Chapter 2. Cafe Medici (2)

At the Medici family's banquet hall, there was one dish that captured everyone's attention.

A cake with pure white whipped cream and colorful fruits that shone like jewels.

Naturally, the nobles' interest was drawn to this special food.

"Was there such a dessert in the Tuscan Empire?"

Seeing it was something new, some speculated that it must be an Oriental item.

"The Bakers' Guild doesn't create such dishes, could it be from the East?"

"But it goes too well with the other dishes in the banquet hall for that."

They were curious but remained cautious.

"To present something this new, did they hire a genius chef? It is clear that the new Baron Medici is no ordinary person."

As the atmosphere heated up with curiosity, Albert, who had just become Baron Medici, entered.

Thanks to the newly made dessert, the mood was quite bright.

Though not exactly warm, there was an air of curiosity, and expectations for him had risen accordingly.

'To think Fabio's new dessert is already receiving such praise.'

"This is a new dessert called cake, made by our family. It will be served as the final dessert of this banquet."

Nobles from families friendly with the Medici congratulated Albert on his succession or engaged in small talk.

While doing so, they also subtly expressed their interest in the cake.

"I'm most curious about the taste of this new dessert presented by Baron Medici."

Because of this, the banquet meal was served a bit earlier.

Many of the dishes served were more expensive than befitting a noble's banquet in taste.

Tenderloin steak doused with spices like pepper, cloves, and nutmeg, pasta loaded with cheese, and so on.

Dishes meant more to show off wealth than taste.

"Here is today's dessert, the cake."

Would this visually appealing food taste as good as it looked?

The nobles unconsciously swallowed their saliva.

"I'm looking forward to tasting this new dessert made by the Medici family."

"I was getting a bit tired of having the same dishes every time."

Nobles were sensitive to trends.

If they couldn't keep up with the changing trends, they became politically obsolete.

And obsolescence could lead to decline and death.

So, if they couldn't accept new things, they might die, but should they accept this never-before-seen dish or not?

"Please, try it."

Everyone swallowed as they looked at the cake cut into individual slices.

The red strawberries on top of the pure white cream shone like jewels.

Its appearance was as beautiful as a work of art.

And the cake's true value was revealed the moment it entered their mouths.

"The white cream melts like sweet snow."

"Such a delicious dessert. As expected of the Medici baron family."

"This will undoubtedly lead the trend."

While other banquet foods were for 'showing off wealth' and honestly even off-putting to taste...

The cake had a slightly excessive but not overwhelming sweetness that harmonized well with the tartness of the strawberries.

It was delicious enough to want to eat again tomorrow.

Some nobles even slightly lowered their guard in front of Baron Medici.

"Baron Medici, could I possibly have another plate? It's truly delicious."

"It seems this dessert would be hard to find even in the imperial palace."

As the praise continued, the new Baron Medici, Albert, smiled and granted all their requests.

The next morning, the Medici family was flooded with letters from those who had enjoyed the cake, requesting the recipe.

***

"I thought all nobles would be interested in this cake, but the response is far better than imagined, young master."

The head butler walked calmly to where I was.

As soon as he saw me, the head butler spoke with an incredulous smile.

"We've been inundated with requests for the recipe from the families of those who tasted the cake at the banquet a few days ago."

In truth, making this type of cake wasn't that difficult.

Even a cooking novice like me could make it in just a few days after putting our heads together with the chef.

'If it were truly an extraordinary dish, we would have gone through many more trials and errors.'

No matter how skilled the chef was, if it were a difficult dish to make, we would have to continuously try new things before we finally achieved success.

"So what did you do?"

"Young master Albert, no, Baron Medici said that since it was a dish made by young master Fabio, we should do as you wish."

Now that brother Albert had become Baron Medici, he should stop being so suspicious of people.

Did he develop a case of paranoia after becoming a baron?

I understood he might feel insecure having just inherited the title, but testing whether I'll bow my head or not like this.

'If I don't hand over the recipe, he'll begin to suspect me.'

Well, I never intended to make a fortune with just this recipe in a world without patent rights anyway.

"Tell them it's fine to freely share the recipe with noble families close to the Medici family."

If I could, I'd like to sell the recipe at a reasonable price to families close to ours, and at a high price to hostile families.

Since there were no patents, I couldn't expect royalties, so I should at least get some seed money this way.

