I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 41: Mint Chocolate

The rise of the Empire’s most controversial “it” began in a corner diner in the Marquisate of Somernut.

【Mint Chocolate Ice Cream】

“Mint mixed with chocolate? That’s an interesting combination.”

“Mixing a cleaning agent with chocolate, that’s unique.”

When customers saw it on the dessert menu at the restaurant, they were puzzled.

It’s no wonder: in their minds, “mint” is used for mouthwash.

It was a mint tea to cleanse the mouth after a meal, or a bland ingredient like xylitol to refresh the senses.

But mixing it with chocolate?

I couldn’t imagine what it would taste like.

One by one, curious customers ordered the mint chocolate ice cream.

“Oh?!”

“Hmm?!”

After taking a bite, they all looked surprised.

“What, is this horrible-”

“Kaaaak, delicious!”

“??”

Reactions were polarized.

“How can there be all these combinations?”

“…Well, you know.”

The combination of mint and chocolate is a highly polarizing flavor, and when it was first introduced, it was a flavor that was only eaten by those who had a taste for it.

As a result, mint chocolate didn’t gain much traction in the first few months after its launch.

It wasn’t until a group of gourmets got together that it became famous.

The “gourmets” were a group of aristocrats who were known for their discriminating tastes, even in the Empire.

What started out as a small, private gathering of well-connected aristocrats who shared trivial gourmet experiences, had long since evolved into a “gourmet society” that dominated the food culture of the Empire.

Food and restaurants that are well-received are awarded “Gourmet” stars, which can range from one to three stars.

The starred restaurants and foods would then receive the attention of the nation for the year.

Gourmet, which hadn’t met for a while due to church asceticism, was making a comeback with the rise of processed food.

“I have just returned from a visit to the Kingdom of Calunte, where the court cuisine was outstanding……”

Even today, the members of the gourmet group take turns sharing their gastronomic stories.

It was a classy affair, with those who spoke and those who listened quietly.

“Now it’s your turn, Owen. What experiences have you had this year?”

The group leaned forward to look at the middle-aged gentleman.

He was a handsome middle-aged man, with a nicely trimmed mustache that would have made him quite handsome in his younger days.

The middle-aged man was Owen Somernut, Minister of Magic and Marquis of the Empire.

A full member of the Gourmet and a renowned gourmet, the group waited in silence for him to speak.

“I have had ‘three’ gastronomic experiences this year.”

Owen opened his mouth with a thin smile.

“The first was the Wyvern Chicken from the Duchy of Gerz.”

“Ah!”

“Wyvern…!”

The members let out a collective gasp.

They remembered the wyvern epidemic that had once covered the Empire.

“I’ve heard they’re hard to come by these days, are you here for the wyverns?”

“We were lucky enough to hunt them in the Leble Gorge.”

“Are their wings any better?”

“They’ve gotten even better.”

“Mmm!”

The members gulped as they recalled the crispy wings of the wyvern chicken.

“As their flight has improved, the quality of their wings has become even better.”

“Alas, I can’t wait to try them.”

“I envy the Marquis’ experience.”

“I’ve heard from Duke Gerz that he’ll have some good news soon, so you can look forward to it.”

“If it’s good news, I’d like to hear them……”

“I can’t reveal it now, but you’ll see.”

With that meaningful comment, Owen changed the subject.

“The second gastronomic experience I’ve had is something you all know: caviar.”

“Caviar…!”

“Ohhh!”

Caviar is the processed or salted eggs of sturgeon.

It is considered a delicacy of delicacies because its production is so small that even the nobility cannot taste it.

“I was lucky enough to be invited by an acquaintance in Benevento to try it.”

The group was once again awed by Owen’s story of tasting caviar that you can’t get even for money.

“Wow, Marquis Owen, you have big feet.”

“I can’t believe you traveled all the way to Benevento.”

After a while of caviar, Owen moved on to the next topic.

