[This presents a dilemma. An oven is definitely important for making anything that's to be baked. And Gadriel is physically capable of hauling a wood stove out into the woods like it's part of a camping kit, but does Barcus want to set him up for that? Perhaps not.]
>Well, to practice, you can use my equipment, but you'll want to get your own things eventually. Tell you what, bring me some firewood and we'll set up a firepit in my yard. I can at least teach you how to make soup and pancakes and fritters from there.
[Gadriel is trusted by the Imperium with literally incredibly expensive and rare equipment. It's the frontline soldier's dilemma: trusted with millions of dollars of equipment, treated like cannon fodder. He can handle a wood stove. Probably. At least weight wise. ]
How much firewood. I am quite good at that. [The widow in Dusklight who pays him to do chores while clad only in his bodyglove sure was fond of firewood and was very particular about it. He now has woodsplitting skills.]
you will have to instruct me as to what tastes are good. [Refined palate? Not on a Space Marine. He can eat literal garbage so his taste in food is...it needs help, especially if he's trying to impress someone.]
Taste is sometimes a bit of trial and error, but I can give you a list of basic ingredients you can use to alter flavors without ruining the dish or poisoning anyone. There's no shame in sticking to a recipe exactly as it's written, either.
[Oh, Gadriel, you're going to get so many cookbooks as gifts...]
Enough to burn for four to six hours, please. I'll write out a few notes for you while I'm waiting for you to arrive.
I will follow what is written. [An Ultramarine? Improvising on written orders? Do you want him to faint?
[He will put them right next to Lioriley's sex manual. He clearly has a taste for nonfiction.]
Easily done. I can be there in an hour? [Or later, but Ultramarines like tight timelines. He could probably do it in half that but he's trying to be accommodating.]
An hour will be just fine! I'll get the rest of the ingredients together.
[Ah, yes, food and sex. Finally getting accustomed to the finer things in life, Sergeant?
Barcus jots a few notes in a blank portfolio while he's waiting, and carries a few things out into the yard, placing them on a collapsible table. He's watching the road for Gadriel, though, and comes around the corner of the house to greet him when he approaches, waving. The gnome is a little dressed down right now, in a short-sleeved caftan and trousers, with an apron overtop.]
[Food and sex: two things Gadriel is notably terrible at. All he needs is a 'how to do relationships' self help book and his trilogy of self-improvement would be complete.
He approached, just about on time, a bunch of wood strapped to the back of his armor, holding a wrapped parcel of fresh fish, handing it over to the Archmagos. ]
Elion caught more than he could eat and I thought Satchel might like some. [Also, Gadriel hadn't forgotten the thing about bringing gifts to show appreciation. He was still working on it.]
[Terrible perhaps, but in opposite ways! He can eat anything. He has not been half so indiscriminate with his sexual escapades.
Meanwhile, Barcus lights up a little at the gift, not because he needs the fish, but because it's so kind.]
Oh, that's so thoughtful, Sergeant! Thank you!
I'd offer to teach you how to clean and fillet them, but you won't be cooking them for your friend and you and Elion can eat them whole, so I won't bother just now. Perhaps another time you'd be interested for curiosity's sake, though. Let me just put them on ice, and then we'll get started. [Yeah, some people don't eat the bones and guts of the fish, did you know that, Gadriel? Now you know.
Barcus vanishes inside for a moment, just to store the fish, and returns, drying his hands with a towel.]
So! I'll show you how to make a simple soup, and mushroom fritters. Soups and stews, I find, are the most forgiving things you can cook. You can't burn them, for one thing.
I know you're not used to thinking of things in terms of flavor, but the three elements most mortal tastes are attuned to are salt, sugars, and fats. You'll find one or more in anything you cook.
[It's true: Gadriel and Elion were incredibly efficient when it came to food and eating. No wasted parts, less cleanup. It had its merits.
He listened, attentively, because this was crucial information for success. ]
Is protein not a flavor? [He recognized the others, but his primary food back home was called 'amino porridge' (it tastes as you'd expect) so surely...protein was a flavor?]
