Ball of Nothing

Zero decided to show his sincerity to apologise for the trouble he had caused Rocket Mountain in his moment of fury. Hence, he announced that he was going to cook a feast and ordered that none of the chefs could help him out but they were more than welcomed to observe. Naturally, Zero was also hoping to bribe the royal family and gain their favour so that the process of registering him as an adventurer would be easier at the later part.

Needless to say, when they heard that the healer was going to prepare healthy diet cuisine that anyone can eat, the entire kingdom was interested. King Darius arranged for paparazzi to gather and the cooks prepared their charcoal pencils to record down what Zero did to learn from the talented healer.

The royal kitchen was packed with people to the extent that Zero had trouble moving around so he made some rules that nobody was allowed to come within a line that he drew as the kitchen boundaries. The eager crowd shuffled backwards until not even a toe passed the line drawn with charcoal and Zero nodded in satisfaction. The crowd jostled with each other and from Zero's point of view, he thought that it was ridiculous how a few hundred people tried to squeeze into a kitchen made only for fifty cooks. Yet, he wasn't going to stop them. All the better for advertising his worth.

Zero's outfit was rather different today. He had put on an apron, tied his hair back and wore a hair net weaved from some thread mesh and had his sleeves rolled up to be tied backwards with a rope. Princess Dorothy who had a front-row view of her teacher marvelled at how the elf could still be so beautiful even though she was dressed down and not her noble self.

Zero's action was fluid as he made an inspection of the cooking utensils and his new workplace. The doctor had to admit that he was impressed with dwarven technology. Compared to the giants, this was a lot easier to work with. The giants could only roast, boil and stir-fry or bake things. Zero wasn't able to do anything advanced like steaming or deep-frying back at Magnus Hilda and he wasn't able to teach the cooks there anything with how busy he was going around during the plague.

The dwarves, on the other hand, had pressure cooking pots and even freezers that did not rely on ice magic. Zero was floating on cloud nine when he found a thermometer that could gauge the temperature of oil in a steel pot. The pots that Zero saw back in Magnus Hilda were all made out of clay. The stoves were also using wood as fuel. When Zero inspected the royal kitchen in Rocket Mountain, he was pleased to find that the dwarves used charcoal for fuel and metal pots.

The first thing Zero did was to pour a copious amount of oil to get it heated in a steel pot before he stuck the thermometer in it. The cooks who saw that were scribbling down furiously as Zero peeled the potatoes in a blinding speed before slicing them thinly and coating them in the batter. Once the oil started to bubble, Zero threw in the first batch of potatoes into the oil. Then, he did the same to several other vegetables like carrots, okra, eggplant and even yam. Nobody knew what Zero was doing but the smells made everyone's mouth water.

"This is called "Vegetable Tempura". By coating the vegetables in a batter and deep-frying them, it will preserve the juiciness of the raw vegetable while making them taste a little sweeter than they normally would. It's a safe snack for anyone and is delicious!"

Zero drained the oil and passed the first batch of vegetable tempura for tasting. The crowd quickly fought over it while Zero went on with the next preparation. Diet food must follow the food pyramid. More fruits and vegetables, less oil, sweets and salt. Carbohydrates are needed but a decreased amount of it for those not working on physical jobs are recommended. Meat should be taken into moderation especially for those who are rich. The recommended serving of meat to vegetables and fruits should be one to two.

Zero introduced many strange but drool-worthy diet cuisine while educating the crowd. Both chefs and paparazzi harped on every word like worshippers to holy teaching and Zero felt slightly embarrassed by all the attention as he chopped up mushrooms. Stir-fried mushroom was a nostalgic dish. He remembered how often he used to have this with his shifu at the dingy hut that looked as if it wasn't going to survive the next storm.

Chicken broth, egg porridge, cucumber soup, steamed winter melon, sashimi were some of the things Zero prepared for the feast. People were puzzled as to why Zero only focussed on preparing appetisers and sides instead of the main dish. For dwarves, bread and a good roast made up most of their meals. Their choice of drinks was often beer or wine for those who could afford them. Seeing that Zero introduced none of their regular staples made some of them wonder if Zero had forgotten about the entree.

Their questions were answered when Zero kneaded a huge ball of flour and rolled it out. The flour was specially made with oats and grains in them. Nobody knew why Zero would be beating the tomatoes into a pulp but they appreciated the generous amount of shredded cheese on the top as well as the thin sausage slices placed on the round dough.

The one was ready and Zero stuck the round dough with toppings inside before reciting the recipe to the chefs who recorded it.

"Now that the demonstration for the full course is over, I would like all chefs and sous chefs to help with preparing the meal. Kitchen hands, start prepping the vegetables and kneading the dough. Sous chefs should focus on the sides and appetisers that I showed everyone earlier and the main chefs will help me make pizza. Every pizza should have a pizza topping but remember to keep to the diet golden ratio of food types or it will not work."

Not needing to be told twice, the eager chefs and kitchen hands hurried over to their stations and worked under Zero's coordination. Princess Dorothy stared at her teacher with admiration. Was this what true beauty was like? Compared to the times when Zero was sitting and sipping tea in a pretty outfit, she thought that she liked her teacher more when she was busy, in action and in charge.

King Darius looked at his only daughter and smiled in satisfaction. Zero was keeping to his word about helping his daughter out of that self-destructive phase. The healer was also doing more than what was agreed by teaching his chefs and fixing his people's health by opening a temporary clinic outside the palace. In return, when the people regained their health, the economy of Rocket Mountain flourished once again. He had a lot to thank this mysterious healer and beside him, the chancellor had the same sentiments.