my age of magic

Chapter 5 5. Taste
Butler Leipas also sent over a piece of pork chops from a wild boar, which made me very happy.

Originally!I was going to substitute pheasant and guinea pig for the pork, but having a pork chop would certainly enhance the stew.

As for why there are vermicelli, it is because a few days ago, Kurz picked up a basket of sweet potatoes from the outside. This stuff has a lot of starch, and it will be a little sweet after being left for a while.

Although this thing is usually coarse food for slaves, many orc tribes will also reserve this kind of abundant food to replace food in the catastrophe year.

Kuz likes to eat it raw. It’s very hungry and thirst-quenching. It’s very crispy when eaten raw. Later, I found out that this thing is a bit like a sweet potato, except that the sweet potato has a very thick skin. You need to use a machete to break the hard and thick skin. In order to eat the crisp and tender roots inside.

Seeing these sweet potato-like sweet potatoes reminded me of some memories from my childhood.

At that time, the family was very poor. Even if the family made dumplings during the Chinese New Year, it was difficult to afford a lot of meat, and there were too many people in the family.

In autumn, my mother would prepare a large tank, put the mashed sweet potatoes in it, fill it with water and stir it constantly, and then wait for the water in the tank to settle down after filtering out the sweet potato dregs. After skimming off the water, the purest sweet potato starch will remain at the bottom of the tank.

The wet starch is put into a small leaking pot covered with small round eyes, and the starch paste flows into the boiling hot water along the round eyes, and it will become vermicelli, and these vermicelli are placed on the steamer to dry , it can be kept in the summer of the second year and it will not be broken.

When it’s winter and Chinese New Year, even if there is no meat, just use shredded radish, vermicelli head, add a little shrimp skin and stuffing, cornmeal and wheat flour Sanqi to make a skin, and you can eat a delicious vegetable bun.

If it is the New Year's Eve dinner, if there is less meat in the dumplings, some vermicelli will also be put in, which is equally delicious.

When I grew up, maybe I was starved as a child, and I became a cook when I grew up.

But since then, no dish has the same taste as when I was a child.

In this new world, all my hard work has been just to prove one thing: I am still alive!

I am still the original me, but no one can understand the loneliness in my heart. I miss those people and things. I am afraid that I will gradually forget them. I want to try to remember them, so I That's why when I saw Kurtz eating sweet potatoes, I couldn't help but make some vermicelli, just to prove it to myself.

So Kuz and I made such a bag of vermicelli. Kuz is very new to the vermicelli, but because it is made of sweet potatoes, it is usually a way of cursing people in the caravan to eat sweet potatoes. That is I was satirizing him as a slave, a prisoner, a pariah, or a poor homeless person, so when I decided to cook such a pile of vermicelli with meat for this meal, I couldn't help being a little worried.

"Jijia, do you think we can really do it?"

"Well, Kurz, go and deal with those guinea pigs. We don't want those internal organs this time. There are too many guinea pigs, and we can't handle them."

"Got it, Jijia, you said those people need to know what we feed them..."

"It's vermicelli! Vermicelli, Kurz, you have to remember that this is the starch essence that we have worked so hard to extract from some plants. It is very delicious and nutritious." I quickly brainwashed Kurz.

If those people in the caravan knew that I offered them sweet potatoes, I would not have a good life.Sweet potatoes are eaten by slaves in human society, and they are only used as food in times of famine.

"Okay! Vermicelli, is this really edible?"

"Kuz!" I elongated.

"Okay! It's delicious, delicious! It must be. Jijia, why don't you just make a pot of broth? You see we have so much meat, it's more than enough to make a pot of soup. In fact, I think we should add a little tree rice, then The stuff is great." Kurz was drooling on his chin, skinning guinea pigs with a thin knife in his hand, trying to persuade me to change the recipe.

I can’t agree to this matter. My lord, I’ve been waiting for this bite for a long time. Now that I have such an opportunity, I can’t give up. Besides, it’s absolutely right to question whether a chef’s dishes are delicious. I can't accept my insult.

