Upstart Pastry Chef ~Territory Management of a Genius Pâtisserie~ - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Making Grape Seed Oil

After finishing the inspection of the shop to be opened in Eclava, I safely returned to my village.

The procurement of oil was also settled, and I had accomplished everything I had set out to do in Eclava.

For the past few days, I’ve been handling administrative tasks for opening the shop in between managing my estate.

And then, unexpectedly, I was informed of an appointment as a baron in Eclava.

I never thought Arnoldt’s long-cherished desire would come true in this way.

Being a viscount was just a temporary noble title, and becoming a baron and a real noble has been Arnoldt’s wish since the first generation.

The appointment ceremony is still being scheduled, and it’s expected to take place as early as next month.

“Kurt-sama, the shop looks like it’s going to be wonderful.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be wonderful, but it’s also going to be a lot of work.”

I chuckled bitterly.

Honestly, that shop is not suitable for me. It’s too spacious and too well-located. I’ll have my hands full unless I work really hard.

Still, it’s undoubtedly an opportunity.

The interior construction will be completed in three weeks. After that, we’ll spend a week training the staff, and we plan to open the shop a month from now.

And for that, apart from adjusting the personnel, we need a large amount of materials to sell.

Regarding wheat, all the planned taxes were exempted as a reward from Duke Lenaril, so we’ll allocate that.

We’ll purchase eggs and other items. Honey production has caught up with demand.

And the only thing too expensive to buy and with too low a production volume to produce ourselves is oil.

I’ve negotiated for it diligently, and the result of that effort is…

“Kurt-sama, the promised items have arrived.”

Visitors arrived at my house. They were the men serving as dragon carriage drivers.

I had sent them to the winery located outside Eclava.

The purpose, of course, was to procure the raw material for oil.

“Thank you, please unload it in the back warehouse.”

“Understood. As you instructed. But it’s quite surprising, being able to make oil from grape seeds.”

“We won’t know if it’ll work until we try, though.”

The raw material for the oil I’m making is grape seeds removed during the production of white wine.

With this, I’ll make grape seed oil.

It’s a very high-quality oil, used in luxury confectionery on Earth.

It’s also highly regarded as a cosmetic ingredient.

Since the material was supposed to be discarded grape seeds, the cost is almost nothing.

Now, let’s make grape seed oil right away.

The process is very simple. I probably won’t fail.

◇

With the paperwork all sorted out, I headed to the warehouse in the afternoon.

There, several boxes filled with sun-dried and dried grape seeds were stacked.

Before I knew it, not only Tina but also the elf Chloe had arrived.

“Kurt-sama, you’re going to make oil now?”

“That’s right. I hope it goes smoothly.”

“Well, I’m sure it will. They make oil from papules even in the Spirit Village, so there’s no reason you can’t do it.”

I chuckled softly.

Chloe’s words were reassuring.

Since I didn’t have deep knowledge myself, her experience in the Spirit Village might come in handy.

“How do you make the oil?”

“It’s really simple. You dry and then crush the grape seeds, and then you strain out the oil.”

For that purpose, I had created a simple tool with my earth magic.

It resembled a mortar and pestle, with a pouring spout in the center for the dried grape seeds, and a slope to ensure that the oil automatically pooled in one place. The collection point was a glass bottle, allowing us to see how much oil had accumulated.

Grape seeds turned out to be surprisingly oily, with about 10% of the seed being oil. Drying removed the moisture, leaving behind pure oil when crushed.

With the seeds in the mortar, I would turn the handle, causing the seeds to be crushed and the oil to seep out.

“Now, let’s give it a try. I’ll turn the mortar, and Tina, you pour the seeds steadily.”

“Yes, I’ll give it a try! Kurt-sama.”

And so, we began making the oil.

At first, we poured the seeds in slowly.

As I turned the handle, the seeds were crushed gradually. Oil trickled out little by little, gathering in one spot due to the slope.

“It seems to be going well.”

“Yes, the oil is accumulating little by little.”

“Tina, try pouring the seeds a bit faster.”

“Like this?”

“A bit more.”

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah, that’s just right.”

The pace of oil accumulation increased.

We continued to crush the dry grape seeds diligently.

After about thirty minutes, the glass bottle was filled with oil, so we paused the process.

“Phew, looks like we’re getting plenty of oil.”

As I tilted the glass bottle, I noticed the characteristic viscosity of the oil.

“It’s such a lovely oil. The vibrant green color is striking.”

“The scent is delightful too. Let me have a sniff.”

Handing the glass bottle over, Tina received it with a smile.

“Wow, it has a sweet and refreshing scent.”

“I want to try too. Mmm, it smells wonderful.”

With grapes as the raw material, it had a refreshing and cool fragrance.

On Earth, grape seed oil was highly regarded as a luxury item.

Using it in pastries would surely enhance their flavor.

“I’ll try using this to see how it affects the taste of Pinaru Honey Cake later.”

“That sounds fantastic, Kurt-sama!”

“While walnut oil was delicious, I wonder if this will bring out a different kind of flavor? Kurt, I’m excited to find out.”

Both of them seemed genuinely interested.

However…

“It’s quite tiring and time-consuming though. The process itself is simple, so we can leave it to Johann and the others. Maybe we should try making a water mill next time.”

With this task, Johann and the others should be capable of handling it just fine.

It required some effort, but with rotation, it shouldn’t be a problem.

In the future, it would be nice to automate things by building a water mill.

“What’s a water mill?”

“Well, it’s a mechanism that uses the power of water to turn gears. These gears then rotate a millstone. As long as the water flows, it automatically squeezes the oil.”

“That sounds wonderful! It seems so effortless.”

“But building it is quite challenging. My village doesn’t have the resources to construct such a thing, so we’d need to call in craftsmen from the town. That means it would cost money. Once the shop gets going and starts making good profits, then we can consider it.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

Tina smiled at me.

The shortage of manpower was indeed a serious issue. We were simply lacking in personnel.

We might need to resume the recruitment process that we had put on hold when we took in Johann and the others.

“First, let’s make as much oil as we can today. Tina, Chloe, let’s push ourselves a bit more.”

“You can count on us, Kurt-sama.”

“Oh, Kurt, let me take over that turning for a while. I’m confident in my strength too.”

And so, we spent the entire day making oil.

Thanks to that, we managed to obtain plenty of oil.

The grape seeds kept coming one after another.

If we ended up with surplus oil, we could consider selling it instead of just using it for pastries.

Grape seed oil was of high quality. It would surely fetch a good price.