Side Story 5: Beef Curry

Side Story 5:
Beef Curry

 

I first encountered this particular dish forty-nine days after I began working at Western Cuisine Nekoya, also known as the Restaurant to Another World. In other words, on my eighth visit.

As usual, I’d made my way from the end of the sky to the other world. From the kitchen, I saw the remnants of a mysterious memory in which a group was enjoying a meal.

They were clearly residents of this world and had brown and black hair. They appeared to be devouring something on the same plates used for chicken curry. According to the otherworldly words they used, it was delicious.

However, what they were eating was a much darker color than the chicken curry I was familiar with.

Of course, I was curious about the memory, so I assessed the group’s food using my sense of smell. It was ever-so-slightly different from the curry dishes that I knew about but was indeed curry.

The scent of the curry eaten here the previous night lingered in the restaurant.

I smell curry. It’s different from usual.

When I pointed out the scent, the master seemed surprised by my sense of smell. “Huh? Oh, nice catch. I planned on serving you all some leftovers from yesterday’s daily special.”

He pulled something from the fridge. “I was gonna have you ladies try it out, so I put some aside for you.”

The pot was small enough for the master to hold in one hand. He opened it and showed me its contents.

The food inside the pot was indeed the same as in the memory I’d seen. Some kind of curry-like stuff filled the pot. Its scent was weak, since it was chilled, but it was undoubtedly curry. However, it was a much darker brown than chicken curry, or curry and rice, and had a unique aroma all its own. I couldn’t see anything but meat inside the curry.

This is curry?

“Yup! Leftovers from yesterday’s special.”

Aletta also seemed curious about the pot’s contents. “Wow. It’s much darker than Alphonse’s curry and rice, or Kuro’s favorite chicken curry. This is curry, too?”

The master nodded and began to explain.

“See, I wanted to make curry without pork, so I cooked two test dishes. After having my people try them both, we decided to put chicken curry on the menu. But this one here turned out pretty well, too. So, yesterday, I offered it as a daily special.”

“Oh, I see. Wow! You thought of multiple new dishes at once? You’re amazing, Master!”

Aletta looked at the master, flashing what was called a “smile” at him as she spoke. In turn, he “smiled” back, looking at a photo on the wall of him and the previous master posing together.

“The curry here is Gramps’s recipe,” the master explained. “It’s damn good, and it has plenty of fans, but I’ve been thinking that it’s about time to come up with my own curry. The problem is that I have to make two different types: Indian and European.”

It appeared as though the current master and his blood relative had some sort of internal ruleset when it came to the most delicious dish of all—curry.

I briefly searched through the master’s memories, entering the consciousness stored inside his words.

I found a memory in which the master was still young. The previous master had scolded him for his form as he cut vegetables and meats, and for leaving food on the fire too long, telling him that he’d never make Nekoya’s curry right at that rate.

The master should have found a memory like that unpleasant, but for some odd reason, he didn’t.

“See, European-style curry focuses on savoriness over spiciness. And since it uses muscle meat, it ends up tasting very different from other curry-and-rice dishes.”

As the master continued to explain, I saw yet another memory. This one was of the master working on two different curry recipes.

It appeared that he’d made lots of curry dishes that tasted similar, eaten them, and then rebuilt them from scratch about seventeen times. Then, I saw him finally taste both curries and nod firmly.

Having seen into the master’s memories, I found myself quite curious. I want to try it.

Fortunately, the master understood that. “Excellent. Later tonight.”

Apparently, he felt that curry wasn’t a good breakfast, since he asked me to wait until the evening. “I know that you can handle morning curry, but this is a little heavy for Aletta. I’ve also got chicken curry ready to go, along with her usual breakfast, so make do with that for now.”

Okay.

I ended up politely following his instructions, just as I’d promised I would when I started working at the restaurant. How unfortunate.

“Oh! I’m looking forward to it,” Aletta said.

I was slightly pleased to find that she was in the same headspace as me. I ate my chicken curry as usual and got to work.

Aletta and I tidied the restaurant, grabbed whatever ingredients the master needed, and cleaned the tableware. Once our first visitor of the day from my world arrived, I took their order, brought them their food, and took their dirty plates to the kitchen. As I performed my usual work, time flew by.

“I shall return,” said Red.

As usual, I watched her head back to her territory with a large golden pot of beef stew, marking the end of the day.

Master saw Red exit through the door and stretched his arms out widely. “Okay, that’s it for today! I’ve already heated up the curry, so it won’t take long to serve. We’re gonna eat in the cafeteria tonight, so you two grab a table. Kuro, are you good with the beef curry to start?”

