Posted by Lieutenant Navale Huzzen (Engineer) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry

Posted by Chief Petty Officer Sam Nazarian (Host of Florence’s) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry

Posted by Lieutenant Navale Huzzen (Engineer) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry

(snip)

Navale grinned, “Oh yes, I’m quite ready. What’s next?” She picked up her glass and took a sip of the punch, letting the flavors dance over her tongue.

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

With a grin, Sam reached into the bag and pulled out what looked like an engineering tool, but Navale might recognize as a small blowtorch. He waggled his brows at her as he sat it up right on their table, enjoying keeping her guessing.

Navale chuckled quietly at his playfulness, and eyed the blowtorch with feigned suspicion.

He then reached into the cooler and first pulled out a container wrapped in a thermal bag, a spoon, and a metal spatula. Next came a fairly shallow container with a metal top. He inverted it, pulled the glass base off and set the base carefully on the sand upright, away from them. Now resting in the metal lid was some sort of fish that appeared to have been lightly charred. “Since we can’t have a fire out here, I had to improvise. The fish is precooked, but…” He reached for the blowtorch and released the safety mechanism. Then he gently depressed a button in the handle and fire spat out of the metal nozzle. He turned a dial on the side with his other hand until the flame softened by at least half.

“Is it still cooking if I’m only gently reheating?” he asked with a smirk, passing the flame over the fish until the skin started to sizzle and crisp up. In a well choreographed set of motions, Sam grabbed the spatula and flipped the fish before passing the flame over the other side. A few passes and that was done and Sam turned off the blowtorch and set it in the sand to cool.

Navale laughed fully. “Oh so now we are partners in crime? This is serious.” She shaded her eyes as she looked around. “I’ll keep a look out.”

“See, I knew you’d have my back,” he said with a smirk.

“So this is a pretty simple dish. Most cultures that do fish have some version of this,” he said as he grabbed the thermal bag and pulled out a dish. The lid came off revealing a steaming dish of rice, vegetables and probably herbs. He handed her the spoon and held the rice dish near her plate for her. “Grab what you like. I’ll cut us some fish after I put the rice away.”

Taking the spoon, Navale served herself a decent portion of the rice and then passed him the spoon. “Well it smells great. I can’t wait to try it.”

“Well, that is promising then,” he said with a grin as he spooned some rice onto his plate and then set the rice bowl to the side with its cover firmly replaced.

He chuckled. “You know, when I started planning this meal, I swear it only got this complicated because of the nature preserve, but I have to admit that the operations officer in me loved the logistics of this whole night. It’s been while since I’ve had to do anything like this.”

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

“I’m glad you had fun planning the whole thing. That’s part of the enjoyment isn’t it? Or it is for me. Planning the details and how they fit together.” She grinned, “And I’m flattered you were willing to go to such trouble.”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

“A little bit of column A, a little of B. But honestly mostly B.” He gazed at her for a moment. “I just think it’s nice to do something extravagant now and again. It’s sort of what you were saying about remembering to be awed by something as simple as a sunset. Sometimes it’s good to go out of our way to be surprised by something so that we remember we can be surprised. Besides, you’re more than worth the effort,” he added with a wink.

Taking the metal spatula, Sam cut a portion of the charred fish for them both and slid each onto their plates. With the vegetables in the rice, it was a complete dish, but he also pulled out a small jar and flicked open a spout in the lid. “Here,” he said, handing her the jar. “It’s a lemon-coconut sauce. The rice dish is made with coconut milk, so it should all go together.”

~Sam, Host of Florence’s