"It’s an occasional employee benefit," he said. Besides, he didn’t cook for them every day anymore. They would usually just eat in the canteen, which was already plenty delicious.
However...he wanted them to eat today. Just so he could see the results of his experiments.
They heard gasps at the table. "So delicious! So delicious!"
"This is even better than before!"
"I feel energized...it’s amazing..." Micc said, and he even activated his status gem to see his stats. He gaped, his spoon pausing mid-air.
[Hoovensore Vital Stew (C)]
[Information: Invigorating stew crafted from the leg of a male hoovensore simmered with a blend of thornroot tubers, veilroot, stonebulb, and a medley of nettleflame and basilume. Maintains stamina and reduces drain by 25% for 15 minutes.]
The others did not have status gems, and they did not notice this movement of their stats. They were just focused on eating.
"Ranran can die now," Ranran said, her green face flushed, but Tumble reacted immediately.
"No! Don’t die, we have so much work to do for the inn!"
"I am joking, silly !"
Anyway, they were enjoying it so much that it made their guests even hungrier.
Not that the staff noticed it, of course. Before they knew it, the staff seemed super energetic and left them behind to do a portion of their jobs.
The guests felt like they had just come out of torture.
"I wonder how it tastes."
"Can we order some as well, I wonder?"
"They mentioned that meals made by the owner are priced differently."
Knowing that they could order, albeit depending on the innkeeper’s moods, the four walked forward and approached him. "Can we buy some of your food?"
"OH, sure," he said. "A set is priced at...I’m not sure. You tell me."
He smiled. "I’m only making C-Class cuisine today, dear customers," Finn smiled. "How much would you be willing to pay for them?"
"What? C-class?"
Even the best chef in their town couldn’t guarantee their meals to 100% be C-Class cuisine. D-class, sure, maybe
That said, there was no reason to lie about something they could easily confirm. What if this were a legitimate question?
Ravin looked at him. "Are you asking our group to determine how much we’d pay?"
"For today, that is indeed the offer."
Arthur and his companions looked at each other. They did not dare price low because they were afraid this was a test. What if they quoted a lower price than what he wanted, and they never sold him his food again?
The four thought deeply, as if solving a puzzle.
Finn stared at them. They were overthinking things.
He just genuinely wanted to know how much it could be sold for. That said, if someone else mentioned a better price, then their impression might lower in response, so he understood their worries.
They looked like they were experiencing a conundrum. At this, Ignus looked at him. "Can we decide after tasting the food?"
The other three looked at him in admiration. "Genius!"
"..." Ignus stared at his companions. They were not this admiring when he defeated a fortified stage monster on his own...
Finn agreed and turned around to his kitchen counters. "I will take about an hour to prepare all four dishes," he said. "You can sit or get cleaned up while you wait."
He had to say it. He worried they’d stand behind him the whole time. Even if he was an exhibitionist chef, it didn’t mean that he enjoyed the constant attention on his back and his every movement!
He prepared the meat first, taking the gugu bird breast from the cellar. It was already dripping with sauce, pre-marinated, and something he had been doing the past few days as he practiced.
Besides it, he took a pouch of whispercap mushrooms. Then he took a jar of salt and prepared a few of his pre-made sauces and condiments.
He then collected a bundle of fresh basilume leaves, berries, and so on from the garden, their fragrance a cross between mint and lemon.
He was going to make a new dish called Golden Gugu Bird over Mushroom rice as the main dish, which should be a C-Class dish if there was no accident, and he’d add the side/starter as the Pickled Sunberry and Basilume Salad, a D-Class dish.
Because it experienced minimal changes from the chef, salads could normally only be E-Class Essence food.
This was unless the ingredients themselves were magical.
It so happened that most of the sunberries he used now were made of sunberries from the [Garden], and the vinegar used was mostly of fruits also harvested there, so a salad became a rare Class D salad.
This also confirmed that his [Gardens] were even more awesome than he thought.
Anyway, he began to cook the mushroom rice. The mushrooms were wiped clean and sliced thin, their earthy scent blooming under the blade.
The whispercap mushroom was one of the ingredients he found while exploring the South of the inn. Since then, he had used it in various dishes where he knew the umami taste of mushrooms would go well with.
It was also a very good and healthy ingredient that matched well with others, assisting in elevating not just the taste and adding a dynamic texture, but also its level and benefits.
In a wide pot, he sauteed them in a spoon of gugu bird fat until they released their juices.
Foooshh! Fooosh!
He then poured it into a shallow broth made from gugu bird bones and crushed veilroot. Into this, he rinsed and added the bindergrain rice, letting it soak in the flavor over a low flame.
The scent alone was delicious, making one willing to drown in it. With his peripheral view, he saw Arthur wipe his drool.
Finn also knew even this early that it’d definitely be a C-class dish.
From now on, he had a feeling that making C-Class consistently won’t be a problem anymore.