“Morning Sean.” Those words startled me from my daydreaming as I methodically ate my breakfast. It was even more surprising to see Chris sitting down, as he usually at with the cooks.
“Hey Chris. How’s it going?” I asked.
“Pretty good. I just wanted to talk with you a bit though. Are you ready for the hardest part of camp cooking?”
“Not sure I really follow.” I said, instantly on guard.
“Ah, you probably didn’t realize it just yet. Tomorrow you have dinner duty, but we are only two days out from Shineheart. This means we are starting to run a little thin on supplies. So dinner is going to be a challenge. Though we do have better supplies, I wanted to give you a chance to truly stretch your skills. So your only options for meat is the dried jerky. No fruits are available, and you can only use some of the limited vegetables. We’re going to pretend we are at the very end of a long journey with no resources. Good luck.”
“Ah fuck.” I groaned, wondering what I was going to do. I hurriedly ate the rest of my breakfast, and headed to check the supplies. “Dried jerky, already in strips. Dried peppers. Peas in pod, enough for half a meal. Dried bell peppers, again not enough for a full meal. Onions are plentiful. Asparagus that’s seen better days. Forget what that odd root is.” I mumbled to myself as I looked through the ingredients Chris had set out. It was obvious that I was going to have to cobble together something, but it would be difficult. Nothing was filling enough to really stand together in a casserole type thing. Especially the jerky. I could see it just soaking up all the liquid we tried to put in there with it.
Soaking up the liquid. Marinade! I didn’t have a lot of marinade recipes, especially with limited supplies. Mostly at home I would simply brine something, but we didn’t have the salt to waste on that. “Hey Chris, need you for a second if you have time.” I said.
“It’ll have to wait, sorry.” He said. “I’ll jump in the cart with you today though, so save me a seat. I hope you didn’t think I would let you stew all day trying to figure out a meal plan by yourself.”
“Sounds good.” I said, turning to see what I could help with. Shrugging my shoulders, I headed over and started washing dishes. Scut work was still scut work, and everyone enjoyed a helping hand with it. Soon enough we were on the road.
“Alright, can I assume from your questions you have an inkling of an idea?” Chris asked once we were underway.
“A bit of one, but I need to know if I can get the right ingredients. Do we have honey available?”
“Oh yes. We keep it sealed up to keep the bugs out, but that stuff is great. Never goes bad.” He said quickly.
“Perfect. Now, I need a sauce. The one I’m familiar with takes a while to make and is made from a fermented bean. It’s dark brown, almost black, and is a bit salty. Do we have anything similar?”
“Hmm. Nothing I know comes from fermenting a bean. We usually save that for ale. I have a bit of a fish liver concentrate we could use. Comes in a small bottle, but you have to dilute it heavily just to use it anyway. That’ll give you the brown color, and it is definitely salty. Think that will do?”
“I hope so. We will need to make a pepper paste from the dried peppers tomorrow morning. Between that and your diluted fish concentrate, we should be able to make a decent marinade. Is there a way to start marinating the vegetables midway through the day?”
“Easily doable. I like your thoughts so far. Looking to rehydrate the jerky and some of the dried vegetables, while adding in flavor. You know how you’re going to cook them?”
“Yeah. I have a technique. Do we have any pots with a curved bottom?” I asked, hoping they had something close to a wok.
“Curved bottom? No. Can’t say that we do.”
“Alright, then we will need a few pans suitable for high temperatures then. We can have a few people rotating with the cast iron. We’ll also need rice.” I said, walking through the meal in my mind. “I think that should be all. Some people to dice ingredients in the morning, but that’ll be all.”
“Perfect. I can give you three people for cutting things in the morning, will that work?”
“Sure. I’ll be trying something fairly new tonight, so if you have a few people wanting to watch and offer suggestions, that will work as well.”
“Sounds good. I look forward to seeing what you can do.” He said with a smile. Settling down into his seat, he pulled out a block of wood and a pocket knife and started whittling. I tried to get comfortable, but felt eyes on me.
