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Nakajima did not know why Ryūga suddenly asked about stone cooking and the stone mortar, but he answered anyway:
"Of course I know what stone cooking and the stone mortar are!"
"Why did Ryūga-san bring up this topic? Are these two things related to the subject we are discussing?"
When Ryūga saw Nakajima puzzled expression, he smiled calmly and said:
"It seems Nakajima-san's knowledge is still a little superficial!"
"Since I brought up these two terms, it's only natural that I have my own intentions."
"Earlier, Nakajima-san objected to what I said. Your argument was that, in Nakajima-san's view, the way people in ancient Europe enjoyed food was not considered a culinary style at all."
"That's why I invented the method of stone cooking and the stone mortar!"
"Because, in my opinion, in Europe in the first century AD, the method of processing food was considered one of the fundamentals of cuisine!"
"From the first century AD onwards, the Romans, who initially occupied France, limited themselves to cooking or roasting game meat. However, the texture of the meat, which resembled grilling, was not suitable for the elderly and children to chew, so they gradually learned to use stone tools to process the meat in a more advanced way."
"This established method of processing meat better is manifested in the invention of stone cooking and the stone mortar."
"They would perforate the stone with a hammer, place the hunted animal meat in it, then mash it well with the stone, thus obtaining food resembling minced meat."
"There was nothing to hold the minced meat, so they placed it in a carved stone, then roasted it whole over the fire. This method is also called stone cooking!"
"I know that Nakajima-san and the other classmates do not consider this primitive, even barbaric, way of preparing food a skill in the art of cooking, but what I want to say here is that we must not underestimate the wisdom of the ancients!"
"Because of the passage of time, we cannot know from records what methods the ancients used in processing food."
"But as far as I know, many of the cooking techniques invented by the ancients still possess great charm even today!"
In the system room earlier, the teacher Theo had introduced Ryūga to many of the ancients' methods of processing food. After listening to this knowledge, Ryūga felt that the wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated at times.
In a barren environment devoid of anything, they could prepare food as delicious as possible.
There was one cooking method that left a deep impression on Ryūga.
"As Nakajima-san just mentioned, people in ancient France did not extract refined salt as modern people do, but they did not consume it either."
"The Romans rapidly expanded their territory in the first century AD and already possessed the basic technology for extracting sea salt."
"And from then on, primitive sea salt also spread from coastal areas to inland regions."
Ryūga looked at Nakajima-san and continued:
"By the first century AD, people all over Europe had already mastered the technique of extracting sea salt from the ocean. The spread of salt enhanced the flavor of food, and people gradually abandoned the old custom of consuming salt from animal blood!"
"In the middle of the first century AD, a famous gourmet was born in Rome. His name was Apicius!"
"I don't know if Nakajima-san has ever heard the name Apicius before, but he wrote a book titled De Re Coquinaria!"
"De Re Coquinaria, when translated, is roughly understood as The Skills of Cooking!"
"Therefore, the book De Re Coquinaria can be considered the oldest and earliest cookbook in Europe!"
"In the book De Re Coquinaria, we see that people at that time were striving hard for the quality and flavor of food."
"Food was no longer limited to boiling or roasting!"
"Steamed, simmered, slow-cooked, pickled, smoked..."
"Although there were few complex dishes on the tables of common people, we can still feel the rich culinary atmosphere at the tables of the nobles!"
"French cuisine has a long and rich history, famous for its exquisite elegance. And as Mr. Nakajima mentioned, in the fifteenth century, after the Italian Catherine married King Henry II of France, she brought to France the cooking methods popular during the Italian Renaissance—such as beef liver, black mushrooms, tender meat slices, and cheese—which greatly contributed to the development of French culinary culture. However, even before that, France was known for many dishes that remain highly popular even today!"
"Let me give you a simple example!"
"French cuisine is not only famous for its luxurious dishes, but also for its wide variety of sauces, known all over the world!"
"One of these sauces is called fig purée!"
"Fig purée is made with figs as the main ingredient, crushed into a sauce and served with foie gras. Its flavor is truly wonderful."
"But unfortunately, you do not know that fig purée, which is a sauce, was invented in the first century AD... At that time, some chefs who specialized in cooking for nobles discovered that when fig purée was mixed with minced meat, it added a more appealing flavor to the dish. Therefore, many chefs at that time began focusing on developing something similar to fig purée... which we now call sauce..."
"The most famous of these is terrine!"
"Terrine is one of the most famous meat sauces in French cuisine. It uses duck, beef, goose, or other livestock meat, mixed with herbs and spices, to produce a meat sauce not only fragrant but also adding incomparable charm to the poor cuisine of that time!"
"It's unfortunate that Nakajima-san cannot go back to the past. Otherwise, you would be able to see how capable the people of that time were—despite living in a poor environment, they were still able to develop the beauty of food!"