Kami no Shizuku 20

Reserved for IEM.

@segua: Thank you very much for proofreading it. ^^

Hmmmmm. Usually, I don't post my translation in this site since all my translations are reserved for some groups though, IEM seems like having trouble due to lack of proofreader. This translation has been posted at IEM site for a month or so but never been proofread. So, I'm hoping to get some proofreaders help. Please any one??


//Kamino Shizuku 20//

p.23
Foot: #20 Wine or food.

p.24
Girl: This oyster goes well with Chablis too.

Girl: In terms of wine, it's been common sense since the old days to have "oysters with Chablis."

Girl: Huh? This oyster is a bit smelly.
Man: Eh? No way. // I tasted it in the kitchen but it wasn’t fishy at all. / How strange…
Shizuku: I’ve figured it out.

They: Huh?

p.25
Shizuku: I’m starting to understand the reason why // that Tomine bastard didn’t drink this wine--.

p.26
Man: What do you mean? / Please tell me.
Shizuku: No. Before that, let’s continue on tasting your food.

Man: …// I understand.

Man: Then, let me get you the main dish.

Girl: Hey, Shizuku-san. / What was the problem?

Shizuku: Miyabi-chan. When the sea urchin mousses were first served, you tasted it and said it was delicious, right?
Girl: Yeah. I thought that was an excellent dish for the price.

Shizuku: But at that time, I noticed that I didn’t hear you say anything about the wine.
Girl: Oh, / that’s right.

p.27
Shizuku: In fact, I’m sure that I had some wine after having the mousse. // I didn't feel the sensation of the wine like I felt before tasting any food.

Girl: Th-, that’s right but why?
Shizuku: I don’t know yet.

Shizuku: Though, when I had the oyster that was served afterward, I felt another uncomfortable feeling. // Miyabi-chan, you said that it was fishy.

Girl: Yeah, I thought that the oyster was originally like that though.
Shizuku: That’s not it. / That oyster’s fishiness was caused by the wine.

Girl: Eh?

p.28
Girl: B-, but oyster and Chablis are,
Shizuku: Yeah, it’s a usual combination in French cuisine right? / If I remember right, my father used to order Chablis when he was having oyster.

Girl: Yutaka Kanzaki was not only a first-rate critic of wine but also of French cuisine, right? // And that person matched those two together so it couldn’t be wrong…

Shizuku: However, there’s "something" in here / and Issei Tomine knew about that something. // That’s why he didn’t touch this Chablis after he sniffed it.

Girl: …

p.29
Man: Sorry to keep you waiting. // This is the main dish, ris de veau and foie gras’s saute with madeira sauce.

Girl: Whoa. It looks nice.
Shizuku: And what’s the glass wine you served with it?

Man: “Domaine Alain Hudelot-Noir” from Chambolle-musigny vintage 00.

Girl: Hudelot-Noir, I see. This domaine makes very feminine and soft wine. // On top of that, the characteristic of Bourgogne wine, especially from Chambolle-musigny village, is delicate and elegant. / That’s why I think it’s very delicate and people could start drinking it at an early stage.

Man: Yeah, the sommelier who recommended it said something like that too.

p.30
Man: It’s very popular in Europe, and we can get it at a fairly cheap price in Japan too. // Though still, the wholesale price was almost 3,000 yen. I served it considering the balance with the main dish that I put my spirit into it.

Man: That’s why I was so disappointed when I was savaged like that.
Text: Indeed…
Girl: How is it?

Shizuku: I see. I could easily tell its delicate character. / This soft aroma is just like a little flower coming straight into my nostrils.

Shizuku: To illustrate, it’s like a skinny white skinned female student who’s always reading at a corner of a class room… // It’s a little thin bodied wine.

p.31
Shizuku: Its color is a little light and the acidic taste is noticeable though / I don’t think the level of the wine is low.
Girl: It might be the weak vintage of '00 that is causing this thin body and lightness in both color and fruitiness. / Its acidity could be the characteristic of its domaine though.

Shizuku: If it was just critique of the wine, I don’t think the wine deserved to be censured like that. // It must have been the impression that he felt when he had it with the food…

They: …

p.32
Girl: It’s delicious. // I think it’s worthy to be Watanuki-san’s signature dish.
Man: Isn’t it? For the past 20 years, this was the dish that everybody loved. // Back when my wife was still alive, this was the best selling dish with red wine.

