At Rio's order, Sara hurriedly removed her hand from Latifa's mouth and
apologized. "S-Sorry."
"Geez!" Latifa puffed up her cheeks cutely in anger.
Orphia and Alma giggled at the scene. Rio also chuckled quietly, and
Latifa began to giggle with high-pitched laughter, too.
Sara was the only one who was blushing.
"Oh, that's right. Rio, are you aware of the Grand Spirit Festival in two
months time?" Orphia suddenly said after laughing for a while.
"Yes, I've heard of it."
"About that... Just recently, your cooking was highly praised amongst the
council members of the village."
"Really?" Rio's eyes widened. It was the first time he was hearing of
this.
"Yes. I previously made lunch for the council of elders with a recipe I
learned from you. It was a huge hit."
"I see. But what does that have to do with the Grand Spirit Festival?"
"There's a banquet held after the Grand Spirit Festival, so I was thinking
of having some of your recipes on the menu. So, Rio... I know this is a lot to
ask of you, but would you consider teaching them to the ladies of the
village?"
"Sure, I don't mind. It would be my pleasure to help," Rio agreed
pleasantly.
"Thank you very much! Then I'll set up a cooking class sometime in the
near future. I'll inform you of the details at a later date."
Orphia's expression brightened in delight, her smile like a blooming
flower.
◇◇◇
Food from all corners of the continent of Euphelia was cultivated in the
village of the spirit folk. The spirit folk themselves were once scattered
around the continent, before being persecuted by humans and forced into
migrating to the village over time. As part of the migration, they brought
foods from different regions with them, resulting in their current state of
agriculture.
The spirit folk had advanced farming technologies, and Dryas, the spirit
of the giant tree, oversaw the great forest; its fertile soil was heaven for plant life. This allowed the crops to grow under the best conditions.
The village truly was a food paradise.
Rio took advantage of that blessing ever since he started living in the
village, using his knowledge from his previous life to painstakingly recreate
different foods of every origin — be it Japanese, Western, or Chinese.
Furthermore, Orphia — who was particularly enthusiastic about cooking in
comparison to the other girls — was learning how to make gourmet spirit
folk food. She was very interested in the varieties of food Rio could make,
and they spent their time together teaching each other their recipes.
And so, here in the house where Rio and the others lived, dishes from
both Earth and the spirit folk would line the table every day. Occasionally,
they'd invite Ursula and the other head elders over, and they'd all smack their
lips at Rio's cooking. Eventually, rumors began to spread, and Orphia ended
up treating the elder council to the recipe that she had learned from Rio. The
feedback was extremely favorable, and as a result, everyone wanted Rio to
hold a cooking class. Rio accepted their request, and it was decided that he
would teach his recipes to the ladies of the village.
Most of the participants were younger ladies; though their species had
longer lifespans (they developed at the same rate as humans until their mid-
teens, from which their aging dramatically slowed), their appearances didn't
quite match their real ages. There were over fifty of them present.
At the moment, an appetizing smell was wafting from the food
preparation room in the town hall, which was filled with the cheerful voices
of apron-clad women. Despite readily agreeing to the whole thing, there were
far more participants than he expected, which made Rio feel uncomfortably
awkward as the only male in the room.
That being said, he wasn't about to back down after already accepting, so
he put on his mask of responsibility and devoted himself to playing the role
of the teacher.
After distributing the recipe sheet to each group, he went through each
preparation step while giving tips about handling the ingredients and how
strong the fire should be. Next, each group went about preparing their own
food, following the recipe and Rio's steps, which they had just observed. Rio
and Orphia — his assistant — split up and walked around each group's table,
watching over their students as they worked. Once the cooking started,
groups started to come up with questions and obstacles, so he would assist
with those, too.
He spotted one such group just now.
"Sara, Alma, isn't this tomato sauce a little too sour?" Latifa asked,
licking at the teaspoon of sauce she had scooped up.
"Mm, that's true..."
"The sour taste is a little strong."
Sara and Alma's expressions clouded over as they tasted the sauce.
"Bleh, the one Rio made was so much smoother, too." Vera also licked at
the sauce, before shaking her ears and tail. That was when Rio appeared.
"Let it simmer at a lower flame for a while, and hold off on the water.
Once it's boiled through, add water to adjust the thickness. Make sure to taste
it frequently. If it doesn't get any better, add broth and simmer for longer," he
advised after tasting the sauce with a teaspoon.
"I see... so it hasn't boiled enough yet."
"Tomatoes lose their sourness when they're heated, after all. It settles the
flavor and brings out the sweetness. Also, if you add too much broth, you'll
lose the taste of the tomato sauce, so make sure to only add a little," Rio
added in explanation, making Alma nod in understanding. Latifa and Vera
were chatting away noisily beside them.
"Ehehe, we can eat yummy rice croquette and cabbage rolls with this."
"Anya's group is making cheese omelettes and chicken braised in tomato
sauce. Let's swap some with them later."
"Ooh, I can't wait!"
The cooking class continued smoothly after that. After some time,
completed dishes started to appear amongst the groups.
"All right, I'm sure all the men are hungry by now, so let's move the
completed dishes to the dining room and serve it before they cool. The only
thing left after eating is the cleanup, so please take your time."
At Rio's order, the groups with finished dishes began moving out to the
dining room. The groups with more experienced women had finished first,
leaving behind the groups formed of mostly younger girls. However, they
didn't appear to be too far behind. Rio walked around the tables while
cleaning up what he could, retrieving any leftover ingredients. With no need
for an assistant anymore, he sent Orphia to join Latifa's group, then took the
opportunity to make some food for himself.
He threw some butter and onion into a frying pan, added some finely
chopped chicken thighs, and sauteed them. Once the onions had become
translucent, he added tomato sauce and mixed it. Then, he added some leftover butter rice and fried it until it was loose and non-sticky. The chicken
rice was completed in no time at all.