became a completely different dish.
"Even if that is the case, there's no way that this dish is worth tens of thousands of Golden Eagles," Kaerton insisted stubbornly.
"What do you know! You are tarnishing the salad dressing!" Maester looked at Kaerton with fury.
Kaerton grew rigid. Even though Maester had reprimanded him in the past, all his criticisms had been rather calm. They had never been as filled with fury as they were today.
Su Ye coughed softly. "You are too harsh on Mr. Kaerton. He only tasted the flavor of the salad dressing, but cannot imagine its taste when paired with a salad. Shall we work together and create the world's first salad with salad dressing?"
"You are too generous!" Maester grinned widely.
Kaerton looked on silently as the two of them started creating a new salad. The dissatisfaction in his heart slowly dissipated. His gaze gradually drifted toward Su Ye as he slipped into deep thought.
From the start, Su Ye hadn't been worried about whether or not the salad dressing would fit the palates of the Greeks.
In reality, even in an era where there was no salad dressing, the Greeks already loved eating salads.
In Su Ye's other life, Greece had also been the origin of salad dressing!
Egg yolks with olive oil and lemon juice were the simplest, most primitive recipe for salad dressing.
The geographical location of ancient Greece was extremely unique.
Europe to the north, Mesopotamia to the east, and Egypt to the south. Being situated at the intersection of three civilizations and bathed in various cultures, Greece not only birthed a civilization that would influence the world, but it also had access to resources and goods from all over the world.
Including food.
The main ingredients needed for a salad, such as lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers, could all be found within the room.
Su Ye effortlessly created a delectable plate of salad.