Shizuku: Your wife was serving a different wine with this right?
Man: You’re right. This wine was chosen by a sommelier who came in to match wine with my cooking after my wife’s death.

Girl: You had a sommelier?
Man: Yes. That person imported wine by himself, and I could buy wine for a little cheaper than the other companies.

Man: It seemed like he ran away as soon as my restaurant slowed down.
Girl: That’s terrible.
Shizuku: …

p.33
Girl: Huh?
Man: Is anything wrong?

Girl: No… I just felt like the aroma from the wine has already dissipated. // Does vintage '00 Hudelot lose flavor this easily…?

Shizuku: That’s not it. // It’s not because of the wine itself.

Man: Th-, then are you saying that it’s because of the dish?
Shizuku: No, that’s not what I meant--.

Shizuku: I can’t say it’s because of the dish. // To put it bluntly,

p.34
Shizuku: I think this was the problem // that caused a mismatch of the food and wine.

p.35
Man: … // Mismatch?
Shizuku: Yes.

Shizuku: I recalled something of my father // while I was having this food and wine just now.

Shizuku: Since I was a kid, my father had me ate various western cuisines. Some French were too rich for a kid while some were simple and easy to eat. // At that time, I didn’t like it since I felt like he was pushing me to have whatever he liked. / Though come to think of it, perhaps he was teaching me about western cuisines.

Shizuku: Based on that experience or not, an alarm has been set off inside of me that this food and wine are mutually exclusive and their existence should never come together.

p.36
Girl: …

Girl: B-, but you weren’t drinking wine when you were little were you?
Shizuku: No. I don’t know what kind of wine father was having either though / I still remember how he behaved and some part of the conversation too.

Shizuku: No, more importantly, the beverages he gave me to drink instead of wine during the meal, I felt like those were telling me his way of how to match French food with wine implicitly.

They: …

p.37
Shizuku: One example of this was that

Box: One day, the fish of that course was // a white fish with grapefruit sauce.

Box: My father didn’t even ask me what I want to drink // but he ordered me a grapefruit juice.
Shizuku: …

Shizuku: Well, back then, I was just a kid, so I was happy as long as I got some juice.

p.38
Box: And then, the next dish came out…
Waiter: This is the duck with madeira sauce.

Shizuku: Whoa! This looks nice.

Father: Wait there, Shizuku.

Father: Garcon, could you please take this grapefruit juice away? Thanks.
Waiter: Certainly.
Shizuku: Eh? But it was half full…

Father: Have some water. // It’ll disturb the good parts in both of them.

p.39
Man: I didn’t drink this wine, but I have tasted it. It was clean and had strong acidity. // That’s why I thought that it’ll soften the richness of the meat though…

Shizuku: The main dish I had at that time was fatty duck meat and came with the same sauce as this dish, sweet madeira sauce. // If your theory was right, / there’s no point in asking the garcon to take the grapefruit juice away right?

Girl: Surely you have a point. If it was Japanese cuisine, a simple Bancha may be served after a rich dish though…
Shizuku: Bancha for that occasion is to wash the taste away, and it’s not to be enjoyed, right?

Shizuku: However, I guess, the wine that's served with French cuisine doesn't exist for that purpose.

p.40
Girl: You’re right. // Sometimes they prepare a dish to accompany an especially excellent wine.

Man: …

Man: Perhaps, I misunderstood the foundation. // I may have a big misunderstanding of chemistry between French food and wine…
Shizuku: …

Shizuku: Watanuki-san, you wanted him to have this sweet dessert with the coffee, right?
Man: Yes.

Man: That’s why I only had a weak coffee ready. / Since dessert wines are like cake, they're sweet as well. // But then that Tomine critic even asked me if I served dessert wine by the glass?

p.41
Man: I rejected his request because the dessert itself was already sweet.
Shizuku: That must have been the decisive conclusion.

Man: Huh?

Shizuku: In terms of French cuisine, beverages aren’t served to clear the characteristic of food. / Rather for enhancement. // At least, for wine it is.

Girl: Enhancement…?
Man: …

p.42
Shizuku: Now I remember that my father was calling this relationship between French cuisine and wine // a “marriage”.

Foot: #20 END