Chapter 15 15: Mother's Role
After I took a bath and clean myself, I went to the kitchen where my parents and some servants, including Mary, were already waiting. My sister isn't in the kitchen because she was sweaty and smelly and had to take a bath first.
By the way, the method for bathing in the world were primitive. Shower wasn't invented in this world yet, so people usually just scrub their body with a wet towel to clean themselves.
Bathtubs are also available but only rich merchants and aristocrats can afford to purchase it. There were also public bathhouse where you need to pay to wash yourself but it's not as clean as you expected.
The mansion had a bathhouse where my family and I washed ourselves. The water came from the lion-shaped magic item. It can be heated if you want a hot bath.
The bathhouse was separated by three sections. A male section, female one and our family's private area. Our own area were more spacious and luxurious than the other sections.
I used to take a bath with my mothers and sister when I was a little, witnessing their geh moments, still recorded in my brain. As I grew older, I told my parents that I will wash myself in men's room. They insisted for me to bath together with them but gave up in the end.
Our servants had the right to use the bathhouse, as well as the visitors. Most of our servants were female so the female's section were the busiest during bath time.
After waiting for a while, my sister came here in the kitchen fresh from the bath. Her lustrous long black hair are still wet and she was in her casual clothing.
"You finally came, then let's start the cooking." I said as I put my apron and hairnet.
The ingredients had already prepared so all I have to do is to cook the pasta. The quantity of the ingredients were enough to yield my family and some servants.
First is the noodles. Mix the milk and eggs together then add the salt like a salt bae. Add the flour into the mixture to complete the dough. Stir the dough until it becomes slightly sticky ball.
On a floored surface, drop the dough and knead it with hands. Don't forget to powered the hands with floor or coat it with oil to avoid the flour to stick in your hands. Knead the dough until it's no longer sticky and rest it for a while. I repeated the process until I made several balls of dough.
As I looked around, I can see my family watching me with enthusiasm. The servants, especially the chefs, we watching me with stern eyes. Some of them take notes in their notepads of the ingredients and the cooking process of the spaghetti.
Next is the sauce. But first, let's grind the beef. The beef was the loin part of a B-ranked monster called Ram Bull. Of course, it was hunted by my parents and freshly withdrawn from mom's Item Box spell.
Meat grinder does not exist in this world yet, that's why we had the craftsmen to make it. Mom can use her Alchemy skill to create at least a prototype but she was no artisan to comprehend the detailed blueprints I gave. That's why we have the real craftsmen to create it but the meat grinder were still a prototype and the craftsmen still in progress of creating it. But I have an alternative.
"It's your time to shine, mother. And Lizell, boil some water for the noodles later."
"If you say so, Raphael."
"Right away, Young Master."
I ordered Lizell, one of our cooks, to boil water for the noodles to cook. She grabbed a boiler and placed it in the stove besides the already boiling pot.
Mother swiftly equipped her appropriate cooking equipments and approached the center island of our L-shaped kitchen. She grabbed a kitchen knife from the wooden handle with her right hand and grabbed the beef with her left.
"Hop."
Mother tossed the Ram Bull's beef in the air. The projectile did not draw a parabolic curve but a straight line. The meat stopped in the air as it reach zero velocity and dropped at inversed speed.
"Hundred Slice." mother said with a gentle tone.
She swiped her knife at the perfect timing of the drop. The beef dropped like nothing happened but it instantly shattered into countless tiny fragments after touching the surface.
The speed of her swing was so incredibly fast that not even me, my sister, and the watching servants could catch. But with that, the ground beef had acquired.
"Woah, I did not see anything at all."
"So, this is the power of the Sword Saint."
"It was just a fraction of her power but it was already beyond what humans capable for."
"She would not have to be called the Lavender Flash for nothing after all."
"Please don't called me with that embarrassing nickname in front of our children, Raven Witch."
"Hey, stop calling me that!"
"As expected of mother!"
The servants did nothing but applaud at my mother's power. Mother and mom teased each other by recalling their nicknames of their adventurers' days.
From our perspective, it's like her right hand shifted its position from right to left instantly. Mom probably caught a little glimpse of what just happened because she flapped her hands right after the slash.
"It finely chopped into appropriate sizes. As expected of mother."
"I'm fluttered by your compliments."
What she did just now was a high level sword technique. It was the Level 8 Sword Art: Hundred Slice. It was a technique that slashes the sword hundred of times at incredibly high speed.
"Now then,"
I placed the ground beef into a bowl and approached the pot behind me. I opened its lid then steam blocked my sight and a mouth-drooling scent entered my nostrils. After it subdued, I can see the boiling of red sauce filling more than half of the pot.
It was the tomato sauce I prepared beforehand. It already had the seasonings and other ingredients for the spaghetti sauce. I had the last ingredient in my hand, which was the ground beef, and dropped it in the boiling pot.
The red sauce swallowed the beef like a stone on scorching magma. I stir the sauce using a ladle and mixed it gently. After I made sure that the beef scattered evenly in the mixture, I closed the lid and let it boil.
I went back to the dough to make the noodles. I kneaded it again and flattened the dough on the surface. I flattened it as thin as possible using a roll until it reached the thickness of a few millimeters. Also the same with the other doughs and placed them neatly on the surface.
"Mother."
