Behind Atlantis' Kitchen Doors

Steam wafted from the stove up to the roof, heating up the entire kitchen. The pots of beef simmered away and Ben added a few sprinkles of parsley to one, stirring it around a few times. He then moved to the next one and did the same. For the third one, however, he put the lid back on. It wasn't ready yet.

Annie was on the other side of the kitchen, her cheeks red as she pushed the potato masher deeper into the mass of potatoes. Her hair was plastered to the sides of her head, as it always was whenever she worked. She put all her body weight behind the masher and worked on crushing the last pot of potatoes. There were already several deep trays filled with the mash and a bag of potatoes under the bench in case more was needed. She finished mashing and spooned the mashed potato into the last tray, patting it down and setting it next to the other ten trays.

"Alright!" Taylor, the head cook yelled. "We've got twenty minutes before dinner has to be out! What's your progress?"

"Beef only needs ten more minutes," called Ben.

"Mashed potato is done," Annie called.

"Vegetables still need another few minutes of stewing," replied Martin.

Taylor nodded. "What about breakfast for tomorrow? Porridge and apple muffins, both nice and hot!"

"Muffin mixture made," called Morgan, "and spooned into the trays. The right amount of porridge mixture has been measured out and marked!"

"Good work people!" Taylor yelled. "Now be ready to serve in fifteen minutes."

He left the kitchen and Martin turned to the vegetables, opening the two lids and swishing the broccoli and beans around. Satisfied that they were ready, he picked up the first pot of greens and poured it into yet another deep tray. He then stuck it in the washing up and poured the second batch of vegetables into another tray. One of the cooks moved out of his way as he carried both trays to the front of the kitchen, setting it down next to the potato.

Annie stood in front of the dishwashers that had been installed, piling cooking utensils into racks and putting them through the dishwasher. She pulled the first rack from the dishwasher and replaced it with another, turning to the one she'd just taken out. Then she grabbed a tea towel and grabbed a pot, drying it vigorously and setting it on a clean bench. Martin, who had finished his greens, grabbed the pot and returned it to its correct place. By the time he returned there were two more pots to put back and he kept up that rhythm of putting away while Annie dried each piece of equipment.

In a different part of the kitchen, Ben stirred the third pot of beef one last time, adding a sprig of parsley and pushing it into the beef/water mixture. He approved of moist cookery methods, as they were easier than dry cookery methods. That was why he was glad that he wasn't cooking lunch tomorrow. He poured the first pot of beef into a tray, the second pot into a second tray and the same for the third. Then he clicked his tongue and carried the first hot tray past Morgan and set it next to the greens. When all three trays were over there he gave the food a once over.

Then he swore. "Where are the carrots?!"

It was Martin's turn to swear. "Damn I forgot! There's no time!"

"We'll have to do without it," Ben sighed, rubbing his forehead with his forearm. It wasn't often that they forgot a key ingredient.

Morgan poked her head out of the cold room. "What's the problem?"

"There's no carrot!" Ben called back.

She stepped out and closed the door, shutting the muffin mixture and porridge measurements inside for the night. "No one will notice. Besides, they could all do with the greens." Morgan was the most reasonable of them all, as she was the newest.

"You better be right," Ben groaned. He fought the urge to run his fingers through his hair, telling himself that he had a cook's hat on and touching his hair would be unhygienic. The last thing he needed was a stuck-up scientist complaining that the food was unsatisfactory.

The thing was, the members of the Atlantis expedition had no idea what stress the cooks were under. There were ten of them and two head cooks. Each cook worked three or four days a week, usually every second day, and worked full-time days with four or five people in the kitchen at any one time. They woke up well before dawn and hauled ass to the kitchen to prepare breakfast and get it ready before the rest of the expedition was awake. Every dawn they gave yesterday's muffins and sandwiches to the Marines who'd done the night shift, as well as a coffee in a take-away cup, all the while making breakfast. Most of the time it took quite a few hours to prepare, for example if there was bacon and eggs they had to fry each piece of bacon and each egg individually and it was time-consuming. Then, as soon as breakfast was over and cleaned up, they set out fruit and sandwiches before making a start on lunch. After lunch was finished they got started on dinner and dessert, as well as making a start on breakfast the next day. Normally dessert was slice, cake or ice-cream and could sit in the cold room all day, but sometimes (if the cooks were up to it) they made a hot foods like apple crumble. Once dinner and dessert was served, the cooks washed and dried all the dishes, cleaned and wiped the kitchen and locked up before going to bed. At the end of every day they were always exhausted.

It was the responsibility of the head cook to collect orders for food. That was where Taylor was. He'd ordered a stack of flour, meat, vegetables, honey, food colouring, cooking wine and sugar. It was all piled on a cart that he pushed in front of him and he pushed it into the kitchen.

"Quick!" he cried. "Get all this in the pantry and cold room!"

There was a rush as Annie and Morgan grabbed countless packages, taking them to their respective places. Ben and Martin began taking trays out to the serving table one-by-one and Taylor helped them carry the hot food. They wrapped tea towels over their hands in order to carry each tray, as they were searing hot. When each tray was served Ben grabbed the plastic eating trays and stacked them to one side of the food. Once everything was ready Taylor rang the bell and people began to line up, eager for their food. As well as the hot food there were several different types of muffins and fruits. Ben served the beef, Martin served the vegetables and Taylor served the potato. They didn't stop to chat and moved through serving each person efficiently and with a practiced hand.

Inside the kitchen, Morgan put away the last back of meat in the fridge and helped Annie put another rack in the dishwasher. The two women began wiping up the things that had already been through the dishwasher and put them away themselves, since there was no rush.

Once dinner was served to the main group, Taylor, Ben and Martin came in and got started on dessert – chocolate caramel slice. They brought out seven serves of caramel slice and got to work cutting them up evenly, placing them into bowls and adding a dollop of cream. By the time that was done most of the stragglers had turned up and the dinner they'd prepared was all but gone. Annie and Morgan took the trays away while Taylor, Ben and Martin laid out all the dessert bowls. Martin put the container with the spoons above the dessert and people began to come up for dessert. While they were satisfied with their food, talking and laughing in large groups, the five cooks separated out the leftovers (each with a generous amount) and ate their dinner quickly. There was no time for dessert afterwards, as there were over a hundred dinner plates and dessert bowls to clean.

For the next few hours the cooks were there washing and wiping. The Mess Hall was completely empty by the time the kitchen was clean and Taylor was locking up. The five cooks stood tiredly for a second. It was challenging both physically and mentally to be a cook on Atlantis, but the rewards were worth it.

"Look on the bright side," Annie sighed. "We're not cooking tomorrow's lunch."

"Yeah," Martin said smugly. "We don't have to make schnitzel and vegetable soup!"

For those who don't know what moist and dry cookery methods are, please let me explain. Moist cookery methods are generally slow and cooking in water. It is used with things like soups, casseroles and stews. In another one of my stories I mention the food boeuf bourguignon and this is a moist cookery method, as it is cooked in water and left to simmer for a few hours (I made this dish for Hospitality this year. I know what I'm talking about and the spelling is correct). As for dry cookery methods, these are generally used when you're, say, cooking crumbed fish. No water is used, and it isn't boiled in anything, so you rely on heat to cook it. Since there is no water used, it is called dry.

And that is the difference between moist and dry cookery. If you look closely, the beef I mention is moist cookery and the schnitzel is dry cookery, meaning that each piece has to be cooked separately. Trust me, it takes forever! Imagine having to serve it for the entire expedition! Yet another reason why I pity the cooks on Atlantis.