Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chef Marchello deftly maneuvered his iron spatulas, quickly slicing through the air. The mulberry fruit on the grill was crushed into pulp with remarkable speed, blending seamlessly into the ice water.

Under the control of the head chef's dual spatulas, the purplish-red ice water spread out and gathered up swiftly. After a few repetitions, its texture gradually thickened and began to solidify, revealing a slushy consistency.

At this point, it was spread over the whole surface of the grill, then smoothed flat and left to quietly await complete freezing.

Once the mulberry fruit was chopped, its fibrous pieces, resembling fine fuzz, were evenly dispersed within the ice blocks, presenting an intriguingly novel appearance.

The fruit ice froze remarkably fast, completely solidifying in under a minute.

Chef Marchello used a spatula to carve grid-like lines on the ice surface, then forcefully slanted the spatula from the edge of the grill, easily scooping up small cubes of mulberry fruit ice from it.

Each box of fruit ice wasn't much, just a circle smaller than the palm in a paper box, perfectly filled with about eleven or twelve cubes.

As the fruit ice was ready on his end, Nagishiro Sho's grilled skewers were just coming off the grill, and Lin Chen was busy placing batches of chilled knife-shave noodles into serving boxes, seemingly ready to serve soon as well.

Despite having never collaborated before, the three of them displayed a surprising synergy in timing, managing to coordinate their dishes to be ready nearly at the same time. This was exactly why Lin Chen had arranged the team's order.

He was responsible for preparing the crayfish, which takes the longest time and requires continuous cooking without any stops.

In contrast, teppanyaki was rather time-consuming and could handle at most two orders simultaneously. If a customer ordered a larger quantity, it could only be cooked one by one.

While the customers waited, Lin's crayfish preparation allowed for some buffer time, and Chef Marchello's finished fruit stir-fried ice could be distributed to the curious diners to enjoy while waiting, preventing them from being bored with nothing to watch.

"The mulberry stir-fried ice is ready! Six portions left, customers in front who want some, please raise your hand!"

Upon hearing Elsa's announcement, the queuing customers craned their necks to take a look over, spotting boxes filled with purple cubes stacked neatly on the table, though the distance made it hard to discern the details clearly.

Most importantly, no one actually knew what mulberry was; the translated name felt strikingly unfamiliar to everyone.

Nonetheless, it didn't matter, as berries all had that sweet and sour taste. Being chosen by the head chef to create a dessert, the flavor was sure to be excellent. Instantly, dozens of hands shot up in the queue.

Following the order in line, the first six willing customers proceeded to collect their mulberry stir-fried ice and settled the payment immediately, ensuring they didn't mix things up with their orders later.

"Is this the chopped mulberry fruit? Why does it look so stringy and strange?"

The fibrous texture of the purplish-red fruit meat spread across the ice flakes made it impossible for anyone to picture what it originally looked like. Even the boxes on the table, containing processed fragments, bore little resemblance to anything whole.

Cam had come especially early today to compensate for yesterday's loss.

Yesterday, unknowingly indulging in plenty of ordinary food from other stalls left him unable to savor much of the gourmet snacks later.

Today, he was determined to eat at least two rounds, maybe even three if conditions allowed.

Money's made to be spent!

He was fortunate enough to squeeze into the first wave of incoming diners, now holding a box of freshly stir-fried mulberry ice, steaming under the sunlight.

Were it not known beforehand that the dish was icy, the emitting steam could easily deceive anyone into thinking it was something hot.

He scooped up a piece of mulberry ice to his nose, catching a hint of sweet and sour fruit fragrance.

Without much hesitation, he opened his mouth and swallowed it, eyes firmly fixed on Lin Chen in front of the pot brimming with crayfish.

The moment the stir-fried ice entered his mouth, it exploded with an extreme refreshing chill, instantly dispelling the surrounding heat and clearing his mind significantly.

Initially, there wasn't any distinctive taste, but as the stir-fried ice slowly melted with the warmth of the mouth, an increasingly strong sweet-sour fruity aroma unfolded.

The sweet taste of the stir-fried ice was well-balanced, not overshadowing the inherent sourness of the mulberry. He couldn't distinguish whether this was the sweet taste of the mulberry itself or the syrup.

Being finely chopped, the mulberry fruit meat did not provide a substantial sensation, only allowing a slight fibrous feel to be perceived by the tongue, nothing more.

The unprecedented taste of this fruit sparked his curiosity immediately, prompting him to scoop up two more pieces and pop them in his mouth.

In the scorching midday heat of Great Xia, surrounded by such a crowd, enjoying a bowl of cool, sweet-sour stir-fried ice unexpectedly gave him the illusion of eating a slushy.

Although this slushy was notably novel.

In the midst of eating, a strong aroma suddenly wafted over from ahead.

It wasn't just him; all diners around caught a whiff of the scent, their eyes locked onto Dais holding two paper buckets filled with various skewers.

Most striking was the giant squid, its plump flesh coated in sauce, quivering with every step as if tempting them to rush over and take a bite.

