Barbecue Pig.
To be honest, Zephyr was quite curious about the specific taste of a legitimate Gourmet Creature.
Most importantly, when he noticed Lefiya and Charles holding the roasted meat but hesitating to eat, he knew that as a Gourmet Hunter, he had to set an example for his companions.
He first cut a piece of roasted pork belly to try the original flavor.
Click!
The meat was separated under the blade, and the cross-section showed distinct layers, with the golden crispy shell wrapping the tender pink inner layer and snow-white fat.
"It looks quite appetizing."
Compared to the crispy pork belly of his past life, the presentation was countless times better.
Zephyr stuffed the whole piece into his mouth. The moment his teeth bit down, the crispy outer shell shattered between his teeth first, emitting a crisp "crunch" sound.
Immediately after, rich juices burst out. The juices locked deep in the fibers by high heat spread along the root of his tongue. Th fresh scent of herbs reached his taste buds first, followed immediately by the mellow richness of the mushrooms.
The meat of wild porcine creatures was naturally firm, and combined with long-term consumption of truffles and herbs, the meat was permeated with natural flavors. It was impossible to describe using the pork he had eaten before he transmigrated.
It's actually this delicious? It's just... Eating it plain feels a bit greasy.
He stuffed several pieces in a row, his cheeks bulging. But when he was half full, his brows began to furrow slightly.
Unlike usual, this time his stomach was the first to negotiate. It was delicious, but a problem existed: greasiness!
The fat content of the Barbecue Pig was many times higher than he had expected. Eating it plain for a bit was fine, but eating too much became tiresome. After the fat spread over his tongue, the aftertaste became sticky.
Charles noticed the change in Zephyr's expression. He was somewhat at a loss, his gaze darting back and forth between the piece of roasted ribs in his hand and Zephyr, his face filled with confusion, hesitant about whether to take a bite.
He had never seen such an expression on Zephyr's face while eating. Even when eating Dungeon Lizard tails and Silverback meat last time, he hadn't frowned at all, stuffing it all into his mouth.
Could it be...
Is there something wrong with the Barbecue Pig meat?
Zephyr's stomach adaptability was arguably the strongest he had ever seen, he could even digest monsters from the Dungeon.
What else could be inedible?
If even Zephyr thought there was a problem, it must be quite serious.
Charles hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to ask, "Zephyr... is there something wrong with the meat?"
"If so, let's end today's exploration here. Safety is important, we can think about dinner after returning to Orario."
"Hmm? There's no problem."
Noticing Charles's expression, he wiped away the grease and pulled a small bottle of barbecue seasoning from the leather pouch at his waist. A reddish-brown powder mixture of cumin, chili powder, and white sesame seeds, which he had specifically scavenged from the Demeter Familia's general store.
Immediately after, he picked up a piece of roasted pork belly and sprinkled the barbecue powder evenly over it.
Zephyr stuffed it into his mouth, and the layers of flavor instantly opened up. The cumin grains burst with a unique spiciness, while the chili powder stimulated his taste buds, perfectly suppressing the greasiness of the roasted pork belly.
Barbecue just has to have some dipping sauce.
Noticing the confused and worried gazes of Charles, Kate, and Lefiya, Zephyr smiled and explained, "Roasted pork belly... if you eat it just like that, it feels like it gets greasy very easily."
He shook the seasoning bottle in his hand and said, "You have to pair it with barbecue seasoning. If you could have some lettuce to wrap it in, it would taste even better."
Who in their right mind could eat two pounds of roasted pork belly in a row without getting greasy!
Charles's lips couldn't help but twitch.
He felt that there was an unbridgeable gap between him and Zephyr regarding their understanding of food, they just couldn't talk on the same level.
Back in the School District, the classmates in his class who loved meat would eat at most one roasted chicken for a normal meal, which already counted as being at the level of a glutton. But Zephyr was on another level.
After he finished two pounds of roasted pork belly, he was actually complaining that it was greasy?
However, after confirming that the Barbecue Pig meat had no toxins, he looked at the glistening piece of roasted ribs in his hand, his taste buds gradually being piqued.
Charles struggled internally for a moment, but ultimately followed Zephyr's method, sprinkling the seasoning powder onto the roasted ribs and stuffing them into his mouth.
The moment he tasted the Barbecue Pig, his body stiffened. The crispy crust of the Barbecue Pig shattered between his teeth, and the meat juices exploded in his mouth.
The meat was more tender than he had imagined. It had softened under long-time roasting and required almost no effort to chew. It was definitely at the level of melting in the mouth.
He remembered the time he spent traveling the world following the School District. He had considered himself to have tasted all the delicacies in the world, with years of experience traveling around the world.
But the taste of the Barbecue Pig completely overturned all his perceptions of gourmet food.
The shock to his taste buds left him unable to recover for a long time, as if his soul had left his body.
He looked at Zephyr, his eyes churning with complex emotions, before finally turning to look at Kate beside him.
"Kate..."
"How about we... just stay in Orario from now on?"
"Huh?"
Kate was bewildered by this sudden proposal. She blinked, her gaze shifting from Charles's face to the roasted ribs, her lips slightly pursed, her expression quite complex.
Before she ask, she saw that Charles's expression was unprecedentedly serious.
"Leaving Orario... I feel like in this lifetime, it would be very difficult to eat such a delicacy again, it would be such a loss."
Hearing these words, Kate couldn't hold her expression anymore and shook her head, but when her gaze fell on the sliced Barbecue Pig meat, she was somewhat curious in her heart.
After all, Charles's reaction was right there. He loved eating good things, and the number of delicacies he had tasted was more than she had ever seen, his judgment was definitely not a problem.
If even Charles was stunned to this extent,
then just how tasty was it?
She looked at Zephyr, for the first time taking an active interest in monster cuisine, and said, "Zephyr... I want to try it too."
"No problem."
Zephyr smiled and pushed the seasoning bottle over. "Eat as much as you want, the portion is definitely enough. I can't finish it all by myself anyway, It would be a waste to just leave it there."
The rest of the team's lingering hesitation dissolved after seeing Charles's reaction, and they all gathered around to cut the Barbecue Pig.
Lefiya was no exception. After hesitating for a moment, she held a small portion of roasted ribs and crouched beside Zephyr, her teeth biting the edge of the meat.
Lefiya didn't say anything but the frequency with which her hand moved back and forth exposed her true evaluation of the meat.
Sure enough, in the face of absolute deliciousness, even the firmest psychological defenses would be breached.
Zephyr looked at the Barbecue Pig, which had basically not been touched much. The entire Barbecue Pig was huge, weighing at least two tons. Even if the team ate to their heart's content, it would only be a scratch for it.
After pondering for a moment, he said, "Let's take some back. Let Loki-sama have a taste, and leave the rest here, there's no need to carry it."
"Huh?"
Lili, who was gnawing on roasted pork ribs, looked up.
After hearing Zephyr's arrangement, her face relaxed and she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
Thank goodness he wasn't thinking about bringing it back.
She had calculated the capacity limit of the backpack in her mind. Estimating based on the overall weight of the Barbecue Pig, even with the load-bearing enhancement effect granted by the Artel Assist skill, to force herself to carry this thing toward Orario would be unrealistic.
Lili nodded. "No problem."
She rummaged through the side pocket of her backpack for a few sheets of oil paper and, together with Zephyr, packed up the sliced roasted ribs, roasted pork belly, and roasted leg meat separately.