Isekai Izakaya Nobu 80: Hans and Oden

The rich flavor of fish is infused in the broth.

Today’s staff meal, prepared by Hans, is a stew imitating oden, seasoned with Borganga fish sauce, Fizosa. No shoyu is used.

“Not bad at all.”

Taisho nods in satisfaction after tasting it. This is the best reaction Hans has received in the past few days since he started being in charge of the lunch staff meals. It was worth the effort of thinking hard in bed last night.

The potatoes, now directly sourced from Eva’s family, are pleasantly sticky and have an interesting texture, just as he had hoped.

“What do you think, Shinobu-san?”

He asks Shinobu, who has been silently contemplating something. He has yet to receive praise from Shinobu for his staff meals.

And today, again, harsh words come out of Shinobu’s mouth.

“I think the saltiness of the Borganga fish sauce is a bit too overpowering. As a flavoring, a smaller amount should be sufficient, and it could be even better depending on how it’s combined with other broths.”

“I see. Thank you very much!”

While committing it to memory, he feels a little disappointed inside.

If even this isn’t good enough to be praised, how much effort will it take? He wonders.

Of course, he didn’t expect to be able to create dishes worthy of being served at the restaurant overnight, but the uncertainty of not seeing any progress is undeniable.

Even this oden imitation is significantly more delicious than the “Odin Nabe” served at street stalls in the city. Yet, to not receive praise is a bit harsh.

He knew, intellectually, that the path of culinary training was long and arduous, unlike guard training. Still, it’s natural to feel anxious when the future seems so uncertain.

“Hans-san, why don’t you use shoyu?”

Eva asks, munching on the last egg she had saved.

“That’s because he’s planning to open his own branch someday.”

Shinobu answers in his stead. Taisho had taught him that “norenwake” means to open a branch store.

“Ah, because you can’t use the back entrance if you do a norenwake.”

“As long as Nobu continues, we can share shoyu and ingredients, though.”

He had already been told that the back entrance of Izakaya Nobu was connected to another world.

The easygoing Leontaine doesn’t seem to mind much, but for Hans, it actually made sense of the things he had vaguely wondered about, and he felt relieved.

Unfamiliar ingredients, dishes he’d never tasted, tools he’d never heard of.

The sense of wonder he had felt since he first visited this restaurant with Nikolaus, it all made sense when he was told that this restaurant was connected to a fairytale otherworld.

Even though it’s strange, Hans doesn’t feel any aversion.

Having traveled from west to east with his father, who was a wandering glass craftsman, he was quite used to encountering different cultures. While other craftsmen only extended their travels to the Empire or, at most, the Eastern Kingdom, his father went even further to distant lands.

Compared to Taisho and Shinobu, the people of the Northern Three Territories, or the nomads in the far west, lived even more different lives, so it was nothing to be concerned about.

At the same time, he realized that there were many things he needed to consider.

If he relied entirely on ingredients from the other world, he would be unable to do anything if the back entrance became unusable. That would defeat the purpose of undergoing culinary training.

Therefore, Hans’s current goal is to firmly absorb Taisho’s techniques while striving to create delicious dishes using ingredients from this world as much as possible.

However, it wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped.

Taisho understands Hans’s intentions, but Shinobu’s palate is strict. At Izakaya Nobu, dishes are not allowed to be added to the menu unless Shinobu approves them.

While telling himself not to rush, Hans notices that he is a little irritated.

“What do you think, Leontaine?”

When Taisho asks, Leontaine crosses her arms and hums.

“I’m still a bit undecided.”

“Undecided about what?”

“I think nurukan is better than atsukan, but I’m not sure about the brand. Kamotsuru or Kikumasamune…”

This is it.

Even though she’s just eating the staff meal, Leontaine is thinking about which sake would best pair with this dish if it were served at the restaurant. They started at the restaurant at the same time, but a considerable gap has opened up between them.

It’s not exactly jealousy.

He’s frustrated with himself for not producing results despite his efforts.

In the guard corps, he had always achieved satisfactory results through more effort than others. He envied Nikolaus, who handled everything skillfully, but he didn’t mind much because Nikolaus was his senior.

However, Leontaine is a complete peer.

The gap between him and Leontaine, who is achieving results, and his inability to produce results. He feels only frustration accumulating like deeply rooted snow at the bottom of his heart.

“But Hans is amazing.”

Leontaine murmurs thoughtfully after finishing the last of the broth-soaked hiraten.

“What’s so amazing?”

He’s about to say that he’s not amazing at all, that Leontaine is, but he stops himself. Saying that wouldn’t accomplish anything.

“Because, you know, I’ve been eating your staff meals for the past few days, and they keep getting better and better. Every single day! Isn’t that amazing?”

Leontaine laughs cheerfully and finishes the broth in her bowl.

Now that she mentions it, that might be true. He definitely feels that today’s dish is better than yesterday’s.

“Hans might not have noticed, but Shinobu-san finished all of her broth today.”

“Huh?”

When he looks, Shinobu’s bowl is indeed empty. Her eating manners are so clean that the bowl looks clean enough to not even need washing. He’s sure there was some broth left over from yesterday’s staff meal.

“Were you particularly hungry today, or something like that?”

