"A noodle cutter." Clegane said, "a long, rectangular blade with gear-like ridges, similar to the mechanical gears of a giant oak city gate's winch. You place two of these blades into fixed grooves. First, adjust the gap between the two blades, then lock them into place with clamps. The adjustable groove controls how closely the blades mesh. A wider gap produces thicker noodles, a narrower gap yields thinner ones."
"You then place a kneaded dough ball on top and turn a hand crank fitted with gears. The crank's gears drive the cutter's gears, causing the two noodle blades to rotate inward. As they rotate, long, thin noodles are continuously pressed out from between the blades below."
"Catch the noodles on a rod, cut them to size with scissors, and hang them under the sun to dry. After drying, you chop them to uniform lengths and bundle them with clean cloth or silk ties, two pounds per bundle, five pounds, even ten pounds if you wish. Store them in a grain warehouse, and they'll be ready for use anytime. When you want to eat them, just boil briefly in water. This delicacy, however, can only be properly enjoyed with chopsticks. Knives, forks, or spoons are completely useless."
Master Tobho Mott was utterly dumbfounded.
Clegane noticed his reaction, it was exactly what he expected, and he wasn't the least bit surprised.
"Master, have you ever eaten noodles?"
Tobho shook his head stiffly and awkwardly.
He had eaten plenty of black bread but never noodles. Black bread, rough, basic, and primitive, was a stark contrast to the refined culinary culture the civilization Gregor now carried in his mind.
Noodles were a rare treat, only found in the homes of nobles who could afford servants, chefs, and the leisure to prepare them. But even then, those noodles were short, thick, and clumsy, hardly worthy of the name. In truth, they were more like dough lumps than proper noodles. They were eaten more for variety than flavor, a break from the endless monotony of bread.
But those coarse, rudimentary noodles couldn't even compare to the high-level, refined noodles of Gregor's past life. They belonged to a different civilization entirely.
The limits of an era define the height of its civilization, and that includes its cuisine.
The more advanced a society becomes, the more intricate its division of labor. Culinary arts follow the same principle. The more refined the cuisine, the more sophisticated the culture behind it. This is a universal truth.
Chopsticks, in particular, are a symbol of Huaxia's culinary culture. They've remained relevant from the earliest pastoral civilizations to agrarian societies, through industrial revolutions, and into the age of modern technology. For thousands of years, they've stood the test of time and proved their superiority across all dining contexts.
Clegane understood this deeply and firmly believed in it.
Tobho Mott had never even heard of a noodle cutter, nor had he ever tasted real noodles. Even in this world, among kings and lords who had eaten noodles, none had ever seen a mechanical cutter or the kind of noodles Clegane was talking about, ones that belonged to a civilization several levels more advanced.
Ironwork in this world was already capable of creating such a machine. It didn't need electricity, just a simple hand crank, some gears, and properly aligned blades to produce perfectly refined noodles.
As for gears and levers, those concepts already existed here. They were used in giant iron-clad city gates that opened via mechanical systems.
With chopsticks, the pinnacle of culinary tools, available, even in a lower-end civilization, the dream of refined cuisine became truly achievable.
Salt might still be under the strict monopoly of the royal houses, but wheat and flour were not. With flour and a noodle cutter, producing refined noodles was a simple matter.
And as a university-trained engineering student in his previous life, Clegane hadn't completely forgotten all his mechanical knowledge.
In fact, even a slab of iron drilled with tiny holes could be used to create rice noodles, simple as that.
From that point on, Tobho Mott turned into a student. With wide eyes and furrowed brows, he listened to Clegane explain the structure of the noodle cutter and the process of mold design. Chopsticks were a new concept to him as well. Even when Clegane broke a twig into two and demonstrated, Tobho could only grasp the concept vaguely.
Everything Clegane talked about was new to him, but Tobho had a solid foundation. It didn't take long before he began to understand.
He had worked on the winch mechanisms for city gates before, so he wasn't unfamiliar with the principle of gear rotation driving vertical movement via ropes. The noodle cutter followed a similar principle: a crank that powered rotating blades. The narrow gap between the blades created the noodles, something he had never seen nor imagined.
Clegane explained that noodles could be eaten fresh or boiled, and more importantly, they stored well.
This world has developed excellent food preservation techniques, born from necessity. Winters could last as long as ten years, and only by storing enough food could people survive. Dried noodles would be no exception, they could keep for years.
That night, the group stayed in the small town of Aigle, within the Shalette family's territory in the Westerlands.
Just after dinner, Tobho Mott knocked on Clegane's door.
He entered with a sheepish look, followed by a puzzled Gendry.
Clegane knew what Tobho wanted, guidance on how to draw the schematics for the noodle cutter. The master was already obsessed.
To build a machine, you needed a blueprint.
The blueprint existed only in Clegane's mind.
But Tobho had completely forgotten Clegane's terrifying reputation. Once he started discussing the noodle cutter, he became wholly engrossed, forgetting everything else.
The strange, unheard-of noodle cutter had completely captivated him. Despite being the realm's foremost master in weapons and armor, Tobho's mechanical knowledge was still limited by his world's lower level of civilization, far behind that of Clegane.
As for why Clegane had come up with such an outlandish yet clearly feasible machine, Tobho didn't care in the slightest. He was interested in the mechanics, everything else was irrelevant.
Having reached the peak of his craft in weaponsmithing, Tobho had grown bored of making the same swords and armor over and over again. What truly fascinated him were complex, elegant machines. Forging weapons was his livelihood, but mechanical innovation was his passion. Clegane's noodle cutter gave him a new direction, a spark of inspiration that reawakened his soul.
Clegane had deliberately simplified the design, stripping away anything too complex, no motors, no rollers. Just two noodle blades, a triangular iron frame to secure them, adjustable grooves to set the gap, and a hand crank with gears.
Two days later, they arrived back at Clegane's territory.
By then, Tobho had completely lost all fear of Clegane. His mind was entirely focused on refining the design and functionality of the noodle cutter. He now fully understood what Clegane wanted and envisioned. All that remained was to bring it to life.
Everyone has a passion, and Tobho's was a mechanical invention. He also had the talent to match.
As the group approached Clegane's Keep, they were welcomed back by the entire household: Lord Gawen, Clegane's future father-in-law; his fiancée, Jeyne Westerling; the kitchen steward, Lady Allen; his adopted daughter, Julie Clegane; Maester Harry; stablemaster Thomasson; the keep's steward and bookkeeper; and even the villagers, who had just finished harvesting and were now helping build houses in Clegane's Keep.
They had all come out to greet their lord's return.
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