The Struggle of a Weak Aristocrat in a Different World Our Domain is Surrounded by Large Aristocrats

C42: Bread making! (I don’t make my own bread) (2)

“I can’t help it, but Chris-sama is the one who has to study. Can’t it be after the exams?”

Yulis looked down at me as I got down on my knees and said.

“I think it’s going to take a while. I want to get it done before I start school.”

“I see…….Well, then, Master Chris. If you do the baking, may I know how you plan to do it?”

“There’s a process to make the bread rise, and I’m going to create a microorganism that can successfully make that possible!”

“Chris-sama, I can’t believe you’re that crazy…….You don’t have to work so hard anymore. You and I can give up everything and live together quietly in the countryside somewhere far away.”

Yulis said in a gentle tone of voice, her face instantly clouding over, unable to hide her grief-stricken expression, forcing a smile and turning her pitying eyes to me.

Her suggestion is a very attractive one, but I am very unwilling, so I immediately said.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’d like my first child to be a girl and my second to be a boy.”

“No, that’s…..”

I desperately explained to Yulis, who was already in the mood to live with me, citing examples of phenomena caused by familiar microorganisms.

“I see. It makes sense that microorganisms are responsible for these phenomena.”

Apparently, she understood and the misunderstanding was cleared up.

“Right?”

“Yes. But we need people who are flexible enough to understand and accept this idea.”

“I see…….Well, as long as you get the results, some people will understand.”

“I’ll help you with the work for now, so please study hard, Chris-sama.”

I decided to cut down on my sleeping hours and Yulis pushed Hal to do his own work and conduct the yeast culture experiment.

The first step in culturing yeast is to prepare the sake. Then we made a petri dish made of stone with grape jelly medium to prevent other bacteria from getting into it.

I asked Hazuki to make me a thin iron rod with a wooden handle. I sterilized the tip of the iron rod by burning it, let it cool, and then dipped the tip in sake and applied it like a worm to the medium I had made.

I made several of these and left them in a temperature-controlled place out of the sun. A few days later, when I opened the petri dish, I found a lot of fungus, including mold, growing where I had applied it. From among them, I attached a small white round object to the end of an iron rod and placed it in a test tube filled with grape juice, which had been boiled, cooled, and covered to prevent bacteria from entering.

I made several more of these. When I opened the package a few days later, I found that most of them were not good, but a few of them smelled like good alcohol. The ones that smelled like alcohol were the ones where the yeast had been cultivated.

Then, I had the chef of the house make bread by adding the yeast that I produced and fermenting it. Some of the breads made turned out to be sour or fermented too slowly. However, some of them fermented well and produced delicious bread with a mellow aroma.

“Yulis, repeat this process to make the bread you think is the best. And keep cultivating the yeast that makes the best bread, changing it periodically to a suitable medium.”

“Very well, sir. Also, I’ve found someone who might be able to take over this task, so I’ll make arrangements for that as well.”

“After that, tell Sotheby’s to advertise, ask Zeon to build a bakery and a new research lab for yeast production, etc., and ask Hal to recruit bakers for the bakery!”

Thus, after letting others take over the work, I devoted myself to studying for the exam and left for the entrance exam, dreaming of the day when I would be able to eat delicious bread.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

And so, here we are.

“Yulis, I’m sorry to be so quick, but I’d like to try some bread made with our yeast……”

“Yes, I see. I’ll go tell them to make it now.”

“Thank you! I’m looking forward to it!”

Then I waited for several hours.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Master Chris. This is bread made by fermenting with homemade yeast.”

Freshly baked bread was laid out in front of me. The bread was baked to a fluffy perfection and seemed to be covered with a pleasantly rich aroma of steam, so I couldn’t help but reach for it.

I took a bite of the fluffy bread. The first thing I felt was the moist and chunky texture. Then, a stronger mellow aroma exploded in my mouth. And above all, the simple, deep and gentle sweetness of the bread! It was so good that it made me forget about the hardships and pains of making the yeast!

“It’s good! It’s too good!”

Yulis smiled at my delight, as if she was looking at an infant.

“Can I have some of this bread too?”

“Mmm, here you go. This bread it’s flavored with mayonnaise that Chris-sama taught me before, potatoes, bacon, and cheese. It’s a product for nobles and wealthy merchants.”

The bread was browned so the outside was crispy, sliced lengthwise and filled with crispy potatoes, topped with baked mayonnaise, bacon, and melted cheese on top of it.

“What the hell is this? It’s too good!”

First of all, the elegant saltiness of the melted cheese enhanced the sweetness of the bread made with homemade yeast, and the combination of the robust flavor of the bacon and the crispy potatoes, and the sourness of the mayonnaise, which went well with the bacon, cheese, bread, and potatoes, further brought out the potential of the ingredients.

Even with all these ingredients, the pleasant mellow aroma and sweetness of the bread lingered in my mouth. I can’t really put it into words, but one thing I can say with certainty is that it is insanely delicious! I was convinced of the success of this bread business.