Cooking Swordmaster

Chapter 10: How to Cook an Amazing Steak (3)

Estofado de Ternera.

A stew made by simmering beef and various vegetables in red wine from the Tuscan Confederation.

Despite the many ingredients and various spices, the dish itself is quite simple: just put everything in and let it simmer slowly over low heat.

And it was also the dish that got Gordon Rambolton expelled from the imperial palace.

Joffrey, who was watching, was just as surprised.

“Sir Köinzell! Are you really thinking of starting a fight? Making Estofado de Ternera here is taboo! The chef will overturn the entire table if he sees that dish!”

Köinzell shrugged lightly and replied.

“Since I’ve accepted the challenge, Chef Gordon must eat this dish. No, he will eat it.”

With those words, Köinzell started moving. He needed to hurry.

What he was about to make required long simmering to let the beef flavor soak into the vegetables.

“Do as you please! If Chef Gordon gets angry, it’s none of my business!”

Despite his words, Joffrey watched Köinzell cook from a slight distance.

Köinzell smiled faintly.

‘He’s really bad at dealing with people.’

With the worried gazes of the two chefs on him, Köinzell began cooking.

First, he cut about 500 grams of beef brisket into bite-sized square pieces.

“Wait a minute… Hold on! Sir, Sir Köinzell! That, that, that meat!”

Joffrey and Ainkel were merely observers.

They weren’t supposed to interfere with what Köinzell was doing.

However, Ainkel’s face turned pale as he noticed a huge mistake.

The meat Köinzell was using was literally leftover scraps from other dishes. Cheap meat bought in bulk.

The main ingredient of Estofado de Ternera is undoubtedly beef.

The quality of the meat directly affects the taste.

“I promised to use leftover ingredients.”

“But for such an important competition, it’s only natural to use the best ingredients! That dried-up meat won’t be able to satisfy the chef’s palate!”

“You won’t know until you try.”

“…”

In the end, even Ainkel decided to remain silent and let things unfold as they may.

It was a mess. How could he possibly satisfy Chef Gordon with such ingredients?

Did he not plan on winning?

Köinzell gave the two chefs a smile and focused on his cooking.

First, he heated a pan with olive oil and seared the salted beef until it was brown on the outside.

He then set it aside on a napkin to let the juices distribute evenly.

‘Next, use the fat from the meat to sauté finely chopped onions and garlic to make a flavorful oil. Then add flour seasoned with salt and pepper…’

He combined the completed ingredients with wine and vinegar and brought it to a boil.

The rest was simple. Add the seared beef, bay leaves, cloves, peppers, carrots, and peas, and simmer over low heat for about two hours.

‘Oh, I mustn’t forget this.’

Finally, Köinzell added something he had prepared in advance to the pot and lit the fire.

Now, he only needed to stir occasionally until the dish was ready with tender beef and a rich infusion of spices.

After sometime,

Joffrey, who had been watching, asked.

“…Can I taste it?”

“I’m sorry, but there’s not much to go around.”

“For someone who has only held a kitchen knife for a week, you’ve done very well. You didn’t miss a step, and the smell is so good it made my mouth water. But why did you use such poor-quality meat? If it weren’t for that, you might have even received a compliment from the chef.”

How could a chef of Gordon’s caliber not know what kind of meat was used?

In the end, the outcome of this contest was already decided.

The defeat of the newcomer was almost certain.

Despite this, Köinzell just smiled faintly.

“Shall we go to Chef Gordon now?”

Now, everything depended on Gordon’s taste buds.

@

“What is this?”

“It’s Estofado de Ternera.”

“That’s not what I’m asking!”

Gordon was genuinely angry as he looked at the dish Köinzell had brought.

To bring the very dish that got him expelled from the imperial palace.

It would have been better to serve a plate of grilled horse dung.

“I simmered it over low heat with wine for a long time to achieve a rich flavor, and finished it off with salt, pepper, and cinnamon powder. I also didn’t forget to add parsley before bringing it.”

“…You really intend to make me eat this?”

“This is the best dish I can make. Didn’t you agree to judge its taste?”

Gordon gritted his teeth.

For a rookie who had been in the kitchen for only a week to bring him such a massive pile of crap.

“Then please taste it.”

Köinzell neatly placed the plate of stew and a spoon in front of Gordon, who was seated at the table.

It was done with such precision that one might think he had experience serving in a high-end restaurant.

It was all thanks to the tedious training in ‘military discipline’.

At the Stanis Knight Training Academy, new recruits were taught the posture befitting a knight.

Köinzell, who had not moved beyond the Rookie Class for three years, had undergone this training three times.

Now, he was proficient enough to become an instructor, executing every movement of the discipline flawlessly.

“Hmm.”

Gordon let out a low groan.

It seemed that the dish was not simply made to mock him.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of a smile on the kid’s face.

In fact, the atmosphere was so solemn that it felt like he was participating in a sacred ritual.

“Alright. I promised to taste it, so I will. But if it’s poorly made, be prepared.”

“Of course.”

Gordon looked at the plate in front of him with a distorted expression.

And he instantly identified the problem with this dish.

“You used low-quality meat. The key to a good stew is removing impurities with patience and using good meat. There’s no need to taste it. The meat is too tough; even trolls wouldn’t eat this!”

Gordon continued his relentless, cold critique.

It felt overly harsh for a newcomer who had been holding a kitchen knife for less than a week.

Ainkel and Joffrey, who were listening nearby, were drenched in cold sweat.

It seemed the promising new culinary support soldier would storm out of the kitchen any moment.

“Huh? He doesn’t seem bothered at all…”

“Yes, it’s as if this level of harsh critique is nothing to him…”

Instead, Köinzell even showed a relaxed smile.