Uncle Anlu, the fat cook, was squatting on the edge of the stove, staring at the bell and looking at Kurtz and me with big eyes. He would hear every word we said. After staying by his side for a long time, Kurz was sloppy and would slip up, so he wanted to distract Uncle Anlu, the fat cook, for a while, and then said: "Oh, dear Uncle Anlu, look, this iron pot is too dirty. Can you help me get a bucket of water and help us clean the pot?" I pretended to be cute and asked the cook Anlu.

When the fat boy Anlu heard this, he was a little reluctant at first, but he immediately agreed after rolling his huge toad eyes.He smiled and said to me: "It's a great honor to serve you, as long as you two little guys promise me not to climb up the stove casually, it's fine for me to take care of you two."

"Uncle Anlu, I will take good care of myself, and I will also keep an eye on Kurz and take good care of him." I patted my chest to promise, it seemed that the fat Anlu was a little skeptical, but he did not refuse.With a bloated and chubby belly, carrying two huge wooden barrels in his hands, muttering and not knowing what to say, he walked slowly towards the lake not far away.

Holding the two chubby ears of the guinea pig with one hand, a light tap on the back of the guinea pig's head will kill it, but in this case, the blood will not come out, and the flesh will look a little dark red.

Hanging the front teeth of the dead guinea pig on the string, Kurz quickly peeled off the fur with a small knife in his hand. The mouse skin was peeled off and left to dry, and he said to me: "Ji Jia, let's make this skin into a mattress, it is moisture-proof and warm."

Guinea pig meat needs to be soaked in cold water for a period of time to remove the earthy smell. The exquisite bone cutting knife in my hand is one of the three-piece knife set given to me by Fred. Skinning knife and a sharp bayonet for killing larger animals.

For example, an antelope, as long as the bayonet is inserted into the heart of the chest along the gap between the collarbone, even I can kill a sheep tied to a tree.These three knives lay in a calfskin pocket, and I have kept them very well.

The bright red guinea pig meat was cut into fist-sized cubes by me, and the meat pieces were piled up in the copper basin to gradually form a small mountain of meat.I still have 7 wild pheasants. Originally, I wanted to have a chance to smoke them with fire, and just make a little cured meat for Kurtz to taste. Now I have to change my mind and contribute them.Adding some chicken flavor to guinea pig meat will be extra delicious.

At this time, the cooks in the dance troupe came back from the lake one after another carrying huge wooden barrels and holding wooden basins. The food of the dance troupe has always been much more exquisite than that of the business troupe, and the variety is richer and more delicious.

Some well-off drivers in many business groups would occasionally take out some copper coins to exchange food with the cooks in the dance troupe. Fred once treated me to a box of sweet japonica rice.

Their big wooden basins were filled with watery shepherd's purse, which had been washed clean, with drops of water still hanging from the leaves.There is also a large pot of mutton. The cooks are not very old, but each of them is strong enough to carry at least two wooden barrels of water without too much effort.

They walked to the stove talking and laughing, and saw that only Kurtz and I were cooking ingredients. The leader was a tall woman with fair skin and a few freckles on her face. She was about 30 years old and stared at me with her blue eyes. Ask: "Why isn't that fat Anlu here? Who told you to come here to play, little guys?"

"Uncle Anlu went to fetch water from the lake. We are here to prepare the food for dinner, with the permission of Master Leipas. My partner Kuz and I are going to treat everyone in the business group to a meal of stewed meat. You Look, this is the guinea pig we caught, very fat and tender." I straightened my waist, held a bloody guinea pig by its hind legs and looked at the woman in front of me with a smile, even though I didn't even know her name.

"You are very courageous? Are you the apprentice of the Kuru witch doctor?" The woman didn't know whether it was a question or a compliment. After she finished speaking, she walked to another cauldron and put the wooden barrel in her hand on the ground.

I can only nod to the air, it seems that she just needs to know that Kurtz and I are not messing around here, and doesn't want to talk to me at all, this may be the pride of the cook!
"Is he the child picked up by the old orc in the caravan?"

