I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 25: Chicken (2)

In the otherworld, cooking oil had limited uses.

Cooking oil was occasionally used to cook meat, and even then, the concept of “frying” was not well understood.

The technique of deep-frying, in which food is immersed in oil, was unknown even to the nobility.

No wonder: the Empire was a country where asceticism was taken for granted until recently.

Influenced by the conservative ‘church’, luxury was viewed negatively, especially in cooking.

It was said that even nobles were not allowed to have more than three dishes on the table.

The Empire’s transformation into an open-minded country was due to a quarrel between the church and the imperial family.

The current emperor was a man who strongly resented the influence of the church, which could challenge the imperial power.

As soon as he became emperor, one of the first things he did to strengthen the imperial power was to get rid of the “ascetic” culture of the empire.

He broke away from the influence of the church and reformed the system, abolishing conservative and outdated customs.

His efforts may have strengthened the imperial power, but they also created problems for the Empire.

The culture of the Empire became an odd mix of conservative and liberal as the perception gap between the older and younger aristocrats had widened.

The use of the word “oil” among the nobility was also a result of the current Emperor’s influence.

It was because of this ascetic culture of the Empire that the lukon, a common oil fruit, was not well known in elven society.

Anyway, even though I had obtained the oil fruit, there were still many barriers to overcome in order to popularize it.

First, in order to transport the lukon from the Elven Forest to the Empire, it was essential to have an escort to keep it safe.

Even if Count Trion could solve this problem, there was an even bigger issue, the nobility.

They had a sense of privilege and didn’t want their oil to be made available to the masses.

It was the aristocracy that voiced their opposition to the release of the oil, even at the meeting between elves and humans earlier in the day.

In order for the oil to be popularized, it was necessary to gain the support of the upper classes.

And it was Duke Gerz who came to the tower while I was thinking about this.

Duke Gerz was a powerful figure in the Empire, once considered to be the head of the aristocratic faction.

If I could win his support, the popularization of oil would be much easier.

When I heard the Duke’s situation, it wasn’t hard to come up with an answer.

‘It’s chicken.’

The Gerz Duchy was rugged and mountainous, but not barren.

On the contrary, the fertile soil was rich in meat. However, the lack of sunlight made it difficult to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

There was plenty of meat, but not much else.

This deficiency led to culinary monotony and a lack of food culture.

Duke Gerz wanted to change that and the most readily available resource in the Gerz Duchy was poultry.

This is how I came to think of “chicken”.

*

It was not difficult to make chicken.

Starch and flour were readily available in the Otherworld, and oil was plentiful thanks to lukon.

What I magically created was the most basic chicken of all, Grandpa White Suit’s fried chicken.

The origin of fried chicken, which can be said to be the original crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Laura recreated it in a similar way.

The chicken was hard to come up with, but the process was simple.

A powder of flour, starch, salt and pepper, beaten egg, dipped the chicken in the powder, then dipped it in the powder again and fried it.

The result was the original fried chicken with all the crispness you could ask for.

“Chicken?”

Duke Gerz scratched his head at the unfamiliar form of fried chicken.

Its golden, irregular skin was uncharacteristic of any animal.

“I’m guessing it’s a chicken by the looks of it, but what’s this skin on the outside?”

“It’s flour fried in oil.”

“Flour? That’s unusual.”

Intrigued by the unfamiliar recipe, Duke Gerz picked up the chicken’s leg.

He didn’t have a knife or fork, but he didn’t care and brought the chicken to his mouth.

With a cheerful crunch, a burst of rich gravy filled his mouth.

“Mmm!”

The savory and salty flavors combined with the tenderness of the chicken and the crispness of the batter made his mouth happy.

Duke Gerz continued to savor the chicken wordlessly.

The tender flesh hidden beneath the golden armor was a new world to him.

The crisp, popping fried skin was like a shell that was about to be cracked open to reveal a new world.