He had nerves of steel.

Köinzell spoke to Gordon, who refused to taste the stew.

“Chef Gordon, what would you do if the ingredients for a dish were not of good quality?”

Gordon’s mouth twitched.

This brat? How dare he question me?

As Gordon remained silent, Köinzell shared his thoughts.

“I think you would likely try to bring out the best flavor with the limited ingredients you have. I clearly stated yesterday that I would cook with leftover ingredients. And the only leftover beef was this. So, to compensate for the lacking beef flavor, I used ‘that’. It’s getting cold. Please, taste it.”

“That? Wait a minute. This smell?”

Suddenly realizing something, Gordon picked up the spoon.

Then he began to stir the Estofado de Ternera in the bowl.

Something hidden began to reveal itself.

“Kid… I’ll eat this as promised, but you owe me an explanation.”

Gordon gritted his teeth and sliced the beef with the spoon.

Even though it was low-quality meat, the long simmering in wine had made it quite tender.

As the beef melted softly in his mouth, the rich flavor of the meat combined with the fresh texture of the vegetables and the myriad of spices created a deep aroma that filled his palate.

Gulp.

Joffrey, who had been watching Köinzell and Gordon’s contest, swallowed his saliva unconsciously.

He never thought he’d feel like eating a dish made by a rookie.

Gordon scooped up a spoonful of the soup, along with a carrot that had softened to the point of almost melting, and brought it to his mouth.

“Hmm.”

Without a word, he took another spoonful and savored it.

It was as if he were analyzing everything contained in the dish.

“The meat is certainly tough. But this flavor is unmistakably…”

Gordon finished the entire bowl of Estofado de Ternera without leaving a single drop.

Despite being made with poor-quality meat, he ate it all.

Before the two chefs could even express their shock, Gordon spoke.

“Why did you use chicken stock? Explain yourself.”

Köinzell responded immediately.

“It would be wonderful to always use the best ingredients. But sometimes, you have to make do with what’s available. Just like when Chef Gordon made Estofado de Ternera for His Majesty two years ago.”

“…!”

Gordon’s face turned ghostly pale as if he had seen a spirit.

It was a well-known story that he had been expelled from the imperial palace for making such a delicious Estofado de Ternera.

Any experienced chef would know this.

But only Gordon, who had made the dish, knew that the meat he used back then was from an old cow on the verge of death.

How on earth did this rookie know that?

“H-how do you know that? Explain! Now!”

“When I heard about Chef Gordon, one question arose. Why would you choose to serve stew to His Majesty? Even if asked to bring a tasteless dish, there were plenty of prettier and more plausible options. The answer came quickly. It’s because it’s easy to make a stew taste bad. If you don’t use the spices correctly, it becomes bland. If you use tough meat, it’s hard to chew. So, the menu chosen to serve a tasteless dish to His Majesty Aslan was stew.”

“…Correct. But how did you know I used chicken stock? That’s the very ingredient you used in your stew!”

“Because if it were Chef Gordon, you would have tried to make it as delicious as possible even in such a situation.”

“…”

“Chicken stock is a seasoning made by simmering chicken bones for a long time. It enhances the umami of lacking beef and gives the stew a deep flavor. I used it for the same reason Chef Gordon did.”

To make the best dish possible with lousy ingredients!

Gordon began to laugh, looking as if he had been struck.

“Haha, hahahaha! Masterpiece. I knew that big mouth Ainkel would tell everyone about my expulsion from the palace. But to think you’d figure out how I cooked it back then. And you’ve only been in the kitchen for a week?”

“Yes. Because I would have done the same.”

Two people who had diligently done their job despite not being recognized by anyone.

They were like brothers in arms.

“But where did you get the chicken stock? There shouldn’t be any such seasoning here.”

“Didn’t you make chicken soup a while ago? I gathered the leftover bones and made it overnight.”

As Köinzell said this, his eyes sparkled.

If luck is on my side, I might solve another mystery at the same time.

“Hmm. I remember eating something similar, but I was too drunk to recall clearly. Anyway, you’re a clever kid. Saying you’d bring the dish in a day meant you were preparing to make chicken stock. Damn… You got me good. There’s no way a stew with that magical seasoning wouldn’t taste good.”

Damn, Chef Gordon isn’t the culprit.

Köinzell clicked his tongue internally but maintained a bright smile on his face.

“So that means…”

“Yes, the stew was delicious. I don’t deceive my own taste buds.”

“…Are you saying I can cook here?”

Gordon placed the chef’s hat that was on the table onto Köinzell’s head.

That gesture meant only one thing.

“Don’t get too excited. The taste passed, but there were things to criticize. How did you sear that meat? The recipe clearly stated to sear it lightly. It was so overcooked it could be used as coal! Huh? We could stay warm all winter with it! You rookie! Without the chicken stock, it would’ve tasted awful!”

For a moment, Köinzell’s hand trembled.

What, I didn’t sear the meat properly?

I was never taught how to do that!

“S-sorry, Chef…”

“This won’t do. Come to the kitchen early tomorrow morning. I’ll teach you how to cook an amazing steak.”

“Y-you mean you’ll teach me to cook… Wow! Alright!”

For a moment, Köinzell forgot there were people watching and raised both hands in excitement.

To think he would receive direct instruction from Gordon, the former imperial chef.

The thought of how much he would improve by learning Gordon’s cooking skills made him unable to contain his excitement.

“Don’t get too happy, kid. I’ll make sure you cry tears of blood.”

Köinzell responded cheerfully.

“Yes, Chef!”

Maybe this connection with Gordon Rambolton was more valuable than any other opportunity he had encountered so far.

With that thought, Köinzell smiled without realizing it.

After all, it was a rather difficult opportunity to come by.