Lessons of being Ships Chef

Posted on Thursday November 2nd, 2023 @ 1:53am by Commodore Gregory Paladin & Cadet Junior Grade Ayumi Yamagou & Cadet Freshman Grade Nigel Raymond

2,456 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: The Grand Tour: Part Two
Location: USS Poseidon; Deck 3 - Officers' Galley and Dining Room
Timeline: In Transit to Tellar
Tags: Grand Tour, 2395, Character Development.

[ON]

Commodore Paladin waited for the arrival of the two Cadets who were aspiring Chefs. He had already personally communicated to Cadets Yamagou and Raymond that they were to be expected in the Officers Galley on Deck 3. He had further pressed that their academic pursuits had been noted and he was to be their instructor. Todays lessons would be light, gentle, and easing them into the process of understanding the importance and historical significance of a Ships Chef. With the Officers crowd looming in an hour, he expected his lessons to rub off quickly on the two Cadets and the three of them making food before he knew it.

At least he hoped.

Cadet Nigel Raymond had made a vow. He had been given a second chance but with that came a warning. Commander Trensu would be watching his every move. If he did one thing wrong just one. He would be back on Earth in the clutches of his mother. Before you could say the words Strawberry Flan. So this time he would follow the recipes as they were printed no little add on's. Like fried mushroom with rice and custard. From now on he would be the best student Chef he could be. Which meant turning up on time when the Commodore ordered.

" Cadet Nigel Raymond reporting for duty Commodore." He said.

"Welcome, Cadet!" Gregory greeted as Nigel approached. "Very happy to have you here. I suppose we shall wait for Cadet Yamagou, but we have time to spare. What brings you to want to learn the age-old traditions of being a ships chef?"

“ I love the idea of making something from scratch. Taking a few eggs and mixing them with milk and a sprinkle of cheese. Then frying this liquid and watching it turn into a cheese omelet. Then seeing the faces of the crew as they enjoy something you have made. I kind of lost sight of that and you probably know from Commander Trensu and Captain Johnson what happened. But I have been given a second chance and this time. I will not let my imagination get out of control. Good wholesome food for all to enjoy.” Nigel replied.

"So I heard!" Gregory confirmed, somewhat of a frown. "But! This is a new beginning. No need to think of the past. Only the present, because it is a gift. And the future is the reward wrapped up in the present as the gift. We just simply have to be patient to see the gift and understand it."

Nigel nodded. " I won't let you down sir,"

Gregory nodded. He eyed the entrance, looking for the other Cadet, but not outright seeing them. A soft sigh, shrug, and he led Nigel back into the kitchen for the Officer's Mess. It was a mix-up of a traditional kitchen with advanced equipment; replicators, stoves, pans, real or replicated fresh foods, refrigerators and freezers, you name it and the Ships Chef had it. He grabbed a pan and then gingerly placed it down on the stove-top nearest the entrance to the Mess.

"Alright, Nigel, make me an omelet," instructed Gregory.

At that moment, Cadet Ayumi Yamagou arrived in the officers' galley. She had been running late, as Commodore Paladin's scheduled culinary class conflicted with an OB-GYN appointment in medical, and this late in her pregnancy, Ayumi had been advised that she did not want to miss appointments, and the OB-GYN she was seeing didn't feel it was best to reschedule, even to accommodate Commodore Paladin.

So, there she was, panting and out of breath, having hot-footed it from her appointment in sickbay straight to the officers' galley. It had been perhaps the hardest she had pushed herself since her second trimester.

She panted looking down at her belly for a few seconds before she looked up at the Commodore and Cadet Raymond.

"Sorry... I'm late... Commodore..." Ayumi panted. "OB-GYN... Didn't want to reschedule..."

"Ah! Cadet Yamagaou!" Oscar greeted, turning to face the new arrival. "So wonderful of you to join us. I'll let this one slide this time, next time make sure your schedule is set and clear. A Starfleet Officer has commitments and understands the responsibilities it entails. Since you're learning how to manage, I'll make this a free pass. Now..."

He turned and motioned toward Nigel. "Cadet Raymond here is about to make an omelet. I want you to do the same with a proper pan just beside him. Both of you will make me a proper morning omelet."