However, if I suggested giving the recipe even to hostile families, our Albert would begin to suspect me.

It would be easy to misunderstand me as a coward trying to survive by wagging my tail to enemy families.

"Yes, young master. Also, the retired baron said he wants to commend young master Fabio for your achievements this time. Let's go up to his room now."

Honestly, my achievements were not small.

I've raised the Medici family's influence a bit by creating a dessert that brightened up the banquet, which was like a noble's lifeline in terms of face.

I'd put quite a few families in our debt by freely sharing the recipe for a food that would likely be at the center of imperial banquet trends in the future.

One might think it's just a recipe, but...

Even in Korea, before smartphones became widespread, secret recipes that were nothing more than adding three drops of glacial acetic acid to cold noodle broth were traded for millions of won.

Let alone the method for making food that could make or break a noble's face, the price was whatever they're willing to pay.

My steps lightened at the thought of bringing a close to the time spent hiding my strength and receiving a reward.

I felt so good, I could almost burst into song.

I held back thinking it might look strange if I got too excited alone...

"Has young master Fabio been hiding his strength all this time?"

"You seem to have suddenly become so reliable in just a few days."

They say when a bad person does one good deed, they look like the kindest person in the world.

It was not like I was a bad person who gave my father headaches.

But having ended the act of pretending to be ordinary and showing results, my evaluation among the servants could only go up.

Father must have undoubtedly raised his evaluation of me as well.

The joy of making a smooth start in this other world was short-lived.

"Father, I'm coming in."

Just a few days ago, I had entered father's room in the same way to talk about my future.

But the me then and the me now were different.

Because I now held clear justification and achievements to convince father.

"Your gait has become more confident."

Father smiled as soon as he saw me.

Of course he'd be happy that his child had produced results to be proud of at such a young age.

Still smiling, father pushed a basket on his desk towards me.

The basket was full of letters sent by nobles.

"You've probably heard through Sebastian, so I won't say much. You did well. Thanks to you, Albert was able to save face."

For nobles, a banquet was like a life-or-death battle.

But among those, weddings, funerals, and the first banquet held after inheriting a title as a lord were especially important.

'A political debut banquet is a place to gauge that noble's ability.'

Father sighed suddenly while praising me.

"Seeing you stand out even in trivial commerce like this, I think you could have greatly succeeded if you became an officer or official. But since you've kept your promise to me, I won't force you anymore."

"Thank you."

"You'll need capital to start a proper business, how much do you need?"

The more initial capital, the better.

But it wouldn't work to speak so clumsily to a noble who's survived a lifetime of political battles.

"I need a shop of suitable size on Vecchio Street, a skilled patissier, and 50 gold coins."

I couldn't accurately convert the value of 1 gold coin to Korean money.

Because the nominal monetary value of people in this era and that of 21st century Korea were incomparably different.

However, based on the prices in the Tuscan Empire.

With 50 gold coins, you could buy a house in the capital where the middle class lived.

"You're asking for quite a lot."

"I think what I've done is worth at least that much. And I'll return it with even greater political benefits."

It was like taking an apartment just for making a new cake, but...

However, what I had done was worth that much.

I'd shown that there was no future uncertainty due to the Medici family's management succession, and even raised the family's value a bit.

"What do you plan to use it for?"

"I'm thinking of creating a space where people can have light conversations while eating the cakes, sweets, and tea I make."

If I just introduce new sweets or cakes that didn't exist in this world every few months, it would quickly become a mecca of trends.

Nobles were stagnant waters, always thirsty for something new.

If we just stood at the center of trends, the cafe would become the center of politics and economy.

"Your name, Fabio de Medici, has become known because of the cake you made, but that alone won't be enough to gather people."

My current standing was merely that of a second son of a baron family who devised a new dessert.

I couldn't say I didn't have a reputation.

But people wouldn't flock to the cafe just because of my name.

So I decided to use another method.

"I'll use the cake's fame to attract courtesans."

Courtesans, in Korean terms, were like gisaeng and idols.

As I said idols, a considerable portion of the empire's trends were controlled by them.

Why? Because they're extremely beautiful.

And a cafe that beautiful women, no, idols frequently visited couldn't possibly fail, right?

"They'll line up just to get free cake or sweets."

Father wrote an order and a check right there.

"You've proven your worth, so do as you please. Even if you fail, I won't blame you."