The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

"Try it! It's delicious!" Roland gently raised the spoon in his hand to Nyx.

"Ah~" Nyx closed her eyes, forcing herself to suppress her discomfort, and leaned in to open her mouth.

"Mmm..." The spicy and smooth tofu pudding slid into Nyx's stomach with lightning speed before he could even react.

"Mmm, it smells so good!" Nyx's eyes lit up instantly. The spicy and savory tofu pudding quickly won over Nyx's stomach, which had been tormented by the chef who used to "feed pigs" all day long.

"Aww~" Nyx quickly took the spoon and swallowed it in a few bites, his eyes filled with delight.

Roland's eye twitched. Sure enough, the "it smells so good" law always applies. Nyx, who had been resisting to the death just now, had now abandoned her ladylike demeanor and was swallowing the tofu pudding in big gulps.

Roland couldn't help but lovingly wipe away the red oil from the corner of her mouth. This girl was truly pitiful, having been ruined by the barren food of the Middle-earth for so many years. It was already a sign of restraint that she didn't swallow her tongue when she finally encountered the traditional delicacies of the Great Food Empire.

"Wait a minute, try eating it with bread." Roland looked around and could only find some white bread. It seemed that the task of not eating pig feed was still a long way off.

"You should try some too!" Roland said to the chefs and cooks, looking at the whole bucket of tofu pudding.

After thanking Roland for his kindness, everyone followed his example and made themselves a bowl of food. As a result, the entire kitchen instantly turned into a pig trough, filled with grunting and slurping sounds.

Roland's eyelids twitched; it seemed he had underestimated the impact of Chinese cuisine on the taste buds of these poor people.

"You've all learned it by now, right, Boris?" Roland called out to the head chef.

"Of course, Your Highness! I will remember it!" Boris bowed and scraped before Roland. They could only marvel at Roland's culinary skills. Even Chef Boris, who considered himself a master chef (a master of culinary disasters), was full of admiration.

“But…” Boris’s expression suddenly changed, and he said somewhat awkwardly.

"Damn it, just say what you want to say! Spit it out! Stop making this noise!" Roland was almost disgusted by the greasy middle-aged man's fidgety hand-clenching movements and almost vomited his dinner from the night before.

“We don’t produce those magical sauces you make…” Boris scratched his head.

"It's alright, I'll leave you some. If you need more, just come and get more!" Roland waved his hand. After all, he had signed in quite a few of these unbranded condiments during the daily check-in. These items, which Roland had once tossed into a corner of the system space, finally played an important role in Middle-earth, a world that was extremely unfriendly to foodies.

"Alright, now I'm going to try something else!" Roland waved Boris away like a fly and then went to the remaining tofu pudding.

Roland placed a steamer basket (a piece of junk given by the system for daily check-ins) in the steamer, then laid a layer of cloth on top, scooped on some tofu pudding, covered it with the steamer basket, and finally needed to press it down with a heavy object. After searching around and not finding anything suitable, Roland simply placed his Dragon Slayer Sword on top.

"Wait 30 minutes!" Roland said, pulling the still-entertaining Nyx out of the kitchen.

……

"Your Highness, how did you learn to make these things?" Nyx asked, still confused. She didn't understand why Roland had suddenly become a gourmet.

"..." Roland's lips twitched a few times. He hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. Was he going to tell Nyx that his skills were second-rate even in China? Any random old lady in the village could cook more dishes than him. He had only learned this skill from watching short videos.

……

"What is this?" Nyx asked curiously, poking the swaying tofu with her fair little hand.

"Tsk! Looks like it wasn't pressed properly; it's like soft tofu." Roland muttered to himself, resting his chin on his hand. "Soft tofu?" Head Chef Boris leaned over, eager to learn the technique.

"Get lost!" Roland kicked the chef, who treated people like pigs, away and cursed him angrily.

"How do we eat this? Do we eat it the same way?" Nyx asked curiously, blinking her big eyes.

"Don't always think of the same way of cooking..." Roland shook his head helplessly. Sure enough, there was a reason for the lack of dishes. Even the halflings who were good at cooking in the story only knew how to fry, stew, and boil. As for stir-frying, they probably hadn't even heard of it...

"Sigh..." Roland shook his head. The task ahead is arduous and the road is long.

"Boris! Get over here and watch carefully! If you make me pig feed again, I'll slaughter you! And you guys! If you don't want to be swinging on the swings at the city gate next time, you'd better study properly!" Roland roared.

"Hey, I'm here!" Boris immediately ran over with a fawning smile.

Roland ignored him, and simply took a cleaver and cut the tofu into thin slices about two fingers wide, then poured the vegetable oil into the iron pot for stewing...

Everyone wore expressions of indifference, realizing that King Roland was no different from them—just a hodgepodge of ingredients, with only the addition of different parts.

Roland glanced at them but didn't reply. After all, even if I were to make a stew, I wouldn't add cockroaches to the pot like you guys... I'm the mighty King Lagrange, not Bell Roland. I don't need to play wilderness survival.

"Sizzle~" The tofu slid down the edge of the pan into the hot oil, making a loud sizzling sound. Soon, the aroma of fried tofu filled the air, and the unprecedented bean fragrance made everyone's mouths water.

"Go! Chop a cabbage for me!" Roland ordered Boris to do his bidding.

Soon Boris brought over the chopped cabbage. Roland glanced at it with satisfaction; although there was no bok choy, cabbage would do just as well.

Roland stir-fried the cabbage in the pan, then drizzled it with soy sauce and dark soy sauce, sprinkled on a little MSG and salt, and the flavor immediately came out! At this moment, Boris's eyes widened in disbelief. He had just witnessed a new cooking method. For Boris, who aspired to become a top chef, this was no less than the impact of a nuclear bomb. He wished he could crawl into the pot and watch Roland do it.

……

"Your Highness is truly talented!" Boris exclaimed sincerely. Although he hadn't tasted it, he could tell from the color and aroma that this new dish would be excellent.

"Got it? Make it like this tonight!" Roland said to Boris after serving a large plate of stir-fried tofu and cabbage.

"Are these the only two dishes?" Boris asked.

"Tofu pudding is for breakfast! Can't you use that as a starting point to cook something else?" Roland said, rubbing his forehead.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Boris patted his chest and assured him, as if he were about to go to his heroic death.

……

“Try it!” Roland said to Nyx, as they were the only two people at the table at the moment.

"Mmm! Delicious!" Nyx mumbled indistinctly while chewing on tofu and noodles.

Roland's face contorted as he looked at the bread in Nyx's hand. You know, for someone from an ancient capital who has been eating bread for almost a year, it's nothing short of torture. Roland just couldn't understand it. With so many kinds of bread, why do these Westerners only know how to make bread? Is it because flatbread isn't as delicious anymore, or because noodles aren't chewy enough?