……I feel really bad for saying this, but it was very simple to reassure Mia.
First, I just needed to give her something to eat.
As the weather started to get chilly, even though it might be a bit early, people selling fish-shaped pastries began to pop up on the streets.
I didn’t see them as often as when I was young, but if I walked about 30 minutes from home, I could find vendors selling them on the main street from time to time.
Since I usually carried a bit of cash, buying some fish-shaped pastries wasn’t a big deal.
Mia seemed somewhat wary when she got her first one, probably because it was a food she had never seen before, but once I, Alice, and Claire each took one and started enjoying it, Mia followed suit.
“Be careful, it’s hot.”
……That was a bit late to say. Mia had already taken a bite and was making a face as she blew on it.
In a way, that was probably the right way to eat it. After all, it’s a winter snack, so taking small bites when it’s fresh and hot, with the outside crispy and the inside steaming, is indeed how it should be enjoyed.
Even though she was flustered at first because it was too hot, she seemed to get used to it bit by bit as she continued to eat. Once she recognized the sweet red bean flavor inside, she started to eat happily.
“What’s in it?”
While Mia was focused on gingerly eating her pastry, Charlotte couldn’t hold back her curiosity and asked.
She still hadn’t taken a bite yet.
“……Charlotte. I know you’re doubting our taste as people from the Empire, but this is perfectly fine. After all, this isn’t the Empire, is it?”
“…….”
Come to think of it, it’s strange that Claire and Alice were easygoing about trying everything thrown their way.
Of course, videos can be a bit exaggerated, but when watching foreigners taste Korean food for the first time, it seems that Westerners are often overly wary of unfamiliar foods.
How should I put it? They seem to have a strong stereotype about food.
Especially those who take pride in their national cuisine seem to be the most affected by this; perhaps it’s only natural for people who come from a world built on such ‘exaggerated ideas.’
“It’s red bean.”
“……Red bean?”
“It’s sweetened red bean paste.”
“So, you mean eating sweetened beans?”
“……Could you at least try it before making assumptions?”
I politely requested.
“…….”
After listening to my explanation, it seemed Charlotte only became more prejudiced against the fish-shaped pastry as she eyed it suspiciously before finally taking a cautious bite.
After carefully chewing a few times, she mumbled, “……It’s tasty.”
See?
Still, I had a strange feeling that I would keep facing situations like this in the future, so I felt a little tense.
*
“What’s that?”
“That’s a croffle.”
“Croffle?”
“It’s a fusion food made by pressing croissant dough in a waffle machine.”
“……Why?”
“……Why not?”
Seeing Charlotte’s confused expression made me confused too, so I stopped walking, and Charlotte, with an extremely complicated look, said,
“If I want to eat a croissant, I can just eat a croissant, and if I want a waffle, I can eat a waffle. Why in the world would you use dough meant for croissants in a waffle machine?”
Seeing her serious face, I realized, Ah, it’s true that Velbur isn’t a country that’s solely based on French culture.
I’m not entirely sure which country croissants come from, but since they sound French and all, I’ll assume they are.
Waffles, on the other hand, are famously Belgian.
As a Korean, I feel like since they’re both ‘bread,’ it wouldn’t matter if you made them with the same dough, but maybe from Charlotte’s point of view, it would seem very strange.
So, I tried to understand Charlotte’s gaze.
……So, it’s like thinking about smashing kimchi with a pork cutlet hammer, right?
……Why?
Thinking about it that way actually seemed plausible. Of course, kimchi isn’t dough or anything, but still.
“Maybe the person who made it thought it was delicious?”
But while I could somewhat understand the ‘that seems odd’ part, I found myself unable to answer the question of ‘Why?’ After pondering a bit, Claire, who had been watching our discussion, asked.
For reference, while we were talking, Claire had already bought one for herself and was having a bite.
Mia, sitting next to her, was already picking at her croffle while watching our conversation.
“Well, it should taste good, right? They probably combined two delicious things.”
Charlotte looked at Mia, who was enjoying her croffle, with a perplexed expression and remarked.
“Well, that’s because they combined two tasty things.”
Alice, who had been quietly listening, finally couldn’t hold back and chimed in.
“Just think about putting eel jelly on a toast sandwich. Does that sound good to you?”
“……No, I don’t think that analogy is very good.”
But surprisingly, that example was quite effective.
In the end, Charlotte wasn’t entirely convinced, but she gave up on pressing further—
*
“It’s strange.”
—I had thought once.
“What’s strange?”
After wandering around for a while, I felt lucky that it was Charlotte who joined us at the café and not Sophia. But there she went, picking on the desserts we had brought back.
For reference, our ordered beverages were one frappuccino, one espresso, and three Americanos. The espresso was to prevent Charlotte from going into culture shock, and the frappuccino was the sweet drink we recommended to Mia.
Thinking that it was lucky it was Charlotte and not Sophia stemmed from the fact that Sophia would have been horrified at the sight of the Americano, which is essentially an espresso with water added.
Seeing Charlotte, who perfectly fits the ‘somewhat exaggerated stereotype,’ made me think that Sophia wouldn’t be much different.
Considering that authentic French cuisine is hardly available in Korea, and most are limited to desserts, I thought it would be a bit better—
“Is this a macaron?”
Charlotte exclaimed with disbelief.
What she pointed at was a macaron filled so thickly with filling that it had become the so-called ‘dung macaron.’
“……They say it’s called a dung macaron because it’s fat.”
“Dung ma…?”
Charlotte pressed her finger on her nose as if in disbelief.
“Why?”
“Maybe it’s the idea that more filling means more deliciousness?”
“……Just because there’s a lot inside doesn’t mean it’s delicious. Food is all about balance, right? That seems excessive, doesn’t it? Besides, if the shell breaks, it turns to crumbs. And if it doesn’t fit in one bite, won’t the filling ooze out when you chew it?”
All those points were quite valid, but unfortunately, I had nothing to say in response.
Because I wasn’t the one who made them.
Somehow, this kind of macaron got popular in Korea and is being sold all over cafes, but my input in that has been minimal. I was someone who probably ate two macarons a year at most. Even if the macarons I had eaten were ‘dung macarons,’ they wouldn’t have made a significant contribution to the entire macaron market in Korea.
“Why on earth?”
And after seeing Claire elegantly eat one of those dung macarons—without spilling a single drop of filling—while looking at Mia, who was covered in filling, Charlotte murmured in resignation.
“Well, don’t worry too much. I doubt most traditional dishes from Velbur have been transformed like that. They haven’t spread out here much.”
I said that and took a sip from the straw sticking out of my Americano.
Honestly, even if I stopped a random Korean and asked them, ‘Have you ever eaten anything other than dessert from French cuisine?’ I doubt many could answer.
I have heard of dishes made with wine instead of water, but I’ve never actually eaten them. I don’t even know where to find them.
“……No, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”
In response to my words, Charlotte answered with a blank expression.
“Well, don’t think too negatively, Charlotte.”
And sitting beside her, Alice casually swirled her drink with a straw and said,
“After all, the dishes you know in this world are all ‘French dishes,’ not ‘Velbur dishes.’ So, even if there are oddly transformed dishes here, they fundamentally aren’t altered from ‘Velbur cuisine.’”
“……But that in itself feels strange.”
Charlotte could only let out a lament under Alice’s teasing remarks.
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