40

Chapter 40

‘A spicy flavor and aroma.’

It could not have suited Gio’s search more perfectly.

“……”

Of course, the description of Weeping Vine continued.

…A medicinal herb that grows in the shape of a concave bell. When dried in sunlight for more than a month, it turns pink and its leaves grow plumper. Once refined in this way, pink Weeping Vine produces a sweetness powerful enough to tear the tongue. Rurupu petals steeped in its extract greatly aid the recovery of the optic nerves.

Elixir Refining Method: Dry the Weeping Vine in sunlight for more than one month. The ideal time is when it has turned deep pink and its leaves have thickened to roughly three centimeters. Squeeze the extract from the plump leaves after they have absorbed moisture from the air. This alone makes an excellent painkiller. Add Rurupu petals and store it in a cool place to produce medicine beneficial for optic nerve recovery within three days.

“……”

But that was too long.

He simply skipped it.

‘I need spices. I didn’t come looking for medicinal ingredients.’

In the end, the only part that caught his eye was ‘a spicy flavor and aroma.’ It said something about optic nerve recovery, but he was doing this to enjoy delicious sausage, not because he needed medicine.

“It looks similar to a morning glory.”

It was not exactly the same, but it was fairly similar in form, with leaves that fluttered like lace and vines wrapped tightly around the trees. However, its leaves were much larger than those of a morning glory….

“They’re almost as large as my hand.”

“Kkurururu?”

“Yes, they’re quite large.”

Gio’s hands were not small, yet a Weeping Vine leaf was large enough to extend slightly beyond one.

“The vines being such a deep white is unusual too.”

The leaves called ‘Weeping Vine’ boasted a gradient of green that deepened toward their tips. The vines connected to the leaves were opaque white and seemed certain to stand out at night.

“In any case….”

He had obtained chili pepper.

‘I should try making chili powder with this.’

He was very pleased.

“Let’s examine its condition.”

Gio plucked a Weeping Vine leaf, tore it, and smelled it. Sure enough, its pungent, spicy aroma was exceptional.

Although not exactly the same as the chili peppers of Earth, it was reasonably similar. It also carried a strangely gentle aroma that seemed likely to pair well with the nut-scented meat. Its complex fragrance almost made his head spin.

‘Does it smell like a mixture of chili, mala… and a little star anise? I think there’s also a soft sweetness similar to pandan leaves… Since the meat happens to smell like walnuts or hazelnuts, if I make it properly, I could whip up a tantanmen-flavored sausage.’

Having thought that far, Gio murmured,

“However….”

There was a problem.

“Using too much of this would be overwhelming.”

As someone who ate almost anything, Gio did not mind however strong the chili aroma was. The scents of mala, star anise, and pandan leaves, however, were somewhat intense.

The numbing sensation of mala and the lingering mellow sweetness of pandan leaves were faint enough to overlook. The star anise, on the other hand….

“This is rather too strong.”

“Kkururururu….”

“……”

It became even clearer after he tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

“Yes, far too strong.”

The aroma passed through his nose and nearly stabbed his brain.

“Is this an assassination?”

Technically, it would be suicide, but the aroma was tremendously intense.

Star anise was a spice mainly used to remove unpleasant odors from pork. Its distinctive characteristic was a pungent yet somehow sweet and bitter aroma.

The problem was that its ‘sweet’ aspect combined with the mysterious sweetness of the pandan leaves, giving it excessive weight.

“I mustn’t use much of this.”

The earlier description had said that doing this and that to it would make it devastatingly sweet. The strange sweetness scattered throughout its aroma gave him a vague idea of how. Treated properly in some way, it certainly seemed capable of becoming that sweet.

“But it isn’t bad.”

“Kkuru….”

“Don’t worry, Honey. I’m not going to make you eat it raw.”

All of it was destined for the sausage anyway.

“……”

“……”

A thought abruptly occurred to Gio around then.

“…Are all the ingredients going into this medicinal?”

“Kkuk.”

“What kind of sausage am I trying to make?”

In any case, if there was too much, he would pack the leftovers for Yoo Seongwoon.

After his long adventure ended,

Gio returned to the cabin and proclaimed proudly,

“I did it.”

