The Banished Villainess! Living the Leisurely Life of a Nun Making Revolutionary Church Food

Chapter 03: Hot Roast Pork and a cold person

>>Food is the source of life.<<

I'm not sure who, but someone living at this church told me that.
Anyway, the kitchen in the Northern church was magnificent.
Above the stove there was a large chimney and the complete room was always illuminated with many chandeliers.
The cooking table was a wide rectangle in the center of the room, as big as a dining table for a dozen people.
Several cupboards and shelves were filling completely the walls of the kitchen, in them many boxes, jars and different kind of containers with all kinds of seasonings and ingredients....

I don't think there's a cook that won't feel motivated by seeing this.

-- The only ones to cook here are nuns, though.

Looking at all of this, I couldn't help but think that this church was better equipped than one from a nobleman's mansion.

-- Thank you~~ for all the money spent on me that became donations.

Entering the kitchen, Elizabeth thanked for all the riches that were a part of her status as a former duchess, and that were donated to the church when she arrived at it.
Oh, and God!!
I did a punishable act forgetting thanking God, but since I didn't say it out loud, it shouldn't be a problem.....

"Well then, for the sake of the children's smiles, I'm sorry to ask you again to do it... as always, but please Miss Elizabeth, can you--"

"Yes! Leave it to me!"

Clenching her fists, - I'll take care of it! - Elizabeth hurriedly changed her posture as she noticed she was doing a gesture unfitting for a lady or a nun.
Watch out, watch out.

"Ok, then Elizabeth, get the meat ready. I'll prepare the oven for you."

"Yes and thanks."

Responding in a classy, feminine manner this time, Elizabeth went to the kitchen's table.
Normally, the preparation of a fire would be something heavy and tedious, because you've to carry the firewood, clean the ashes, etc.
So Elizabeth, the newest apprentice and the underling's of the Superior Sister, should be the one doing this kind of work at the church.

However, as she was doing that, she would often go to Hilde's side and whisper that the meat should be salted a little more, or this one was better simmered, using this condiment would give the meal more flavor... and so, a short while after, she became the one in charge of cooking.

The Superior Sister was a dignified, beautiful... even when she was portrait by others as an unapproachable or cold person, was not a bully or a stubborn defender of conventions or efficiency.

She was always looking after everyone living at the church, taking care of every little detail very carefully, she was smart and a very dependable person. It's terrifying when she's angry, though.

She's really the Superior Sister of the Northern Church.

"Yeah, it's a excellent meat."

I took the lump of pork I bought at the market this morning from the superior shelf and checked it for mold or any sign of deterioration.
Beforehand I rubbed it in salt when I brought it here, so as expected it was conserved in a perfect state.
For conserving the meat I sliced the pork meat by the middle, and stuffed the inside of it with a mix of laurel and garlic, later bathed it in salt.
Now, the first thing was cleaning the inside, cut the meat into pieces that are easier to cook.
Chop garlic into large chunks and place them together, as a base for the meat, on an iron plate.

"Sister Hilde, it's ready"

"Great! Now, can you put it in the oven?"

When I called out to Hilde, she retreated from the front of the oven, as she's done with the preparations.
Grabbing the mittens, I put the iron plate into the oven.

Elizabeth's next job is to figure out how to use this oven to bake it correctly.
With sweat on my forehead, I stared into the oven checking the meat when it would be done.
Hilde's had begun to take out all the ingredients for the next dish, and mixing the flour on the bowl for the bread.
She's the kind of person who doesn't waste any second of free time.

--Uhhh, Maybe it's time.....
After a fifteen minutes, the oil spilled out of the meat, making a zinging sound.
Without hesitation, Elizabeth grabbed her mittens and removed the iron plate with the pork on it from the oven.

"Superior Sister! The burnt color like this... it's perfect."

She called out to Hilde showing the master piece with pride, then returned the plate with the food to the oven, but this time to the surface of it.

Ok, once again, cover the entire plate with a round lid to make sure it finishes cooking well.
Elizabeth flipped the wooden hourglass over the table, near her side and set it down to countdown at least 30 minutes.

The trick to making tender roast pork is to cook it slowly... after preheating the oven and cooking the outside of the meat, with the heat of the surface would be enough.

"Elizabeth, you are really an excellent and experienced cook."

Hilde looked at Elizabeth intently with some kind of cold gaze but meaningful, as trying to see through her.

Normally, I'll respond moving my hands around nervous denying it, but now I've no idea of what to do in front of this kind of eyes.

Somehow...it doesn't feel right... to do the same again.

I cannot run away saying I've something to do that I forgotten about... no, that's not going to happen because I'm cooking now.

"Thank you so much....."

"I supposed noblemen never go into kitchens."

--Crash! Straight to the point!

Stepping back, Elizabeth mumbled her words.

"Huh! Heh, heh...well."

...Hilde is right.
In Elizabeth's birthplace, the Dukedom of Fontini, she was never allowed to go to the kitchen, not even once, despite her valiant attempts to do so.

"A Duchess shouldn't enter to the servants' kitchen... NEVER!"

Beside the disgusting-looking male chef shaking the frying pan, the two maids said sternly to Elizabeth with a cold look, to highlight the severity of the sin she tried to commit.

