novellk Chapter 37 Rogge's True Culinary Skills
Chapter 37 Rogge's True Culinary Skills
"Are you here to order weapons too?" Roger asked first.
The woman appeared to be in her thirties, dressed in a simple linen garment, like most of the villagers, with patches on the cuffs and shoulders.
Speaking of patches, the clothes worn by Roger and his two companions had even more patches!
These patches were sewn for them by Aunt Slin; without her, they would still be wearing clothes riddled with holes...
When the woman saw Roger beckoning, she quickly led the lamb forward.
"Master Rogge... I'm not ordering a new sword!"
"I'd like to ask if you can repair broken swords here?"
As she spoke, she lifted the coarse cloth covering the basket, revealing a piece of iron inside, divided into two parts: a sword blade and a sword hilt.
Roger's eyes lit up; this sword was none other than Quinn's broken sword!
The woman, her eyes red, continued:
"This was left by my husband's father... After it broke yesterday, he came back and has been locking himself in his room ever since..."
Roger nodded; he could imagine how devastated Quinn must have been after his defeat.
……
"This sword is broken; no ordinary person can repair it," Roger said slowly.
Upon hearing this, the woman's expression instantly turned ugly.
Roger glanced at the lamb, then abruptly changed the subject: "Others might not be able to fix it, but I have a way!"
The sword broke at the hilt, its stress structure completely destroyed. An ordinary blacksmith could only reforge it; even if it were forcibly put back together, it would still break again.
But Rogge was no ordinary man!
He has already figured out a way to fix it, and it will only take a short while.
The woman's eyes lit up again, and she quickly asked, "Master Roger, how is the labor fee calculated... Can I use this sheep to pay for the labor fee?"
Roger glanced at the tender little black lamb again, sensing the anticipation and trepidation in the woman's eyes, and readily agreed:
"OK!"
"Come and collect the sword tomorrow evening!"
……
To be honest, repairing this sword won't take up much of Rogge's energy.
A little bit of physical exertion in exchange for a lamb!
Thinking about this, Roger felt he had really gotten a great deal and almost wanted to do something to the woman, but he stopped himself in the end.
In this place where you don't know where your next meal will come from, being soft-hearted won't earn you the means to survive!
……
The midday sun made the blacksmith's shop feel warm and cozy.
The little black sheep that Roger brought back was tied up at the door, and a small pile of black sheep droppings had already accumulated on the ground at the door.
Gold was squatting at the doorway, his large hand completely covering the head of a small black sheep, stroking it, and occasionally picking up tender grass from the ground to feed the sheep.
"Eat up, eat your fill..."
"Rogge, what was she thinking, using a lamb to pay for the labor?"
This lamb only weighs about ten pounds. Lamb meat is usually a delicacy that only noblemen can afford!
How could ordinary families bear to eat it...?
"This lamb is so docile! Its wool is so smooth, it must have been well taken care of!"
……
The sun still hung high in the sky, its rays bathing the entire roof of the blacksmith's shop.
At the doorway, Roger squatted on the ground, with the little black sheep lying quietly in front of him.
Holding a gleaming dagger, Roger deftly scraped the sheep's body, which had been scalded and then singed until slightly golden brown.
As layers of charcoal-colored grime were scraped off, the outer skin gradually became smooth and white.
"Roger, what kind of treatment is this?"
In the past, the sheep we ate were simply skinned...
Gold came back from outside carrying a bunch of things and immediately saw Roger squatting on the ground busy at work. He came over and asked with a face full of curiosity.
Without looking up, Roger replied, "The lambs are the most tender; it would be a waste to skin them."
"How's the search going with the things I asked you to gather in the village?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Roger stopped what he was doing and looked at what Gold was holding in his arms.
Gold proudly displayed what he was holding to Roger:
A small bag of salt, about ten grams;
A few onions, some horseradish, a handful of garlic, and most importantly, to Roger's surprise, there were even a few pieces of ginger covered in fresh, wet mud!
Gold muttered to himself, but didn't tell Roger what the villagers had told him:
"This ginger is extremely rare; it's said to have been passed down from a small, insignificant faction a long time ago..."
