Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in A Day With Koro

Posted by Civilian Char’les Harv (Officer’s Mess Chef) in A Day With Koro

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in A Day With Koro
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Reaching for the scrubber, Koro nodded eagerly and scrubbed at the spots he could see. His concentration was so intense that the tip of his tongue stuck out. After a couple minutes, he scrunched his eyes and then looked at Harv. “is it clean enough for magic?”

~Koro

Harv looked at the pot and smiled. “I think so. Ok. Let’s begin.” He knelt down and looked at Koro, placing his hands on the boy’s shoulders. “Now listen, this is important. When we are doing the magic, the food will take in whatever you are feeling. Joy, sadness, anger… whatever you feel will go into the food. So you want to think of happy times. Good times. Make sure all your happiness goes into the food. Then, when your grandmother eats it, she will feel that happiness. And it will help her feel better. Ok?”

Chef Harv

It was true. Shedda had seen it time and time again during digs and reconstructions. The feelings and intents came through clearly in the remains of what was left behind. Those were physical permanent, or semi permanent, things. She saw no reason why it would not apply to food. The smell and taste of food certainly could trigger strong emotional responses and memory. Shebgave Koro an encouraging smile. If today’s conversations were any indication he had plenty of happiness to pour into it.

Shedda

Koro took his job very seriously so he gave a firm nod to Harv and a tiny smile to Shedda. “Okay, what do we do first to make happy soup?” he asked, very focused on the task at hand.

~Koro

“Well,” Harv began, “…first we have to get vegetables and proteins prepared. And to do that, you are going to have to use a knife. A very sharp knife. And if it isn’t used properly, it will cut you and it will hurt. Are you ready for that?”

Chef Harv

Shedda was all for kids learning practical skills. She’d learned to use a knife and other things very early, but she wasn’t sure how Sair felt about it. She knew Harv was helping Koro cook though. She bit her tongue before she mouthed off that there were such things as child kitchen knives that were safer than regular knives. She was pretty sure putting her two scents into his kitchen would end in a fight, in front of Koro. “We could give him cut resistant gloves,” she commented quietly.

Shedda

Harv looked up and said “And then how would he learn to use a knife properly?” and then looked back at Koro. “So? You want to learn how to use a knife so it does what you want it to and not hurt you? I promise… I can teach you so that it does exactly that.”

Chef Harv

Koro looked between Harv and Shedda and chewed on his lip for a moment. “Umm, maybe a little knife?” he said with a frown before nodding (more to himself) and then giving Harv a more confident nod as well.

~Koro

It wasn’t that Shedda didn’t agree with Harv, but Koro was not her kid. That was a responsibility she took very seriously. It wasn’t truly her call to make. Koro was a bright and responsible kid, but still a kid. She nodded when he looked at her. If he wanted to try, she certainly didn’t want to discourage him.

Harv smiled and said “Good lad. That’s the right answer. Okay… first, vegetables.” He brought over a large bowl filled with raw Tarisian carrots, celery, bright red potatoes, and onions. “These are what will make our soup base. So we need to chop them up into small pieces. Now watch.” Harv pulled a large knife from a nearby block and grabbed some carrots. “If you practice, study, and let yourself get comfortable… you will be able to do this.” He set the carrots on a cutting board and set the knife on top. “Ready?” he asked Koro. “Pay attention.” He began slicing the carrots lengthwise, slowly, the sharp blade sliding through the hard carrots easily. He then turned them to lay across the cutting board and he began to chop; the knuckles of his left hand guiding the depth of the bade across the carrots length. Slowly, he increased speed. Soon though, the knife made a tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak sound and bits of carrots fell away in perfect small cubes as the blade of the knife moved so quickly it barely seemed to move at all. For anyone familiar with cooking, it was an impressive display. For anyone familiar with knives and their other, less savory, utilities… it was a testament to the skill of a different kind of professional.

Koro watched wide-eyed and his mouth dropped open. uncertainty filled his small features knowing there was no way he could cut the vegetables like that.

In less than a minute, all the carrots were diced and set aside. Harv looked at Koro and said “You won’t go so fast, but I can teach you how to start to get fast. Ready?” and he pulled out a small pairing knife that was proportionally the same size to Koro as Chef Harv’s was to himself.

Chef Harv

His skill wasn’t lost on Shedda. She was not trained with such skill herself, but she had seen it plenty while growing up. Her father possessed some of that skill, but his training leaned more towards less subtle weapons. There wasn’t one person who lived in her village (except the children maybe) who hadn’t come from a harder life. Even the children there would recognize Harv’s skill for what it was.

Shedda

He took the knife from Harv and tried to hold it the way Harv was. He grabbed a stalk of celery and set it lengthwise in front of him and touched the tip of the knife to it as if he might cut down the length. But Koro looked to Harv uncertainly. “Like this?”

~Koro