“And the last gastronomic experience I had was……”

Owen paused, and the group’s attention turned to his mouth.

Wyvern chicken and caviar.

After all the exotic foods he had tasted, it was exciting to see what he would choose as his last delicacy.

“……from a small restaurant in my hometown of Somernut.”

“?”

“In an alleyway restaurant?”

“Yes.”

They all scratched our heads at Owen’s statement that he’d tasted gourmet food in a tiny alleyway diner.

But Owen’s next words had us all excited again.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

“Oh!”

“What do you mean, a flavor that even you, Owen, have never experienced?”

Owen opened his mouth as everyone looked at him curiously.

“It’s ice cream mixed with mint and chocolate.”

“Mint and……chocolate?”

“You mean mint chocolate, not chocolate?”

Everyone blinked since even the most savvy of them had never heard of mixing mint with chocolate.

“Hmm, it’s hard to tell, but if Marquis Owen’s right, it must be an odd flavor.”

“Yes, it is. It was an odd combination.”

Marquis Owen laughed softly, remembering the mint chocolate. Then he declared.

“I nominate this mint chocolate for ‘Gourmet of the Year.”

*

A week after the tasting, the Gourmet of the Year was announced.

The people of the country nodded their heads in agreement when they saw the gourmet selections.

Mostly, it was a reaction that something was coming.

First of all, the first choice, “Wyvern Chicken,” was a rare food with a history of sending the Empire into a frenzy because the chicken that is evaluated as the chicken of the chicken world is Wyvern Chicken.

The second delicacy, caviar, had also been considered a delicacy among the aristocracy since ancient times, although very few people had ever tasted it.

So it’s no surprise that they made the cut.

However, the final selection left everyone scratching their heads.

Gourmet of the Year: Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

“Mint chocolate?”

“What is this?”

“Mint chocolate ice cream” was something most people had never heard of.

But underneath it was a testimonial from the Marquis of Somernut himself, the Minister of Magic.

===

[Mint chocolate, which starts sweetly and ends refreshingly, is an unprecedented combination and can be considered a high-quality dessert. That is why it is selected as the ‘Gourmet of the Year.’]

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Star Rating★★★

===

With the Minister of Magic’s glowing review, it was only natural that people would be interested in mint chocolate.

As a result, mint and chocolate products were released through each of the Chambers of Commerce, and the reaction of the people who tasted them was…….

“Yuck! What is this!”

“Is it edible?”

“Are you crazy, you think this is edible?”

“Ugh! Are you saying that you won’t recognize the Gourmet of the Year chosen by the Marquis?”

They began to grind furiously.

*

It was only through my master that I learned about mint chocolate.

“Ugh!”

Ranya’s day begins with her morning routine of calisthenics.

She stretches each limb where the growth plates have closed, and then looks up at her remodeled tower with a smile.

But in between the routine, which never changes, there’s an unseen addition.

Instead of a staff, Ranya’s hand held something unidentifiable, ‘something green with brown flecks in between.’

‘I don’t think so.’

The shape looked vaguely familiar.

I looked at it in disbelief and asked Ranya.

“Master, what are you eating right now?”

“Mint chocolate ice cream.”

“…What?”

“Would you like to try it, Yuri?”

I took a bite of what Ranya held out to me, puzzled.

‘No, why is this here?’

The ice cream in Ranya’s hand was unmistakably ‘mint chocolate’.

The sweetness of the chocolate and the mint that followed was unforgettable.

I never made it, so that means someone else did.

‘I never told you about it, and you invented it?’

Ranya’s shocked words were in my ears as I stood there in disbelief.

“What? Mint chocolate is the ‘gourmet of the year’?”

“Yes, the top three gourmets of the year.”

“Who the hell votes for that?”

“The foodies of the empire.”

‘No, what the…….’

Even the ‘First Princess’ is said to be an ardent supporter of Mint Chocolate.

Worse, it was rumored that I was responsible for the development of mint chocolate, having discovered the edible potential of ‘mint’.