At least I can do it better than that chef over there, who only can prepare raw-smelling food.
I want to say it out loud but if I complain again...

"You'll have to step over our corpses to enter this place!"

Hearing that I told myself, "I'm not going to do this."
I've thought of many ways to defeat these three in earnest... but I've decided not to because it would be too much trouble.
Even after defeating the two maids and that cook, there's no way I can really enter the kitchen.
Apparently, in this world, nobles are not allowed to go near the kitchen.
Going into the kitchen is what the common people who can't afford servants do.

The Duchess has no business in the cooking's territory, because everything around her was done by servants... It's how it works.

Or rather, - don't steal our jobs! -

--Crack! Such stupid ideas!

As the bitter memories of that time at the Duke's house went away, Hilde questioned her further.

It's hopeless... It's bothersome to explain and I feel like I'll be exposed to so many things.

"I've been wanting to give it a try..."
--I'm not lying.
Her voice was a muffled one.....

"Well, you're an unusual person. I can't believe you wanted to do a servant's job..."

"Ha ha... Yes, that's right. I'm kind of unusual."

This isn't a lie either.

--"In this world, at least" commented in her mind.

The eyes of Hilde, who seems to be trying to see through, are looking at Elizabeth intently.
The next moment, however, she looked away.

"Isn't it about time to check it again?"

At first, I didn't understand what was being said.
Apparently, it was about the roast pork.
I looked at the hourglass on the cooking table, which had already run out of sand.
Took the lid off and cut the pork with a knife to test it out.
Inside, a delicious and beautiful pink color was visible.
It looks great.

"It looks good."

"Wow! Would you please slice it, so it would be easier to serve?"

Heading to one of the cupboards where the big plates for serving where stored, Hilde looked back with an "Oh, I forgot about that."
With a few movements, she straightened her back with a jolt and said.

"A bit earlier I was asking because I was just curious, it's not like I really care"
Hilde smiled in a cool and gentle way.

"Of course, I care about you and I'll take care of you, as I do for everybody else here. But it doesn't matter why you came here, or that your family donated a lot of money to make you enter... Don't worry, as long as you are capable of getting along well with the children and help with the work, that's fine with me."

At Hilde's words, Elizabeth patting her chest, let out a sigh of relief.

--She's really a much easier person to talk with than she looks.

Where has gone the idea of a strict church with self-sufficient life and rules of no money nor luxuries? Elizabeth was thinking as she served the pork at the table.

"The roast pork is ready."

With a fast movement, she cut up the roast pork in slices and placed it on the big silver plate Hilde had brought.

"Next time, can you do some soup to accompany please?"

"We serve soup every day, so the preparation has already been done."

Add chopped onions, carrots and herbs to a pan, heat it a little and then add water and salt... plus the garlic baked left after the preparation of the roast pork, to give the soup a secret special flavor.
The vegetables and salt are enough to bring out the flavor, though I would have liked to add a thicker amount of seasoning too.

--Yup! This is it.

Scoop it out with a spoon to check the taste, make the final adjustments, and then just put it on the fire.

I checked in Hilde's direction, and she was baking pancakes.

That's a lot of food for a church meal, uhmm?
There's roast pork, soup, pancakes, and a salad.
Well, it's good to fill everyone's stomach with good food and that's all it takes to make everybody here happy.

By the way, Hilde's baked pancakes are thick.
Originally in this world, the pancakes were flat and didn't puff up ... more like crêpes.
At first, Elizabeth had to put up with it, but she couldn't forget her desire to eat the soft snack again, so when she came to the church where she was allowed to cook, she prepared the pancakes she remembered.

-- Thick, soft and fluffy, if not it doesn't matter what it is, is isn't a pancake.

The fluffy pancakes were, of course, a big hit with the kids.

Before noticing, Elizabeth have created the faction of fluffy pancakes supporters.

--Only in this church, it was possible...

In the interior of the church, almost everybody was already members of the fluffy faction.
The next target is the people of the nearby village!　
And one day, in the kingdom of Limaiza, even the king will eat fluffy pancakes!

"Oh...I'll help you."

With her chest scorching with great ambition, didn't notice she had raised her arms toward the ceiling, until heard some words and met Hilde's quizzical look.

"Just cut a few more slices and that's fine. After you've washed the cooking tools you used, you can go and play with the kids."

"Ah! I understand!"

That would be quick, an iron plate where the roast pork was baked, the spoon, a pan and a knife to wash, and the rest will be washed by Hilde.

"I'll be back by the time you carry it to the dinning room! I'll take care of putting the dishes on the table."

Elizabeth bowed her head to Hilde and left the kitchen.

I head to the garden in the church, where I could immediately hear the children making a cheerful noise.

I wonder if the Superior Sister is not good with children after all... I've never seen Hilde play with the kids, and I'm often told to go play with them instead and even though she's the Superior Sister, she's always who gets the chores done at the end.

--The plans doesn't go the way you want it to, does it?

Thinking of Hilde working with kids, even though she's not good at dealing with them.

Well, the same happened to me.
It was a long, long time ago.

I started working on that because I loved it, but it just didn't work out the way I wanted it to...and in the end....

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