Chapter 52

Chapter 52

True Love

Mr. Salvatore guided me to the mansion reception room.

Even on the way passing Luca Family members continuously glanced. Somewhere a subtle samgyeopsal smell is coming but it must be paranoia?!

Somehow if Mr. Salvatore wasn't there it seemed half would have acknowledged me.

Italian exclamations like 'Mamma mia!' or 'Dio mio!' heard from all sides!

English also has quite strong basic stress, but compared to Italian the tone difference of intonation is large to the point one step below so it was quite mentally noisy.

"Sorry, by any chance do you like black tea? Here there's only coffee."

"Coffee? Well anything is fine. As long as I can wet my throat."

"Black? Or shall I mix milk?"

"Please mix."

Italians don't drink black tea. The basic is coffee.

I was curious if there was caffè latte but it seemed espresso machines haven't been introduced yet.

If I knew even the operating principle I would have advised to make it but unfortunately I didn't know up to there. Coffee business also seems it would be quite decent money-making.

The coffee similar to café au lait that Mr. Salvatore gave wasn't much different from what I drank at the previous coffee house. If a difference the aroma is a bit milder? Probably the difference in beans or roasting.

"So, how have you been lately? Even here in the East End your name was noisy so my mouth was very itchy!"

"Because of that I'm dying. I want to stop becoming famous now too!"

"Durand Barbecue is an invention of the ages! Enjoy it, amico mio (*Amico mio, my friend)! Honestly I think this side is better than your Chicken and Chips. Even grilling and eating almost every day I don't get tired! Why on earth couldn't we think of grilling and eating bacon?"

"Well... It must be like Columbus's egg."

"Colom, what? Columbus?"

"No, it's nothing."

I think I saw a paper somewhere. Korea is surrounded by forests and mountains so wood was abundant and thanks to the mild climate the grilling culture using direct heat of charcoal developed.

On the other hand the West is humid and cold so making charcoal is tricky and the indirect heat cooking method using indoor ovens developed that story.

I don't know if it's correct. Now coal heating is common so wood remains enough to use for grilling like that.

Anyway I decided to enter the main point.

"So what help do you need?"

"Ah, help? Right! I was just about to talk! Since it's been long since we met you also wouldn't know at all how I'm living lately! If you know you'll be surprised!"

"Wait a minute, shall I guess? By any chance are you getting married soon?"

"What? How did you know that?"

Well if there's an unseen ring on the left ring finger isn't it natural? And that with quite a splendid diamond.

In this era if there's jewel decoration on the ring it meant an engagement ring. If without jewel and just simple with gold or silver it's a wedding ring.

When I told that Mr. Salvatore laughed as if awkward.

"As expected your eye for detail is still amazing! You saw that in that short moment? By any chance do you usually read the Holmes series diligently?"

"Just looking isn't it visible? I noticed as soon as I first saw."

"Absolutely not! A person who sees such details and immediately draws a conclusion among my friends is only Jean-Paul Durand, you! How about trying to write a mystery novel? It seems you'll do better than Doyle!"

Are you crazy?! Right now I can't handle the fame and you're telling me to become more famous here?!

Because I meet so many people a habit of catching and remembering detailed characteristics formed. Thanks to that I also acknowledge that my eye for detail is quite okay.

"Anyway the help I need is... It's a proposal matter."

"Proposal?"

He answered with a shy expression.

"I decided to propose to my fiancée with the most delicious Italian food in the world. But no matter how I think a good idea doesn't come to mind! With that tremendous creativity of yours help me a bit! Like Chicken and Chips or samgyeopsal... I also need such a fresh idea!"

"Yes?!"

Why is an Italian person requesting cooking help from a British person?!

Even in the current period in fact British cooking wasn't receiving much recognition in all of Europe. It was even more so because of terrible traditional dishes like black pudding or offal pie.

So immigrants ate their own traditional food if they ate, and didn't even try to touch British cooking.

"I don't know how to do Italian cooking? I don't know the recipes well either."

"Ah, it's not asking to do the cooking! I'll do the cooking myself, so just watch beside and give ideas! I'll sufficiently reward!"

"Well... If it's that level."

In one word it was the talk of doing cooking consulting for the proposal!

It seemed somehow fun so I answered okay for now. If consulting level there's no burden either.

Well, while interest is aroused shall I start the sucker check?

"The other party? Where person is it? London? Scotland?"

"Naples."

Ah, is it a same hometown person. It seems a same Italian immigrant origin. I continued the questions.

"Food she likes?"

"Don't know."

"Wait a minute, you said you're engaged?! Isn't not knowing more strange?"

"That's right. But now she lives in Cannes with family."

"Cannes? Is there such a city in England?"

"Ah, not Britain. It's a French city."

"What is that..."

Something is a bit strange? Suddenly why is France coming out here?

When I interrogated this person, he was doing long-distance dating by correspondence!

In the world, already the 1st year of not meeting the fiancée? How did he put on the ring?!

"She decided to come to London to meet me the day after tomorrow. I want to do the most excellent proposal in the world! I've already secured the place all! But the most important cooking is anxious. No matter how I think with what I'm preparing now it seems insufficient. What if she gets disappointed?!"

Looking at that serious expression it doesn't seem a fraud contract marriage.

Of course whether long-distance dating between France and Britain is possible I absolutely couldn't understand at all.

Should I accept this as Italian-style true love?

