第396話~試食会~
「うーん、まぁこんなものですよね」
「俺は悪くないと思うけどなぁ」
「十分美味しい」
昼食は俺達が持ってきた缶詰やインスタント食品にアレンジを加えて調理されたものが振る舞われることになった。舌の肥えているドリアーダ的にはナシ寄りのアリという評価で、俺的にはアリ寄りのアリ、アイラとしてはアリという評価である。
「ふぅむ、美味いか不味いかで言えば美味いか?」
「宮廷で出すレベルの料理ではないな」
「だが、火と鍋があればどんな場所でもこれが食えるのだろう? 画期的ではないか?」
「年単位で保存も効くそうだぞ」
「コスト次第では備蓄食とするのも良さそうだが、穀物のまま保存するのと比べるとどうかな」
「過酷な任務を行う前線の兵の士気を維持するには良さそうだ。輸送にも耐えるそうだしな」
同じく俺達の持ってきた缶詰やインスタント食品を口にしている各国使節の反応も様々だ。絶賛するほど美味というわけではないが、これが年単位で保存できて長距離の輸送にも耐えるだけの耐久力があるという点は驚異的だと判断されているようである。所謂貴族的な人物よりも前線に出た覚えのある軍人などからの評価が高いようだ。
「これはつまみに良い」
「悪くない。いや、良いな」
なお、昼間から適度に砕いた即席麺をそのままボリボリと食いながら、冷えたビールやワインを飲んでいる飲兵衛の連中も観測された。ちなみに飲兵衛達曰く、相性は冷えたビールが最高。次点で白ワインが合うそうだ。なるほどね?
「こちらのカンヅメとやらも悪くない」
「調理されたものは全体的に味が濃いから酒のつまみに良いな」
「確かに晩酌に良いかもしれんな。だが料理人に作らせれば良いのではないか?」
「長期保存が効き、調理せずとも開けるだけで食べられるというのが利点だからな。普段の生活で利用することは無いように思えるが」
「だが調理の手間を省けるというのは強い。極論、調理器具や燃料の確保も必要としない上に火を使わなくてもそこそこのものを食えるというのは素晴らしいと思うが」
「そうだな。敵に見つかってはならない斥候や、魔物の領域奥深くに足を踏み入れる冒険者などには有用なのではないか?」
飲兵衛達もただ酒のアテにしてるだけではなく、それなりに真面目に議論をしてくれているようだ。ちなみに、グランデは「食事会とやらはつまらん」と言って部屋で寝ている。今回は缶詰や即席麺メインでグランデ好みの料理が出ることもまず無いのがわかってたしな。
「しかしこれ、珍しがられたり興味を引いたりはできるだろうけど、国威発揚って意味ではどうなんだろうな?」
「確かにそういう意味では微妙かもしれないわね」
「外国の珍しい食べ物、くらいのインパクトしかない」
「だよなぁ。やっぱ作り方とか公開して技術支援をするとかまでやらないと駄目じゃないか?」
「そこまでやるのは時期尚早かと思うわ。そもそも、メリナード王国でもまだ生産能力が足りていない状況でしょう?」
「国威発揚という意味では魔道飛行船だけで十分」
ドリアーダとアイラがそれぞれ俺の発言に否を唱える。むむ、確かに言われてみればその通りか。缶詰も即席麺もまだ国内に行き渡るほどの量は生産できていない。というか、現段階でも試作の行きを超えていないと言える。生産量は徐々に増えているが、軍用の先行量産型って感じだしな。
メニューもオニールと燻製肉のスープ、クリームチャウダー、塩辛い肉の缶詰、挽肉と豆のトメル煮込みの缶詰、魚の水煮の缶詰くらいで、多様性には乏しい。果物のシロップ漬けの缶詰とか作りたいんだが、砂糖が高くてなぁ。そのために砂糖を得るための作物が欲しいというのもあるんだよな。
「技術そのものを洗練してノウハウを積み重ねた後に技術を輸出、あるいは公開するという方向性で考えているということにしておこうか」
「それが良いと思うわ」
「ん、私も同意する。まだ技術を確立してから日が浅い。何か問題が出る可能性もある」
「それはそうだな」
理論上は年単位で保存できるはずだが、何かの影響で腐敗したり、その他の害が確認される可能性もゼロではないからな。例えばスープに一度火入れすることを徹底しているのも、万が一傷んだりしていた場合に毒素を無毒化するためのものだし。基本的には浄化魔法の効果で毒素や病原体は排除されているはずだが、それも確実じゃないからな。確かめる術もないし。
軍人達を実験台にするわけじゃないが、一般や他国に向けて手広く供給するのは時期尚早であるという意見には俺も同意する。
食事がある程度済み、俺達が持ち込んだ保存食を堪能したドラゴニス山岳王国や小国家連合の面々に色々と質問をされたが、とりあえずは今この場で話し合った方向性で説明してその場を凌ぐことになった。
最近開発されたばかりの新技術であること。今は軍用に限定して先行量産を始めたばかりで製作工程なども試行錯誤している途中であり、洗練の余地があるということ。最終的に十分なノウハウを積み重ねることができれば国内で大量生産を始める予定であり、その後には国外向けにもある程度の量を販売できるだろうということ。そして、情勢次第では技術の輸出や公開なども視野に入れていること。
「高性能の保存食というのは軍事的な価値が高いものだが、民生利用した場合には災害時の備蓄食料としても大いに活用できるし、食品加工の分野で新しい雇用も生み出せる。今まで保存に向かなかった作物を長期保存できるようになれば国全体の食糧事情も改善するし、新たな外貨獲得手段にもなり得る」
「そんな技術を将来的に公開すると? 貴国に何の得があるというのだ?」
どこの国の誰かはわからないが、気難しそうな有翼人の男性がそう聞いてきたので、俺は肩を竦めながら答えた。
「お腹が空くのは誰だって辛いだろう? 誰もが飢えずに済むようになれば、争いごとも少しは無くなるんじゃないかな。それに、多少なりともうちの国に恩を感じてくれればうちの国がいくらかやりやすくなるじゃないか」