"Didn't you say it was very small?"

"It looks pretty good!"

The women passed by me talking, and some people looked at me from time to time, it seemed that they knew my existence.

Maybe it was because the women were somewhat surprised that the caravan sent two children to cook, and they were very curious about Kurtz and me.

There was even a knife-faced woman who smelled of chopped green onions ran to my side and stared straight at me, which made me a little creepy.Later, when the strong woman gave her a fierce look, she moved back resentfully.

The dinner of the dance troupe is very rich, and it is also because of the early camping today, because the next step is to take a long winding road and enter the Pai Plateau.

Before that, I will rest for two days by the lake with lush water and grass.I saw a fair woman with a slightly fat body pouring water from the lake into a big pot, rolling up her sleeves to reveal her white and round arms, stacking the clean mutton in the big wooden basin piece by piece. In the cauldron, someone was lighting a fire below, and someone was throwing some tender green wild onions into the soup pot.

The women in the brigade know how to cherish fuel. After walking out of the mountains, it is difficult to get enough dead wood or hay on the grassland, so some dried rhinoceros dung is also high-quality fuel, but these things are also very scarce. It is necessary to waste as little heat as possible.

So everyone moves very quickly when they are busy.Everyone has a clear division of labor and cooperates very well.

Seeing the joyful smiles on their faces, you will know that the life of the dance troupe makes them feel very happy. I thought to myself: There may be no lack of happiness in any corner of the world, the main thing is whether you can find it.

Kurz was very happy. He was still staring at the guinea pig whose fur had been stripped clean. The pork chops and pheasant pieces in the copper basin were drooling. I said that guinea pig skin is not a valuable fur, but it is very suitable for making sleeping bags, it is warm and waterproof, and it does not take up space when rolled up.When traveling, many humans like to sew sleeping bags out of guinea pig skin.

I asked, "What kind of sleeping bag does the orc like?"

"The orcs of the wolf tribe like to sleep on cowhide. Most of these warm guinea pig skins will be sold to human travelers and merchants. A sleeping bag can be exchanged for 100 white bread." Kuz told me proudly, then shook the bloody guinea pig in his hand Leather, put on a wooden pole on the side. "My grandfather said there's enough guinea pig skins to make you a sleeping bag, Jijia!"

"Do I need a sleeping bag?" I was a little surprised, even in the severe winter of the New Siakis Mountains in the dwarf country, I didn't need to wear an extra leather jacket. The fire poison in my body made me prefer colder places.The recent warm and humid southeast trade winds have been keeping my body uncomfortable, and I never thought that I would need a warm sleeping bag at night.

Kurz thought for a while, but he didn't understand why I needed a sleeping bag as I was never afraid of the cold, but he still stubbornly said: "My grandfather said I will use it for you, there must be nothing wrong!"

After all the ingredients were prepared, I began to cut a wild onion and purple ghost ginger that I had collected back into pieces.

Kurz brought over the two clay pots in my bag. These two pots used to be Uncle Fred's wine jars, but I asked them to come over to fill things after the wine dried up. One was a white pot. Huahua's animal fat, and the other jar is half a jar of honey.When opening the clay pot, Kurtz looked at me in a daze: "Why do you still have honey? You didn't eat the honey that was given to you when you drank the medicine?"

"I'm not afraid of suffering, so I keep it naturally. This thing is very scarce. Look, let me tell you a little secret. When stewing meat, put a few drops of honey in the pot, as long as a few drops are enough, the meat It tastes so delicious!" I proudly shared my secret with Kurz.

For this jar of honey, this guy did not hesitate to search for the bear cave in the deep mountains alone. When he came back, he was slapped firmly on the back by the sleeping earth bear. A piece of beeswax climbed onto Lei Tingxi covered in blood, I was completely frightened, this guy actually made a face at me without a heart.

So sometimes I feel that friendship is priceless.

Lei Tingxi's cow dung has a faint grassy aroma when it burns, and the whole pot of milky white lard gradually melts in the pot, and when the oil heats up, it starts to emit a lot of oily smoke.

