I arrive in the dining hall when the maids and servants finished arranging the dishes on the table. My father, my stepmother, and three of my half-sisters already sit there.
"Good morning father, good morning mother, good morning my sisters"
"Good morning son, I hear from Mrs. Martina, today's breakfast is you personally made this morning. Is that true?"
"Good morning, Henry"
Good mooo~oorning brother Henry… when you take us to play with you again?"
My half-sisters look cheerful when they see me. Well, it seems they really miss me because I rarely visit them again.
"Hahaha…later when I have time, I'm very busy right now"
I take a seat in the chair that previous Henry usually uses when having a meal with his father, in his right side while my father takes the top chair in the table as family head, and my stepmother sit on his left side.
"These are dishes that I prepared for the banquet father, please have a taste"
"Hoo…good. Let's pray first before eating"
My father cupped his hand before his face and start to make a short prayer
"Oh God almighty, please bless us with food in front of us. Give us a healthy body by this food and prevent any sickness to enter our body by this food. Amen"
After making a prayer, my father takes the bread in front of him. When his hand touches the bread, he looks surprised.
"Hah? Soft bread?"
"Yes father, its soft bread. You can eat directly without dip it on soup first"
The disadvantage from dipping the bread on the soup is, if you dip it too long, the soup sometimes dripped from the bread before entering the mouth and make your clothes dirty. With soft bread, people can eat without worry their clothes get dirty from the soup.
"Wonderful! It tastes good"
Although my father already tells us not to speak when eating, he did it eventually because of this soft bread. My mother and half-sisters only nodded their head without making any sounds. Realize what he had done, my father smiles awkwardly while giving permission to speak this time
"Alright, I told you not to speak during eating, but this time only, I allow you to speak during eating. I guess Henry also need an honest opinion about the dishes we have here, right Henry?"
My father indeed a wise man, he can make a good excuse without losing his face due to his action.
"Yes, father. if there's something lacking in this dishes, I can immediately fix it before it served to Earl Stamfort"
"Hohoho…you hear that? So if you want to say something about this food, just say it"
"Thank you, Henry, this soft bread is good for my teeth"
My stepmother told me that. Is she have a problem with her teeth? I just nod and give smile to her.
"Daddy…daddy…we want to eat this bread every day"
My half-sisters who still chewing the bread happily look fond with this bread
"Well, how about that Henry?"
"No problem father, I already told the cooks in the kitchen how to make it. Can we serve this bread for Earl Stamfort?"
"Definitely! He will enjoy it as well"
We finish the bread before taking the soup as our next dish. Before we eat the soup, I explain this soup first to my father.
"Father, this soup made by the ingredient that I found on the beach. Because it's hard to get, I only take the ingredient in sufficient amount only for the banquet. This can't be served every day, because this is a seasonal ingredient. and this is the sample of that soup"
"I see, let me take a look and have a taste first"
My father opens the lid which covers the soup bowl. The warm steam comes out from the bowl bringing fragrance from the soup inside.
"How fragrant! Good aroma! This makes me hungry again although I just eat bread before"
My father holds his spoon and scoops the soup in the bowl. He takes a piece of white jelly from birds nest to his mouth. He sniffs the aroma once again before putting the spoon into his mouth. After pouring the soup in his mouth, my father withdraws the spoon and closes his eyes like want to absorb the essence from the soup slowly. When he opens his eyes, this is what he said
"Tell me I'm not dreaming. The taste is just too great! Even the soup in the royal palace is not this good. Henry! tell me, what is this soup? How do you make it?"
"I will tell when your soup is finished, father, it's more delicious when eating while still warm"
"You must tell me that"
My father didn't ask anymore and just eat the soup happily and so do with my stepmother and my half-sisters. After the soup is done, I guess it's time to tell my father about the soup.
"Should I start to tell the soup now father?"
"Oh yeah! Tell me quick! Especially, that white thing in the soup, what is that? Vegetables or meat? I never eat something like that before"
"That's not vegetable or meat either, father"
"Then? What is that? Come on Henry, don't make your old man guessing anymore"
"You won't believe me if I say that is birds nest, father"
"Seriously? Birds nest? Aren't birds nest made from dry grass and dry weeds?"
"Not those common birds, father, it's made from the saliva of birds from a certain species that live in caves"
"Bird's saliva? For real? That white thing that feels smooth like silk in my mouth, soft like persimmon…it's bird's saliva?"
I shrugged my shoulder
"I tell you the truth father, moreover, it's birds nest from highest grade. There're also birds nest with yellow and red color, which taste lesser than the white one. That's why I said before, it's a seasonal ingredient because birds only make a nest when they about to lay their eggs, right?"
"No, I'm not doubting you Henry…it's just hard to believe such delicious foods comes from bird's saliva"
"More important, can we serve this soup for Earl Stamfort, father?"
"Of course! It a must! You said this comes from our beach? Can we get this ingredient again later?"
"Yes, as long as the birds still there, we can get this birds nest again"
"Wonderful! I can smell money comes from there already"
I only smile with my father's comment. Well, he's not wrong with his thinking, consider in my previous world, this birds nest also can fetch high prices when sold on the market.