224: Introductions

I breathed a sigh of relief after moving everyone out of the kitchen — well, everyone who would leave, at least — so Lily, Liane, and Crisplet remained.

I quickly pulled the tubers off, draining the water, allowing them to steam-dry before I added some butter and cream. The tea grass would need less than an hour to dry off, while the sausages would take a couple of hours.

“Let’s get cooking, Crisplet!” I said happily.

My dinner plan was simple. I was not doing anything fancy. I was going to have a plate of cooked sausages, a plate of cooked onions, my sauces, a large plate of creamy mashed tubers, along with some sides of vegetables.

I really wanted to embrace the new skill, so rather than individual dishes on plates served to each person, everything I would cook would be placed on the table and shared, much like the first dinner I had at the royal palace.

I would also go back to the classic dishes I shared with the team from when I first started cooking, something I’d not made in a long time, and pulled out a boar. Although it was missing its belly, it was good to roast it whole.

I quickly seasoned the outside, and Crisplet started to cook immediately. After that, I wanted to find Archie. There were two things I wanted from the market, if it was even possible now with the chaos happening, but if anyone could organise it, Archie could.

As I walked through the dining room, I saw the crowd had now grown, with Hari and Milo arriving back, but also Elijah and Luis were there as well, Luis giving me a smirk and a wave as he sat off to the side as the rest still seemed to be in deep discussion.

My search for Archie was short, finding him in the foyer giving directions to two of the staff. I caught his attention.

“Excuse me, Archie. I was hoping you’d be able to get a couple of ingredients for me from the market,” I asked.

“Of course, sir. What do you require?” He bowed slightly.

“I was hoping to get razor crabs and juvenile strike eel. I don’t know how big the eels are, but if it’s possible to acquire them, it would be amazing,” I asked.

“How much of each do you need, sir?” Archie asked, already gesturing to Cameron to come closer.

“I’m not really sure. I want a large pot’s worth of the razor crab, enough for twenty people total,” I said, shrugging.

“And is that all, sir?” Archie smiled.

“Yes. Thank you, Archie. That will be all. I have all the other ingredients in my storage,” I smiled.

Archie didn’t wait, directing Cameron immediately. As I left, I heard him also requesting that Cameron buy wine and ale, which was smart and something I had completely forgotten about.

The afternoon passed in a haze. In the end, Cameron returned; he was unable to find the strike eel, stating that it was usually considered too dangerous. He did, however, have twenty razor crabs, which ended up being far more than a single pot’s worth, but extra would be great and make up for the missing eel.

For half the razor crab, I decided to do an experiment, as both Crisplet and I would both make exactly the same dish, only he’d just do his, which should become very spicy, then I would do mine and tone down on the chilli, especially for Darren and George, who I had learned now did not really enjoy overly spicy food.

I pulled out the fermented bean paste I had got from the store and ran through the recipe with Crisplet, following step by step what we did last time back in Greyrock.

Which was a mix of vegetables in the pot, sweating them off before Crisplet added extra chilli on his, and I only added a tiny amount, adding the bean paste to the vegetables now to cook it off slightly. Then we filled both pots with water, bringing them to a simmer, mixing it all, adding some more mixed herbs, then finally adding in the razor crabs, which we had split in half and cleaned.

Both lids were then put on and sealed by Crisplet. While he went to cook them, I knew it would only take about fifteen minutes, and then I would store them away.

The sausages, once they had been smoked, were finished on the grill. The aroma of them was incredible.

“Can we taste-test a little bit of those?” Liane asked from the corner.

I was surprised this was the first time she’d asked and had expected one of the two to at least attempt to steal something earlier, but other than the odd conversation, both Liane and Lily had been patiently waiting in the corner of the kitchen and given us our space.

I had plenty of sausages, assuming any extra would be perfect for the road, and I had not tried any myself, so shrugging, I took the first one that had been ready, using infuse on it, going for longest buff time, lowest potency. I had three kinds. This particular one was Baelvryn sausage.

[Uncommon] Baelvryn Smoked Sausage

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• +2 Strength
• +1 Endurance
• + Minor Fear Aura
• Fire Immunity

As expected, there was nothing too outlandish with the buffs. Cutting it up into three, I gave Liane and Lily a piece, then tried the third one myself. It was still juicy, so I had given it just enough fat in the mixture. The taste was earthy and deeply savoury, but the smoke had done its job wonderfully, and since I had a nice red wine sauce and grilled onions to go with this, I felt it would be perfect.

“This is really good, Trev,” Liane said, nodding.

I got a burst of sparks from Crisplet to let me know the crabs were ready, so I didn’t bother unsealing the lids and just stored them away immediately, knowing they would be ready to serve directly at the table.

The very last item I needed to cook off was the tarts. These were all ready to go and only needed to be baked, so Crisplet helped me do that.

“Can we try one?” Liane asked with a grin.

“No,” I said simply.

She didn’t protest, and I suspect she knew what the answer would be before she asked, and likely just did it because Lily made her. I was learning now.

Archie appeared in the doorway. “Sir, Clifford and his wife have arrived. Also, Kathrine was hoping to speak with you but didn’t want to disturb you in the kitchen.”

“Thank you, Archie. She’s fine to come in. I’m nearly finished with all the cooking,” I smiled.