“Everyone ok?” I asked, seeing Carrigan, Elendria and Bribis all staring at me.
“Why do you need curved pots?” Bribis asked. “That just seems inefficient.”
With a resigned sigh, I explained, “Two things. It has a higher surface area, so it can transfer more heat faster. It also collects the marinade in the bottom. It’ll boil off and help cook while reducing down to a fantastic glaze.”
“I hope it’s half as good as the meat loaf.” Carrigan said.
“I think you’ll like it.” I chuckled. “though it might have more vegetables than you prefer. I did see your breakfast the other day.”
“Recovery breakfast.” He corrected.
“Couldn’t have been needed that much. Loreley wasn’t even walking funny.” Elendria muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear. Carrigan was stuck staring at her for a second while we all chuckled.
“Elendria! You wound me!” He fake cried, placing a hand over his heart.
“Oh? Wound you, or your reputation I wonder?” She smiled.
“Wha- What are you talking about?” He stammered nervously. “What reputation?”
“Oh? You aren’t the famed Carrigan Stormcaller? Sorry, I must have been mistaken.” She asked innocently, and everyone in the wagon perked up. This just had the sound of juicy gossip.
“Well yeah, but that’s an old nickname. Back in the day a few friends and I actually managed to summon a small thunderstorm.”
“Reaaaaaly.” She said, drawing out the word. “Are you sure it isn’t because you, and I quote, ‘Bring the thunder down under?’” She actually made air quotes with the last bit, and Carrigan’s face went pale.
“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” Bribis erupted in laughter from the front seat, falling onto his side so hard that the driver quickly reached over to grab him lest he fall out. Of course, the rest of us were useless to help, laughing as well as Carrigan simply sat there in shock.
“Wh. Where did. Where did you hear this?” I managed to stammer out a question between fits of laughter.
“Oh, you would be surprised what you can hear when you are unobtrusive.” She chuckled. “’Spcially when a storm blows in, threatening to pound the maidens until they aren’t maidens anymore.”
“Oh gods, I never.” Carrigan was bright red with embarrassment. “It was just some bragging with the guards, ya know? Everyone has a few youthful indiscretions.”
“It’s all right hun.” Elendria said with a smile. “Nobody will hold it against you, right?” She looked around, getting nods from the rest of us.
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“Of course not!” I said immediately. “Wouldn’t want to get shocked.”
“Relax Carrigan.” Bribis chuckled. “I’m sure this’ll all blow over in time.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this.” He muttered.
“The only never ending storm I’m aware of is the Cromtick Maelstrom. I’m sure she would pass out long before you got that far.” Chris delivered with such a deadpan look we all stopped just to look at him. To his credit, he simply kept whittling away at the wood in his hand, shaving a bit here and there.
“BAHAHAHAHAHA!” I lost it at that, leaning into Elendria who was laughing as well. “Oh bravo Chris. Bravo.” I said clapping.
“We all do it, nothing to be ashamed of.” Bribis said, after taking a moment to calm down. “At least you made an impression, eh?”
“Well.” Carrigan hedged.
“Besides.” I interrupted, slapping him on the shoulder. “I’m fairly certain a healer would know a trick or two to hiding that her muscles were sore.”
“And a few things to enhance stamina.” He said with a grin, though the blush remained.
“Ha! There ya go boy!” Bribis called. “Ain’t nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Exactly.” I agreed. “Besides, nicknames only last a few years before you start cringing at them.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Carrigan agreed. “So. I don’t care if this is a clumsy topic change, but what exactly are you making there Chris?”
“Hmm?” He asked, finally lifting his head. “Oh, just whittling a little reminder.” He flipped the block around, and we could see the beginnings of a savage wolf head hanging just over the shoulder of a thin figure.
“Is that?” Elendria asked, leaning forward.