If I can't make delicious cooking, won't she really run away?!

The problem was, this man befitting an Italian seemed seriously lacking in alertness somehow.

"Then what was the main dish you originally thought of?"

"Sfincione (*Sfincione, Sicilian traditional bread) with meat on it. Father likes it. I also like it."

"You said it's proposal cooking? With that it's okay?!"

"Is it insufficient? In fact so I was pondering!"

"No... Of course you have to prepare food the other party will like! I'm not interested in the food Mr. Salvatore likes either!"

No answer. Shall I cut losses even now? It seems I can still run away.

I stroked my chin with my hand and thought.

Naples.

If the most famous Naples food in my previous life, only one came to mind. No, it absolutely had to be that.

One of the three major of 21st century franchise Western food.

Chicken, hamburger... And, pizza.

"By any chance do you know pizza?"

"Pizza? Ah, that Naples-style sfincione?"

Wow, the way of thinking is really self-centered. How on earth did he date a Naples person?!

"Isn't that pizza food that poor people in Naples eat commoner food? Ah, if Margherita pizza it's famous so I've eaten once. But sfincione was much more delicious than that?"

In fact if asking Italians living in London about pizza, 99 out of 100 showed this reaction.

Just so-so taste Naples food.

In fact pizza itself had nothing special. Because flat bread (*Flat Bread, flat bread) that pizza belongs to was a common recipe existing in various names and forms near the Mediterranean.

Flat bread existed from Roman times, and Sicily's sfincione was also a dish of the flat bread series.

And in fact, the biggest headache for me was exactly that!

In my previous life I liked pizza enough to order and eat two or three times a month, but in current London I absolutely couldn't taste good pizza! Because there were almost no places that sell, and almost no people who know how to make!

I accidentally found exactly one place at a stall. But it was really not delicious. It was worse than the frozen pizza I can summon from my point shop!

Wait a minute, this person said he knows how to make sfincione? Shall I coax well and make him make modern-style pizza? Anyway the principle is that is that.

Among the three major of 21st century franchises what I haven't yet implemented in Britain is only pizza.

There was no need to worry about unexpected butterfly effects like samgyeopsal! Anyway the one making won't be me!

So for now I slightly wet my mouth with saliva.

"Mr. Salvatore, it seems you're knowing something wrong. As a friend I can't help but correct."

"What? What am I knowing wrong?"

"Do you know the fact that pizza was originally royal court cooking?"

"Ro-royal court cooking?! But I've never heard such a story—"

Of course it's a lie! But here is the turning point! I quickly cut his words!

"Yes, pizza is originally cooking that the best chefs of Naples made for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies royal family. What commoners ate would have been a version that greatly simplified the royal court recipe. Probably the lack of taste was because all essential ingredients were missing."

"Is that really true? Somehow! Antonio this brat, feeding me while boasting cheap food! Does it make sense that there was only basil as topping!"

"Mr. Salvatore, proposing with the royal court cooking of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies for a Naples person... Is there a more romantic situation than this?"

"Right, my friend! Your words are right! But where do I obtain that recipe? The lineage would have all been cut already? Because the Two Sicilies has now disappeared..."

He blurred the end of his words with an anxious voice.

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

The capital is Naples. About a hundred years ago the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples merged and were born, but already dozens of years have passed since it was annexed to the current Kingdom of Italy due to the unification war.

It was also the trigger for numerous southern Italians who resisted that scattering to various countries of the world.

Befitting shameless Axis powers they also scattered harm here and there. As some of the immigrants couldn't adapt to other countries' cultures and put hands on crime Italian mafia prospered in Britain, America, Canada etc.

I thought Mr. Salvatore or the fiancée were also actually victims of such history.

"Fortunately while studying I accidentally found the original recipe of the royal court, how is it? I'll hand it over cheaply for Mr. Salvatore."

"Really! Such a precious recipe... How about 15, no 20 pounds!"

"20 pounds? Good. Deal!"

"But I don't have cash right now, is it okay to send to the account?"

"No, don't give money. I was thinking of returning it as a wedding gift."

At my words Mr. Salvatore was very surprised.

For me it was killing two birds with one stone. Wedding gift money is also saved, and I eat pizza too! Anyway the pizza recipe isn't mine either!

Mr. Salvatore suddenly started slightly sobbing.

"Jean-Paul Durand, you guy as expected... Have loyalty! You're my excellent friend! Thank you, come find me often to see me! Don't just show your face once in a while!"

No why on earth are you doing that, pricking my conscience? But even though I seasoned a bit the thought of helping was real.

"Be moved after making once. It might not be good when actually making, right?"

"Your words are right. Let's go to the kitchen!"

Of course I see the possibility of not being good as almost none. Why did pizza become popular? Because basically the taste was good enough to captivate modern people's tastes.

But Naples pizza of this era? It was no use. I ate it and it was really not good. Because too many important elements that produce flavor were missing.

Of course I have to use the combination that won in the 21st century franchise war. Only then Mr. Salvatore, the fiancée, and I will be satisfied, right?

Three elements that determine the taste of pizza.

Dough, sauce, topping.

And there was the final boss combination made in America in the 1950s that greatly contributed to the popularization of pizza.

Combination pizza.

If changing to the version that was popular in Italy and calling, pizza capricciosa.

Sorry to Americans but let's pull and use it about 50 years early.