Chapter 204

He was slow to notice it purely because he was too focused on the texture of the meat to nitpick Kurt’s cooking.

While his mind was preoccupied with the texture, the rich and almost violent aroma of the brisket had already exploded in his mouth.

The brisket, which had already filled the Adventurer Guild’s hall with its aroma just from being sliced, had made the adventurers inside turn their heads unconsciously.

What kind of result would such a brisket, which emitted such a violent aroma just from being sliced, produce when combined with the taste of the meat and the seasoning in his mouth?

The answer was right in Albert’s mouth.

‘Ah……. Ahh……. The aroma……. The aroma…!’

The intense smoky aroma was so strong it felt like burning firewood for smoking inside his mouth.

The aroma was seeping into every taste bud in his mouth, invading his senses.

His salivary glands were secreting so much it felt like a faucet had broken.

If he were to sigh carelessly, it felt like smoke from the smoking process would seep out instead of a sigh.

‘What, what is this!? This aroma……. How is this possible……. It’s unbelievable. How is the meat this moist!?’

If he let his guard down for even a moment, it felt like saliva would overflow from his chewing and drip down his chin.

Moreover, the aroma only grew stronger with every bite Albert took of the brisket.

With every chew, the intense smoky aroma came from the seasoning on the surface, the grain of the meat, the juices, and every part of it.

‘Every time I breathe, the aroma of the smoked brisket is escaping through my nasal cavity…!’

But it was strange.

For the meat to have such a strong smoky aroma meant it had been smoked for a long time.

That in itself wasn’t strange.

In fact, the brisket cut of meat doesn’t develop its full flavor unless cooked for a long time, so cooking it for a long time while smoking allows the collagen in the brisket to break down and the smoky aroma to penetrate the meat.

It’s a classic and rational cooking method.

But…….

‘Why is it so moist!?’

Cooking meat for a long time is synonymous with the moisture inside the meat evaporating.

Clearly, this smoked brisket was more tender than any brisket steak Albert had ever eaten, and the smoky aroma was deeper than any barbecue dish he had ever tasted.

There was no doubt that it had been cooked at a low temperature for a very long time to bring out that aroma and texture.

‘Then where did this moisture come from!?’

That’s why it was incomprehensible.

Why was this brisket so moist?

It was contradictory.

Like the existence of a Lizardman who was good at cooking, the existence of a brisket that was tender, deeply aromatic, and moist confused him.

The secret lay in Kurt’s cooking method.

It was the sous-vide cooking method using an artifact obtained from the Ruins of the Ancient Empire.

It was the optimal cooking method discovered by modern science to preserve the moisture inside the meat.

For a cut like brisket, which requires long, low-temperature cooking, sous-vide, which is essentially long, low-temperature cooking, was a perfect match, wasn’t it?

Of course, that was just theoretical.

In a normal setting, adding smoking to sous-vide cooking was impossible.

No matter how suitable sous-vide was for cooking brisket, there was a major obstacle.

It was obvious.

To completely separate the water and meat used in sous-vide, the meat is vacuum-sealed to isolate it from the outside. So how could you infuse it with the aroma of smoke?

If you do sous-vide, you can’t smoke.

If you smoke, you can’t do sous-vide.

Thus, it seemed impossible to combine sous-vide and smoking.

But chefs always find a way.

The solution Kurt found was a liquid commonly called liquid smoke.

It’s made by collecting smoke from burning smoking wood, cooling it, and turning it into a liquid.

After all, smoking is about infusing food with the flavor of smoke by exposing it to smoke from burning wood.

So, if you extract just the flavor of the smoke and evenly coat the meat with it, wouldn’t the result be the same?

Thus, Kurt started by making liquid smoke, infused it into the meat, vacuum-sealed it, and then cooked it sous-vide.

Of course, achieving this in an environment without proper cooking tools was incredibly complex and difficult…….

