Cornflower Witch

Chapter 163 The Inspiration of Steamed Eggs

During their recuperation period, the rest of the team members left Berg Town one after another, leaving only Bona and Sylvia to stay.

On this day, Bona rented a small house in town and began to instruct Hiltiya in cooking skills.

“When it comes to cooking, we have to mention the ‘golden steam’ property.” The girl with short chestnut hair held up her finger.

"The meaning of the 'golden steam' phenomenon lies in reshaping the world, that is, transforming one thing into another thing with a completely different form and function."

"This kind of 'attribute' was originally mastered and popularized by 'alchemists', and you can also understand us chefs of the extraordinary class as a variant of 'alchemy'."

"However, after the Ninth Era, which is the beginning of the Covenant Era, the invention of the 'steam engine' profoundly influenced the world and eventually fed back into the 'nature' law, transforming the original 'alchemy' nature into the 'golden steam' nature."

"Secret Words, Castle, and Golden Steam—these three aspects of nature were all born after the Eighth Era, and are very young paths of nature. There is currently no 'Sichen' born."

"At the same time, the birth of these three laws of sexuality is closely related to human activities and is also referred to by other races as the three sexual characteristics of human beings."

"After discussing the origins, let's talk about the characteristics of the 'chef' profession and cooking skills."

“If the ‘alchemist’ pursues the ultimate value transformation, then we are relatively less extreme. We believe that pursuing the experience that taste and texture bring to people is just as important as product quality.”

"If you really want to pursue the extraordinary effects of food, then you're not a chef, but a pharmacist or an alchemist."

"Well, the line isn't really that clear. I've seen quite a few seniors who are skilled in both alchemy and cooking." Bona shook her head.

"In my opinion, the most important thing for a good chef is to have a delicate and understanding heart. Unlike facing cold data, a chef needs to constantly adjust the flavor according to the diners. Only then can he be considered a good chef."

This is somewhat similar to what gardeners do. Each plant has subtle differences in its rhythm and pace. If you can't perceive and control these differences, you can at most cultivate crops of 'excellent' quality.

Over the next few days, Bona taught about the properties of various ingredients and how to process them to bring out their flavor and make them more palatable.

Each ingredient has different properties. Some are easily cooked and are suitable for stir-frying or grilling, while others are best eaten fresh. Some require heating to change their properties.

Hiltiya spent three days getting a general understanding of the properties and processing methods of common ingredients.

"Then came the practical exercise." Bona was quite pleased to see that the girl had such a good memory.

Over the next week, Hilti learned how to make common breads and pastries, as well as the process of roasting meat. The reason I say "process" is because whether food tastes good or not is a subjective matter, and she needs to make up for it with experience afterward, gradually accumulating insights and experiences.

After teaching the routines that ordinary chefs were familiar with, Bonna finally began to teach them the real extraordinary abilities.

"Does Tia really want to learn?" At first, she thought that Hilti was only slightly interested, but after spending the past few days together, she found that the girl was really learning and was very serious about it.

"Although making food is fun, it takes up valuable ability slots, so I don't really recommend that you cultivate so many abilities."

"No problem, I'll learn it first, and then I can forget it if I need to use the ability slot later." That was the only explanation Hilti could give at this point. "Alright then." Bona thought about it. If it was an ability at a low level, the difficulty of relearning it was actually relatively low. Although it was troublesome, it was indeed a way to allocate slots at lower levels.

“I haven’t reached the third tier yet, but I heard that you get an extra slot when you reach the fourth tier.” Bona stopped worrying about that and began to truly impart her insights on the 'Golden Steam' aspect.

……

Two days later, Hiltiya sat in front of the small blower, pressing it slowly with her hand, watching the airflow between the charcoal fires, the wisps of transparent flames licking the meat above, slowly cooking it, and then the aroma gradually wafted out.

This feeling is quite peculiar.

Blood Law, Beast Fang, and Dragon Eye represent the flesh, bones, and scales of a creature, respectively. These are the creature's inner essence, so one can learn them gradually simply by perceiving oneself.

The sun, moon, and stars, representing the three categories and nine aspects, are a wondrous connection between abstract concepts and the inner self, such as the concealment of 'mist and shadow', the death of 'ashes', and the vitality of 'blazing sun', etc.

The three aspects of secret speech, castle, and golden steam are purely abstract concepts with very little connection to oneself. As a result, other creatures with lower intelligence cannot understand these abstract concepts and therefore have no way to understand and learn them through bodily perception.

For example, the croaking toads in the valley can be used to learn about phenomena like "blazing sun" and "misty shadows." By using their instinctive perception of these phenomena, they can gradually understand the concepts and then master them.

But if you ask them to analyze specific chemical and physical formulas, their brains won't be enough; they can't rely on subconsciousness and instinct to assist them.

No wonder it's called the 'human' triad. In this world, apart from the superior races, only elves and a small number of races possess this level of intelligence, while the human population is far greater, accounting for approximately 95% of advanced intelligent life. Other races with insufficient intelligence are naturally at a disadvantage when learning these three traits.

She originally thought that the "Golden Steam" sexual aspect was similar to "Radiant Moon" and "Blood Rhythm," requiring one to rely on perception or instinct to find a certain "rhythm" or subtle feeling. However, she did not expect that when she actually learned it, she would find that it was actually a very objective, refined, and standard sexual aspect.

The degree to which meat is cooked is not a vague feeling, but rather relies on perception and precise control. At a certain temperature, the Maillard reaction is optimized, bringing out the nutrients and aroma perfectly.

In this respect, it is somewhat similar to 'emerald honey'. If you can understand the essence of things, you can adjust them according to their situation to make them work. However, even with the same 'golden steam' formula, different people will still produce different results.

This is similar to how the same box of paint can produce vastly different results in the hands of an ordinary person and a painter.

'Cui Mi' can be cultivated according to the plant's own growth pattern, following the vein pattern, while 'Jin Zheng' has to face a vast and empty wilderness.

The same few stones can be used to make simple stone weapons, or to extract metals through complex methods and finally forge incredibly precise mechanical instruments.

Its starting point is to perceive the essence of things and then utilize it, and its end point is endless change, repeated re-creation, and repeated exploration of the edge of possibility.

As the meat on the shelf slowly cooked, the girl's pupils were tinged with a faint golden-red flame color, and the last neatly edged pale gold card appeared in the destiny chart.

【Baking Method Lv.1 (Golden Steaming)】: Uses high-temperature heat to bake food, changing its internal molecular structure, stimulating its nutrients, and reshaping its texture, flavor, and characteristics.

Standing on the earth with 'castles' as shields and roofs, recording and accumulating past memories and experiences with 'secret words', and paving the way for the future with 'golden steam'—these are the three fundamental laws of nature that humanity has brought to the world since the rise of the human race at the beginning of the Eighth Era.

(End of this chapter)