A Pleasant Supper

Author: Iwashi-zukushi
Raw: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3388fm/18/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

“Here, our proud seafood stew. Eat plenty!”

So saying, Elma brought a plate steaming hot.
It was supposed to be a single tasting portion, but it looked like quite a lot?
That question blew away the moment the plate was set in front of me.

“Whoa, it looks delicious!”

I could not help raising my voice.
A tidal scent, softly tickling the nose.
Perhaps it was scented with white wine and herbs; it gave off a very appetizing smell, without any fishiness.

And more than anything, the quantity and freshness of the ingredients!
As expected of a port town; they were probably using seafood just taken.
The mussels were plump to bursting, and the chunks of fish were springy.
The vegetables in with them were a little limp, perhaps from being stewed quite a while.
But that was the doneness I liked, so there was no problem.

Was this something like a bouillabaisse?
I was fairly sure I had seen that before tomatoes were brought in, it had been like this.
In any case.

“This is white wine… it will absolutely go.”
“Hoh? You know your stuff, Asha.”

I swallowed, and Gerda grinned.
…Sorry, Kira, don’t pull back. We’re not bad people, okay~?

“White wine and red wine… they matter?”

Kira, who apparently was not used to drinking, asked, looking puzzled.
Incidentally, around here you could drink from about fifteen or sixteen. So there was no problem with me drinking!

“It’s only a guideline, but the standard pairing is white wine with fish, red wine with meat.”
“Of course white with meat is not bad either… but in my personal opinion, red with fish is a bit much.”

I nearly nodded I know~ and held it back.
In my previous life I had done that pairing and held my head, but the present me was a village girl from the mountains.
Eating seafood like this was… ah, probably the first time since coming to this world.
No, the Japanese person in my soul is waking up.

“Well, only hearing about it won’t do. Shall we actually have you eat it?”

So saying, Gerda skillfully used a serving fork and knife to portion the fish.
She divided the mussels evenly as well.
The nostalgic smell of seafood coming from right in front of me was… rather hard to bear.

“Gerda, thank you for serving it.”
“What, this much is nothing. Come, eat.”
“Yes, gladly!”

I recited itadakimasu in my heart. I reached for the fish at once.
Yes. With my hands.
Here, eating with a fork was not yet common.

In fact, even in my previous world’s world, forks coming into use for eating was fairly recent.
Large serving forks with only two tines, used for cutting and dividing, had apparently been used from around the eleventh century, but when eating, people had eaten with their hands.
Forks with four tines, curved as they are now, coming into general use was said to be around the seventeenth century.

Spoons and knives, incidentally, had come into use in their present shape around the fifteenth century or so.
Around here, spoons had begun to be used for eating.
Before that, spoons had been the size and use of ladles, soup had been sipped straight from the bowl, and there had been only one knife per table for serving, apparently.
All in all, Westerners were rather barbaric, weren’t they.
Or rather, I found it a bit questionable, hygienically…

But well, I would do something about that from here on.
For now, the fish in front of me.
When it had cooled enough to grab… I seized it and shoved it into my mouth.

“It’s deliciouuus!!”

The broth, well drawn with the savor of seafood, and the springy white flesh wrapped in it: when I bit down, its own juices and the broth mixed as one and spread through my mouth.
Each time I chewed firmly—mogyu, mogyu—umami assaulted my tongue.
When I swallowed, something warm dropped into my stomach, and warmth and satisfaction spread from the pit of it.

And then.
I took my glass, unhurried, and sipped the white wine.
A solid mouthfeel and a refreshing scent softly swelled the savor of the seafood, washed it along, and still left an aftertaste.

Ah… delicious.
A long sigh slipped out—hoh…

“Fufu. It seems it suited you, Asha.”
“Hah!? Ah, no, it was, yes, really delicious, but… I’m embarrassed.”

Seafood after so long, and of such wonderful taste: I thought it was only natural to be moved.
But sorry, Kira, don’t stare at me like that, it’s really embarrassing.

After watching me for a while, Kira unhurriedly put her own fish in her mouth.

“…Ah. It’s good…”
“Right, right? Now, the white wine there, see, a sip.”
“Asha, did you get drunk in one mouthful?”

At Gerda’s teasing words I stopped dead.
Uu, embarrassing, over and over.

“But this is good too, you know?”

So saying, with a shy sort of smile, Kira showed the glass she had put to her lips.
Uu, what a good child… is this girl an angel.
Just watching Kira eat with apparent pleasure made me smile too.

“Right then, I’ll have this as well!”

This time I tore the mussel meat off with my fingers and bit.

…Nnfhh…
This, too, was meat well packed with flavor.
The character was never strong, but it was elegant and easy to eat. Even eaten by hand.
This, too, surely.

“…As I thought, this goes with white wine too~”
“Say, Asha. Every remark of yours for a while now has been a drinker’s.”
“Eh. Ah, no, I’m not usually like this? Today I’m a bit, you know, carried away?”

Bad, bad, how unseemly.
That was what I thought, but the Gerda sitting in front of me looked thoroughly pleased.

“Ah. If you are carried away, I am glad as well.”

She said that much. And seemed about to say a little more.
But she swallowed it with the wine.
I had a sense of what she had wanted to say, but asking felt tactless.

And so I.

“Fufu, Gerda, a fine way of drinking! As expected of a woman who treats wine like water!”
“Eh, is that so…?”

I put out a cheering voice, a little deliberately.
Meanwhile Kira, whose cheeks were already starting to redden with only about half a glass, looked surprised.

“Well now, shall we? Whether it’s true or not, I’ll have you confirm it thoroughly.”

So saying, smiling, Gerda ordered wine by the bottle.