He asks hesitantly, and Shinobu shakes her head slightly. Seeing this, Taisho’s face becomes strangely serious.

“Hans. At the restaurant Yukitsuna where I trained, ‘Shinobu-ojousan’s leftovers’ were greatly feared.”

“‘Shinobu-ojousan’s leftovers’?”

“Yes. The previous generation owner of Yukitsuna had such a keen sense of taste that he was called ‘the God’s Tongue,’ and Shinobu-chan inherited that trait the most strongly in the family. No matter how confident we were in a dish, when Shinobu-chan left it unfinished, everyone in the kitchen would desperately try to figure out the cause.”

Shinobu, her face red, pinches Taisho’s upper arm as he looks into the distance. They seem very close. They look like siblings with a large age gap.

“Certainly, Hans’s staff meal is much better than yesterday’s. So, don’t worry.”

“But Shinobu-san…”

He’s about to say, “But you won’t say it’s delicious,” but Taisho laughs.

“If Hans, who started aiming to become a cook at the end of last year, got Shinobu-chan to say it’s delicious, I would have no place to stand.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It took me five years to get her to say the staff meals were delicious.”

Hans feels a cold sweat run down his spine at the depth hidden in Taisho’s smiling words.

Five years.

Had Taisho spent that much time going through the same thing as Hans is now?

But strangely, he didn’t feel that it was a hardship. Quite the opposite, actually.

Until now, he had no one to compare himself to.

That’s why he had developed a strange sense of rivalry with Leontaine, the waitress, who was quick to learn.

He had no yardstick within himself to measure how long it takes for a cook to train and become fully qualified. That was the cause of his anxiety and lack of confidence.

He should have asked someone who had become a cook before him how long they had trained, whether it was five years or ten years.

It feels like he had been groping his way through a fog, but suddenly the view ahead has cleared.

“Hans-san, your expression suddenly improved.”

Eva laughs as she helps herself to another serving of eggs. Come to think of it, this is the first time Eva has had a second helping today.

Little things make his body feel lighter. He feels like he can keep going tomorrow.

“Speaking of which, did you make up with your father, Hans?”

Leontaine’s sudden attack makes him choke. It seems some broth has entered his windpipe.

“Wh-what are you talking about, out of the blue?”

“Well, on my way here today, I saw Gernot of the Napolitan with his younger brother.”

“Ah, those two, were they able to reunite?”

“So I was wondering how things were going with you and your father.”

Hans can only respond to that question with a wry, strained smile.

Even though he goes home every day, he has no memory of talking to his father, Lorenz, lately. It’s more like a war than a quarrel. Lorenz is stubborn, but so is Hans. There is no sign of compromise from either side.

His kind-hearted glass craftsman brother, fearing being caught in the middle, keeps his distance from both of them, so the house has become something of a battlefield.

The cause is Hans quitting the guard corps and aiming to become a cook.

Lorenz seems to view this as Hans running away. He doesn’t expect him to congratulate him on his career change, but he wishes he would at least leave him alone, but he keeps being asked sarcastic questions, and Hans’s patience has finally broken.

“…From the looks of it, it seems like it will take a little longer.”

“Well, I’ll take my time.”

He sips the remaining broth in his bowl. As Shinobu said, it’s a little salty. How can he make it smoother? He tries to combine various flavors he knows in his head, but he can’t come up with a solution yet. What kind of flavor would result from combining different broths?

So this is training.

He finds his own shortcomings and learns how to overcome them through his daily work. The clues have already been given. He has no choice but to build upon them one by one.

“Ah, that’s right, there’s one more staff meal today.”

So saying, Shinobu takes a container out of the refrigerator. This, too, is magic from the other world.

“Soft-boiled eggs marinated in the braising liquid from kakuni!”

Leontaine’s voice saying, “That sounds delicious!” and Eva’s scream overlap. It’s probably a bit harsh for Eva, who has already eaten three eggs today.

When he cuts the beautifully marinated egg in half with chopsticks, the runny yolk almost spills onto the plate. The plate Shinobu prepared for the soft-boiled eggs is a pale green, which complements the color of the yolk well.

Thinking that food is also enjoyed with the eyes, he brings it to his mouth, and the rich flavor of the egg spreads.

The flavor of the runny yolk and the rich taste of the kakuni broth soaked into the egg white complement each other and gently envelop the tongue.

“Delicious.”

He murmurs unconsciously and then looks at his empty oden bowl.

He wants to hear someone say the word “delicious.” But he wants it to be a word that comes out naturally. Not as an evaluation of his efforts, but as proof of happiness brought about by the food.

He adds another serving of oden potatoes to his bowl, adds karashi, and takes a bite.

On the day he first came to Izakaya Nobu, he was moved by this.

Actually, from that day on, the desire to become a cook had sprouted within him. Because he had experienced the happiness of eating delicious food, he wanted others to taste it as well.

“Soft-boiled eggs are really good, aren’t they? They’re perfect as a snack with sake.”

“Uuu… I’ll have another egg!”

“Ah, that egg is the one I was aiming for, Eva-chan!”

Seeing the three of them cheerfully fighting over the soft-boiled eggs, Taisho and he exchange nods.

He’s glad he came to this restaurant.

Today, he’ll make something for Lorenz. With that thought, Hans begins preparations for opening.