Posted Jan. 27, 2021, 3:22 p.m. by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) (Lindsay B)
Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat
Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat
(snip)
Faye almost made a smart-assed quip, but somehow she didn’t want to ruin the moment. So with a smile, she turned and surveyed the ingredients laid out. “So, ingredient list is simple, but as always with these things it’s what you do with them. Different people use different vegetables, but these are the ones I was taught to use.” She picked up a pale cream toned bulb with a thin papery skin. “For aromatics we have this, and you could substitute an onion, but the Bajorans version has a slight tang that works so much better,” she said putting the bulb down. In turn she named each one of the items laid out which were an assortment of root vegetables, aromatic bulbs, and a crunchy vegetable that she broke off with a snap and offered to him to taste, and seemed to have a lot of water, but was incredibly sweet.
Alex took a bite and nodded appreciatively. “Oooh… I like that. Bite with a bit of sweetness on the back-end.” and he looked at her and grinned. “Reminds me of someone I know, actually.”
Faye gave him a wink with a cheeky grin. “Just don’t tell anyone. I’ve got a reputation to maintain, after all.”
“Basically we’re going to finely chop the aromatics and and do a small dice on all the rest. Once that prep is done, we can start cooking . But I need to start the flatbread. Hasperat is basically a rolled flatbread with a filling,” Faye said with a shrug as she reached for the jar. It contained about five hundred millilitres of a cloudy liquid with a a dark red object inside. She held it against her chest for a moment. “This is was makes hasperat, hasperat. Without it you have vegetables wrapped in bread. And if you screw up this step you might as well not even bother,” she said with a gleam in her eyes.
“Got it, don’t screw it up or you’re done. So what’s in the jar?”
Faye went to hand him the jar. “Go ahead and take a whiff.” But she quickly pulled it back. “But fair warning, it’s not for the faint of heart, or nose, or eyes. It should be uncomfortable.” reluctantly, as if she was worried for him, she handed him the jar.
Alex took it and, heeding her warning took a small smell.
The liquid smelled of salt and instantly of something with an incredible amount of heat. But there was a fruitiness there. Still, that ones small object seemed to be producing enough heat that even getting near the jar seemed hazardous.
~Faye Calloway
Alex looked at her and smiled, his face still near the jar, and then inhaled even more. His eyes watered and he set the jar down and coughed loudly once or twice and then looked at her and smiled again. “Now *that is what I’m talking about! Wheww!” and he coughed again and wiped his eyes. He then looked at her and said “Can you taste it like that? Or does it have to cook first?” and he looked like he was going to dip a finger in it to taste.
Cochrane
With a grin, she nodded. “Tip of your small finger should suffice. The heat gets even worse when it’s cooked but the veg and bread make it all meld together.” It was a basic a brine but clearly had had the dark thing soaking in it for some time. Letting him have that adventure, Faye moved over and started to peel the papery part off the bulb. “We’re going to need something for the kitchen scraps too, just to keep our workspace clear. Or are you one of those messy cooks?”
~Faye Calloway
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