Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious

33 – I’ll also serve you Bulgogi Bibimbap and Chadol Doenjang Jjigae as a service.

There are many vegetarians among the elves.

They believe that life is precious and that unnecessary killing should be avoided.

It is unclear whether this is because the ancient high elves were said to have been created as spirits in nature, or because they lived with the World Tree for a long time.

The ancient high elves have already returned to nature and disappeared, and all the elves who first started being vegetarians have become one with nature.

Now it has become a belief for the elves.

Living in the forest together, loving peace, and treating nature as a friend.

Perhaps that’s why.

Elves detested other races that consumed meat.

Less than animals, they were barbarians.

That’s why they despised other races even more and found happiness in living in the forest.

Most elves were like that.

Preferring vegetarianism, loving nature, and avoiding other races.

But Elf Andrea did not agree with the eating habits of elf society.

Being told not to eat meat because one loves nature.

Why the hell not?

Aren’t plants also natural beings?

Isn’t eating plants also damaging nature?

Aren’t the animals we don’t kill also eating plants?

What about carnivorous animals?

Are they not part of nature?

That can’t be right either.

Then why on earth do elves have to be vegetarian?

To protect what?

During her contemplation, she saw a rabbit wandering in the forest.

It was a random accident.

Hopping around, the rabbit slipped from a high place and died with a cracked head.

At first, it was curiosity.

Just as she had read in a book about the cruelty of human meat-eating, she made a fire and roasted the rabbit meat.

Not knowing how to cook an animal, she roasted it with the skin still on.

Sizzle!

The first taste of rabbit meat she had was not like meat – the outside burnt, and the inside not properly cooked.

Of course, such meat couldn’t possibly taste good.

But for Andrea, who had always been a vegetarian, it was still delicious.

The outside was burnt, and the inside undercooked, but the exquisitely cooked portion in between had a rich flavor that was too stimulating for her vegetarian taste buds.

Unable to forget that day’s memory, she secretly started eating meat from then on.

After tasting meat once, most vegetables became unappetizing.

Elven cuisine developed as a way to make vegetables taste as good as possible.

They roasted and boiled stems and tender shoots of trees and plants, stir-fried them with oil extracted from plants, and strived to maximize their flavor diversity.

Nevertheless, the meat she roughly skinned and roasted was far more delicious than even the most elaborately prepared vegetable dish.

Eating it once, twice, and continuously, she began to feel different from the other elves.

Her slender limbs and slender figure gradually thickened, and she developed much thicker thighs and chest than other elves.

As color returned to her face and a glow to her skin, the other elves started to suspect.

-How is Andrea so strong? I’d believe it if she were human.

-“The muscles are incredibly tough. Are you eating elixirs secretly?”

-“Is it not elixirs, but something else?”

Andrea, who secretly hunted and ate meat, began to be suspected, and so she ran away from the elves’ forest that day.

It was only later that she discovered the truth.

She found out why some elves, who had often fled the forest, left.

They too, like her, had grown tired of the vegetarian-only lifestyle of elven society and escaped.

She enjoyed traveling freely and hunting animals.

She also liked cooking the animals she hunted.

Although her cooking skills were inadequate, it was better than the tasteless leafy dishes she had eaten in the elves’ forest.

It was also fun learning to cook with her fellow elves.

Although their journey together was short, it was much more enjoyable than being with the elves in her hometown.

Hunting and eating.

Those were the ultimate elements that made Andrea feel free.

Among them, her favorite was bull hunting.

The faster they caught it, the deeper the taste of the meat – this was a distinctive animal.

A creature that allowed her to test her skill as a hunter and savor a deeper taste if she was more skilled.

This was one of her favorite meats.

It made her feel special.

She heard that humans enjoyed forcibly chewing tough, overcooked bull meat.

“That’s not how it’s supposed to be eaten.”

She knew the real way to eat the bull.

Catch it as soon as possible, slice the most tender part, and cook it over the fire.

An animal that helps her recognize her own improvement in skills just by the texture of the meat.

That’s why it was called the true knight’s meat.

However, it seemed to be used in completely different meanings among humans.

The bull that the chef of this restaurant hunted down originally was her prey.

Even if tamed as a working horse, the creature was clever and sensitive to any attempts on its life.

It took a while just to lure the sneaky beast out of the forest where it hid.

