The flight was delayed at the airport, and I was going crazy, barely finishing a chapter. Tomorrow I'm going to take a half-day off... It's just one more chapter.。。。

- I'm the dividing line -

For three consecutive years, the "Winter Palace" where the protagonist was stationed in winter has an important position, and the most popular furnishings are naturally indispensable, such as tables and chairs.

However, since no large-scale banquets have been held before, the tables and stools here are only used by a few high-level male ants such as the protagonist, and the number is not enough for all the male ants.

Even the size of the conference room for a banquet is only large enough for all the males to huddle together for a meeting, but the restaurant for a meal is not very spacious.

In the end, only more than half of the males were able to stay in the conference room to eat, and these were the males who had more advantages in status and seniority, while the other males were scattered to a few nest rooms around the conference room to sit down.

Due to the lack of tables and stools, only a dozen male ants such as Rolling were able to sit on the only table that was put together with the great Divine Envoy King, while the other males were still standing around, alone or in groups, with a makeshift table composed of stones, wooden blocks, and damaged clay blocks in front of them.

Although the conditions were missing, as the food was served, all the males were immediately attracted to the food. There was no drunken cacophony in the ants' feast, but judging by the pleasantly rocking tentacles on the males' heads, the attendees were clearly satisfied.

It's all thanks to the food.

In his spare time, especially in winter, the protagonist always thinks about making various kinds of food on the basis of what he has. And the delicious legend of the small stove of the Divine Envoy King has also been circulating among the high-level male ants within the Divine Envoy King's legion, and all the lucky ones who are lucky enough to eat it will treasure this information package and show it off everywhere.

While the males were able to get a glimpse of the delicacy from the packets sent by the lucky ones, they couldn't compare to the pleasure of the food actually chewing in their jaws, being sent into their mouths, and finally sliding down their throats.

Today, all the male ants have experienced this wonderful taste firsthand, and perhaps it is a delicacy that belongs to the gods that has descended on the mortal world.

Although the ingredients in the ant world are very different from those in the human world, and there are similarities and differences in cooking methods, the way of cooking is the same. On the basis of existing resources, the protagonist has restored some human cuisines, and also invented some food practices according to local conditions.

The protagonist prefers Chinese cuisine, but "stir-frying", which is one of the souls of modern Chinese food, is difficult to do with the existing technical conditions of the ants.

Because stir-frying requires metal pots and grease, proper heat and fast stir-frying techniques.

For example, the key ingredient needed for stir-frying is fat, which allows the food to heat quickly and evenly, and to give off its aroma. Humans mostly use vegetable oils and animal oils, and although there is no vegetable oil in the city, it is rich in fat from mealworms and prey. These fats are made into air-dried or waxed fats, which only need to be boiled to get the liquid fat in a hot pan.

The right stove and stir-frying technique are also the key to stir-frying, and ants have a solution for both of them.

The key to the ants' current inability to stir-fry is the pot. Only metal tools that can conduct heat quickly and evenly are suitable for stir-frying, and this kind of metal pot is generally an iron pot, and it is the invention and popularization of the iron pot that makes stir-frying appear and carry forward. Before the Iron Age, bronze cookware could only be used for steaming, not stir-frying.

The ants do not have the technology to make iron, although copper pots can be used instead. However, long-term use of iron pots can replenish the necessary iron elements for diners, but the copper elements in copper pots can only accumulate for a long time and are difficult to excrete from the body, resulting in chronic poisoning.

Of course, the process is very slow, but all in all, a copper pot is not a very suitable stir-fry cooker and can only be used as a substitute.

Because it can't be fried, the food that the protagonist takes out can only be done by steaming, boiling, roasting and other primitive cooking methods, but it is enough to make the male ants who have never seen the world feast and be addicted.

For example, in the simplest barbecue, ants used to eat raw meat, but after the protagonist took everyone to appreciate the deliciousness of salted barbecue, the male ants have consciously abandoned the habit of eating raw meat.

But this time at the banquet, the barbecue was more particular. The barbecue is mainly made of fat and thin mealworm meat, which is most common in the territory of the Divine Envoy King's legion, just like the pork, beef and mutton in the human world.

The fat and thin mealworm meat is worn on wooden skewers of the same length as the body length of the soldier ants, placed in close proximity around the fire, and roasted little by little by relying on the heat around the flames. During this time, worker ants are constantly braving the heat to approach the meat skewers and then sprinkle them with salt grains or brush honeydew with a long ant silk brush.

The aphid honeydew smeared on the grilled meat plays a role comparable to that of honey, making the meat more tender and smooth, and neutralizing the burnt bitterness of the barbecue, revealing a hint of sweetness and deliciousness in addition to the aroma of fat and the saltiness of salt.

The cooked meat skewers are removed and almost half of the charred meat is cut off with a copper knife – a perfectly normal scorch given the ants' cooking skills and ability to harness the fire.

The charred meat is then rewarded to some lucky Divine Messenger King warriors, and while it's not too healthy, it's still delicious.

The finished roast is then divided into portions, placed on the leaves of the plants that have been dried and cut to the right size, and delivered to each male or queen.

The grilled meat is the main course, while other side dishes are also essential.

For example, the soup, which is made with dried wild vegetables and husked grass seeds, is also very popular, and the vegetable porridge that resembles a thin salty flavor is also very popular.

Previously, the protagonist succeeded in cooking food using pottery, but due to the small capacity of the cooking utensils, the water in the clay pot was often boiled quickly and the food was not cooked.

Later, the protagonist increases the volume of the clay pot, adds a lid, and soaks the hard-to-cook grass seeds in advance, which finally solves this problem perfectly.

The soup was served in clay bowls, and each male ant could only take a large bite, but the hot soup still made many male ants fall in love with hot food from then on.

Due to the shortage of pottery bowls, it was not possible to start firing new pottery in winter, and it was not possible to ship it from [Dongyang Castle] after it was fired. Therefore, except for the protagonist who has a separate pottery bowl, the other males take turns using the pottery bowl.

Other dishes include cakes baked on rocks by the fire with mixed grass seeds and salt; Soak dried wild vegetables and dried fruits, mix with dressing and salad; Honeydew mixed with water, drinks with dried fruit purees, and more.

Although there were only a few dishes, afterwards, the male ants firmly remembered the day of the Spring Festival - a day with peculiar food.