045 Mumu's Wine Sauce

"I can't believe we have a week off for the guild fair!" Jack stretched happily as he walked down the streets with Ashe, Xavier, Anya toward the Killo Restaurant Inn.

The streets were livelier around this week. Every guild opened their doors to welcome practitioners in for an open house. There were good food and drinks to go around.

"It's nothing more than an excuse to party and not work," said Ashe.

"It's a much needed break," Jack replied.

"Where's Vincent?" asked Anya.

"Training in Grisham Range again," said Ashe.

"That's so unfair that he could train there," Jack wanted to go train there as well, but it was restricted by the Academy. Only students with special permissions were allowed to enter Grisham Range.

Ashe shrugged. It was one of the benefits the Cultivation Branch had given to him when he entered the Academy.

As they approached the restaurant, they could smell the fragrance of the beef pastry. There were several people already lining up before the restaurant.

"Oh! Damn it, the entrance is blocked!" Jack jumped up and down to see if there were any openings. "I can't believe it's so crowded today."

The fragrance had attracted a lot of pedestrians. Innes had to close some of the side doors to prevent people from entering.

"What is that fragrant!" The bystanders remarked. "I have never smelled something so appretizing in my life!"

"There's already a line! Quick, get in line!"

Jack and Xavier tried to squeeze through, but the pedestrians blocked the way with their shoulders and elbows. There were too much pushing.

"Let's head in from the back," Ashe suggested.

They walked into the service alley and found the brick fence blocking the rear courtyard of the inn. They all jumped over the side wall and appeared inside the back courtyard of the Inn.

"Ah!!" The sous chef jumped up and screamed at the sight of the intruders.

"Sh! Sh! Mavin, don't shout, it's just my roommate," Nico shouted from inside the kitchen.

Mavin was a the jumpy type, but he did recognize the kids. He breathed a sigh relief and returned to splitting firewood for the oven.

"Naughty kids! Don't scare the chefs!" Mumu bellowed.

They all walked into the open kitchen. They have seen the kitchen from the other side of the bar counter, but they have never been inside. It was more spacious than they thought. On the preparation table were twelve plates of beef pastry with spring vegetables.

Nico took a little copper pot from Mumu. "You made it just in time!"

Mumu had just finished making the wine sauce.

Nico scooped a spoonful of wine sauce and drizzled it over a dozen pieces of beef pastry.

Congratulation, Beef Pastry Grade D Created.

Nico was surprised the system gave him a D rather than an F. It was usually very picky about grading. Nico had been creating a lot of Healing Balm jars and Tri-color Flame Talismans, but the highest grade he could achieve was a Grade D. Even the most simple First-Aid Ointment was Grade B when he focused his efforts. Nico wanted to see if it was possible to unlock more recipes if he achieve the Grade C for the unlocked recipes.

Nico wondered if Mumu's wine sauce had anything to do with it. Mumu's age and proficiency was very high.

Mumu was already biting into the beef pastry. He had wept after eating a non-graded beef pastry, so Nico was curious at his reaction to a Grade D Beef Pastry.

Mumu's eyes erupted with waterfalls of molten lava.

No one had ever seen a grown man, or grandpa cried like a baby before. Lulu handed Mumu a piece of handkerchief.

BLeewwww! Bleuwwww!!!! Bleuweueuweewwww!!!!!!!!

"Ah, Mumu, you can keep the handkerchief," Lulu pleaded.

Mumu insisted on returning the handkerchief back to Lulu. Lulu took out a tray for Mumu to place it on. Everyone was sure she was going to burn it in the oven.

"Oh to thee, the most beautiful of all the maiden I've been with," Mumu crooned. "I can die in pieces knowing that I have known and savored your lovely, juicy, and hot...."

"Hey! That's inappropriate for the kids!" Nico yelled out.

Nico set the plates for everyone else and then himself. Busho and the sous chefs ate their pastries as they continued to cook for the patrons.

"My wine sauce is the perfect combination for this beef pastry!" Mumu continued. "We make beautiful babies together!"

As everyone was eating, it was hard to get the imagery of old man Mumu and the beef pastry out of their head. Poor beef pastry!

As he watched everyone ate, they all seemed entranced like Mumu. Nico bit into his pastry, it was certainly good. Nico looked at the one extra plate.

"Oh right, Vincent isn't here, who gets the last piece?" Nico wondered.

Most of the patrons all glanced at Nico.

"We are here to order the beef pastry!" They yelled.

"It's not part of the menu Luddy!" Busho knew most of his patrons. "It's the kid's specialty, if you want him to cook for you, I don't think you can afford him."

"Name your price!" Luddy and the patrons demanded.

"55 gold pieces for one pastry," Nico demanded.

.....

.....

Some of the patrons ordered from the regular menu while the others left.

As expected. Nico stated the price for his ingredients plus 15%, but he wasn't sure if there was anyone willing to pay for it.

"If you one serving," a clam voice requested.

Nico looked over at a large heavy set man. He was a lot bigger than Busho and Mumu combined. Nico carried the plate over to the man.

"Mister, it's very expensive," Nico stated.

The man gave Nico a bank note.

Nico set the plate down. "Enjoy the meal sir!"

Nico paced back to Busho. "Who is that?"

"Giorgi Westel, the head chef of the Jantillo Restaurant," said Busho. "Surprised he's all of the over to this side of town."

Jantillo Restaurant on the eastern side of the Academy, and was also a favorite hot-spot for many students and professors.

"So kid, have you thought about my offer?" asked Mumu finishing up his pastry.

"Hm... I already know someone who could teach me recipes," Nico started off.

"Blah, whoever is showing you the recipes have good steps by steps instruction, but your technique is horrendous!"

Nico thought about it. If the recipes told him to chop, he would chop, but it didn't show him the technique of how to chop.

"You also have horrible cooking flow," said Mumu. "There are some steps you can do at the same time to speed up the process."

That was certainly true. Nico had told Mumu the recipes and instructions for the wine sauce recipe, but how Mumu interpreted the recipe instruction was vastly different from how Nico interpreted the recipe.

For example, "stir in the shallots with the peppercorns, bay and thyme and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the shallots turn golden brown."

Nico interpretation of golden brown was lighter than Mumu's. Nico would take the pot away from the heat when it was slightly golden, since he was afraid of overcooking the ingredients. Mumu would wait until it was the perfect color, based on his cooking experience.

There was a large gap between an amateur chef and a real chef. Real chef knew their way around the kitchen.

Nico would like to learn so that he could improve the grade of the beef pastry.

"I can probably cook every week, but I'm also heading back home soon, so it will only be for a few weeks."

Mumu thought about it. "That's fine, you should have another 4 weeks left until summer break? I think that should be enough time to teach you the Mumu's Kitchen Chopping Technique!!!"