Wild Strawberry Pancakes

When I went to the kitchen, Dad was still preparing the dinner menu, but Mom had brought over the wild strawberries and cleared a space for me.

"Thanks, Mom."

"It's fine. I'm curious about Leon's cooking."

"I'm looking forward to it too."

"Don't get your hopes up too high, okay? I don't know if it'll taste good."

It's a little troublesome having everyone expect so much from me. We don't even have sugar, and I only have a vague idea of how to make them, so I don't know if they'll turn out well...

Oh... Their expectant looks are intense... I have to do my best.

"Then let's get started. What else do we need besides the wild strawberries?"

Um, I think pancakes are made with flour, eggs, milk, and sugar... Probably... I really should have cooked more often...

Huh? But do we even have milk? Without a refrigerator, it seems unlikely that we'd have any.

"Um, do we have any milk?"

"We don't have any here. It won't keep, and while we sometimes have it in winter, we don't have any now."

I knew it... If we don't have milk, I guess I'll have to use water. There are pancakes made with flour, water, and eggs, too. But they're tasty because you sweeten them with sugar. Without sugar, all I'd have would be flour, water, eggs, and wild strawberries for flavor. Would that even taste good?

Well, anything is worth trying once.

"Mom, I need flour, eggs, and water. Do we have those?"

"We do."

Mom quickly prepared the ingredients for me.

"That's everything, right? What do I do with it?"

"Um, mix everything together in a bowl."

"It's like making bread. Are you making bread?"

"It's similar to bread, but it's different."

I put the eggs and water in a bowl and mixed them, then gradually added the flour. I remembered the batter being fairly gooey, so... maybe this much?

As I went about it so casually, Mom stopped me with a pale expression.

"Leon! Wait. Isn't that far too much water? It's completely runny!"

"This dish is supposed to be like this."

"But won't it go to waste?"

"It'll be fine... Don't you have recipes like this?"

"No. When we make bread, we only add a little water so it will set, and we don't add eggs. Flour is basically only used for making bread, and eggs are only boiled or fried."

No wonder cooking in this world hadn't developed... I'll have to recreate the things I remember little by little. Eggs were incredibly useful, after all.

"But my recipe is supposed to be like this."

Even after I said that, Mom still looked worried. Well, I had never cooked before, so it was only natural for her to be concerned.

Just as I was at a loss, Dad came to my rescue.

"Roana, Leon's motivated, so let him do it. He can make a little at a time so nothing goes to waste."

"That's true. Just make a little at a time, Leon."

"Yeah! Thanks!"

Thanks, Dad...! I'll definitely do something to thank you someday! I can't do much, but I promise I will!

"All right! I think this looks about right."

I stopped once the batter had reached what seemed like the right consistency. All that was left was to add the wild strawberries.

When I looked up, I met the eyes of Mom and Dad, who were staring at me in stunned disbelief.

"Leon...? Is that finished? Are you going to eat that?"

Dad asked hesitantly.

"No! It's not done yet. I'm going to add the wild strawberries and cook it."

"Oh, I see. If it's not done yet, I suppose it's no wonder it doesn't look appetizing."

Mom said that while looking at it as if it were some mysterious substance. She didn't have to look at it like that! Well, it certainly did look unappetizing in its current state...

I needed to finish it quickly.

I rinsed out the bowl I'd used to beat the eggs, put the wild strawberries in it, and began mashing them with a wooden spatula. I could have added them whole, but I thought mashing them would help their flavor spread through the batter.

By now, even I had no idea what it would taste like.

I mashed the wild strawberries for a while, then, once I had a decent amount, added them to the bowl of batter. Then I mixed everything together again.

Once it was mixed, I added a few whole wild strawberries as well. The texture of the berries might be nice, too.

"All right! It's ready! All that's left is to cook it, but can I use a frying pan?"

"Of course. Use this frying pan. Wait a moment while I light the fire."

Mom held her hand over the firewood in the stove and murmured, 'Kindling.' The firewood, which hadn't been burning at all a moment earlier, suddenly caught fire.

I was too surprised to speak, but I thought, So this is magic...! I had seen it in Leon's memories, but this was my first time seeing it with my own eyes.

Amazing! So cool! This really is another world! I was practically bursting with excitement.

According to Leon's memories, both Mom and Dad had the Fire attribute, but their mana was low, so they could only use magic about once a day.

I wanted to use magic soon, too! I was really looking forward to going to the church to have my mana measured!

As I stood there staring at the stove and thinking about that, Mom spoke to me.

"Leon? Why are you spacing out? Aren't you going to cook it soon?"

I snapped out of my fantasies about magic. Right... I was making pancakes right now.

"Sorry, Mom. I was just thinking about how cool magic is."

"You're eight now, Leon, so you'll be able to use it soon. Let's go to the church sometime."

"Yeah! I'm looking forward to it!"

When I said that with a huge smile, Mom answered with a wry smile.

"For now, you need to finish cooking instead of thinking about magic."

"Okayyy."

I suppressed my excitement about magic for the moment and decided to focus on cooking.

The kitchen had a stove built for adults to stand at, so Mom brought me a stepstool. I stood in front of the stove and prepared to cook the pancakes.

