Night 46: Sesa, Karides Guvec
The Late Night Diner is a part of Rhodes Island's canteen. That goes without saying – to whom had anyone ever heard of a diner in the boiler room?
As the name implies, it opens around midnight. There are only a handful of customers at a time.
Operators off their night shift could take an order and bring back to their quarters. Night owls could sit dining-in while leeching off the Diner's wi-fi. The Doctor would come for instant noodles from time to time.
Drinks are in the cooler. Anyone burdened by their own thoughts could take one and chug it down, anytime.
Menu? No such thing exists. What the Chef prepares is what you get. It all depends on his mood of the day.
Welcome to the Rhodes Island Late Night Diner. In here, you might even meet a familiar face or two.
"A diet meal?! Never! Not even if I drop dead!"
Inside the Diner, The Chef could hear the an argument coming from the end of the hallway. Two figures of discrepant heights were heading towards the Diner. The taller of the two had a strange hood on their head. It shined under the lights lining the hallway and looked like an Originium slug from afar.
"Vegetable salad? And no dressings allowed?! Why, if you want me to eat that 'healthy meal' made by Hibiscus you could just say it straight!"
"But Mister Sesa, it was you who went to the Medical Department and signed the fitness regimen's approval. You even promised to let us plan your daily meals and schedule during the full period of the contract." The short girl in her training uniform said. The Chef could tell that she was a newly-hire from the Medical Department. They would often get assigned to the Training Room, and only they would just take up the job without any questions. As for that ungodly priced "Golden Fitness Package", the moment the Chef heard its name he knew who had come up with the idea.
"It's quite late now, so your meal must be healthy and low on carbs. Otherwise the daytime trainings would be for nothing...and if you would like to switch to Miss Hibiscus' Healthy Meal, I can also help you arrange that."
"NO! That's not what I meant!" The tall Vouivre man refused immediately. They kept on arguing till they stepped through the door and reached the bar counter. Sesa sat down and ordered a cup of strong red tea and continued on with his criticism and vision. "Hard boiled fowlbeast breast meat, leafy green salad with just salt and vinegar – these do not belong to the late night meal; in fact, they shouldn't even be put in the same sentence with the phrase "late night meal"! It should be something that bring happiness and joy to the exhausted body and mind after a hard day's work! Not some random assortment of foodstuff taken from the fridge and hastily boiled in water! They can't even be called food if handled that way. Why, they won't even have souls! It'd be a disgrace against ingredients and kitchen utensils!"
The Chef halted when he heard the man's passionate speech before pouring him another cut of tea. What the young man said was rather...strange, but it was enough to reach inward and touch something hidden deep within his heart. He placed the tea cup before Sesa, then waved at the medical operator beside him. "Hey kid, can I offer some thoughts? Well, I figured that feeding someone who had worked the whole day long with just water boiled meat and veggie would be rather cruel, don't you think?"
"Y-yeah...now that you mentioned it. But Mister Sesa had made the promise to become fit so he could save some graces before his kinsfolk –" She said, then quickly covered her mouth with both hands. "I'm so sorry Mister Sesa! I-I had a slip-up! But I would still strongly recommend you to maintain your healthy diet...I can't just tell Miss Closure to –"
The moment the Chef heard the name, his expression grew sullen.
"You tell her this." He said. "She should've pay up for the Summer Carnival a *Sarkaz swearing* long time ago. She knows what would happen if she doesn't. Now get away from my customer. I don't want to see any more signs of unhappiness on his face, get it?"
Looking at the terrifying Chef with the gleaming cleaver in his hand, the girl was mortified. With a raised tail and a slew of apologies she ran off quickly and disappeared at the end of the hallway. Sesa huffed in discontent, and immediately dropped two lumps of sugar cubes into his tea cup.
"Looks like there won't be boiled fowlbeast breast for you. Good. I still have some shrimp left." The Chef said and turned to open the fridge.
"Shrimp" was a type of small, arch-shaped shells from the sea. It was the name that the shore-dwelling folks gave to them. The Chef could never memorize the long and weird scientific name for them, so he liked to call them that as well, just as he called everything from small scalebass and low-level Sea Terrors "fins".
He heated a small casserole on the stove, and stir-fried some diced onion and garlic. When the aroma came out of the pot he added in chopped fresh paprika and mushroom. They were fried till soft then large amount of diced tomatoes were poured in. Juicy tomatoes quickly turned the content of the pot into a stew, and all the ingredients were well mixed together. The moment he smelled the scent of tomato out from the pot he put in the peeled shrimps. The greyish shrimp meat turned quickly into the colour of orange red in the heat of the pot. While the meat was still at the most tender, he sprinkled in pinches of salt and black pepper. Then the Chef tilted the pot, and poured in slowly along the edge some white wine. The flame danced, traced over the flow of the wine and into the pot. Soon the surface of the stew turned into an enticing reddish brown under the small open flame. The aroma of the wine at the same time seeped into the food under the heat. Just before the flame subsided, the Chef took a small chunk of Landen Monastery cheese and grated it into the pot. The snowy white shaving sprinkled down onto the hot surface of the stew and melted into a web of whitish yellow. The sweet and sour of the tomatoes and the milky aroma from the cheese intermingled together along with the scent of white wine, then seeped into every single fibre of the tender shrimp meat.
Finally the Chef put some chopped basil leaves on the very top. He presented it to Sesa, and his customer picked out a large shrimp with a fork and sampled it carefully, then with a satisfied look on his face he gave a two-thumbs up to the Chef.
"Fantastic, simply fantastic! Boss, your cooking along is a veneration to the ingredients! With your culinary prowess, I can feel the soul of ever single ingredients being fully released! You are not just simply making a dish, you are having communion with nature, and reached harmony with your own...utensils! You must be communicating with your tools – a constant conversation with your casserole and spatula! I could feel the spirit of culinary arts burning brightly within your very heart and soul!"
"...Usually I don't talk to my tools. Otherwise they'll drag me to Medical for Psych-Eval." The Chef poured another cup of red tea for Sesa and said. "Most of the time I just talk to the canteen people coming here to help, so that they won't leave a sink full of dishes at the end of the night. I remember you work in the Engineering. I even saw you last time when I went over and ask Nian for that wok of mine. What happened? Why have you decided to shape up all of the sudden?"
"Shame, I tell you! Shame!" Sesa said, chewing hard on a piece of shrimp. An expression of anger and sadness crept on to his face. "Of all the Vouivre operators on board, I am the only one who lost arm-wrestling challenge to Miss Saileach! Miss Saileach! Absolute. Shameful. Display! How can I even looked at other Vouivres on the ship ?! Do you know that they had all been saying that I'd definitely be the stay-at-home husband type if I get married!"
"Stay at home...husband?"
"Yea, they even wrote a fan fiction about that, called...uhh...'Meal Time at Sesa's'!" Sesa banged his fist on the bar counter. "I'm mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore!"
To this, the Chef could only console to him albeit half-heartedly. Yet he quietly memorized the name of the said fan fiction. He would definitely look it up on the ship-wide forum after work.
Note: Meal Time at Sesa's/慑砂家今天的饭 was another thread of serial stories on the NGA forum wherein other operators who visit Sesa's place for meals and interactions - a small reference by the original writer.