"OK!"
With a sigh, Roger didn't think much of it.
With ginger and garlic to remove the fishy smell, Roger was quite satisfied!
Virgil, who was standing nearby, took over the washing, while Roger told Gode to continue boiling water.
Under Gold's puzzled gaze,
Roger cleaned the lamb after it had been gutted, removing excess fat and blood clots, and carefully removed all the lymph nodes.
These parts are one of the reasons for the strong muttony smell...
Even though Roger hadn't touched a decent grease in a long time, he was somewhat reluctant to remove it.
But for the sake of the final flavor, Roger still omitted these fats.
The whole lamb is chopped into pieces of skin and meat that are five or six centimeters long. Roger strives to do every step as meticulously as possible.
Soak the meat chunks in cold water to remove the blood.
Roger took out the earthenware pot for cooking, put the mutton into the pot with cold water, added a few slices of ginger, onion chunks and a few crushed garlic cloves, and boiled it over high heat to blanch it.
Gold squatted down beside him, diligently adding firewood. He could tell that Roger was indeed doing it himself.
For someone who only cares about eating, Roger gave him instructions to do exactly what he wanted.
After blanching the mutton, Roger took it out and rinsed the pieces of meat clean with warm water.
Meanwhile, Virgil had already washed the pottery jar clean again, as Rogge had instructed.
Just now, when Roger subconsciously ordered the mutton fat soup to be poured away,
Virgil looked completely bewildered. He took two large gulps from the earthenware pot before pouring the soup into another jar...
Roger first laid half of the mutton chunks into the earthenware pot, then put in all the ginger slices, onion chunks, and garlic cloves, and then covered it with the other half of the mutton chunks, filling the earthenware pot just right!
Finally, add warm water to slightly cover the meat pieces by a few centimeters.
At Rogge's request, Golde stood guard and tended the firewood, turning the fire from high to low and simmering it slowly—a step that required extremely precise control.
And God, unusually, remained calm and controlled the heat perfectly, keeping the flame at a low level!
After simmering for two hours, the rich and mellow aroma of meat gradually seeped out from the cracks in the earthenware pot, filling the entire blacksmith's shop.
Gold squatted by the stove, his eyes fixed on the earthenware pot, eagerly awaiting its arrival.
After Roger added all the salt, indicating that it would cook a little longer, his patience was completely worn out.
While Roger was fiddling with something called "dipping sauce" with his back to him, he secretly lifted the lid of the earthenware pot several times, scooped up a piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth without caring whether it was too hot to eat...
The mutton and lamb skin are stewed until they are soft, chewy, and bouncy. The mutton falls off the bone with a gentle pull, and the juices burst in your mouth instantly.
Smelling the enticing aroma of meat, Virgil, standing to the side, couldn't help but swallow hard.
Virgil found Gold's furtive behavior amusing, yet a hint of tenderness appeared in his eyes.
Before meeting Roger, their lives were filled with ups and downs.
From one battle to another, what I saw most were mutilated corpses and charred ruins.
They were once pushed onto the battlefield as cannon fodder, tricked into doing hard labor in mines, and chased and shot at by heartless riders as practice targets...
No one had ever spoken a kind word to them, and no one had ever cared for them like Roger had…
Virgil remained silent, overwhelmed with emotion, standing by the stove, silently savoring the stillness of the moment…
……
Beside him, Roger was grinding the horseradish into a paste, a step that took a lot of time.
Without chili peppers, horseradish has to be used as a substitute for spiciness.
Add horseradish mustard paste to a bowl, along with a little reserved salt, minced garlic, and a spoonful of wild honey. Roger's simple "dipping sauce" is ready!
Roger tasted it slightly with his finger and couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy crap!"
It tastes absolutely awful!
Some things can never be perfect. Roger thought, "If it's not dipped in sauce, it's fine. I can eat the meat plain..."
The moment he turned around, he saw God stuffing the freshly caught chunks of meat into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out, pretending nothing had happened.
Roger chuckled and placed the "dipping sauce" on the earthen brick next to God, then scooped up a spoonful of clear mutton soup to dissolve it.
