Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 497 - 409: Fragrant Mini Sausages and Secret Beef Sauce

As the cheese stretched, a faint steam rose visibly and quickly disappeared into the air.

Nagishiro Sho maintained a calm expression, tearing off the cheese strands with one hand and immediately shoving them into his mouth, then taking a big bite of the pizza tip without hesitation.

The expected crunchy ’crack’ sound was absent; surprisingly, the pizza crust still retained a distinct resilience, somewhat like a texture between this morning’s handmade burger and toast.

Seeing Nagishiro Sho devouring it like this, Raphael and Marchello were not to be outdone, each grabbing a slice and stuffing it into their mouths.

This is a moment where hesitation is simply not an option, because if you hesitate, you fail.

They didn’t particularly dislike the taste of durian and could eat it, but mostly it was a mental resistance.

The durian pulp spread over the hot pizza surface had completely melted through baking, presenting a creamy texture that dissolved instantly with a gentle touch of the tongue.

Even more surprisingly, the distinct smell of durian seemed to dissipate significantly after being baked at high temperature, while the sweetness increased. Paired with cheese and the dough, the taste was unexpectedly better than anticipated.

But it was merely acceptable; making them instantly fall in love with this flavor was certainly impossible.

After chewing a few times to experience the details of this pizza and understand how it differed from traditional ones, the two, in unison, barely chewed much before swallowing the sweet and greasy pizza down their throats.

Clearly having started eating later, they somehow caught up and even surpassed Nagishiro Sho, finishing the entire center portion of the pizza first, leaving only the stuffed crusts.

"Crunch"

The texture of the stuffing was distinctly different from that of the middle crust; the surface had been baked crisp, bearing a slight crisp sensation.

Because it was folded, the presence of the crust became more pronounced, like eating a stuffed bread.

The center was filled with pineapple sauce brimming with creamy essence, similar to having a bite of melted cheese enveloped in pineapple jam.

The sour and sweet pineapple paired with the creamy cheese offered a totally different sensation from the previously purely sweet durian.

"This stuffed flavor is lovely, cooling it in bread would probably make it amazing."

"I think the same."

Luckily, Lin Chen cut the pizza into not-too-large pieces, about an eighth each, making it just a few bites.

The three swiftly polished off the durian pizza in hand and reached for the pineapple pizza on the other side.

Having already tasted the creamy pineapple stuffing and the Orléans chicken drumstick, they could roughly anticipate the flavor of the pineapple pizza now.

The fresh pineapple had a higher sour-sweetness, especially after baking when it was wrapped in piping hot juice that burst with every chew.

The salty-sweet Orléans chicken drumstick provided a tender texture and juicy burst, intermingling different juice flavors within the mouth, along with the wheat aroma and cheesy creaminess, creating complexity surpassing even the durian pizza.

Eating too much of this sweet pizza can quickly become overwhelming, and this is where the savory Orléans chicken chunks play a crucial role to balance out that sweetness.

Finally, having braved the last bite of pineapple pizza, Marchello and Raphael hurriedly reached for their cups and gulped down several sips of ice-cold cola.

Without this lifesaving drink, they genuinely doubted if they might end up throwing up.

Such a physiological response was beyond their control, purely a psychological effect.

"How does it taste? Better than you expected, right?"

Lin Chen grinned as he moved the remaining two pizza slices to one side, allowing the others to decide who eats first, then sliced up the pizza in front and handed it over.

"It is indeed better than expected, but not as exaggerated as you described, right? Is durian pizza really one of the most popular flavors in Great Xia?"

"Of course it is!"

Lucas chimed in immediately, "You guys haven’t seen the menu at Great Xia’s Pizza Hut, have you? Once you do, you’ll understand: durian pizzas make up a third of it!"

"...That’s simply incomprehensible."

"It’s understandable though; after all, durian isn’t a popular fruit around here, not something you’re used to. Eating it regularly might make you like it."

Nagishiro Sho hadn’t said a word the whole time, quietly savoring the aftertaste of the fruit pizza instead.

Compared to these two stubborn old folks, his adaptability as an Asian was clearly superior.

Durian desserts held a place in Sakura Country too, though he wasn’t too familiar with them himself. It was a good opportunity to study them thoroughly, sure to come in handy.

He could even make durian-flavored sushi, certainly attracting an audience.

Nearly half of his restaurant’s patrons had Asian features; the rest were mostly guests with a higher acceptance of Sakura cuisine.