But in the end, his transcendent physical abilities and abnormal obsession with cooking allowed him to create the delicious hybrid known as smoked sous-vide brisket in this world.

The result was a meat that defied the world’s common sense—intensely and stimulatingly smoky yet incredibly moist.

The dish, which took only the best aspects of smoking and sous-vide, was like a chimera, combining the strengths of different creatures into one.

If normal sous-vide cooking was a technique beyond this world’s technological capabilities, then combining sous-vide with smoking was a method beyond this world’s imagination.

‘Master…!? Is this what it means to be a master? Can only those who can cook like this become masters!?’

So, it was only natural for Albert to be completely confused by the smoked sous-vide brisket, which was beyond his understanding and outside the realm of normal taste.

But no matter how confused Albert was by the dish’s flavor, Kurt’s cooking didn’t stop being delicious.

The aroma of the brisket, which had already begun to spread in his mouth, continued to stimulate his taste buds like an arrow released from a bowstring.

It wasn’t just the smoky aroma infused in every grain of the meat.

There was also an aroma that complemented the intense, stimulating, yet monotonous and unrefined smoky aroma, making it more varied and smooth.

It was the aroma coming from the dry rub made with various spices clinging to the surface of the brisket like burnt charcoal.

The smoky aroma was undoubtedly intense and effective, but the range of aromas that could be created with just smoking wood was limited.

To put it metaphorically, the smoky aroma was like a straight fastball—intense but monotonous.

But the dry rub, made by mixing various herb leaves and plant seeds, acted like a curveball, adding color to the brisket’s flavor.

As the harmonious blend of spices and smoky aroma spread in his mouth, Albert closed his eyes and savored the taste, soon feeling the appropriately salted meat satisfying both his mental and physical cravings.

‘The seasoning of the meat is perfect. Even the saltiness seems to carry the aroma of the smoke.’

The salt used to season the meat wasn’t just ordinary salt—it seemed like the saltiness itself carried the aroma of the smoke.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling—it really did.

Because the salt Kurt used wasn’t ordinary salt.

To maximize the smoky flavor, Kurt had used smoked salt, which had been smoked with the same smoking wood.

‘Ahh……. It’s delicious.’

By now, Albert had forgotten all about nitpicking Kurt’s cooking or trying to get the artifact from him, completely absorbed in savoring the meat.

From the meat,

the dry rub,

even the seasonings used,

every part of the flavor was an unrelenting, merciless aroma that left no room for escape.

It was truly the violence of aroma, and Albert, completely defenseless against it, could only close his eyes and savor the taste and aroma.

.

.

.

“Hoo……. That was truly delicious.”

“Wow. The dragon nuggets I had last time were good, but this dish is on another level!!”

After the meal, the two praised Kurt’s cooking.

While Louis, who had already fallen in love with Kurt’s cooking last time, was expected to praise it, even Albert, who had dismissed Kurt’s cooking with his human-supremacist narrow-mindedness, was now smiling with satisfaction.

Kurt, who had received the praise, smiled with utmost satisfaction.

“No, I’m just glad you enjoyed it. It’s a relief for the cook.”

“Haha~! You’ve got a great personality too.”

“Haha. Truly.”

‘Right. If there’s a Lizardman master in this world, there can be a Lizardman who’s good at cooking. As long as it’s delicious, that’s all that matters.’

With that, Albert felt his heart naturally relax after the satisfying meal.

The shock of reuniting with a non-human master, the burden of completing his mission, the fear of possibly dying if he made a mistake, the discomfort stemming from his human-supremacist mindset—all those negative emotions were washed away by the delicious smoked sous-vide brisket.

As the tension in the tightly pulled string completely disappeared, Albert felt an unparalleled sense of comfort.

So comfortable, in fact, that he completely forgot why he had approached Kurt in the first place.

“So, I was too focused on the meal to ask earlier, but why did you come looking for me?”

“Oh, right.”

Only when Kurt brought it up did Albert remember that he hadn’t come to Astram just for fun.