「......そうか」
俺に問いかけてきた彼はそう言って苦笑いを浮かべた。青臭い理想論者だと思われたのか、それとも後半部分の露骨な発言に苦笑いしたのかはわからないが、気難しそうな顔を苦笑いにできたのでよしとしよう。然程悪い印象を与えたわけでも無さそうな雰囲気だしな。
「どちらにせよ将来的な話だからな、この辺りは。前にも言ったように、興味があるならば正式に使節を送ってもらえればある程度は対応できると思う。今のメリナード王国は旧メリナード王国とも、聖王国支配下のメリナード王国とも違った新しいメリナード王国に変わりつつあるところだから、色々と見応えのある部分も多いのではないかな」
無論、無制限になんでもかんでも公開しているわけでもないけども。基本的に研究開発部は部外者立ち入り禁止だし、銃士隊や魔銃隊は国防を担う中核戦力だ。クロスボウは民間にも普及しつつあるし、うちの軍の標準装備でもあるからある程度は見せても良いかもしれないけどな。
そんな感じで新型保存食試食会という性質を帯びた昼食会はそこそこの好評を得て幕を下ろしたのだった。
ここから夜の晩餐会までは特に予定がないな。さて、どう動くべきかね? 俺としてはドラゴニス山岳王国の普通の生活とか街並みを見てみたいんだけどな。
397 Lesson 396 - Tasting -
"Hmm, well, this is it, isn't it?"
"I don't think it's a bad idea."
"Delicious enough"
At lunch, the canned foods and instant foods we brought were arranged and cooked. Doriada with a fat tongue is evaluated as a pear ant, and I am evaluated as an ant and an ant as ant.
"Hmm, is it delicious or not?"
"This is not the level of food served in the court."
"But with fire and pot, you can eat this anywhere?" Isn't that a breakthrough? "
It's going to work on an annual basis.
"Depending on the cost, it might be good to stockpile food, but compared to preserving grain as it is"
"It seems like a good way to maintain the morale of the soldiers on the fronts who carry out harsh missions." It's going to withstand the transport. "
Similarly, there have been various reactions from the international missions who have been talking about the canned foods and instant foods that we brought. Although it is not so delicious as to be admirable, it is judged to be remarkable in that it can be stored on an annual basis and is durable enough to withstand long-distance transportation. It seems that the military personnel who have been on the front line are more highly regarded than the so-called aristocratic people.
"This is good for the knob."
"Not bad. No, it's good."
Drinking guards were also observed drinking cold beer and wine while eating crushed instant noodles in moderation during the day. By the way, beer that is cold is the best compatibility, according to the drinking guards. The next point is that white wine goes with it. I see?
"It's not bad if you don't want to do this."
"The cooked food has a strong flavor overall, so it's good for snacking on sake."
"It might be good for a drink." But why don't you let the cook cook do it? "
"The advantage is that it is effective for long-term storage and can be eaten by simply opening it without cooking. It doesn't seem to be used in everyday life."
