Lavender & Fire

24. Food for the Soul

"Here." Othen said softly as he placed Biechta's hands back on the countertop. "Hold on for just one moment."

She turned when she heard metal scraping from behind her. He lifted a chair and brought it to where she was, placing it beside the counter. Here you go. He reached up and gently placed his hands back on her arms, guiding her into the chair.

"Take a breather for a minute and I'll get started. You can just watch, if you'd like?"

Not knowing what to say, she nodded weakly. She watched as he pulled out a flat, wooden board and a sharp knife. Then he pulled out a large bowl full of holes. She bit her lip to hold back more tears as she realized she didn't know what any of these things were either. She was the huge disappointment her uncle always thought she would be. He never said those words, but they were clear to her nonetheless.

She watched in silence as he used the large bowl with holes to wash off the vegetables and herbs in the sink and then returned, sitting them on a towel to dry.

"I thought poultry sounded like a nice light early lunch." He said as he took a whole, small bird out of its wrappings. "Are you familiar with anti? I'm not sure if they have those birds in your province."

She nodded her head, feeling relieved she'd heard of that particular bird before.

"Cooking a bird whole offers the most flavor while also keeping the meat moist. But it takes a long time to cook a whole bird so I'm going to split it up so it will cook faster."

She nodded again, watching as he used a knife to expertly cut the bird into sections.

"The breast offers the most meat and is the most versatile to use in almost any dish. But it's also the least flavorful and easiest to dry out. The legs, thighs, and wings on the other hand..." he spoke as he worked, explaining to her as he went. "Offer the most flavor and tend to not dry out as easily. It's the bones in them that cause this."

"Really?!" She asked in surprise.

"Mm hmm." He nodded.

"We never waste anything that we can use. So any of these pieces that aren't necessarily pleasing to eat on their own go into a pot with water and herbs." He spoke as he tossed the discarded pieces into a pot as he worked through the bird. "That will cook for a while, which extracts the flavor and juices from those pieces. When it's finished, it will go through a straining process so we're only left with the liquid. That can be used in soups, stews, anything where you want to add more flavor than just using plain water."

"I had no idea so much thought went into the preparation and cooking." Biechta said in amazement.

"Exactly. And this is the simple stuff that anyone can learn."

"You have taken the classes here?"

He nodded. "Yes, even though I wouldn't be a chef for my profession I chose to go through the classes just like anyone else would. Simply because I wanted to learn how. It can actually be a wonderful stress reliever when you need to do something to clear your mind."

"Fascinating." She said softly as she watched him.

He placed all the pieces of meat into a bowl with some seasonings and sat the bowl to the side before dumping the board and knife in the sink and then washing his hands.

"Now. Onto the fun part."

He brought out a new, clean board and knife. "Your turn."

"Oh. I think I should just watch." She said as panic filled her anew.

"I know you can do this, Biechta." Othen said gently. "And I'll be right here with you the entire time."

"I might mess it up. I... I don't know what to do."