"Try this, dip it in, dip it in lots!"
As Roger spoke, he lifted the lid to examine the condition of the mutton.
Without any seasonings, Roger could only try his best to remove the gamey smell. The moment the lid of the earthenware pot was lifted, a pure aroma of meat filled the room.
The mutton soup in the earthenware pot is clear but not bland, with a layer of glistening mutton fat floating on the surface. Pieces of mutton with skin on are soaking in the soup, their skin gleaming with a gelatinous sheen, making it look incredibly appetizing.
Seeing that Virgil wasn't as proactive as Gold and was still standing aside, Roger quickly called out to him:
"What are you all standing there for!"
As he spoke, Roger took out a ceramic bowl, filled it with a large bowl of mutton, and handed it to him: "Eat it while it's hot! It won't taste good when it's cold!"
Virgil took the bowl, his fingers touching the warm bowl, a warmth spreading from his fingertips throughout his body.
Roger scooped up another large bowl and handed it to Gold, then filled his own bowl to the brim. A whole jar of mutton was reduced to a mere halfway empty…
"Try it!"
Before Roger could say anything more, Gold had already started eating impatiently.
The mutton is stewed until tender, and the mutton skin is full of collagen. As soon as you put it in your mouth, it has a soft and chewy texture that seems to melt in your mouth. The aroma of the meat explodes in your mouth, and the juices flow and fill your entire oral cavity!
It was nothing like the stewed meat they had eaten before, which was either full of oil or mixed with various lingering fishy and gamey smells...
The lamb stew by Roger is pure meaty aroma and deliciousness!
This unprecedented taste sensation made Virgil and his companion unable to stop eating!
"It's so delicious!" Gold wiped his mouth, looking completely satisfied.
"Rogge, why didn't you cook before... and you even said you didn't know how?!"
Virgil shoved chunks of meat into his mouth while mumbling incoherent complaints.
Neither of them knows how to use chopsticks; they eat with small wooden spoons that they carve themselves.
At this moment, the small wooden spoon was placed on one side, and the two of them immediately started using it!
There were no staple foods or side dishes, just meat.
In one meal, the three of them ate the whole lamb, which weighed more than ten pounds, except for the intestines which they didn't bother to clean and which were discarded. The lamb's heart and liver were also eaten in one sitting!
The three men each received a little over four pounds of mutton; they were physically strong enough that they weren't worried about indigestion!
At that moment, God was holding a ceramic jar, scooping out the remaining bits of meat from inside.
He had already finished the mutton soup from the earthenware pot, but seeing a shred of meat still clinging to the bottom, he reached in with his finger, scooped it up, and popped it into his mouth…
He ate less than Roger and the other two at this meal.
When it came time to serve the second bowl, he took the initiative to fill Rogge and Virgil's bowls first, while he himself only had a small half-bowl left and could only drink the soup...
"Rogge, when can we have another meal?"
After eating your cooking, I really don't want to eat those mixed fish and meat stews anymore...
"Holding the pottery jar, Gold said with a hopeful expression."
"Would you like to eat some more?"
"If you want to eat meat every meal, you'd better get to work!"
"I haven't even fixed the sword for them yet, and they've already eaten my wages..."
Roger's teasing tone made the two of them burst into laughter.
Sunlight streamed through the drafty window, falling on their faces and sweeping away years of gloom!
Eating a whole lamb in one meal is incredibly extravagant in these days of uncertainty, but that's exactly what they did.
Life is all about food and clothing.
They used to think that living was about accomplishing something great.
But now, they feel that just being alive is already a great joy.
Virgil suddenly realized that there might be other meanings to living.
In order to be able to eat a hot and steaming stewed mutton; in order to have a few people with whom you can trust each other to put your back; in order to have a warm "home"!
……
Unbeknownst to Roger, everything he said and did was being silently observed by others...
For the past month or so, although he himself was not very strong, he often gave Virgil and the other man advice on how to become stronger, and his advice was very effective.
After cleaning and tidying up the pottery jars, a message popped into Roger's mind!
[Gaining Recognition: Companions +2!]