However, just as I was about to start, I realized that butter would probably make them taste better. Since we didn't have milk, maybe we didn't have butter either?

"Mom, do we have any butter?"

"Butter? We don't use it very often, so let me think..."

Mom searched through the cupboard. Could butter that had been forgotten for so long really be okay? There wasn't even a refrigerator...

Just as I was thinking that, she seemed to find it.

"I found some! There's only a little left, though. Is that okay?"

There was about a spoonful left when I looked, so it should be enough.

"That's fine!"

I wondered if it had gone bad, but it looked normal and didn't smell strange, so it should be fine.

With that in mind, I put the butter in the frying pan and set it over the fire. Once the butter began to melt, I poured in the mixture I'd made earlier. There was quite a lot, so I decided to cook it in two batches and poured in only half.

I think I was supposed to flip it once little bubbles started appearing.

Even after waiting for a while, no bubbles appeared. But it felt like it was already cooked... I checked the underside, and it was fairly well browned. I should probably flip it now. It looked like it would burn if I cooked it any longer.

I fetched another, slightly larger wooden spatula and tried to flip it, but I couldn't do it properly. This is difficult...

After I struggled with it for a while, Dad came to my rescue.

"Are you trying to flip that? Let Dad do it."

"Really? Thanks, Dad."

When I handed Dad the frying pan and spatula, he flipped it easily with a quick motion.

Amazing! Just what I'd expect from a professional cook!

"Wow, Dad! You're amazing! That's so cool!"

"Really? That makes me happy."

Dad beamed with delight.

"It's starting to smell good, too."

"Yeah! It smells delicious, doesn't it?"

A pretty good smell had been wafting through the kitchen for a while. It didn't smell exactly like pancakes, but at least the aroma was a success.

"It certainly does smell good. Even though it looked so unappetizing before you cooked it."

Mom was awfully blunt. Well, she wasn't wrong, but I glanced at the half of the batter that was still waiting to be cooked and thought she could have phrased it more gently.

Is it ready yet? I checked the underside with the wooden spatula, and it seemed to be thoroughly cooked.

"All right! It's finished! Do we have a plate?"

"Use this one."

"Thanks!"

I arranged the pancake on the dish Mom handed me.

Then I cooked the other half the same way. It smelled wonderful. My stomach was starting to growl.

"There's still a little time before dinner service, so why don't we all eat it as a snack?"

"Good idea. But I'm worried about leaving the stove fire burning so high, so let's eat in the kitchen, even if it's bad manners. I'll go get Marie."

"Really!? Yay!"

"Leon, shall we cut it into four portions for everyone?"

"Yeah!"

After that exchange, Mom went to call Marie from the living room, while Dad and I cut the pancakes into portions and arranged them on four plates.

Just as we finished arranging them, the kitchen door opened, and Marie came in!

"Is Big Brother's cooking ready!? It smells so good!"

"It is. Will you try some?"

"Yeah! I've been looking forward to it!"

I hoped it would taste good. Nervously, I handed everyone a fork.

"Then let's eat. Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!"

I cautiously put a piece of pancake in my mouth. Chew... chew... Not bad!

It was obviously nothing like a pancake, but it was tasty in its own way! The texture was slightly chewy, more like okonomiyaki. The sourness wasn't nearly as noticeable as when I ate the wild strawberries by themselves, either.

It was hard to say whether this counted as a success, but if it wasn't bad, then it was probably a success. It might even become addictive.

As I ate my pancake in relief, I noticed that everyone else was quiet.

When I looked at them, Mom and Dad had frozen after taking a bite, while Marie continued eating in silence.

Maybe they didn't like it...?

"Everyone, is it... not tasty?"

I asked worriedly. I thought it was pretty good, but maybe it just wasn't to their tastes?

As I wondered that, everyone vigorously shook their heads.

"That's not it, Leon! We were just surprised because it's delicious. The texture is interesting—in a good way."

"That's right. We were surprised that something that looked like that could be so delicious. We were sure it wouldn't taste good."

"Big Brother! This is delicious! I love the texture! Make it again!"

They were just surprised... What a relief. I let out a deep sigh.

If this dish amazed them so much, Japanese food would leave them in for one surprise after another. Thinking that, I finally relaxed my tense face.

"I'm glad you like it."

"It's really delicious. The ingredients are simple, too, and we could probably make all sorts of variations."

"Maybe you have a talent for cooking, Leon. If you think of anything else, you should try making it."

"Really!? Thanks!"

I'm sure some of that was parental bias, but I was happy to hear it. I would work hard to make even tastier food.

It felt a little complicated since I hadn't actually come up with the recipe myself, but I was glad everyone had enjoyed it.

"It's all gone already. Big Brother, it was super delicious!"

"Did you like it, Marie? I'm glad. I'll make it again."

"Yeah! Let's go gather more wild strawberries!"

"Yeah."

Marie really seemed to have enjoyed it. She was smiling with great satisfaction.

Just then, the evening bell rang.

"It's time already. We'll start dinner service."

"That's right. Leon and Marie, could you take care of the dining area?"

"Yeah!"