"Ok..." Ayumi said as her panting began to slow down, indicating that she was beginning to catch her breath. "Is there anything in particular you would like in your omelet, sir? A proper morning omelet can be a truly versatile breakfast food. I personally enjoy mine with ham and bell peppers, and of course with cheese melted on it."

"That would be acceptable," Gregory said, watching the two.

Nigel had many recipe ideas run through his head. But he shook his head no , keep it simple. But he could use better ingredients , Earth chickens laid the best eggs for omelettes. Plus a small drop of English Cows milk and a pinch of pepper. But no salt he felt that there was enough natural salt in the eggs. He also felt a wooden spoon was better as it mixed the omelettes ingredients better than a metal one. Nigel picked a non stick frying pan so he would not have to use any oils or butter. To stop it sticking to the pan while frying. Soon a satisfying aroma came from the cooker. He then scooped it up with a flat headed spatula folding as he placed it on a plate with a sprig of parsley as a garnish.

“ Bon Appetite.” He said as he placed it front of the Commodore.

Impressed with the speed of his cooking, Gregory gave Nigel a pat and tried the omelet. His expression turned into a poker face as he tasted and chewed. He briefly looked to Nigel, then at the plate, almost as if disgusted. Then he took another bite, then another, then finished the plate.

"Excellent work," the Commodore murmured, impressed. "Very good work."

Ayumi, on the other hand, had a different approach. Cooking wasn't something to simply be rushed through; it was a labor of love. That was why she chose a skillet pan to prepare the omelet in. Sure, it was more time consuming than Nigel's approach, but coating the pan in a layer of butter and bacon grease would really add flavor where it counted. Sure, she could have used a liquid egg substitute, but nothing beat the taste of the real thing, so, she used two large, real eggs in her recipe. As the eggs cooked, Ayumi prepared the filling; her usual of ham and green bell peppers, since the Commodore had said that would suffice. Like Nigel, Ayumi felt no salt was needed, and when the eggs were just about ready, she added in the ham and bell peppers and topped it with a grated cheese blend. She allowed a little extra time for the cheese to melt before folding the omelet in half with her spatula and scooping it onto a plate, seasoning it with just a touch a black pepper.

"Hope Cadet Raymond's Omelet didn't fill you up, Commodore." She said as she served Gregory her omelet. "Because if you don't finish it, I'm going to have to."

Gregory eyed it with much anticipation as he held and took Ayumi's dish. He dug into the omelet, already impressed with Nigels, and gave the same stoic expression as he glanced around. He chewed slowly, then quickly, the gulped it down. Afterward he took a long drink of water from a glass he had nearby.

"Very good," he said after swallowing. "Count me impressed with you both. Breakfast is one of the most important dishes and usually, new Chef's will screw up omelet's. It's an easy way to gauge someones proficiency. That said, you both seem to have the skill and style of amateure Chef's. One more dish today then."

Gently he moved to a nearby shelf, grabbed ingredients, and laid them out before the two Cadets.

"With this, you shall cook me Spaghetti and Meatballs. It may seem like a humbly easy dish, but I expect absolute perfection for me to pass you. If you both get this right, and add your own flair to it, I will consider you fit for this kitchen," Gregory said, a glint in his eye at his challenge proposed.

A smirk spread on Ayumi's face. Making spaghetti and meatballs was going to be easy; she'd made enough spaghetti dinners for her church congregation to know how to make them:

Ayumi started with some 80/20 lean ground beef. She expected that Nigel would take a shortcut and use pre-made meatballs, but Ayumi knew the difference between homemade and pre-made meatballs, and if the Commodore was seeking perfection, no doubt homemade would be the way to go. Together in a bowl, she mixed the beef with some egg, crushed pork rinds (a lower carb alternative to the traditional breadcrumbs), a splash of skim milk, some light sprinklings of various herbs and spices, salt and ground pepper, and lastly some parmesan cheese before kneading it all together by hand.

Once Ayumi had her basic meatball mixture, she proceeded to make pieces of it into their meatball shape before placing them on a baking sheet and putting them into the oven to bake.

While the meatballs baked, Ayumi finely minced some onion, sautéing it in an oiled pan before adding in some garlic to give the sauce flavor before adding a can of (hand-crushed) san Marzano tomatoes. As her mixture simmered, Ayumi seasoned it with the right amounts of salt, pepper, and sugar (despite the fact that adding sugar to tomato sauce to combat acidity was a myth) before adding the baked meatballs to the sauce to help infuse it with their flavor.

