[Extra chapter 3 here - available only at Patreon]
Since I wake up this morning, something that I already give a thought last night come crossing my mind again. The menu for Earl Stamfort still not fixed yet, and that bothers my mind. Somehow, I feel that I make mistake but I don't know what that mistake is.
"Husband…what's up? You make that face again"
Clara's soft voice is entering my ears.
"Oh, I still thinking about the menu that I will serve for Earl Stamfort during his stay in here"
"What about that, Husband? You already make some delicious dish for us, are you not confident with yourself? Do you want to impress your future father in law?"
Clara's hand is caressing my cheek, the warmth from her body comfort me a bit.
"I'm confident with my skill, but to cook for many people at once, I can't do it alone. I need helps from the castle cooks, I just not sure they can make the same dish as me. And if you ask if I want to impress my future father in law, the answer is yes. I need him for the future of Harvard territory development"
"If that the case, why not make it simple, husband?"
"Simple?"
"Yes. Here's not the royal palace, maybe cooks in here not like cooks in the royal palace who can cook many delicacies. The cooks in here maybe only know how to make a simple dish, but husband, didn't you make a delicious dish from simple ingredients like meat and potato to make frikadel? Just teach the cooks here to make something simple yet delicious like frikadel again. I also believe your future father in law is a wise person. He would not demand food with the royal palace standard in here. We're just people who live in the edge of Erathia Kingdom territory, he would understand if we only can serve something simple for him. But even it was simple food, its delicious taste wouldn't disappoint him, right?"
Clara's words make me think again. There's logic in her words, also pointing out what mistake that I feel before. Yes, I realize what mistake I made, fortunately, it's not too late to fix the mistake and the mistake itself is not something fundamental. The mistake lies in my own thinking, I want to present delicacies from my previous world which need ingredients and cooking techniques that maybe haven't exist in this world. I'm really glad that Clara was able to give me a piece of good advice.
"Thank you, Clara….That really gives me inspiration about what I should do now"
"Really? I'm glad I can be used for my husband"
"Yes, you did"
I lower my head so I can give a kiss to Clara's forehead.
"I'm glad to have you with me, Clara"
Yes, I really glad I get good advice from Clara. Kitchen revolution that I propose is not wrong, it just me that too haste during the process. I thought all the cooks in the castle have solid basic knowledge about cooking, but I was wrong. To become good cooks, a cook needs a strong basic knowledge, and that what I must give to them. I already did something right by giving them a new perspective about cooking, using creativities and imagination. Next thing I should do is teach them the basics, start with a simple dish first before I can step further and give them more complex cooking skill and dishes. In here, we still use firewood to cook, which make the heat can't regulate as we pleased like in my previous world.
In our world, we can adjust the fire just by a turn on the stove knob. In here, to simmer a dish when cooking only can be done by using less firewood than usual. So, dishes that require fire adjustment can be removed from my list. Next is about ingredients, with the rare ingredient that I will use for the banquet, it is impossible for the cooks to practice cooking the dish over and over again, while practice is perfection. So they will never be able to make a perfect dish with insufficient practice. I should use ingredients that easy to get here to make a new dish for the cooks. The recipes that I already teach to them fit the term simple that Clara said, like frikadel, tempura, or tacos and later noodle or ramen. I suddenly remember Craig, since he was here, I think to drag him to the kitchen and teach the cooks there how to make noodle. It would save my limited time.
Potato is easy to get here, why not I make something else from potato. People in my previous world love potato chip, why I don't make it here? It can be served as a snack for Earl Stamfort party. We can make potato chip with salty flavor first since we not lack salt now or make French fries too. I try to recall other dishes that simple and easy to make from my world. The food that sold in food peddler or food stall usually easy to make, which make another dish comes to my mind. Its hamburger and hotdogs! But for hotdogs, I really should make a new name for that. I can't tell them the name of that dish is hotdogs because they might be mistaken and think what they eat is dog meat.
Since my problem likely already solved, I can take a relieved breath and smile.
"Husband….it seems you already know what to do"
It's Clara who already opens her eyes and looks at me with passionate eyes.
"Yes, but it might make me busy for the whole day"
"Mmm…we can understand that and we don't want to slow you down. You should start now husband, while the day still early. Come, Claire, we also should do what we should do"
They both raise their body from my chest and get down from bed after give me a kiss.
Author note :
In extra chapter, Henry asks Clara and Claire to call him husband while he calls them wives.