“I got a good view of your spell from the first cart. I hope you don’t mind?” He asked.
“Not at all, just. I didn’t think it was that impressive.” She said, sinking back into her seat. “Granted, I was a little angry at the time.”
“Little angry?” Bribis asked incredulously. “If that’s a little angry, remind me to never get on your bad side lass. You were like a vengeful ice goddess there, putting mere mortals in their place.”
“I didn’t see it, but I felt the spike of mana. It was impressive.” Carrigan nodded. “Was that a spell or a summoning?”
“A little of both.” She shrugged. “Even I don’t have the mana needed to fully summon the Fendris wolf. But I can get his attention and let him channel my mana for the strongest effect.”
“Fendris wolf?” I asked, wondering if it was this world’s equivalent of Fenrir.
“Lord of the Lesser Icy Plane. An incredibly powerful spirit.” She explained, and I nodded in understanding.
“And what of those otter things?” Chris asked. “I wanted to make them originally, but the wood just wouldn’t fit.”
“Mid-level spirits I contracted with on my trial.” She explained. “Playful, they remind me of better times. If you don’t mind, why whittling?”
“Not at all!” He chuckled. “A few reasons. First, it’s fun. Finding a good block of wood, and trying to see what is inside waiting to come out. It’s relaxing, and helps destress. I can take it almost anywhere, and it helps my knife skills.”
“Thank you Chris.” Elendria said before rounding on me. Instead of speaking, she simply stared.
“What?” I asked after a few seconds. It was far too close to Danielle’s stare for comfort. The one she gave me when I was failing to find something right under my nose.
“I swear my Lord.” She muttered, before poking me in the shoulder. “Did all of his explanations just run through your head?”
“Of course not! He said it relaxes hi-“ I hesitated mid-word as it hit me. “Oh. You think I’m getting too high strung, and that I need to find some relaxing activities.”
“Thank Shalora, he finally sees it!” She smiled as she sat back. “We’ve been worried for a while. Carrigan and Bribis assured me that you would find something eventually instead of constantly training. Men.” She spat the last word at them. I couldn’t tell what Bribis looked like, but Carrigan had a goofy grin on his face.
“You got me.” He said. “Though I was only going to wait until we hit Shineheart before saying something. He was more likely to listen to you anyhow.”
“Sure you were.” She said, though it was with a smile and not accusation. He just shrugged. “So my Lord. Are you going to listen to us? Or do we have to do something drastic?”
“It’s fine. I have been a bit frustrated lately.” I said with a sigh. “I just. I feel the pressure, ya know?”
“I know.” Elendria said, patting my hand. “We’ll get you back to your family somehow.” That seemed to dampen the mood, and we all drifted off into silence for the rest of the day.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The next morning was much better for me, and I found myself in a circle of cooks explaining what I needed done for dinner that night. “For the first step, we are going to take the jerky and cut it slightly smaller than bite sized. Hopefully the marinade will make it swell a bit, and the end result will be bite sized. We are also chopping the vegetables into bite sized pieces as well, but they won’t go into the marinade until the afternoon.”
“And what’s in this marinade?” Someone asked.
“Glad you asked. Chris had a fish sauce that is diluted to what I think we can use without overpowering everything. You’ll have to ask him about it. Before we make the marinade, I need one of you to finely chop some chili’s and cook them in a pan with a little oil over low heat. After about 20 minutes, you are going to crush them in a mortar and pestle. We want the end result to be a paste.” Someone in the back peeled off to go start that, and I kept explaining.
“So our marinade is fairly simple. One cup of fish sauce. Two tablespoons honey, and one and a half tablespoons of the chili paste. That should work for a pound of meat. We’ll let the meat marinade all day. Any questions?” There were none, and everyone went off to help prepare what they could.