Kurz had never seen such a cooking method, he stood by the side of the cauldron and stretched his neck to look into the pot, and shouted eagerly to me: "Ji Jia, the pot is full of smoke, it's going to burn! "Kuz can speak Orcish when he is in a hurry.

I asked Kuz and the others to pour the whole pot of meat into the big iron pot. The fresh meat slid along the edge of the pot into the bottom of the pot, and was fried by the boiling hot oil, making a sizzling sound.

Afterwards, Kurtz began to stand on the pot according to my instructions, waving the shovel in his hand and stir-frying the meat pieces, while I carried various small pots, smashed the brains, wild ghost ginger, and some wild peppercorns Flavored vanilla was also thrown into the pot one after another, and finally some honey was added to the pot. Seeing Kurz's distressed eyes, I decided to stop.

The cooks on the dance troupe noticed that when our side had started cooking, Kurtz and I had already cut the meat, removed the fishy smell, and threw in all kinds of seasonings.

Pour the next two buckets of water into the pot.I let Kurtz build the fire while I deal with the vermicelli.

Uncle Anlu had already fetched the water back. Seeing that we were doing very well, he was happy to relax, and went to make do with the dance troupe cook who stayed aside to watch the fun, and with that old dirty face and two young cooks Pretty close.

Obviously the cook over there is familiar with the fat Anlu, but she didn't give the fat Uncle Anlu a good look. The young woman with bell-like eyes and a knife face even sarcastically said to Uncle Anlu: "What's the matter, Fat Anlu?" , Is it possible that the cook can’t continue to do this job? Master Leipas would rather use his two children to cook than you. Do you think your soup is too unpalatable! Hey, I heard that you used to be in the country Raising guinea pigs, is this true?"

"Ah bah! Which bad mouth is behind my back? What's so bad about the food I cook? This is how the caravans have always cooked. This is the taste of dried meat and wild vegetable soup with black bread!"

Anlu turned around and glanced at me, saw that I was concentrating on washing the vermicelli, so he lowered his tone twice and said: "That boy Kuz and Ji Jia belong to the caravan witch doctor, these two children They are usually diligent! They also do a lot of cooking soup and medicine. They are all good boys. It’s not that someone caught a bag of guinea pigs in that pasture and proposed to stew a pot of meat for our caravan. Hehe, fight Tooth Festival! Hey, I also helped, just now I helped them fetch water, they are too small to carry them!"

The afternoon sun made the whole camp warm, and there were piles of grain bags not far from the stove. At this time, many people leaned on the grain bags to bask in the sun.

Where there are people, there will be chats. While watching the fire, the cooks gradually get together and start talking about everything. Fat Uncle Anlu is very talkative. Although he is a bit wretched, he can speak very well. The women don't care too much about throwing out a dirty joke in an obscene way, just laughing and cursing.

The smell of mutton began to waft from the cauldron of the dance troupe, and it might not be long before the mutton was almost cooked.

The mutton soup has begun to turn white, and the oily flowers are rolling in the water. On the other side of the slate, thin noodle cakes have begun to be baked. The white and delicate flour is slowly turning brown on the hot slate, exuding the unique aroma of wheat flour. .

There is no luxury food like pure white wheat flour in the caravan, only the dancers in the dance troupe can afford it.

Kurz pouted his butt, holding a blackened wooden stick in his hand, trying to make the cow dung fully burnt, and our guinea pig meat soup pot also began to emit a different aroma. It was a smell in my memory, I don’t know I don't know how long I haven't smelled it, but now it's floating in the air, which makes my joints feel numb.

Kurtz obviously also smelled this kind of fragrance that can waft far away, so he worked extra hard to burn the fire.

Under Kurz's sad eyes, I threw the whole bundle of vermicelli into the pot.I seem to have seen the bottom of Kurz's heart at this time: Jijia, can we not let go of that thing...

Stewed vermicelli with braised pork!
(End of this chapter)