"Here I go."
Mother took the knife again and grabbed a flattened dough. Same with the meat grinder, I also don't have the access to a noddle making equipment.
It is still in progress with the craftsmen again but when it is still not available, mother was here to fulfill her role again. She threw the dough in the air and it spread widely. Mother raised her knife overhead and wait for the perfect timing.
"Hundred Slice."
Mother swing the knife at imperceivable speed and a bouquet of white thin strips of yarn landed on her free hand. No, it was not strips of yarn, but the strips of noodles from the formerly dough.
"Hundred Slice. Hundred Slice. Hundred Slice…"
She grabbed and tossed the dough again and repeatedly do the same high level sword technique. It doesn't took a long time until mother convert all the dough into white thin noodles.
"…"
Deafening silence filled the whole kitchen as mother performing her inhuman sword techniques. The swiping sound of the knife and the boiling of the spaghetti sauce were the only sound could be heard. The servants were in awestruck as they witnessing my mother.
"All done."
"Thank you, mother."
Mother claimed that she was done her job. She said it plainly as if what she were doing was the same as breathing. The servants came back to their senses and continued to take notes.
I checked the noodles and still shocked of the results. Each strip of noodles were cleanly sliced with equal thickness. Mother sliced the dough in a very straight manner and the cuts were even drawing parallel lines.
I collected all the noodles and add it to the boiling water besides the spaghetti sauce. I spread the noodles throughout the boiling water to cook it properly. I covered the boiler and let it boil for three minutes.
"Let's just wait for the noodles to firm."
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After several minutes, I took a look at the noodles and concluded that it is already firm.
"Lizell, drain the noodles, please."
"I understand."
Lizell put on the gloves and lift the boiler to the sink. She removed the water first by spilling it to the sink. A strainer was already placed in the sink so she just dump the noodles into the strainer to filter the water.
She did this kind of task because my parents said that it was too dangerous for me to use the kitchen without the help of an adult. Lizell was our cook so she had more experience in cooking than me.
After Lizell drained the noodles, she placed the firm noodles on large silvery tray. I grabbed a tong and took a handful of noodles enough for one serve. With the noodles done, I switched to ladle and took a scoop from the still boiling spaghetti sauce.
The steaming hot sauce produced an alluring beefy and saucy aroma that captivated every person in this kitchen. It slowly flowed out the ladle to join with the noodles like a waterfall resupplying the river of life.
"This is the finished product of today. Mix it well until the sauce spread on the noodles evenly. Thank you for the assistance mother, and also Lizell. And this it for you, sister. And I hope you everyone enjoy my food."
"You're the best, Raphael." my sister said as she happily accepted the pasta.
I thanked mother and Lizell for their assistance today. I would not have done the dish without their help, especially mother. Without her superior swordsmanship and stats, the noodles and the ground beef would not have be made.
"This is for you, my mothers."
"Thank you, Raphael. Smooch"
"As expected of my son. Smooch."
"You're welcome, mothers."
I handed them their serving of spaghetti and kissed me it the cheek at both sides. I'll treat it as my reward for cooking and serving them pasta.
"As for the others, you can just serve yourselves."
I told the others of what they have to do while serving myself. After I poured the sauce, I mixed it well with a fork. Then I twisted my fork to take a mouthful of spaghetti.
"Mmm. Delicious."
(Thank you, Goddess. For giving me access to my previous world's internet.)
I said to myself as I tasting the results of my hard work. The modification of my body by the Goddess are really worth it. Thank you this, I can surf the internet and acquire any information that I wanted.
"Mmm! It's delicious, indeed."
"I would not believe it was made of flour if I didn't witnessed the cooking process."
"With materials on hand, you can just cook for yourself at leisure. Though, you have to mince the meat and thinly slice the dough on your own."
"It is said that the equipment for meat grinding and noodle making has yet to come. So we have to do it manually for a while."
"You're right."
The servants were discussing about the spaghetti as they eat. The equipments were no available yet so you have to do it manually for the time being.
I looked around to take a glance of other people's reactions. I saw a geh couple happily giving each other a spoonful of pasta.
"You had sauce on your cheek."
"Huh? Where?"
"Here~"
(You asked what did I saw? Geh content.)
Mary who wrote something with a stern expression on her notepad after finishing her palate. My sister who is in the line for her second serving.
I felt happy and proud of myself as I watched their positive response on my dish. I want to recreate other dishes from my previous world but I have to do in moderation.
"Master Raphael, do you have a specific name for this dish?"
"Hmm. Let me think."
Mary ask me a question and I put my fingers under my chin and thought of the name of this pasta dish. But I came up with a name immediately.
"I will call it, Raevender Style Spaghetti Pasta."
"Noted."
I said as I glanced at my family. With this, the concept of pasta dishes were born in this world.
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Unbeknownst to him, the talk about the spaghetti quickly spread throughout the city. The recipe of that certain pasta spread among the city's diner and restaurants.
It doesn't take long time before it reached the tongues of the people in the Kingdom of Astley. It hit the taste of the people especially the royalty and nobility.
Many chefs and confectioners inspired by the spaghetti and create their own pasta dishes like the Creamy Spaghetti (Carbonara). And that is how the Raevender territory were called the City of Pasta in the future.
But Raphael didn't know that until he sees it himself.