I ask the cook name first before I start working on my next work. I need to know the names of people with potential in this castle"What"s your name?"
"My name is Simon, young master"
"Okay Simon, first help me peel these vegetables and fruit before I show something good. You can do this peeling, right?"
I handed him the vegetables and fruit that I just took from the storage room. They are radish, carrot, cuc.u.mber, onion, and pineapple. The other fruits and vegetables didn"t need to peel.
"Yes, young master. I can do the peeling, it is a basic job for cook helper in the kitchen"
"Good, I leave them to you then"
Simon start did like I ask him to do, from a glance, it seems he really can peel the vegetables and fruit I gave to him. While waiting him finish peeling, I start doing my work, it cooking art called garnishing. It"s a kind of carving using food as the material, of course, unlike carving wood or stone, carving vegetables and fruit need to be done in a fast way.
I start with carving strawberry and make it into roses shape. Since I already training this skill at my school, I can do this relatively fast. The reason why I learn this skill is because girls love to see beautiful things. Sometimes I made this for a gift to the girl I like in school or make it for my little sister"s bento. Within minutes, some strawberry roses already finish and arranged neatly in the plate. Next, I make flower using tomato as the material, and like the strawberry before, it doesn"t need a long time before flowers made from tomatoes arranged neatly in the plate.
When I finish making the flower from tomatoes, Simon also finishes peeling the vegetables and fruit I gave to him. Well, I don"t give him much, so no wonder he can finish it quickly. He looks dumbfounded when seeing the strawberry and tomato carvings in the plate.
"Young master…am I too slow in peeling? Did I miss something?"
"Nah…I"m just warming up, you did not miss too much"
I"m not lying to him, this is my first time using that skill in this world. So, I"m not lying when I say I"m just warming up, right?
"Simon, let me tell you this. A good cook should able to stimulate human senses to the max with his work. That human"s senses are the eye, the nose, and the mouth, the mouth is obvious, use to taste the food we cook. Nose use to smell the aroma from the food we cook, and eyes use to see the appearance of the food we cook. Of course, this principles not working for people who starving, they don"t care about the looks, aroma, and taste of the food as long as they can satiate their hunger"
"Haha…I think I can understand that, young master"
"Good, what I"ve just done is to stimulate the eyes of the human. If you must choose, which one you will choose from two plates of meat dish. One dish with meat that overcooked and looks like burned with another dish with meat that well-done cook, looks sparkling brownish?"
"The one that well done cooked, young master"
"See? Appearance is also an important aspect of cooking, not just about taste only. What I want to show you is an art called garnishing, it about makes the artistic dish using food as the material. Like what you see in this plate…what do you think?"
I"m pointing at the plate where I put my garnished fruit and vegetable.
"It"s beautiful, young master"
"I will start to do another carving with ingredients that you just peeled. Watch it carefully although I"m not expecting you will able to do that after watching it once. This kind of skill needs a lot of practices before can be mastered"
"Yes, young master!"
I start to make another carving using the carrot that just peeled. This time I make bird figurine from the carrots before I start to make another carving using onion and radish. I use cuc.u.mber to make a cuc.u.mber plait after making a thin long sliced cuc.u.mber. When I finish carving the ingredients I brought from the storage room, a small garden made from vegetables and fruit already arranged in that plate.
Simon exclaimed in awe when he sees the final appearance of the fruit and vegetables carving that I just made.
"AMAZING!!"
His voice attracts the other cooks to look at our direction and when they saw the plate, admiration voices come out from their mouth.
"Gosh! What is that? So beautiful!"
"It"s like painting on the plate, simply wonderful!"
"Oh my G.o.d! If I"m not seeing with my own eyes I don"t believe that artistic dish just made in here"
Even Mrs. Martina comes to see the plate from closer range.
"Young master, is this really your made?"
"You can ask him, he"s the eyewitness I make this thing here"
I pointed at Simon that still dazed in admiration.
"No no no…that"s not my intention to doubt young master"s works, it just…too good to be true"
"Is that so? Well, thanks for the compliment, Mrs. Martina"
I change my words to Simon that still looking at the plate with wide eyes.
"Well Simon, do you think you can make it after watch me doing this?"
"Young master….I don"t think I can do it now although I already see how young master make it"
"Hmm…you need this special knife if you want to make it, Simon. Alright, tomorrow I will order the blacksmith to make the same knife like this for you to use and practice. After that, you can practice craving vegetables and fruit under my guidance"
"Thank you, young master…thank you very much"
"Alright, that"s all for tonight lesson. Since we still have an urgent matter to take care, the arrival of Earl Stamfort, I will start teaching you after Earl Stamfort return to his territory"
"I understand, young master"
I put the plate contain my carving works in the tray carefully and put a lid on it before leaving the kitchen with it. This plate is my surprise gift for my beloved girls.