After luring it out, she had planned to kill it in one fell swoop with a perfectly prepared trap, but…

Having the trap break and the bull escaping only made it more difficult for her to chase it down.

‘Finding it took weeks…’

Despite its size, the bull was surprisingly agile and gave her a hard time.

Losing track of the bull’s trail for a long time was not because she was terrible at tracking.

It was definitely not because she was terrible at tracking.

Anyway, the fact that this man landed the finishing blow on the bull she had managed to lure out and corner meant that he claimed ownership.

She was even considering the possibility of a duel between knights if he were to refuse.

With the sword at her waist, she asked for the meal, but he surprisingly agreed to serve it quite easily.

‘He’s quite a mannered man for a human.’

Of course, she was also curious to see how terrible the bull meat that a human had caught would be.

Well, human-caught bull meat was often no different from tough ogre tendons, after all.

Through this meal, she had hoped to savor a sense of superiority.

She wanted to show that she was different from those peculiar humans who ate manure soup.

She was expecting a bull dish.

But the dish that appeared before her was:

“A perfect vegetarian meal for elves.”

The dish was primarily vegetarian, which she hated the most.

How dare they serve me this garbage.

Is it because they too prefer manure soup?

And they didn’t even serve her the infamous manure soup.

“Master, are you a racist?”

“What the…”

“Are you one of those ignorant imperialists who firmly believe that elves only eat vegetables?”

“…”

“Why isn’t there any meat in the food? That’s what I requested.”

The owner looked at her as if he had never heard of this before.

Sigh, the discrimination against elves is still so widespread.

“Do you think that dwarves naturally love strong alcohol and beards, that elves love nature and enjoy vegetarianism? Then, are dragons greedy creatures that love treasure, beastmen constantly in heat, and humans an ignorant race that can only think about stabbing others in the back?”

“…”

She looked at the owner, whose mouth had been shut tight by her flawless logic.

Well, what will your response be now, you racist?

If he dared to say that elves shouldn’t eat meat, she would have drawn her sword immediately.

She was an elf who didn’t have such a bad impression of humans, but that didn’t mean she would show mercy to racists.

“You wanted to eat meat? You should’ve told me earlier.”

However, the reaction of the human in front of her was completely different from what she had expected.

“Then I’ll add meat to your dish right away.”

The apologetic owner hastily took back the plate, then went back into the kitchen.

At least he knew his mistake.

Mistakes can be forgiven.

Because she was magnanimous.

“I would’ve liked it if you cooked a bull.”

“Oh, you would’ve liked to eat a bull?”

“Yes.”

“Next time you order, please make your request in advance. That way, there won’t be any mistakes.”

“I’ll take note.”

She watched the owner, who was cooking with her arms crossed.

His eyes were gentle, and his muscles were well-defined.

As he put meat in the frying pan and quickly stirred it, his muscles writhed in real-time.

Despite the frying pan looking quite heavy, he showed no change in expression and smiled as he cooked the meat.

‘A person who doesn’t forget to eat meat and never forgets to train himself.’

Excluding his tendency to cook with manure and having a narrow-minded mindset, he wasn’t a bad person.

I was somewhat looking forward to the taste of the bull this man had hunted.

***

‘Eating meat as an elf.’

Honestly, it was baffling.

I never expected it.

I had heard that some elves among them ate meat, but all the elves I saw in the Imperial Capital were crazed vegetarians.

– Humans are despicable and dirty, eating meat so crudely.

– If I were a human, I would bite my filthy tongue and commit suicide. It would be a more helpful action for nature.

A race with a high sense of pride stupidly believed that they were the best.

His speech was n

No matter what her background was, once she entered the store, she was a customer.

Serve the best food to the customer.

That was my business motto.

Of course, I would receive a substantial compensation in return.

I hurriedly added brisket to the soybean paste stew and boiled it again.

I added a bit of red pepper paste to subdue the greasiness of the meat.

Then, I took out the marinated tender beef bulgogi and stir-fried it.

It was the leftover piece after giving most of the tender beef as a gift to Camilla, who had purchased it.

It was supposed to be my dinner tonight.

But tonight, it became a serving of mixed rice with tender beef – or rather beef bibimbap.

Damn it.

The beef marinated in soy sauce quickly cooked on the grill.