"But it's strong to save the hassle of cooking." I think it's great to eat something that doesn't require polarity, that doesn't require cooking utensils or fuel, and that doesn't require the use of fire. "
"I see. Isn't it useful for scouts who shouldn't be found by the enemy, or for adventurers who step deep into the realm of monsters?"
The drinking guards aren't just talking about booze, they're arguing seriously about it. By the way, Grande sleeps in the room saying, "I don't like dinner parties." This time, I knew that the main dish of canned and instant noodles was rarely a dish like Grande.
"However, this can be unusual and interesting, but what do you mean by the launch of the National Assembly?"
Surely that may be subtle in the sense of that.
"There's only as much impact as foreign rare foods"
Well, I guess we'll have to make it public and provide technical assistance.
"I think it's premature to go that far." In the first place, there is not enough production capacity in the Kingdom of Merinado, right? "
"In the sense of national authority, a magic airship is sufficient."
Doriada and Isla disagree with my remarks. Well, if you say so, you're right. Both canned and instant noodles have not yet been produced in sufficient quantities to reach Japan. In other words, it can be said that the prototype has not been exceeded at this stage. Production is gradually increasing, but it feels like a military upfront mass production type.
The menu is poorly varied, with soups of oreil and smoked meat, cream chowder, canned salty and spicy meat, canned ground meat and beans stewed in tomato sauce, and canned fish stewed in water. I want to make a can of fruit pickled in syrup, but sugar is expensive. Sometimes they want a crop to get sugar for it.
"Let's consider the direction of exporting or publishing technology after refining the technology itself and accumulating know-how."
"I think that's a good idea."
"Hmm, I agree." The days have been shallow since we established our technology. Something could go wrong. "
That's right.
In theory, it should be able to be preserved on an annual basis, but there is no possibility that it will be corrupted by some kind of influence or any other harm will be confirmed. For example, we make sure to put it in the soup once, in order to make the toxin nontoxic in the unlikely event that it gets damaged. Basically, the effects of purification magic should have eliminated toxins and pathogens, but I'm not sure about that either. There was no way to make sure.
I don't want to use the military as an experimental platform, but I agree that it is premature to supply a wide range of military personnel to the general public and other countries.
To a certain extent the meal has already been completed. We were asked various questions about the Dragonis mountain kingdom and the small country coalition that enjoyed the preserved food we brought in, but in the meantime, we decided to surpass the situation by explaining it in the direction we discussed here.
It must be a new technology that has only recently been developed. Now that we have just started mass production in advance, limited to military use, we are in the midst of trial and error in the production process, which means that there is room for refinement. If we can eventually accumulate sufficient know-how, we plan to start mass production in Japan, and after that, we will be able to sell a certain amount abroad. Also, depending on the situation, we are looking at technology exports and disclosure.
"High-performance preserved food is of high military value, but if used for civilian purposes, it can be greatly utilized as reserve food in the event of a disaster, and new jobs can be created in the field of food processing. If crops that have not been suitable for long-term preservation can be preserved for a long time, the food situation of the whole country will be improved, and it can be a new means of obtaining foreign currency."
"What kind of technology do you expect to see in the future? What's in it for you?"
I don't know who's from which country, but that's what a winged man asked me, so I shrugged my shoulders and answered.
"It's hard for everyone to get hungry, right? If everybody doesn't starve, there won't be any battles. Besides, if you feel more or less indebted to our country, our country will be a little easier to do."
"... I see."
When he asked me, he said so and smiled bitterly. I don't know if you thought you were a blue-ass idealist, or if you bitterly smiled at the explicit remarks in the second half, but I could make a bitter smile on your face, so let's do it. It didn't seem like it made such a bad impression.
"Either way, it's a future story, so around here." As I said before, if you are interested, I think you can deal with it to some extent if you can send an official envoy. Since the Merinado Kingdom is turning into a new Merinado Kingdom unlike the former Merinado Kingdom and under the reign of the Holy Kingdom, there are many things worth seeing. "
Of course, I don't publish anything indefinitely. Basically, the R&D department is off-limits, and the Musketeers and Magic Guns are the core forces in charge of defense. Crossbows are becoming popular among the civilian population, and they're standard equipment for our troops, so I might be able to show them to some extent.
In this way, the luncheon, which had the qualities of a new preserved food tasting party, was well received and the curtain was closed.
I don't have any plans from here to the evening dinner party. Now, how should we move? I'd like to see the ordinary life of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom and the streets.
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