These people should find it easier to accept these innovations compared to average Western diners.

Swallowing down the food in his mouth, he sipped some hot tea to clear the odd flavors in his palate, then reached out again.

But this time, it was a bit puzzling: both flavors looked enticing, and for a moment, he didn’t know which one to try first.

After thinking about it, I decided to first pick up the beef pizza with sausage crust.

The salted egg yolk flavor is relatively strong, eating it first might affect the judgment of taste, plus it’s paired with Orléans chicken thigh meat, not as intriguing as the beef pizza.

This beef pizza looks like the surface is covered with a delicate layer of minced beef, underneath is full of cheese, and the top layer features green peppers and onions, common guests in the pizza world.

Since the pairing doesn’t look special, yet Lin Chen chose it as the first batch of flavors to test, it indicates this pizza definitely has a distinctive seasoning.

Otherwise, it surely wouldn’t stand out in a culinary country like Great Xia.

First, I brought it to my nose and sniffed, with my Divine Nose, I could distinctly smell a rich beef fat aroma.

I could even discern that the grade of these beef mince should be no less than m7 grade wagyu.

Only high-quality wagyu fat, when melted, emits such a degree of beef fat aroma—rich but not greasy, a captivating scent.

This grade of original minced meat itself has a strong meaty aroma, it tastes good even on its own. And after simmering in secret sauce and adding cheese, it’s simply impossible to taste bad.

Moreover, I could smell a faint sweetness, somewhat resembling the aroma of sweet soy sauce.

"No wonder the surface is topped with raw onion and green pepper strips, it’s to counteract the greasiness."

Suddenly enlightened, I silently opened my mouth and took a big bite.

The soft pizza crust is coated with moist cheese and beef paste, various sizes of beef bits provide a rich taste experience, each bite releases beef aroma mixed with the dairy scent of cheese in the mouth.

The faint sweetness paired with the appropriate saltiness, chewing along with the crust, gave me an illusion akin to eating beef-stuffed buns.

The taste of the beef paste was not much different from my imagination, mainly salty and sweet, the first bite was quite impressive, but it gets greasier the more you eat.

It was actually the small sausage wrapped in the crust edge that intrigued me more, I could sense an extremely subtle wine aroma from it.

After coming to the Romantic Country, I’ve eaten quite a bit of varied sausage products, all core-made with different blends of spices.

Only Great Xia’s sausage is quite surprising.

The fried starch sausage Lin Chen sold at the stall earlier tasted noticeably different from ours domestically, and now this small sausage even has a wine aroma.

This thing’s taste will surely be memorable!

"Swoosh"

The texture of the small sausage was completely different from any I’ve tasted before, with the first bite, it started spurting juice.

The overall texture is quite firm, but once bitten into, the stuffing inside is very soft, forming a unique contrast.

The sausage is rich in fat, containing a wine aroma much stronger than the scent.

The overall taste is mainly sweet, but due to the addition of wine, it’s not as greasy, even less so than the beef sauce.

With a few quick bites, I finished this slice of pizza, hurriedly drank some tea to clear the greasiness.

"Oh? This sausage is interesting."

"Did they really add wine during production? That’s a good idea, and the alcohol will evaporate during cooking, leaving this taste—it’s very suitable for customers of a certain age."

In Western cooking, only sauces or stews tend to include wine, like the famous red wine braised oxtail, but other foods almost never touch wine.

Great Xia’s sweet small sausage with a faint wine taste must provide a novel experience for them.

Not just wine, sweet sausages are also rarely seen on the market.

Local sausages are all German-style, with pure spice-flavored meat, the sweet ones are only found in Filipino-produced red sausages, those are quite popular.

"Lin, is this sausage sourced from a wholesaler? Could it be ordered domestically and shipped over?"

After just two bites, Raphael and Marchello already imagined this small sausage in countless pre-dinner snacks, feeling it would surely be popular.

"It’s from a wholesaler, it’s Shunfu Supermarket, their person in charge came a few days ago, you can call their official number or go directly to their supermarket to discuss."

"Do you have his business card?"

"Oh right, I’ll give you the contact later."

With a few words, the wholesale problem was solved, the two breathed a sigh of relief, as if already forecasting numerous new dishes being developed after returning.

When they came earlier, they couldn’t apply what they learned from Lin Chen, but after this visit, integrating all the previous information, they finally felt a sudden enlightenment.

Many ideas would just casually pass through their minds, soon extending into many different applications.

This is the state of research and development.