"Table one's skewers are ready!"

At the same time, Lin Chen's crayfish was also just done, ladling the broth over boxes filled with knife-shaved noodles before layering crayfish, garlic sauce, and green onions on top.

"Crayfish is ready!"

The crayfish was generously topped with golden garlic and green onion, its visual appeal alone enough to overshadow everything around, not to mention the flying knife-shave noodles beneath.

For a moment, everyone's curiosity about the teppanyaki skewers shifted entirely to the crayfish, and they eagerly gathered around to get a closer look at the finished product.

The diners today were regulars from the day before, and all of them, understanding each other's preferences, chose the large portions of crayfish, three pounds per box, causing Lin Chen to produce only six portions from two pots, with two pounds left over.

"Is there anyone who wants a small portion of crayfish?"

Elsa raised a megaphone and shouted loudly, expecting a unanimous response as before, but after waiting a long time, no one raised their hand, leaving her a bit puzzled.

"Everyone wants the large portion??"

"Yes!"

"That's right."

"Since we're already here, we definitely want the large portion."

"Can you combine portions?"

The man at the front of the line, watching Nagishiro the Head Chef making teppanyaki skewers with eager eyes, suddenly shouted, "I'll take this small portion first and have the next pot make up for a large portion for me, is that okay? Anyway, you'll have leftovers from the next pot too."

"Yes, of course, also, everyone need not worry about the crayfish tasting bad if it cools down. The longer it soaks, the more flavorful it becomes, and it's at its least flavorful straight out of the pot."

While busy packing, Elsa shouted through the megaphone to explain to everyone, while also collecting money, feeling almost overwhelmed.

Upon hearing the news that they didn't need to eat it while hot, the first seven diners who received their orders felt relieved.

"Sir, your order is ready, please enjoy~"

It was only when Elsa was packing that these diners noticed the hidden surprise in the middle of the packaging box.

What seemed like crayfish being poured over the noodles with its sauce was actually a two-layer box, with knife-cut noodles on the lower layer and crayfish on the upper layer, completely separate from each other.

"No wonder they said to let it soak for a while. The noodles aren't immersed in the soup at all!"

The first diner felt relieved immediately. He was worried that soaking too long would affect the texture of the noodles, but he hadn't expected they had already thought of a solution.

The Head Chef is indeed a Head Chef. It was his first time seeing such an advanced packaging box, separating wet and dry ingredients.

In front of him was a steaming, fragrant crayfish and a paper bucket full of meat skewers, still releasing steam, and the man couldn't help but swallow hard.

Looking around, seeing hardly anyone nearby, as everyone was waiting for their food to be served, it was quite empty, with all the diners lined up.

Without much hesitation, he reached into the bucket and pulled out the most eye-catching large squid skewer.

After being grilled, the squid hadn't shrunk noticeably in size, almost as large as a palm. Cut in several places on both sides, the thick squid meat wobbled continuously with his actions.

The surface, brushed with an unknown sauce, presented an enticing reddish-brown color, with an obvious layer of chili powder and cumin powder, and a lot of bright green scallions sticking to the surface.

The bamboo skewer's front end held the squid's intact tentacle, which, while not as plump as the squid's body, had a unique chewy texture understood by those who've tried it, undoubtedly more popular than the squid meat.

As the man stared at the large squid skewer in his hand, the attention of several other diners was also drawn.

Unable to help themselves, that large squid skewer was just too eye-catching, with a unique shape, and looked delicious.

Thinking that they could soon hold such a big treasure themselves, everyone's eyes gleamed with anticipation.

"Aah~"

The man opened his mouth wide and took a big bite, devouring ten tentacles at once.

As soon as it entered his mouth, a distinct sweetness blended with spiciness and cumin flavor exploded on the tip of his tongue.

It wasn't the sweetness of sugar but more like a natural sweetness from fermentation, very mild in sweetness.

After a couple of chews, a rich sauce flavor spread as he chewed.

The squid tentacles were as crisp and chewy as imagined, especially the suction cups, which were completely crisped, providing a unique and addictive crunch.

Despite the abundant chili powder, it wasn't spicy at all, even less spicy than the chili powder in yesterday's Chicken Fillet.

After swallowing the food in his mouth with a few chews, taste buds that had been dormant all night awoke, and more saliva gushed from the sides of his mouth, prompting the man to raise the squid body and take a big bite.

The sliced squid meat was easily torn off in whole sheets, providing unparalleled satisfaction with its thick texture, and every chew offered a juicy sensation.

Especially that indescribable magic flavor, somewhat like a smoked taste, but slightly different, overall just mesmerizing.

Squid is a true test of the chef's control of the cooking time, as any longer will turn the texture into rubber and impossible to tear.

Cooking for too short a time results in a noticeably soft and sticky texture akin to eating sashimi.

But the squid skewer before him was completely different, tender to the point where a slight bite would break it, neither overdone nor undercooked, the cooking was perfect!