Thanks to slicing the meat thinly, it cooked enough without having to grill for too long.

The thing about beef bulgogi, unlike pork bulgogi, is that the meat becomes tough if cooked for too long.

The key was to cook with the feeling of searing the seasoning and drawing out the flavors of the meat and seasoning, rather than cooking all of the beef thoroughly.

Originally, I would have finely minced the meat and stir-fried it with red pepper paste.

But there wasn’t enough time for that.

It was a time attack to finish up before the already completed dishes cooled down.

‘First, satisfy the customer.’

Sizzling.

When the seasoning started to give off a pleasant aroma as it cooked.

And then, I flipped over the thick foreleg of the pog that had been grilled to be added to the stir-fried kimchi, which was the main ingredient of tofu kimchi.

‘I can’t use tender beef for this.’

I might not know everything, but using tender beef for tofu kimchi is something a chef’s pride can’t allow.

If they don’t like it because it doesn’t have tender beef, then I’ll just eat it myself.

When you put beef in tofu kimchi, the strong smell of beef oil prevents the flavors from harmonizing.

It’s like kimchi and meat are separate entities.

The smell of grilled bulgogi and beef fillet wafted upwards with the smoke.

The savory smell of soybean paste while the meats were being grilled.

The most quintessential smell of a diner invades my nostrils.

I glanced at the elf sitting at the table in front of the kitchen.

With her arms crossed, she looked at me and her nostrils flared.

“Approved.”

The smell alone was approved.

It didn’t seem like she hated it, so I figured I’d proceed as is.

I sliced the pork foreleg to make it easier to eat and then tossed it on top of the stir-fried kimchi.

Hiss!!

The melted pork fat from the foreleg met the kimchi, making the sound of oil sizzling.

The aroma of the pork fat and kimchi broth cooking together was on a completely different level from just using regular cooking oil.

‘This is gastronomic harmony.’

I could taste the flavors in my mouth without even eating it.

If Carmilla had seen this, she would have said that the hero on a quest to defeat the demon king had met a versatile mage.

‘The encounter of a hero, a saint, and a mage. My taste buds’ demon king has already been conquered.’

I placed a more evolved version of the stir-fried pork kimchi next to the tofu.

I then added a soybean paste soup that had evolved into beef brisket soybean paste soup and a scoop of beef bibimbap that had evolved into a double serving of bibimbap.

“Here it is. This is the carnivore set for the elf.”

“Simply adding meat to existing menu items doesn’t make it a carnivore dish.”

The elf looked at my dish as if she couldn’t accept it.

In her eyes, it seemed like I just added meat to the existing vegetarian dishes.

She seemed to dislike vegetables, so I understand her sentiment.

However, just grilling it simply would have been delicious for other parts as well.

Camilla bought all those expensive cuts.

“Once you try it, you’ll change your mind. It’s our own masterpiece.”

Chewing and chewing.

“Anyway, since bullfighting was involved, I’ll give it a try. But if it doesn’t taste good…”

Her eyes sparkled.

“It’ll be delicious.”

Every single dish was a main course.

It couldn’t be anything but delicious.

“But how do I eat this?”

“I’ll mix it for you.”

After mixing the bibimbap with a spoon, he offered the bowl to her.

“Mixing the meat so terribly with the vegetables like this…”

“You can eat it with a spoon. For the doenjang-jjigae, you can enjoy the soup and solid ingredients together like a stew. If you can’t use chopsticks, you can use a fork.”

After explaining how to eat each dish, she finally took her first bite.

Her spoon was full of meat only.

Bulgogi with a mixture of red pepper paste and soy sauce seasoning.

Even picky eaters wouldn’t eat like that.

But he didn’t bother to nitpick.

It’s the guest’s freedom to eat however they please.

As she scooped up the bulgogi with a spoon, she frowned at the rice grains and a single bean sprout attached to the meat.

“I want to remove all of this, but…”

Trying to maintain her elf dignity, she didn’t bother to remove the vegetables attached to the meat.

After hesitating over the bullfight meat for a while, she put the meat on her spoon into her mouth.

Chew, chew.

“……Huh? This can’t be……?”

She looked at me in surprise, not having chewed the meat much.

Her eyes widened as she alternated her gaze between me and the bibimbap.

How is it? Delicious, right?