I shook my head, but I couldn’t deny what was already out there.

‘How can I deny this?’

I began to think about what I would do if the dwarves came.

I didn’t want them to think I was responsible for Mint Chocolate’s development.

If I got it wrong, an axe might grow out of my head.

I hadn’t gotten far into my dizzying start to the day when I heard.

“Long time no see.”

“Your Imperial Highness.”

The Third Prince Leon came to see me because.

*

“As I’m sure you’ve heard, this is a disgrace to the Empire.”

“…….”

“Such a thing is the Third Delicacy, and I fear it will be known to other nations.”

The Third Prince Leon shuddered at the mere thought of it.

The mere mention of the “mint” in mint chocolate stirred him up.

Of course, that didn’t mean that mint chocolate was really one of the “Three Great Delicacies”.

Gourmet of the Year didn’t mean “three delicacies.”

‘I don’t even agree that caviar is a top three delicacy.’

However, the problem was that the announcement of the gourmet was supported by the First Princess Luciella, and mint chocolate and caviar became the top three delicacies.

The third prince was deeply regretful.

“Unfortunately, Luciella is a glutton.”

“…….”

I was silent for a moment as I watched the Third Prince proudly proclaim his bloodline as foodies.

It was clear that the First Princess had an unusual diet, as it was unlikely that she would say something like that over a mint chocolate.

“So, what brings you here?”

“I’m here because I want you to introduce my sister to proper processed food.”

“Is there any reason why I should do that?”

The First Princess’ eating habits had nothing to do with me.

There was nothing wrong with mint chocolate.

Right now, our Tower Lord also seems to really like mint chocolate.

“Considering our relations with other races, mint chocolate would be bad for the Empire.”

“…….”

Isn’t that a bit of a leap of faith?

It was hard to accept the Third Prince argument that food could cause discord between races, but it was also hard to dismiss it.

‘Elves are deadly averse to anything that compromises the purity of mint…….’

In contrast to the dwarves’ abhorrence of mint, the symbol of the elves was the mint.

If you dipped chocolate in the flower that symbolized their race and called it the “third great food,” it was enough to cause a rift.

From the elves’ point of view, this was like shouting that ‘kimchi chocolate’ was a delicacy.

And the people pushing the mint chocolate were the First Princess and the Gourmet Club she supported.

The Third Prince wanted me to show her that mint chocolate wasn’t the only delicious processed food.

‘Now that I think about it, mint chocolate does have its problems.’

I never thought it was possible for a food item to cause a rift between two races, dwarves and elves…….

“Um, does the First Princess have a particular favorite ingredient?”

“Cheese.”

Cheese….

“I see, I’ll give it a try.”

With a food off the top of my head, I accepted the third prince’s offer.

*

“What is this?”

Princess Luciella scratched her head as she looked at the chunky ‘plate’ in front of her.

“Isn’t this the kind of plate that’s only used in Lo Stibale?”

In the Lo Stibale region, the use of bread as a plate has long been practiced.

That’s why the princess described the round flat bread in front of her as a plate.

“Are you saying that this dish is superior to mint chocolate?”

“That depends on your taste, but if you like cheese, I think you’ll like it.”

“I guess I’ll have to try it to find out.”

Luciella picked up her fork and knife and sliced into the thick bread.

“!”

Luciella gasped as she saw the cheese cascading out of the sliced bread.

Hiding her excitement, she carefully picked up the bread.

The cheese followed her up the slice, stretching and stretching.

“Oh…!”

Luciella swallowed the bread and looked ecstatic.

“What’s the name of this food?”

“It’s pizza.”

To be exact, it was a ‘Chicago Pizza’ with lots of cheese that was transformed in Chicago, USA.

“Pizza…….”

As Luciella finished off her Chicago pizza with admiration, Yuri said.

“Let’s call the three great delicacies of the empire ‘chicken, pizza, and hamburger’.”

“Chicken, pizza, and hamburgers……!”