69th of Ash, 4622
The season of Ash becomes slightly colder with each passing month & with those diseases that roam about. However, it isn't common to see many lowborn citizens of Daravin wound up sick, crippled or even dead, as the glory of serving the Rusted Empire is filled with zealot individuals.
For Jared, one of those days, he would rather be dead in a ditch. He let out a loud wheeze before coughing as he managed to catch an upper respiratory disease during a surprisingly chilly night while looking out for potential marks to steal from as he does on a usual night. Either that or possibly a sick serf that came into the bakery he was working at while placing a few display items or talking with.
In any case, the thief was left rather bedridden as his body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat & his commoner clothing was thoroughly saturated with his fluids.
"Uhhhh… Terrible… feels like a pile of shit…"
Jared's voice was notably lower as his usual, low-pitched, gravelly tone became more intense when he was sick; a bit of a rumbling tune was often added to his sickened voice whilst the spacing of his speech was tended to be slow & airy, which was something that Jared hated as he prefered to be direct & firm with his words when he was in control of a situation.
Taking a moment to remove his blanket off his body, the thief quickly peels off his tunic as he finds the sticky & wet piece of clothing far more irritating than he would like. Despite being sick, the thief had to make something to eat. Since he was often the one making the meal & he could make something more nutritious to assist in his recovery.
As he slowly makes his way into the kitchen, essentially dragging his foot against the wooden floor boards. The sickened thief takes a moment to sit down and rest as simple movements tax the thief's energy reserves.
Sniffing loudly, the thief couldn't help but feel highly dizzy and aloof about his current situation as he was standing in the kitchen. Bare-chested, covered in sweat and trying to make a meal sounded like a recipe for destruction, and Jared knew his sense of smell & taste was quite sufficiently. Still, he needed to make his meal since he knew which types of food would assist in his recovery and the sooner the apprentice thief could recover, the less time he had to stick his ass on the bed.
“Ehhh… Chicken & Onion soup… Would like it creamy but might be harder to digest…”
With an idea of what meal he could make, Jared assembles his workstation, albeit sluggishly, as he stumbles around the kitchen, collecting all the necessary tools & ingredients needed to make his soup of fastish recovery. The Journeyman cook could make some vegetable dumplings to add bulk to the meal while providing extra nutrition.
The first thing that needed to be done was cleaning up all the vegetables & herbs that are required to make the soup broth. In this case, the thief begins by cutting up his main vegetables, consisting of potatoes in mirepoix, emince’ en sifflet for the carrots, mince for the onions & garlic cloves & halved snap peas for an extra bit of colour. Unfortunately, while the thief was preparing all the vegetables, bouts of fatigue washed over his body as the lingering sensation of aches & chills hindered his workflow.
The nightfallen thief was somewhat annoyed by his predicament as his thoughts merely drifted away every time he tried to think of something that involved a little thought; Not only that, the occasional headache stifled his ability to make his meal promptly. But the thief had to move on with preparing the base; once he was done making his meal, he could finally curl up into a ball & rest on his bed.
The idea of cuddling into a warm body and melting like a soft milk pudding did tempt the thief to just head back to bed & dream up that kind of scenario, but the thief couldn’t get distracted as he was currently wielding a rather sharp knife. So, after a couple of minutes of preparing the vegetables, taking much longer than what the alistian magus would like; He merely dumps the vegetables into a large crock pot before adding some healthy water and allowing it to sit over the hearth which has yet to be ablaze.
Sitting next to the hearth, the alistian cook takes a moment to pile some kindling for his hearth, consisting of mainly thin strips of bark, down & twigs. Jared had a habit of making pieces of char cloth & store them away when fuel would be limited, such as travelling or when the cold loom close.
As the fire flickers & dances, the shimmering orange & reds meld into a cohesive duet. The thief takes a few minutes to tend to the flame with simple cast iron fireplace poker, rearranging the small logs of wood so that the young pet has something to feed on before maturing into a sufficient blaze for heating his hearty soup for the night.
Letting out an audible wheeze as his lungs briefly tighten, Jared picks himself up, making his way over to the kitchen countertop but stumbling as his vision blurs for a moment. This motion forced the thief to stop and lay his left hand over the edge of the countertop surface to stabilise his form.
“Uhhh… It would be nice to have someone to look after you; I wouldn’t have to deal with this and exhaust myself, plus just being able to wrap up in something warm all day is a night thought…”
With most of the preparations done for the soup, it was time to make some dumplings to add some bulk to the meal. While it was nice to use potatoes as a base for his dumplings, another item that he could add to the list was Gnocchi Alla Romana or how Jared would simply put it; A semolina gnocchi which was often an alternative that works well, some chicken soup since it adds a dairy, animalic & fatty note that contrasts the thin yet flavourful soup that he was creating with some simple vegetables & dried chicken stock powder.
Sifting through his pantry of flour mixes, the sickened thief takes a moment to peer through his collection of various grains, milled flour & flour blends. Seeking out his semolina or any kind of flour blend with a high-protein combination that would assist in the chewy quality & dough strength.
Once the journeyman cook found the desired flour, it was time to start making up the gnocchi. What sets this particular gnocchi apart was that there were generally three types from what he recalled when he was observing cooks from a distance when he wasn’t stalking about stealing items but rather recipes & listening in on how things are prepared.
Gnocchi di Patate was generally made with potato, eggs & flour, which was then boiled before being incorporated with a rich cream sauce, marinara or a simple combination of olive oil & herbs.
Gnocchi Parisienne was taking more inspiration from Amoren-style cruising, which revolves around making a type of dough known as a pâte à choux, which is essentially making a dough over a heat source which is often incorporated with herbs & cheese before being piped into a pot of boiling water and paired with similar sauces made for Gnocchi di Patate.
Lastly, Gnocchi alla Romana was made using semolina flour, eggs & water which were then formed into large disks that were boiled in water or milk before being placed in a baking dish before being covered in a light layer of butter, cheese & other assortments of toppings before being baked & served as it is while it is hot.
The assembly of making his cheesy semolina gnocchi didn’t take too much time for the thief despite taking it relatively slowly, as his body suffers from bouts of chills here and there. All it took was making the dough which he was accustomed to driving at this point in his skill set & boiling it in milk before placing it in a baking dish; it was only then that the thief realised that he needed to prepare the stone oven.
Heading outside, the thief takes a moment to prepare the kindling and set it at the back of the stone oven before starting the fire just as he did for the hearth but allowing the dry heat to reach a certain point based on his tactile sensation of the nearby air; once that was achieved, the alistian cook dips back into the kitchen before placing the baking dish inside and allow it bake for the next few minutes.
It was all coming together at this point. Taking a stool and resting by the hearth; Jared takes a moment for his amber-hued eyes to sleep, listening to the sounds of bubbling soup, the crackling of wood & smelling the scent of ash in the air for soon his meals would be complete & much needed rest for the upcoming days.