He had found ginger.

“It differs greatly from the ginger I know, but the aroma and flavor are similar, so let us call it ginger.”

“Kkungkkung.”

“I’m not glossing over anything. They truly are similar.”

Aroom

It has light-brown skin with a faint pink hue. The flesh inside is deep red. It contains large amounts of starch, making it highly efficient when dried into powder. Edible without a separate refining process. A plant of the ginger family distinguished by its sharp aroma.

Elixir Refining Method: Slice thinly, dry, and brew as tea to alleviate headaches. Grinding it into powder and drying it in sunlight benefits the digestive organs and is excellent for restoring immunity.

“See?”

“Kkururu….”

Earth did not have only one kind of ginger either.

“There is something called galangal. It has a more complex aroma and a gentler flavor than the ginger commonly used where I lived….”

“……”

“You may tell me if you’re bored.”

“Kkuk.”

“Very well, then.”

The ‘Aroom’ he had found this time pleased Gio immensely.

Its flavor was quite spicy, though closer to a burning heat than a numbing sensation. Its aroma was as sharp as that of the ginger commonly used in Korea. If handled properly, it seemed useful as a hot, pungent spice.

“Ta-da.”

He had found many other things as well.

“This is nutmeg….”

Raven Walnut

Its shell is red, its flesh white, and its seed black. Primarily….

“Excuse me, System. I am speaking right now.”

…the seed is the part used. It can be used either raw or dried. It is chiefly used as a spice distinguished by a gentle, deep aroma. The shell and flesh can be made into medicine.

Elixir Refining Method: After removing the flesh, the seed can be steamed and eaten while soft, finely minced, or dried until hard and used as a spice. Dry the shell in sunlight for at least one day, then brew it to make medicine beneficial for the joints. Squeeze the extract from the flesh and allow it to solidify to produce an ointment effective for healing external injuries.

“What a strong-willed fellow.”

“Kkururururu….”

“I’m pleased you agree.”

Honey seemed to acknowledge it too.

In any case, he had found a nutmeg called Raven Walnut. Nutmeg was also a popular spice on Earth because it removed unpleasant odors and lent dishes a more refined flavor without being harsh.

Then there was his greatest prize.

“Discovering vinegar was truly a remarkable achievement.”

Wow, the mysteries of nature!

“It really was vinegar brewed by nature itself….”

“Kkurureuk?”

“I think trying to eat everything that looks absorbable is a bad habit, Son. You might eat something strange and upset your stomach one day, so let us cultivate some restraint.”

“Kkurururururu….”

“Yes, vinegar does not normally form by itself in nature.”

Life was truly fascinating.

“I was already considering whether I should make vinegar or alcohol from Mangdung Fruit.”

Vinegar could be made from many ingredients.

“You can make it from grains such as rice, barley, or wheat… from fruits such as jujubes or peaches, from flowers such as lotuses or roses, and even from honey.”

But the process required considerable care.

“That’s true of all fermented foods.”

The important thing about fermentation was that one small mistake could turn everything into spoiled gruel. Only by maintaining the proper temperature and quantities, and cultivating exactly the right bacteria, could one produce properly fermented food.

As Gio had already thought several times, this place was paradise for cooks.

“Vinegar even forms on its own inside some enormous tree.”

The tree had a rather unusual appearance.

Its lower trunk near the roots bulged into a round shape like a bead. Among them was one tree that was particularly hard and dark red.

Drawn closer by a sour aroma, Gio found vinegar slowly leaking from the swollen trunk.

“It was a remarkable sight.”

Gio had been forced to invoke the spirits of heaven and earth yet again.

Candy-Trap Tree

A tree with a base that swells round like a piece of candy. It is hermaphroditic, with leaves growing outside while its fruit grows inside the swollen trunk. If the Candy-Trap Tree’s intensely sweet and bitter fruit is not removed in time, it begins to rot inside. Depending on various conditions, the fruit combines with the tree’s sap and becomes vinegar, juice, or fruit wine.

Elixir Refining Method: Remove the fruit before fermentation and soak it in the sap of a Dorong-Dorong Tree to create an excellent nutritional supplement.

‘I should look for trees containing juice or fruit wine too.’

