27th Cylus 717
On paper, the very same referred to at the Office of the Citizen's Committee where the Aukari first went to, the job F'mos had at the Kettle Black was to help cook and prepare the food with Maylan. However, that did not mean cooking and preparing food were his only jobs at the soup kitchen. Sometimes he would be sent to get ingredients like the times he went with Rowan into the woods for some new catch to put into the pot or as he was tasked to this trial, help buy some ingredients from the market.
As it was Cylus, the eternally cold and dark season, the sources F'mos could get ingredients from was limited. No one would harvest anything in the cold and nothing would grow in the dark. The only thing the nearby farms were good for as far as the cook was concerned, was for meat and maybe fuel, unless they stored up enough produce already which would not be fresh anyway. At the very least the farms still had something, and the other usual source for the Kettle- just about anyone else, would end up the hunted instead if they headed into the dark woods for game or forage.
However Cylus as the Aukari knew, was perfect for a different sort of ingredient. He may no longer be in Sirothelle which sourced some necessities from nearby Valaris as the volcanic lands of the Aukari were, but Cylus was cold enough for a seasonal replacement even if was only good for a brief time each arc. This meant all F'mos needed to do was secure some funds from the Kettle and, be on his way to the market to buy the ingredients needed to prepare the food for the soup kitchen's many patrons.
The first thing he to secure though was enough salt as putting it off for later might have the market's stock of it depleted; a problem when the longevity of the ingredients was reliant on the salt as well as the cold. It was only after he introduced himself as a cook for the Kettle he found the merchants more benign, despite it not being his first trip to the local market as the Aukari had been in Etzos for nearly an arc already. The name of the Black's was always helpful, at least more than if he bought the ingredients for his own use.
Of course it also helped that any purchase for the Kettle was for a large group of people outside the walls, which meant F'mos was always given enough gold to ensure the supply was sufficient, and then some he could keep for himself. As an added benefit as long as the merchants were familiar with the Blacks, F'mos could always get the ingredients cheaper in bulk. Sometimes he might have to give the not so subtle hint as he did that trial when he pointed out, "I'm buying so much. You don't have to worry about them anymore and I'll have to carry back... Maybe a little less expensive? Please? You'll be helping a lot..." which while making him seem needy, was effective to save some costs.
Something he would have to think about once he had his own kitchen, although he was not going to cheapen himself if he ever reached that stage. While he was aware the Blacks, while in Etzos, were far too good to share his beliefs in the matter, he knew having his own establishment would mean having his own employees; those he could use to acquire his ingredients for him and devalue themselves all in the name of saving nels.
But he was not there yet and he still had work to do to. With his salt bought, the Aukari headed deeper into the market. His true objective for the trial's errand and his actual destination were the stalls of the merchants which came down the Southwood River. The river was not a proper source of ingredients as F'mos had been told but, it was the means trade goods were brought into Etzos from the ocean through the harbours at Foster's Landing. It was a long shot, but the Aukari hoped that with the goods were the ingredients he needed.
There were a lot of distractions on his way there, especially when the lights made the wares offered by the merchants more prominent. It was as if there was something to the light which shone the items which made them more appealing to him. Perhaps it was just the instincts of any person to shy away from the darkness which drew his eyes to the light and those things within it, but F'mos decided it would be better if he ignored them. He only had so much gold on him for the ingredients that he doubted there would be anything left over for anything of interest to him.
It was with the heavy bag of gold in his hands which anchored him with the weight of his task, that the Aukari ended up at his destination witho- unable to allow himself to be distracted from his job.
From where the boats from the Landing were unloaded to as far as he could see, the fish the cook searched for were lined up in the stalls for anyone to take their pick from, and piled up high for everyone else to admire. While he was impressed with the displays, F'mos ignored the piles as he knew the good choices would not be there. Such arrangements were to mix the good and bad, for the less discriminating consumer easily satisfied with whatever they got as long as they believed it was a good deal. While the cook was also on the lookout for deals, he had other considerations such as, whether the fish would be good for consumption and have the Kettle's patrons back for more.
Or something along those lines...
While the Aukari was no expert to choose the best of the picks, he knew enough to be confident he would get the better choices from the lot of them. After all, he was with his mother when certain ships returned from Valaris, their catches still cold and frozen which was the only benefit to the inhospitable climate there. He may not have learned everything his mother wanted to teach him, but it was enough to identify the qualities he wanted most in the fish he needed.
The most important thing was their freshness and fresh fish at least were easy to identify; he made use of the eyes, not only his own, but the fish. It was something he believed even those who were not as picky would pay attention to as the shiny, clear eyes of the fish he picked out were more appetising compared to murky dark eyes of the ones he left alone. He was well aware it was only something which would be really apparent before the fish was cooked and, some cooks may even just hide them from their customers but F'mos was sure he would not be able to get away with it if he attempted the same. Not with Maylan checking on his purchases.
As a second check to make sure the fish were fresh, the Aukari ran his hands over their bodies. This too was as he was taught. A fish with dry skin and scales was obviously left out of the water long enough to no longer be fresh. That however, was not the most telling as there were ways the more unscrupulous merchants could try to trick someone. F'mos also prodded the fish he picked out for a more reliable method of testing them as, a fish which could no longer maintain its shape was not a dish worth serving to anyone or even, animals.
Not that F'mos had anything against animals, but he preferred any fish which passed his mouth to be firm, as it was a characteristic which could affect the quality of any dish. Finally after all that, one last check he could quickly make to confirm if any fish was one he would want. A quick check that the scales were still shiny, under the same mentality as he had when he picked the fish by their eyes, would leave the Aukari with no other doubts. Three separate tests in his opinion were more than enough to be sure of any purchase he would make.
With a whole bunch of fresh fish, at least by his standards picked out, F'mos made his way back to the Kettle still making sure to avoid any distractions as most of the nels he was given was spent on the ingredients. Even so, it was enough to say his errand for the trial was a success as if made use of properly, the Kettle would have enough ingredients to serve it's regulars for the rest of the season or most of it at least...
