Who Is the World’s Strongest Appraiser? ~Living in Another World With Satisfying Meals~

Assisting With Cafeteria Menu

“This is what a cafeteria looks like, huh?”

“The ambiance varies by place, but generally, yes. Let’s go in.”

“Okay.”

Yuuri nodded slightly at Tifaana’s prompting and followed her through the door. They arrived at a modest cafeteria called ‘Komorebi-tei’, a fantasy version of a simple, popular eatery. The building and furnishings were humble but kept clean, and as the name suggested, the sunlight filtering through the garden was truly beautiful.

However, the “Closed Today” sign on the door added a touch of melancholy.

“Hello, Arga, are you here?”

“Oh, welcome, Tifa.”

“Tifa-nee, welcome.”

When Tifaana called out, a man and a woman with the same brown hair and green eyes appeared from the back of the cafeteria, which seemed to be the kitchen. The man looked to be in his mid-20s, and the woman was just shy of 20. Their similar features made it clear they were siblings.

The brother’s name was Arga. The sister’s name was Sheera. They were the children of the owner of ‘Komorebi-tei’. Sheera helped her father as the poster girl, and Arga was the poster boy of the adjacent inn “Higure-tei” run by their mother. However, now Arga, looking like a chef, was wearing an apron.

“Yuuri, these two are Arga and Sheera. The provisional owner and the poster girl of ‘Komorebi-tei’.”

“Tifa, don’t call me the provisional owner…”

“But you are, aren’t you? How is your father doing?”

“The injury itself isn’t serious, but it will take a few months to heal.”

“He still thinks he’s young, going out to gather ingredients and getting hurt like this.”

Arga shrugged his shoulders while Sheera pouted. Their comments had some merit. The owner of ‘Komorebi-tei’, their father, Darios, used to be an adventurer and had a somewhat unconventional style of gathering his ingredients. However, unable to resist the toll of age, he had a severe accident about a week ago, and the shop was now closed.

To help their father’s shop, Arga and Sheera had stepped up, but there was a problem. Arga could only cook simple, rough meals, and Sheera, though perfect at serving and taking orders, had a unique talent for creating unidentifiable dishes when cooking. The situation was dire.

Hence, Tifaana brought Yuuri here to seek his help.

Yuuri was aware of their situation. A brother whose cooking was below average and a sister whose cooking could be fatal. The only option was to have the perfect hostess sister continue as the poster girl and teach the brother how to cook.

Initially, Yuuri wanted to refuse Tifaana’s request. He could only cook home-style meals, not the kind of dishes suitable for a restaurant. Despite the high praise from his friends, Yuuri felt his cooking wasn’t worth charging money for. It was just ordinary home cooking.

But Tifaana had said with a smile, “That’s perfect.”

The ‘Komorebi-tei’ was a place that offered cheap home-style cooking. It wasn’t fancy. The food was simple, like something you’d eat at home. The difference was that it was offered at a relatively low price, and anyone could eat there without worrying about their appearance or status. Darios, a former adventurer, had run the place with that philosophy, aiming to provide meals for even the most penniless adventurers.

Thus, what Tifaana wanted from Yuuri was to teach Arga simple home-style cooking. Though Arga’s skills were not great, the challenge was to come up with easy, cost-effective, and less time-consuming dishes that could also be made in advance.

“My suggestion is a rice bowl menu.”

“Rice bowl…?”

“It’s a dish from my hometown where you put rice in a bowl and place various toppings on it. It’s simple, yet the toppings can be varied, and it reduces the amount of washing up.”

Sheera’s eyes sparkled at the mention of fewer dishes to wash. If the side dishes and small plates like in a set meal increased, washing up would be a hassle and affect the turnover rate. ‘Komorebi-tei’ was run by her and her father, so dishwashing was primarily her job. Reducing it was a huge plus.

“Also, we can set it with a vegetable-rich soup. The vegetables can be misshapen or leftovers, which might even be cheaper to buy.”

“Soup with lots of vegetables?”

“Yes. It can be a substantial dish with lots of vegetables. Occasionally adding meat pieces can deepen the flavor.”

Typical soups had few ingredients, so Arga and Sheera couldn’t imagine it. But for Yuuri, a rice bowl main dish paired with a vegetable-rich soup made a balanced meal. He didn’t calculate the costs meticulously, leaving that to the professionals.

To demonstrate, they decided to make a sample dish.

