\'Oh, Tori. I\'m here.

While I was in the kitchen preparing to show off my burgers, Dusty came in.

He said he would be there after work, but Dusty was the most enthusiastic. He must have been secretly looking forward to it, even though he said so earlier.

Is this minced meat going to be a hamburger steak?

I thought he was going to sit down briefly and wait, but Dusty leans over to the receiving table and peeks into the kitchen.

He seems to be interested in the hamburger steak.

Yes, that\'s right. You knead it with seasonings and onions and stuff and then bake it.

\'\'Heh.\'\'

While Dusty looks interested, I make the hamburger patties with salt and pepper.

When the mixture becomes sticky, I add the onions and eggs and mix evenly.

\'Oh, it\'s Dusty,\' he says.

Soon after, Curt and Hurt came in together.

They call out to Dusty and line up at the pickup counter as well.

It\'s funny to see the three of them peeking into the kitchen side by side.

Dad is in the back chopping vegetables and preparing dinner, though he seems to be having a bit of a hard time.

Is that a hamburger steak you\'re making right now?

Yes, all I have to do is bake it and put it between bread and vegetables. I\'ll prepare it now, so please wait at the table.

\'No, I\'m just going to watch the meat.

\'Yes, it\'s a dish that\'s a friend to vegetables. I\'ll have to keep an eye on it.

\'I don\'t have time to sit down anyway.

I thought it would be a shame to make them wait standing there, but they didn\'t seem to mind.

The three of them said they would stay and watch, so I set to work, even if it is a little difficult for me.

I\'ve already prepared the food, though, so it\'s just a simple matter of baking.

I put the hamburgers for the three of us into the pan with the oil.

The hamburgers are placed on the hot oil, and a sizzling sound is heard. I like the sound of the meat on the hot frying pan.

After listening to the sound and staring at the meat for a while, the good smell of cooking meat spreads around the area.

Perhaps caught by the savory aroma, the three of us who are looking into the kitchen are leaning forward more than before.

I\'m a little worried that they might lean forward too much and enter the kitchen.

Just when I think so, the surface of the fish is just cooked, so I turn the heat down to low and cover the lid.

The three of them, who had visually seen the hamburger steak closed up, put their heads back with a disappointed look on their faces.

Laughing at their honest reactions, I prepare a plate to serve the hamburgers.

\'Dad, I\'ll take sliced tomatoes and shredded lettuce.

\'Oh.\'

I borrowed the tomatoes and lettuce that my father had prepared for me while I was preparing the meal.

Then, I took bread and cheese out of the pantry and cut them into perfect sizes.

The hamburger steak seems to be cooked enough, so he turns off the heat.

Put the lettuce on the cut bread and pour the hot hamburger steak and special sauce on it. Then cheese, tomato and lettuce are added and finally the hamburger is ready.

Oh! Something different from a sandwich! Let them eat as soon as possible!\'\'

No, let\'s sit at the table when we eat.

Admonishing Dusty for his excitement, I moved over with the plate of food and he followed me like a duckling.

He sat him down on a chair and put the plate with the hamburger in front of him.

Oh, that\'s our lettuce! It looks so fresh and beautiful even after a long time. Even in a sandwich, its beauty stands out!

Only Hurt would be the first to get excited about lettuce when shown a hamburger.

As usual, Hurt\'s tastes seem to revolve around vegetables.

This is the hamburger I\'m going to make. I want to hear everyone\'s opinion, so try it.

\'I can eat it with my hands like this, right?\'

\'Yes, my hands are a little dirty, but I just gobble it up.

As I urged them to do so, the three of them immediately grabbed a hamburger with both hands.

They had been exposed to the smell of hamburgers for so long that they couldn\'t stand it any longer.

Among them, Carlo, the butcher, looks especially serious. He looks at the hamburgers from various angles, checking the juices, the degree of cooking, the onions mixed in, and so on.

I feel a little nervous because I feel like I\'m being judged on the quality of my hamburgers.

Then Dusty opens his big mouth and bites into the hamburger.

Dusty\'s yell rises immediately.

Yum!

\'Well, you didn\'t kill the freshness and chewiness of the lettuce. As expected of Mr. Abel, you\'ve done a wonderful job with the knife.

\'\'No, I\'m sure that\'s part of the flavor, but I\'m not that hung up on the lettuce.

\'What! The lettuce accents the texture of the hamburger steak and makes the strong taste of the hamburger steak go down smoothly, you know? So to speak, you could say that this lettuce is the centerpiece of the dish.

No, you\'re wrong. The bread soaks up all the juices and makes all the ingredients taste good. It\'s a breaded dish to begin with. Of course the bread is the star, right?

Yeah, it\'s a pain in the ass when people are so obsessive.

But that\'s why I\'m glad we talked about it. Even though I explained it lightly, they understand the depth of this dish and the role of each ingredient just by taking a bite.

Well, well, every hamburger is the star of the show.

When I told them so, Hurt and Dusty seemed satisfied for the time being and resumed eating.

Now, Carlo.

After carefully checking the hamburger steak, Carlo takes a bite of it.

Being the son of a butcher, he must have eaten a lot of meat. How is the hamburger for such a Carlo?

It tastes even better than \'...... had imagined. Maybe this is Eigfang\'s meat?

\'Yeah, that\'s right.\'

That\'s the butcher\'s son. He was able to guess the meat used just by taking a bite.

It tastes good enough as it is, but it might be good to mix it with other meats. I can\'t say it well, but I think there is still room for growth.

Indeed. Hamburgers are made of ground meat, but some are made of beef only, while others are made of pork. Some hamburgers are made only with pork, for example.

Don\'t assume that Eigfang\'s meat is good for hamburgers, but you can try to make hamburgers with other meats as well.

Mmm, lettuce is also a good idea. If the taste of meat and sauce is so strong, lettuce that can catch it might be good. Or a more chewy kind of leafy vegetable would be good too.

As Hurt mentioned earlier, lettuce is probably the one that stands out the most in terms of texture in this dish.

You can try different kinds.

The bread should be less sweet and less salty, and it should be able to catch the sauce and juices. This bread doesn\'t absorb the sauce and juices very well, and you end up with sauce all over your hands.

\'Do you have that kind of bread at Dusty\'s?\'

This bread is only intended to be eaten as a stand-alone product. It is not, as Dusty pointed out, a bread that has been lightened in flavor to be sandwiched between the ingredients.

\'...... No, it\'s not. I\'ll make some myself.

\'That\'s the baker\'s son, very reliable.

\'Shut up, don\'t play games with me.

I don\'t have any, so I\'ll make my own. That\'s a cool thing to say.

Dusty was plainly embarrassed when I complimented him.

\'I know I\'m kind of a spoiler here and there, but it\'s really good. Tori is the one who came up with this.

\'Indeed. This is newer than other sandwiches and I\'m sure it will sell well.

\'Yeah, if we each bring our knowledge and experience to make it even better, it\'ll be perfect! It tastes even better!\'\'

I don\'t know, I\'m a little embarrassed when the three of them suddenly praise me.

I\'m just trying to recreate a dish from my previous life, but it makes me happy.

Thank you. Well then, let\'s all think about it together.

\'Yeah. But first, let\'s get a refill, Tori!

\'One is not enough.\'

\'Me too. More lettuce this time, please.

I made more hamburgers for the three of them as they held out their plates like that.