Chapter 165: Are You Feeding an Elephant?
Tonight, Elise sent the cooking maids away and told them to go buy groceries. She planned to cook by herself. Recently, she had been teaching herself how to cook.
Peiya had offered to help, but Elise stopped her, saying she could handle it alone.
So Peiya had no choice but to wait in the dining room. Luckily, the wait wasn’t too long, about half an hour.
Soon, Elise brought out two bowls of vegetable soup. The leaves floating on top reflected colorful light.
Uh…
(0o0)…
Peiya stared at the strange, indescribable thing and asked a very important question.
“What… is this?”
“Dinner. Eat. I even prepared a spoon for you.”
Elise handed her a spoon. Peiya carefully dipped it into the soup, only to see bubbles rising up, gurgle gurgle.
Is this thing poisonous?!
“Maybe we shouldn’t eat this… I feel like I might meet my ancestors if I do.”
“Is it really that bad?”
Elise took a spoonful herself, tasted it, then nodded.
“I’ll pour this one away. The other one should be better. That one is steamed, I didn’t add anything.”
She pointed to the other bowl. It didn’t look great either, but at least it seemed more edible.
“I’ll try it…”
Peiya scooped a spoonful and took a small sip, worried that swallowing too much might kill her.
Thankfully, this one was just a bit undercooked. It didn’t taste good, but it wasn’t terrible either.
“What did you put in this? Why does it feel warm after drinking it?”
“Didn’t I say I would help you recover? I added all those supplements we got before.”
…?
Peiya suddenly had a bad feeling.
“How much did you add?”
Elise thought for a moment. “Half a box of Samzero, and the Baragas next to it, I also added one piece. Why?”
“Are you feeding an elephant?! That amount is enough for me to use for a whole month, and you used it all in one meal?!”
Peiya remembered reading about these supplements before. What Elise did was basically adding way too much, more than ten times the normal amount.
Good thing she only took a small sip.
Otherwise, if the effects kicked in, she might really have “seen the sun” today.
“S-sorry, I didn’t know. I’ll get you some normal food.”
Elise went back to the kitchen and brought out a few pieces of hard bread. Peiya broke one, crushed it into crumbs, and added it into the soup.
“Come with me. I’ll teach you how to cook.”
Peiya stood up helplessly and brought Elise into the kitchen. She pointed at several seasoning bottles.
“You have a lot of seasonings at home. But when cooking, you don’t need to use all of them. Remember, this white one is for adding aroma. Sometimes it also helps keep the moisture in the food, so vegetables stay juicy and taste naturally sweet.”
“And the one next to it does the opposite, it helps draw the vegetable juice out and mix it into the soup. If you use them properly, you can make something really tasty. As for the others, don’t just add them randomly. If you’re not sure, taste a little first.”
“Okay, that’s the first row. The ones below are spices. Let me smell… this one seems to be for curry, the next one is for chicken dishes, and the others are spices from the western and eastern regions. You can add a bit when cooking meat, but for pure vegetable dishes, you don’t really need them.
Otherwise, the spices might cover the natural taste of the food. It can end up tasting dry or even make your tongue feel numb. The way you cooked just now—your seasonings were all mixed up.”
“And when you cut vegetables, you can do it like this, tilt the knife at an angle. Don’t cut straight up and down.”
Peiya demonstrated while holding the knife, showing Elise how to make proper shredded potatoes. Then she took some butter and added a bit of breadcrumbs, starting to fry them.
In this world, people didn’t really have the concept of stir-frying. Most cooking focused more on desserts and simple dishes.
Still, Peiya tried to give the food a bit of that “pan flavor.” She had a rough idea of stir-frying in her mind, but since it wasn’t common here, it was still a bit different.
“Now look, when it turns slightly golden, you can add water. Then cover the pot. You don’t need to keep the fire high. Lower the flame of the magic stove. If you’re cooking outside, just control the airflow into the stove. Less air means a smaller fire.”
Listening to Peiya’s explanation, Elise found it fascinating. She had never thought about cooking in such detail before. If Peiya hadn’t taught her step by step like this, she might have taken a long time to learn.
Compared to the maids, Peiya’s cooking skills were clearly better. Elise had originally learned by copying how the maids cooked, but now it was obvious, Peiya was on another level.
“Alright, it’s done. Let it cool a bit before eating.”
Peiya placed the dish onto a plate and brought it to the table. Nearby, Elise’s vegetable soup had already formed a layer of oil on top. In contrast, Peiya’s dish looked bright and appetizing. Each piece of potato was coated with a golden, crispy layer.
Just by looking at them, the difference was clear.
“Sorry… I caused you trouble tonight,” Elise said, picking up a piece with her fork. The taste was far better than what she had made.
“You’re still a beginner. If you practice more, you’ll be fine. If you ever want to eat something, just ask me to cook for you. Not everyone needs to be good at everything.”
Hearing this, Elise almost laughed. Right next to her was basically a “treasure chest” of skills. But she knew Peiya had worked hard to learn all this, so she didn’t make fun of her.
The two of them shared the food and soon felt mostly full.
Elise even ate too much and felt a bit stuffed. So Peiya took her for a walk in the back garden.
The night was calm, with a bright moon and only a few stars. After walking for a while, they got tired and sat down on lounge chairs in the courtyard, enjoying the quiet.
Elise asked curiously, “When do you plan to go to Blackwater City? I think it’s better to ask for your opinion. I’m ready anytime. I’ve already informed Maya, we just need to tell her when we leave.”
“So soon?”
Peiya didn’t expect Elise to act so fast. At first, she thought Elise was just saying it casually. But now it seemed they were really going.
Peiya also knew Blackwater City was currently unstable. Going there too quickly might not be a good idea.
Elise probably thought about that too, so Peiya said, “It’s okay, we’re not in a hurry. I also need some time to rest. Once I’m fully rested, we can go, it’ll still be fine.”
“I see. That works. When you’re ready, just tell me. It probably won’t take many days to prepare anyway.”