Chapter 54 (Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen)

Chapter 54 (Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen)
Chapter Information
Cover Characters	Coco's Mother, Coco
Volume	n/a
Pages	16
Date Released	JP: 28 November 2024
Chapter Guide
Previous	Chapter 53

Chapter Fifty-Four of Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen. Currently only available online at Morning Two Comics.

Summary

Olruggio wakes up late, aching all over from playing too much at the beach the day prior. Feeling somewhat guilty, as he was the one who suggested Olruggio could use more exercise, Qifrey tries to lend his friend a helping hand, but the action strains his dominant arm, which was previously injured during the girls' Second Pentagram Test. Qifrey begins to fret, as it's almost time to prepare lunch, so Olruggio offers to step in and make it. But observing that Olruggio can barely stand, the girls volunteer to make lunch so that their teachers can rest and recover.

Coco mentions that there is a dish she's been wanting to make for while, and begins gathering ingredients, while Qifrey looks on anxiously. The other girls quickly realize she plans on making some kind of stew, and Agott notes it's a good choice as it only requires a spoon to eat, which will be easier for Qifrey to manage with his good arm injured. However, Richeh seems less than pleased about one ingredient: frillram mutton. Because of the animal's grassy diet, Richeh says the meat takes on a strong, gamey odor which is unappealing to a lot of people, including Qifrey, who typically relies on a lot of spices to try and cover up the smell.

But Coco explains that mutton is the meat with which she is most familiar; the village she grew up in raised a lot of frillram, since their wool can be used to make fabric, and their meat can be used as food. That dual purpose made frillram even more common in her tailoring family's household. As a result, she says she knows a number of ways to eliminate the meat's strong smell.

Her first tip is to trim as much fat away as possible, as the strong odor concentrates there, and her second recommendation is to cut the meat into bite-sized pieces before briefly boiling it in salted water to further remove any unpleasant smells. After the demonstration, the girls leave the rest of the mutton to Coco, and begin preparing vegetables. Tetia slices up some chrysanthonions, and Richeh roasts some carapace yams, allowing Agott to scoop out and cut up their interiors. Once all the ingredients are ready, they are all added to a clear soup base.

Coco then offers up her third and final tip to neutralize any lingering mutton odor: wind chime bay tree^{[unofficial name]} leaves! Also known as crown laurel^{[unofficial name]}, the leaves have a refreshing scent that compliments gamey meat. After adding bay leaves, the stew is allowed to boil until the carapace yams soften and begin to break down, before being seasoned with salt and pepper. While dishing up the stew, Agott suggests they garnish it with minced tranquileaf, an herb with anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, in order to help Qifrey and Olruggio recover more quickly, and the other girls heartily agree.

Olruggio helps himself to the first serving, and is effusive with his praise. He notes that the gaminess of the frillram is completely eliminated, and is surprised Coco was able to achieve such a feat, seasoning it with only crown laurel. Pleased, Coco says it's all thanks to her mother's recipe. Olruggio then says he's curious to hear Qifrey's true thoughts on such an excellent preparation—not just a typical "thank you" or "it's good." The two then turn to Qifrey who manages, "Thank you, really. It's really good!" leaving Coco to wonder if that constitutes real praise or not?

Recipes

• Frillram Stew

Characters by Appearance

• Coco
• Tetia
• Richeh
• Agott
• Brushbuddy
• Qifrey
• Olruggio
• Sasaran ^(Mentioned)
• Coco's Mother ^(Mentioned)

Image Gallery

• 

  Olruggio and Qifrey in pain

• 

  Grazing frillram

• 

  Frillram meat detail

• 

  Wind chime bay tree^{[unofficial name]}

• 

  Crown laurel leaves^{[unofficial name]}

• 

  Young Coco dancing while wearing a chiming laurel crown

• 

  Coco receiving effusive praise from Olruggio

• 

  Coco receiving generic praise from Qifrey (with an unimpressed-looking Olruggio in the background)

Chapter Notes

• The Morning Two magazine chapter cover features a unique phrase that's not included in the volume releases. It reads,「色褪せない お母さんとの記憶」and can be translated as, "Unfading are the memories with my mother."
• This chapter seems to utilize the frillram meat purchased by Qifrey in Chapter 51 (Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen), and is the first to feature it in a recipe.