Protein is an important nutrient, but I wouldn't call it a flavor as such, no. Flavor is a more...intangible thing. I'm not going to presume to teach you about nutrition. You've got your own handled and I have to assume Melinoë does, as well, but I know you don't think much about the tastes of what you eat.
...which is not a criticism! It's very practical of you. Cooking is about enjoying food on a level you're not accustomed to. That's all. [And that's why you've wisely (?) enlisted a gnomish tutor.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2025-04-24 07:27 pm (UTC)I want to produce something edible,
first. [Edible by like...normal people standards. And he'd like the mushroom whatevers so that was a good start.]
whatever is
needed
I will acquire.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 02:59 pm (UTC)>Well, to practice, you can use my equipment, but you'll want to get your own things eventually. Tell you what, bring me some firewood and we'll set up a firepit in my yard. I can at least teach you how to make soup and pancakes and fritters from there.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 03:11 pm (UTC)How much firewood. I am quite good at that. [The widow in Dusklight who pays him to do chores while clad only in his bodyglove sure was fond of firewood and was very particular about it. He now has woodsplitting skills.]
you will have to
instruct me
as to what
tastes are good. [Refined palate? Not on a Space Marine. He can eat literal garbage so his taste in food is...it needs help, especially if he's trying to impress someone.]
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 03:19 pm (UTC)[Oh, Gadriel, you're going to get so many cookbooks as gifts...]
Enough to burn for four to six hours, please. I'll write out a few notes for you while I'm waiting for you to arrive.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 03:35 pm (UTC)[He will put them right next to Lioriley's sex manual. He clearly has a taste for nonfiction.]
Easily done. I can be there
in
an hour? [Or later, but Ultramarines like tight timelines. He could probably do it in half that but he's trying to be accommodating.]
no subject
Date: 2025-04-27 03:59 pm (UTC)[Ah, yes, food and sex. Finally getting accustomed to the finer things in life, Sergeant?
Barcus jots a few notes in a blank portfolio while he's waiting, and carries a few things out into the yard, placing them on a collapsible table. He's watching the road for Gadriel, though, and comes around the corner of the house to greet him when he approaches, waving. The gnome is a little dressed down right now, in a short-sleeved caftan and trousers, with an apron overtop.]
>> action?
Date: 2025-04-28 03:28 pm (UTC)He approached, just about on time, a bunch of wood strapped to the back of his armor, holding a wrapped parcel of fresh fish, handing it over to the Archmagos. ]
Elion caught more than he could eat and I thought Satchel might like some. [Also, Gadriel hadn't forgotten the thing about bringing gifts to show appreciation. He was still working on it.]
no subject
Date: 2025-04-30 12:08 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, Barcus lights up a little at the gift, not because he needs the fish, but because it's so kind.]
Oh, that's so thoughtful, Sergeant! Thank you!
I'd offer to teach you how to clean and fillet them, but you won't be cooking them for your friend and you and Elion can eat them whole, so I won't bother just now. Perhaps another time you'd be interested for curiosity's sake, though. Let me just put them on ice, and then we'll get started. [Yeah, some people don't eat the bones and guts of the fish, did you know that, Gadriel? Now you know.
Barcus vanishes inside for a moment, just to store the fish, and returns, drying his hands with a towel.]
So! I'll show you how to make a simple soup, and mushroom fritters. Soups and stews, I find, are the most forgiving things you can cook. You can't burn them, for one thing.
I know you're not used to thinking of things in terms of flavor, but the three elements most mortal tastes are attuned to are salt, sugars, and fats. You'll find one or more in anything you cook.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-30 10:43 pm (UTC)He listened, attentively, because this was crucial information for success. ]
Is protein not a flavor? [He recognized the others, but his primary food back home was called 'amino porridge' (it tastes as you'd expect) so surely...protein was a flavor?]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 03:15 am (UTC)...which is not a criticism! It's very practical of you. Cooking is about enjoying food on a level you're not accustomed to. That's all. [And that's why you've wisely (?) enlisted a gnomish tutor.]
no subject
Date: 2025-05-02 06:35 pm (UTC)So long as these instructions you give me yield items that are enjoyable, that is all that matters.