Yuuri chose to make “Tanindon,” which Tifaana had praised before. It was a dish even the apprentices at their hideout could make easily, and it tasted good even with cheap meat. The meat could vary daily. Whether it was viper, orc, bison, or big frog, it would still be delicious as an egg-covered rice bowl.

Today, they would use the orc meat Arga had purchased. It seemed to be from the loin, quite a high-quality cut. Yuuri thought it was rather good, but in this world, monster meat was cheap and accessible to the common folk. Unless it was a rare monster, the prices didn’t skyrocket because monsters were plentiful. While cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces, Yuuri casually thought he should buy some more if he found any tasty ones in the future.

To season the meat, Yuuri brought some kombu and put it in a pot. He wanted to spread the wonder of kombu dashi. Arga and Sheera, initially puzzled by the concept of dashi, became instant believers after a taste test. Despite being raised by a chef father, their taste buds were well-developed. How Sheera turned out the way she did was a mystery to everyone.

“After extracting the dashi, remove the kombu. It’s too good to waste, so chop it up and add it to the soup. It will be delicious after thorough simmering. For seasoning the meat, use soy sauce, sugar, and sake to make a sweet and savory sauce. You can adjust it to your taste, but personally, I think this flavor goes well with rice and will be well-received.”

“It was really delicious.”

“Thank you, Tifaana.”

With a nod and a smile, Tifaana assured them, having already tasted Yuuri’s tanindon (made with big frog meat), so her words carried weight. Today’s orc meat, logically, should taste even better, with its superior flavor.

Unlike when he cooked at the hideout, Yuuri decided to simmer the onions with the meat from the start this time. Making a large batch made it easier. While it simmered, he moved on to the soup. He tossed in chopped kombu and various vegetables, excluding onions and potatoes, since onions were used in the bowl and potatoes were planned for another dish. Carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms went into the soup, seasoned with salt, pepper, and soy sauce, giving it a slightly Japanese flavor to complement the bowl.

Although Arga was the only one who needed to taste the soup, all three did, and all were impressed by its flavor.

“When making the bowl, transfer one serving of meat and dashi to a smaller pot. When it starts boiling, pour in a beaten egg and let it cook.”

“What about the egg’s consistency?”

“It depends on your preference. I like it slightly runny, so I stop cooking around here. The residual heat will continue to cook it a bit.”

As they chatted, Yuuri deftly prepared the tanindon. Tifaana had already arranged for freshly cooked rice, so it was steaming hot. The sweet and savory meat with egg over rice would surely be delicious unless the seasoning was way off. Yuuri made one serving of the bowl for tasting, though he prepared more soup, leaving the extra for Arga and Sheera to take home.

With the bowl and vegetable-packed soup ready, Tifaana engaged the two in a taste test while Yuuri washed potatoes. He scrubbed diligently, ensuring all dirt was removed. Satisfied with the clean potatoes, he smiled.

“Yuuri-kun, this is incredibly delicious, but what are you doing?”

“Well, I thought having a side dish might be convenient. Something for a light snack.”

“…And you’re using potatoes?”

“Yes.”

Yuuri smiled as he cut the clean potatoes into stick-like pieces, cutting them into quarters lengthwise. Then, he fried them in plenty of hot oil, making simple skin-on fries.

Since they had plenty of potatoes, he thought it would be good to add a dish. Ignoring the puzzled looks, Yuuri continued making the fries. In the hideout, there had been a debate between skin-on and skin-off, but he chose skin-on for Arga’s ease, as peeling could be time-consuming.

Laying the fried potatoes on a wire rack, Yuuri seasoned them with just a bit of salt. Simple seasoning was less likely to become monotonous, and if they sold well, they could experiment with herbs later.

“Here, fries are ready. Help yourselves.”

“Oh, frying potatoes, huh?”

“Is the seasoning just salt? If all it needs is cutting, I could help too.”

“…Stay out of the seasoning and cooking, Sheera.”

“Shut up, brother!”

Despite their bickering, the siblings tasted the fries and were delighted.

“”Delicious!””

They seemed unfamiliar with the idea of frying potatoes and were thoroughly enjoying them. With well-cleaned, appropriately sized cuts, fried until cooked through, and lightly salted, the fries were perfect as snacks or side dishes. It was no wonder they were thrilled.

Later, ‘Komorebi-tei’ quietly reopened and returned to its former bustling state.