One of the hardest things to get used to following my arrival in Remnant was the differences in cuisine. True, I could have moved to the Kingdom of Vale for food that's closer to what I'm used to, but by the time I was in a position to actually do that I was already comfortable with my life. The cuisine, whilst not what I was used to, had grown on me in the years I've lived here.
And in hindsight, if I'd actually gone and moved, I'd never have found my daughter.
In recent years, as she has grown less skittish, Cinder has helped me in the kitchen. She'd even started to prepare her own breakfast in the morning. Admittedly, her go-to option was fairly easy to prepare in a hurry.
Once upon a time, I would have called it Greek yoghurt, but here on Remnant it's Solitian yoghurt. Cinder typically enjoyed hers with a few spoonfuls of honey and a handful of mixed berries. Although in the winter months, she favoured Solitas' equivalent of porridge with the same toppings. I preferred lightly spiced bread with butter and jam or honey.
Breakfast was the only time of day that I let Cinder also have coffee, and even then it was a small one. She preferred her coffee with a splash of milk and a single cube of brown sugar. There were a number of reasons to let her have coffee, although only two truly mattered. The first was that I had been drinking coffee since I was her age. I may be many things, but a hypocrite isn't one of them. And secondly, we were Atlesian for fuck sake. Like most sane and civilised societies, we all functioned on our caffeine. Better to get her used to it now, and not later.
So after we'd eaten our breakfasts and downed our coffees, we made our own lunches every morning before we left home. Whilst I gave what she prepared each day the once over, I honestly didn't need to. Aside from occasionally stuffing too many olives into her lunchbox, Cinder was a good, responsible child.
My daughter, it turned out, loved olives. She usually had a small pot of olives with her packed lunch every day she was at school. These were usually joined by some sort of bread and sausage (with spicer varieties during the Winter), a small salad with feta-style cheese and finally rounding things out with a pair of pistachio baklava.
In the evening, she'd help me make dinner. The evening meal was typically three courses. The first was usually some sort of soup, although the type of soup depended on the time of year, with lighter soups being favoured during the spring and summer and heavier varieties during the autumn and winter. The main course typically consisted of some sort of meat with vegetables and multiple side dishes, often served with some sort of sauce or other. The meal would end with something sweet, often eaten after all the washing up had been done.
Of course, fast food was still an option. But one we rarely partook in. Whether it be NoodleHouse, Chickadees, Blackrock Burgers or any of the other offerings. None were as big as the franchises back on Earth, but given there are barely twelve major cities and towns on Remnant, there weren't exactly many locations they could be.
I'm honestly surprised that the Schnee's and Hansa's haven't broken into it yet, though. If there's money to be made, they're usually not far away.
The mental image of Jacques Schnee serving up burgers or fried chicken filled my mind, and I chuckled at the thought. It was too amusing not to.
Not that Jackie Sneeze ever goes into a kitchen.
Either way, home-cooked food was obviously better than fast food, and as soon as I can figure out how to cook them, I'll introduce Cinder to some family recipes. A little taste of my old homeland in my new one.
Not sure how I'll get around the lie about amnesia though.
AUTHORS NOTE: Atlesian Cuisine in the RA!Verse is inspired by a mix of Greek, German and Eastern European Cuisine. Lots of sweet treats, lots of dairy and cheeses, lots of stews and soups, and a lot of meats and breads. It's (relatively) easy to make fancy, and easy to pack in calories for the tiny portions that the Atlesian high society tends to eat.