“Yay!” Hearing the master’s words, Aletta seemingly regained her energy.

I, however, was the same as always. Yes, that’s fine.

 

***

 

Now then, what was this beef curry like? I sat across from Aletta at a table, watching her beam while awaiting the beef curry.

Master brought out our food as if we were visitors to the restaurant. “Sorry for the wait. Here’s your beef curry!”

He set down a pitcher full of water that tasted faintly of fruit and then put down glass cups of ice water. Then there was the plate of white weeds, “rice.” Last but not least was the main course—beef curry. Although it was much darker than its chicken counterpart, it still smelled curry-like.

The master laid the different foods out himself, eventually setting down some silver spoons.

The aroma coming from the curry was weaker than chicken curry’s but still recognizable.

Aletta narrowed her eyes as she took it in. “Wow.”

I felt this temporal form of mine smile instinctively. I didn’t know why.

The master watched us and narrowed his own eyes. “It’s a little hot, so be careful,” he explained as if we were customers, before heading to the back. “Enjoy!”

“Oh, demon lord, thank you for the food.” Aletta was clearly impatient. Her prayer to it was much shorter than usual.

We grabbed our spoons and began to eat the curry in front of us. I pulled the plate of dark brown curry off to the side and carefully poured it onto the rice, taking great pains not to spill any. The dark curry covered the white rice, and I took a moment to enjoy its scent.

Aletta began to eat a little earlier than me. She preferred to scoop rice up with her spoon and then put curry on top.

After taking her first bite, she immediately scrunched up her face. “Gosh! It’s spicy but delicious!”

She immediately took a sip of water and then returned to the curry. She clearly didn’t hate it.

I collected myself and finally took a bite of beef curry.

It’s not terribly spicy, but it’s delicious. That was my first impression.

It was much milder than the chicken curry I usually ate. Like the chicken curry, however, it was full of soft vegetables. Still, its composition was even more complex, and it had a strong, savory taste. The meat flavor was also powerful compared to chicken curry.

Is the meat soft, too?

Aletta ate her curry and rice first, leaving the other ingredients for now. “What kind of meat is this? It’s really tender.”

Actually… I hadn’t put much thought into that, but it was indeed true that beef curry included beef sinew. Or, at least, that was what the master had said.

In that case, it must taste different.

I scooped up a piece of meat, noticing how it jiggled slightly atop my spoon. Curious as to what it would taste like, I put it in my mouth and found myself surprised.

The meat is melting?

I was stunned to realize that the meat dissolved on top of my tongue. Its mouthfeel was completely different from the chicken curry meat I was familiar with. It melted on its own, and I could chew through it without even putting it between my teeth.

That strange sensation accompanied the meat’s incredibly savory taste, which was the true source of the beef curry’s flavor.

Aletta quietly continued to eat—a scoop of rice, a scoop of curry. She occasionally stopped to scoop up a piece of meat.

For a while, the restaurant was filled only with the sound of spoons brushing against plates.

“Now, that’s what I like to see! Looks like I’ve got enough for seconds for you both. How about it?” the master asked as he brought over his own plate of food.

Aletta and I nodded simultaneously at the question.

 

***

 

After eating with the master, Aletta let out a content sigh, facing her empty curry plate.

“That was delicious! Are you sure you don’t want to add beef curry to the menu? I’m sure Alphonse would love it.”

Clearly, Aletta wanted the master to make this a permanent staple of the restaurant.

Unfortunately, the master shook his head at Aletta’s proposal. “Well, you see, my staff actually pointed out a huge problem to me. So, beef curry’s a no-go. I’ll probably only serve it as a daily special every once in a while.”

“What kind of huge problem?” Aletta looked down at her clean, empty plate. She must’ve really enjoyed the beef curry.

What a waste of something so delicious. I couldn’t help voicing my own thoughts.

Although the beef curry’s spiciness didn’t compare to chicken curry, the savory curry soup—full of soft vegetables and tender meat—was good enough that I would’ve liked to eat it every now and then. It was well made.

“The beef curry’s tastiness isn’t really the problem.” explained the master, shaking his head. “I mean, dealing with beef sinew and the like is a pain, but that’s not the biggest issue.”

“Someone asked me to make curry without pork, because they can’t eat pork,” he continued. “The problem is that the country they’re from is full of people who love curry but can’t eat beef. Cooking doesn’t amount to much if people can’t eat it. Doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad. That means that I have to settle for chicken curry, which I know everyone can eat.”

 

***

 

It looks as though there’s still much for me to learn about the other world, I thought to myself that night.