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

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Captain’s Quarters- If You Can’t Stand the Heat
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(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

He dipped the tip of his finger in and then stuck it in his mouth. It was an instant heat, and the heat built up as it swirled in his mouth. Alex’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t cough or spit… he smiled. Swallowing and feeling the fire travel down, he shook his head quickly and said “Damn! Now that is something. Gotta tell my mom about that. She eats things so spicy none of us can even be in the house. But that needs something to wash it down, for sure.”

“Oh wait for it, it gets so much better, trust me.”

Going to a cabinet on the far side of the kitchen, he opened it to reveal a wine rack. Running his fingers along stoppers and necks of bottles, he finally said “Aha!” and pulled a single bottle out and two glasses. “Besides… it’s illegal to cook without a glass of wine. No… seriously. Bandalamt government takes their wine very seriously, and almost as seriously as their food. Understandable for a species that only eats once a year, I suppose.” and he set the wine on the counter in front of her. It was French, and was named after one of the most memorable ship Captain’s in Star Fleet history. It was also marked “Cochrane Special Reserve”.

“You open. I’ll wash my hands after that taste.” he said and nodded nonchalantly to the bottle.

Cochrane

Faye stood there and instantly felt the heat on her cheeks and it wasn’t from any spicy brine. “Ummm…” Well this was awkward. “Alex, slight confession.”

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “The night after I got out of the brig, I took the sleep aid you gave me and went to bed. But it was like fifteen hundred so though I slept eleven hours, it was like two in the morning and I was having nightmares again like I did in the brig and like I had immediately after I escaped the Romulans. Long story short things kept happening and I was drinking. In the end I polished off half a bottle of Romulan whiskey and then… I… spiralled. And it was not good.” She held up her hands defensively. “But, some part of my brain was actually thinking because I ended up At Rollo’s quarters. And I passed out on her floor. Not my proudest moment but.. I was safe. So… yeah, synthehol only for me.” It was hard to stand there and tell him that and she had to fight back the tears. Mostly she didn’t want to see the inevitable disappointment in his eyes, but she didn’t waver her gaze.

~Faye Calloway