In any case, with all those miscellaneous ingredients…

“The time has come.”

He had finished preparing to make sausage.

“This is true entertainment.”

“Kkung?”

“You have fulfilled your purpose through cuteness. Watch.”

Gio washed his hands.

“I wonder how the organs I soaked earlier are doing.”

Gio approached the basin containing the deer’s organs.

Modern sausages usually used collagen casings. Those would have made the process much easier, but Gio was in the middle of a forest completely removed from modern life, so he had no choice but to adhere to the traditional method.

“No matter how thoroughly I searched, there were no casings in the cabin.”

“Kkuk?”

“Painting casings would be rather….”

Casings made from paint seemed likely to tear easily, and the thought simply made him uncomfortable. Besides, painting every single thin, transparent casing would be tedious.

Honey stared at the organs and cried kkururururuk. He seemed to be saying that their shape differed from what he knew.

“They’ve been prepared, so they’ll look somewhat different from what you remember. I removed all the fat and foreign matter that filled the inside, leaving only the membrane. Naturally, the shape has changed a little.”

The intestines, which had been soaked in tart fruit, no longer smelled unpleasant.

“Perhaps it’s because the meat had no musty odor to begin with.”

After confirming that the intestines had been cleaned and deodorized, Gio lifted the basin containing them. Now he intended to go down to the kitchen and begin by mincing the meat.

…Read only on MUGEX…

“When making sausages, it’s best to use tough cuts with a strong flavor. Deciding how tough you want the meat and which cuts to combine according to your preferences is another pleasure of cooking.”

“Kkururururururu….”

“You can’t eat it now, so would you step back?”

He immediately began mincing the meat.

“At this rate, that pig-bird will steal it all.”

He had to make the sausage quickly.

“I can add a little more of this cut.”

“Kkung?”

“That will give it a better texture.”

The way the meat was minced also had a major effect on a sausage’s texture.

If chopped coarsely, the pieces were harder to bind together but produced a dense, uneven texture. If minced finely, the result was a soft texture that crumbled gently in the mouth.

“Combining the two is even better.”

On Earth, issues during drying required the minced meat to be kept at a uniform size, but this was a world inside a painting, brimming with the mysteries of nature. Thanks to that, Gio could design a sausage with an unusual texture.

Somewhat coarse, or completely minced.

‘This way, the texture will be excellent, and the finer meat will fill every gap in the casing, improving the shape as well.’

After mincing all the meat, Gio brought over the ingredients he would mix into it.

‘Milky Way Mary’ would add the aroma of both black pepper and chili pepper. ‘Weeping Vine’ would provide a strong, stimulating flavor and aroma. ‘Aroom,’ a member of the ginger family, was unequivocally hot like chili and possessed a sharp fragrance.

‘Raven Walnut’ would gently remove unwanted odors and add a sophisticated flavor, while the sweet-and-sour ‘Candy-Trap Tree Vinegar’ would provide variation….

“……”

He was excited.

“Excellent.”

He could not contain the thrill.

“Who else could have an experience like this?”

Mystical ingredients from a deep, silent forest devoid of any humans. An experience in which he could cook with ingredients containing flavors he had never imagined, all while breathing in refreshing phytoncides.

That day, Gio produced roughly ten kilograms of sausage.

“……”

“……”

He had gotten excited and gone slightly overboard.

“I acknowledge my mistake.”

He nodded.

“There is no need to worry.”

“Kkung.”

“We have Mr. Yoo Seongwoon.”

“Kkururuk.”

The two were in perfect agreement about how to dispose of their dead stock.

“Gio, are you here?”

Yoo Seongwoon had come to give Gio bungeoppang for the first time in a while.

“The student we met last time was selling bungeoppang, so I bought a bag.”

“I see. Thank you for your kindness.”

“It’s nothing, so take it. If you insist upon repaying me, please make it something simple to eat, like before.”

“As it happens, I have the perfect food.”

“Oh, really? Good. I was feeling peckish.”

How much time had passed?

“……”

He left the Gallery carrying a paper bag filled with sausages.

“…That wasn’t simple at all.”

He knew the circumstances were entirely different, yet he felt somewhat swindled.

(To be continued)