I spent the majority of the day in a quiet funk, not bothering to try any magic. I was more concerned with everything Elendria and the others had brought up yesterday, and what I could do to relax. Back home I would love to relax with a crossword, even though I never managed to complete any of them. This world didn’t have any television either, which was a bummer. Thinking back on it, I was a lazy person on Earth. I went to work, I came home, played with Isabelle a bit and watched television. On the occasions I went out of the house, most were either work or grocery shopping. What happened to all the sports I liked to play? Or all the bike rides I used to go on?
I sighed in disappointment, and found myself absentmindedly stroking the memory stone that Bribis had given me. I wondered what Isabelle was up to now. When I left, she had just started crawling around and motor mouthing ma everywhere she went. How much was she talking? Was she starting to try and walk yet?
I mentally slapped myself, as that wasn’t going to do anything but depress me. I needed something to do, some sort of hobby. Maybe I could get Chris to help me carve out a chess and checkerboard combination. Those were fairly simple, and didn’t need a lot of parts. The rest of the day went by fairly quickly, and soon enough I had walked over to the cooks to demo what was for dinner.
“Ok everyone, this dish is called stir fry. I need two people making enough rice for everyone, as this will be the bed of the dish. For the rest of us, we will be cooking the meat and the vegetables in the same way.” I walked to the fire, and tested the heat of the iron skillet with a bit of the marinade. It started sizzling nicely. “Perfect. So we take our hot pan, with just a bit of oil. Add our meat and a bit of the marinade.” I moved my head back to avoid the sizzle and steam burst. “And we are going to try and sear the meat on every side. Let it cook through, and if you get just enough liquid from the marinade in there it will reduce as it cooks to form a fantastic glaze to it. The vegetables will be cooked before the glaze can form, so don’t worry about that part. Pull them away when they still have a bit of the crisp left in them.”
I spent about five minutes with the skillet, stirring the meat to get everything cooked properly. Once it was done, I set everything aside on a platter. “Go ahead and give it a try. The only layer that really matters is the bottom rice one. On top of that you can have one of meat and one of vegetables, and mix it all together. It’s a flexible one, you can use just about any vegetable or meat you prefer. Even mixing it works too, you can go chicken, beef and pork.” Eyes lit up with the taste, and there were a few moans of appreciation. “Just make sure that you don’t overload the meat in the pan, and you should be just fine. The hardest part is stopping yourself from eating everything as it cooks.” I chuckled.
“I like the heat that kinda builds the more you eat.” One of the cooks said, and got a round of agreements. “Can we play with the heat level?”
“Absolutely.” I agreed. “I’ve increased it from what the original recipe called for by about half. Play around with it, have fun.”
“Will there be extra marinade at the end?” Someone else asked.
“Most likely. It’s a balancing act, the marinade will help steam cook the meat a bit, but too much will turn it grey and not give it a proper seal.”
“Ok. Would you suggest we reduce the extra to make some spare sauce?”
“You know, I hadn’t thought of that before. Let’s try it and see? If it works, great. If it doesn’t, no big deal.” I said. “Anything else? If not, let’s get going. I’m sure everyone is hungry.”
They sprang into action, dividing up and cooking everything at once. I stayed back, moving between those cooking and checking things over their shoulders. I didn’t need to worry, as they had things well in hand. The meat was a little tougher than it would have been if it was fresh, but that was to be expected. The vegetables were great, and the meal went down as another hit with the camp. Carrigan beamed at me when he got seconds, just a small bit of rice with a pile of meat on top. Elendria balanced him out, avoiding the meat entirely. I was happy as well, since camp cook gained two levels. I gained a point of endurance and one in agility. With a full belly and aching heart, I headed to bed after watching the picture of my family for a while. Tomorrow should see us into Shineheart. I was really looking forward to the change of scenery, and to be able to stretch my legs. Maybe I should get into some form of a yoga routine? I had spent the vast majority of my time recently travelling while sitting down, and I was sure that my physical fitness had suffered. Yet another thing to add to an already full plate, I finally stopped worrying and tried to drift off to sleep. Unfortunately, it was a long time coming.