145: Cristoph’s Obsession

Note: Apologies for the delay and thanks for your patience. Getting to the groove is more challenging than I thought especially when handling external matters outside of drawing and writing. Thoughts of applying the personal accounts is a little harder and more time consuming than I expected. I'm not a huge fan of the universal "gourmetclub" account login but it's a useful measure for now. Same goes for the Discord. I need to focus more on doing my art instead of worrying about customer management. For if I spend too much time on that, there won't be time for the most important aspect... CONTENT. I'm still working on a good approach in the coming weeks. Also with the delay of the release of the next Forbidden Feast Comic, I'm not sure what's the best method for sales, Hiccears confusing that method it may be, or through the Patreon/Subscribestar approach with the added tier, and suggestions to use other platforms such as Gumroad.

Anyway, thoughts on all these are stressing me out a little. I need to write, draw and create stories, and on to that!

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2003, at an undisclosed location in Europe:

A most unnatural auction was taking place with the featured item on display, a very rare Jambon de Femme, on sale with a very high starting bid of €100,000. What is most special about this item is that it follows the very meticulous and secret method pioneered by none other than Cristoph Van Duyne who had disappeared around a decade ago, his secrets taken with him. But it is learned now that Chef Gaston Roux had learned his methods and kept it secret until now to the surprise of Aleksei Kokhorov, the-Osnovatel-the-Zagotovshchik, and his guests. How he came upon this knowledge was still uncertain.

Some say that Cristoph was still alive and in hiding, who had somehow imparted his recipe to his family's most loyal servant, the once disgraced chef whom his father had saved from ignominy.

Some say that Cristoph had taught Chef Roux early on by only chose to reveal his masterpiece once he had perfected the method which had not been scribed even in the great Arcanum Gastronomica. This was a secret knowledge passed from Master to Protégé.

And it was at a timely moment, when the the-Osnovatel-the-Zagotovshchik upon his ascendancy as Patriarch of the Circle with rumblings of having the chef replaced, that Chef Roux chose to reveal his secret to remain in the good graces of the-Osnovatel-the-Zagotovshchik and remain the Head Chef of the Circle.

One guest present remarked about this rumor that he misses the good old days where politics within the Circle had taken a backseat to trust within members, the feeling of brotherhood, and loyalty to the legacy of Asterion. But he, of course, kept this secret from the ever enigmatic Zagotovshchik. Who knows what misfortune might befall him in the future.

Other topics of discussion among the dinner guests include lines such as:

How did you get the foot to point that way? Isn't that pose unnatural?

I say the tattoo on the foot adds a certain personal touch to the girl. It makes the dining experience much more intimate!

This will be the most expensive item of gourmet I will ever attempt to purchase. If I'd venture a guess, I'd say this piece will fetch at least a quarter of a million euros. It's a masterpiece befitting Cristoph's legacy!

And one answer Chef Roux did reveal:

This was a secret Cristoph taught me when he impounded upon me the importance of visual aesthetics to the meal. There are a few methods. One such manner is to use a woman's high heeled shoe to hold the foot's pose. Another which I'd use on this particular masterpiece, is to strap the leg onto a board after butchering in a cool, dry room, and have it hold for a few hours until rigor mortis sets in. After which, as with any other cured Jambon, Serrano or Prosciutto he'd rub the salt all over the leg before curing it, that much I can say without revealing too much. And as you can see, the end result is... perfection!