The white flesh inside was soft and moist, like that of a living, breathing animal.

The savory flavor was like heavenly dreadlocks and Duke Gerz had never tasted such a rich texture in his life.

It was as if his life had been wasted without this flavor.

‘…I never knew something so delicious existed in the world.’

Duke Gerz stared down at the fried chicken in amazement.

This was not just food.

This, he realized, was a food of indescribable value.

“What do you think?”

“You mean to tell me that this can really be made in our duchy?”

“Yes, if you can help me with one thing.”

“Tell me anything. If it’s within my power, I’ll help you.”

Duke Gerz’s eyes had not yet left the chicken.

*

The cooperation of the nobility was essential to the popularization of the oil.

Even though I was friendly with the Third Prince, this was not a problem he could solve.

There was an invisible connection between the imperial family and the nobility so powerful noblemen like Duke Gerz had to step forward.

And once he tasted the chicken, he agreed to help me.

Of course, before chicken could be made in the Duchy, the oil fruit ‘Lukon’ had to be smoothly supplied to the Duchy……

“I’ll take care of that.”

The Duke offered to take on the task of procuring the lukon himself.

The Gerz Duchy was a region that most people avoided due to the wyvern swarms but that didn’t mean they couldn’t travel there.

Otherwise, the Duchy of Gerz would not exist.

Wyverns were highly intelligent monsters, so they didn’t attack humans blindly.

They knew that attacking humans indiscriminately would put them in danger.

The wyverns were the ones who would pick and choose what they wanted to eat and then leave.

Recently, they have been addicted to ‘ramen soup’ and have been eating it as soon as they see it.

They knew instinctively what would not move the Duke but even those wyverns couldn’t touch the procession of lukon.

When the Duke decided to mobilize his knights, the shrewd wyverns didn’t even bat an eye.

As the lukon flowed smoothly, the Duke’s favor began to grow.

And

“Hey, this is chicken!”

“I’ve never tasted anything so crispy.”

“Crazy!”

The shock of the Duke’s knights upon tasting the chicken was indescribable.

For those who had never tasted anything “fried,” chicken was a whole new world of flavors.

“Chicken is the food of the gods.”

“How did I never know about this?”

The combination of the crispy yet chewy batter and the succulent flesh inside was fantastic.

“I was lucky to be born.”

“Thank you, God.”

The flavor of the chicken was shocking enough to make them give thanks to a God they don’t usually seek out.

“I’m going to eat this whether I get fat or not.”

“Isn’t this what you do for a living?”

For knights who had never tasted anything fatty, fried chicken had the power to paralyze reason.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just knights who fell in love with chicken.

As oil became more widely available, even the commoners had access to it, and they were enthusiastic about its ecstatic flavor.

“I have never tasted anything like this in my life!”

“I never knew chicken could be so delicious.”

For people whose only experience with meat had been boiling or steaming it in moderation, the impact of fried chicken was profound.

The commoners ate fried chicken day and night so the popularity of the chicken reached far beyond the duchy.

“They say there is a chicken dish called chicken in the Gerz Duchy.”

“Chicken is everywhere, isn’t it?”

They say it’s incredibly delicious. It’s said that they ate so much that the chicken population in the duke’s territory has dried up.

“Hmph, is that what they’re talking about?”

Intrigued, they visited the Gerz Duchy and tried the chicken, and were amazed at the flavor.

At the same time, they were stunned by the amount of “oil” that was used to make this fried dish.

“How can there be so much oil……!”

“Oh my God, they dip chickens in oil?”

“Are you saying that only rich people live in the Gerz Duchy?”

In an Empire where oil was not popularized, the landscape of the Duchy, where oil was used like water, seemed almost ‘otherworldly’ to outsiders.

While the world was buzzing about a new dish called “chicken,” a piece of news hit the empire.

【The Secret of the Elves, the Oil Fruit ‘Lukon’ is Revealed to the Empire!】

It was the popularization of oil.