As the tomato sauce and meatballs were almost finished cooking, Ayumi began preparing the pasta: Spaghetti noodles boiled for less time than recommended by the manufacturer before setting aside some pasta water towards the end of the process. Once the pasta was drained, Ayumi removed and set the meatballs aside before re-adding the set-aside pasta water to the pasta and adding the sauce on top of that to help the sauce better adhere to the pasta. After mixing the pasta and sauce together, Ayumi scooped the spaghetti into a serving bowl before topping it with her meatballs, and of course, a heavy snow of parmesan cheese.

"Here you go, Commodore:" Ayumi said after she prepared a second bowl for herself. "A holiday favorite at the North Omitama Catholic Church, sure to delight year round."

Gregory had carefully observed Ayumi's preferred method of cooking. He particularly liked how careful, patient, and very considerate she was of the food. The smells from the cooking food were absolutely fine. He saw how she didn't take shortcuts and went straight to the point. It was a fantastic display of what any proper cook would do! But would she make a good, amateur Chef?

He nodded in thanks at her offer, taking the bowl, and carefully twirling a fork into the noodles after mixing the sauce and meat together with the noodles. He gingerly took a single bite, then another, then the full fork-full of food. He went back for seconds and thirds, then a huge smile plastered his face. He gingerly set the half-eaten bowl down, nodding to the Cadet.

"Cadet Yamagou, you are to report to this Officers Mess for duty as soon as your academic responsibilities are finished every day," the Commodore said. "You will work shifts depending on availability, ranging from breakfast, to lunch, to dinner. At least four hours every day. Good work, Cadet, and welcome to the Officers Mess as one of the Ships Chefs! Dismissed."

Patting her shoulder, he eagerly awaited Nigel's contribution.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Ayumi took her own bowl of spaghetti and took her leave. She would have to make arrangements to not work on Sundays, and her inevitable need to take maternity leave would certainly need to be arranged, but for now, it wasn't worth haggling with the Commodore over, especially considering she had already been dismissed.

Nigel boiled the spaghetti in fresh mineral water rather than tap , as he felt it gave the stringy pasta a better taste. He made the meatball mixture with egg yolks this would help to stop them breaking up. Then he started to gently fry them and turned down the heat. While he made the tomato sauce he blended tomato’s , red onions , a few cloves of garlic and some seasoning together. Then he added the liquid to the gently frying meatballs. Turning up the heat only slightly and he again used a wooden spoon to stir it gentle. Then when the spaghetti was ready he placed it around the outside of the bowl with the meatballs in sauce in the centre. Then he sprinkled some parmesan cheese over it and placed it before the Commodore.

“ Godere “ Nigel said the word for enjoy in Italian.

Impressed with Nigel's grasp of Italian, Gregory took a bite. He did the same as he did for Ayumi's dish; delicate, considerate, and gentle scoops twirled around his fork. Afterward he savored the taste but gave no outward indication - again, much like with Cadet Yamagou. Nodding solemnly, he ate half the bowl then drank some water.

"Nigel," he said, looking to the Cadet. He had been quite informal using just the mans name. "Some weeks ago, months even, you were the literal bane of this ship and kicked off. Now you're back and now you've impressed me. Whatever happened between then and now has decently changed you. I'm proud of your accomplishments. If you can promise me that you will never return to your previous shenanigans, you have the job as Ships Chef. You'll work opposite shifts to Cadet Yamagou, so I'll let you two hash that out together. I want this Officer's Mess staffed at all times and food prepared promptly. Can you assure me you'll undertake this task and not fall back into tomfoolery?"

Gregory waited, expecting an answer.


“ Sir. I promise to behave myself and be a good member of the Poseidons catering staff.” Nigel said

"I know you will," Gregory replied, nodding firmly, proud of Nigel and Ayumi both.

[OFF]

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Cadet Junior Grade Ayumi Yamagou
Assistant Chaplain & Ship's Chef
USS Poseidon

&

Cadet Freshman Grade Nigel Raymond
Engineer & Ships Chef
USS Poseidon

&

Commodore Gregory Paladin
Mission Advisor & Ship's Chef
USS Poseidon

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