The herb field.
I never fell ill thanks to the Healthy Body I received from God, so I hadn't really paid much attention to them, but medicinal herbs were actually used by the villagers in a wide variety of ways.
I’d assumed they were only used by Lu, Tia, and Flora for their research, but apparently, finding the right herb at the right time was quite a chore.
Once I heard that, I decided to establish a herb field.
I asked the High Elves to gather samples, bringing back as many varieties as possible—ideally with the roots still attached.
While certain trees supposedly have medicinal properties as well, those only need to be located once, so I put them off for the time being.
Thirty varieties in total.
There were far more types of medicinal herbs than I had anticipated.
I suppose it makes sense, given that each one serves a different purpose.
For now, I used the Universal Farming Tool to create the fields while examining the physical specimens.
I situated them on the east side of the main farming area.
I started with a space roughly four by four fields in size.
If this goes well, I’ll expand it later.
According to Lu and the others, medicinal herbs fetch a high price, so Michael might be interested in buying them.
Since they’re medicine, I won’t worry too much about the market value dipping a bit.
...
Some of the herbs looked familiar.
Specifically, the dangerous kind you see in detective dramas.
I wondered about the ethics of cultivating such things...
"It all depends on how you use them," I was told. "Besides, they are actually very important medicinal herbs."
So, I grew them—under the condition that they be strictly managed.
The Dwarves’ brewing is progressing smoothly.
New types of alcohol make an appearance on the dinner table every so often.
That said, they only serve three main categories: wine, beer, and distilled spirits.
They seem to be experimenting by varying the base ingredients.
For now, I passed on what little I could remember about making sake from rice.
Drawing on my experience researching soy sauce and miso, I used the Universal Farming Tool to grow the necessary Sake Koji.
I figured it might take a few years to see any results, but they produced something resembling the real thing in no time at all.
They claim the flavor still needs work, but I have high hopes.
Incidentally, the number of Dwarves has increased again.
I wonder if they have some sort of instinct for congregating wherever alcohol is found.
There are currently eight Dwarves in the village.
Once we secured a steady supply of milk, I began making cheese and butter.
Butter is relatively simple, though it requires a fair amount of physical labor, but cheese requires an enzyme to curdle the milk.
Usually, this is obtained from the stomachs of calves...
But I couldn't do that.
Calves are just too cute.
I couldn't bring myself to slaughter one just for the sake of cheese.
On a related note, while the numbers of cows and chickens are increasing steadily, I still haven't eaten any of them.
Ugh.
I suppose I’m not cut out for livestock farming.
I had to rely on the Universal Farming Tool.
I shifted it into the form of a Rice Scoop and prayed for an enzyme that could curdle milk while I stirred.
That was last year.
Now, rows of cheese sit before me.
Thank you, Universal Farming Tool.
I offered the finished cheese and some alcohol at the Shrine of the Great Tree.
I soak the soybeans in water for about a full day.
Then, I remove them from the water and mash them.
Next, I boil the mashed beans and squeeze out the liquid.
I boil that liquid once more and add the water left over from boiling down seawater for salt.
Once it starts to solidify, I pour it into a mold.
Tofu!
The pulp left over from the squeezing process is okara.
"It... doesn't really have a taste?"
"It's more about the texture. Let’s try eating it with the seasonings we got from Shashato City."
I can't wait until we've developed our own soy sauce.
I flake the fish meat and grind it into a paste.
I strain the paste, add salt, and keep kneading it.
Once it turns tacky, I shape it and let it rest for about an hour.
Finally, I boil it and let it cool.
The Kamaboko is complete!
The color leaves something to be desired, but the taste is excellent.
"What exactly is straining?"
"It’s filtering the meat through a fine cloth. It’s an extra step to remove any impurities and refine the texture. Zabuton made the cloth for me."
I managed to gather a decent supply of curry-related crops, including chili peppers, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, cumin, and bay leaves, so I decided to attempt making curry.
Since I wasn't sure about the exact proportions, I simply crushed them into powder and mixed them together.
I adjusted the blend based on the scent and color.
Eventually, I produced a powder that looked the part.
...
I felt a flicker of anxiety, but I went ahead with the challenge.
The result: a curry-like soup.
I want to get it even closer to actual curry, but even this version was a hit with the villagers.
"This spicy kick is addictive."
"The flavor changes depending on the blend, doesn't it? I’d like to research this further."
"The smell alone makes me hungry."
It has become a staple dish that appears on the menu two or three times a month.
Agar-agar is essential for making sweets.
I described a seaweed that looked like tengusa to Michael and had him source some for me.
After washing and drying it several times, I boiled it with vinegar and cooled the resulting liquid to produce Agar-agar.
It’s a labor-intensive process, but the steps themselves are simple.
Using the finished Agar-agar, I added fruit to make a simple jelly.
I was able to create a wide variety of jellies, using every type of fruit we had available.
The texture of the jelly was well-received, and because I kept serving it as a dessert after meals, our stock of tengusa vanished in an instant. I’ll have to put in another order with Michael.
While I’m constantly experimenting with various dishes, our diet still mostly consists of boiled or grilled crops and game.
In the past, they just threw things over the fire or into a pot as they were, but after some instruction from me, the High Ogre chefs are now quite skilled. They’ve learned how to pre-season ingredients, adjust the cooking temperature, and utilize residual heat.
The meat is particularly good.
They serve magnificent Roast Boar—though it looks exactly like roast beef.
They’re also busy researching various sauces to go with it.
Lately, they’ve been very enthusiastic about creating wasabi-based sauces.
The village's Roast Boar has become such a popular dish that Draim requests it every time he visits.
We built a new oven for bread and began researching ways to mass-produce it and increase the variety.
The High Elves were just as passionate about this as the High Ogres.
As a result, they began implementing a second fermentation.
I had completely forgotten, but for bread, both the first fermentation after kneading the dough and the second fermentation after shaping it are vital.
By introducing that second fermentation, it became possible to bake larger items—like a standard Loaf Bread.
It’s a great development.
At the same time, it’s become popular to bake the dough with various fillings inside.
All sorts of things resembling Sweet Buns are being made.
I suppose it helps that we have a generous supply of sugar.
Alongside them, I baked some Pizza.
Now that we have cheese, I’ve been craving it.
I’d intended to bake it as a snack for myself, but it was quickly devoured by everyone nearby.
Now Pizza is the new trend.
Well, a richer diet is a good thing.
It makes me feel like working harder.
Perhaps that was the reason.
Tia was pregnant.
One character represents a size of about 50x50 meters.
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The river is about five kilometers in that direction.
The Wasabi Water Paddy is not shown because it is quite small.