D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

The following chapter includes a real recipe you can actually use. It was chosen for a few reasons but actual instructions [Can be found in brackets under the paragraph] though the rest of the recipe is in the next chapter

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”So, with that settled, can ye tell me the rough steps. Just so’s I know what ye need” said Freddy

”Well…” said Kat stretching out the word as she considered her options, ”Just the one recipe? That seems to be the norm around here”

Freddy nodded before turning back to face away from them as they continued their march down the Food Court. At this point they’d been traveling for a while but they were no closer to seeing an end, and Kat was starting to realise that Gluttony really did put their money where their mouths were when it came to food.

*Honestly I’m thinking it’s a little excessive. Like sure Wrath had plenty of places to fight but even then it wasn’t all they did. It was more like a very intense hobby combined with a part time job rather then an entire way of life. Greed made even more sense. It was a job that they all loved. Or well I’d assume it was, we didn’t actually see much else.

Envy is probably the hardest to judge considering we didn’t start outside, but instead inside two rooms to be interrogated. Even still, I can’t imagine that all they do is interrogate people. I’m certain they must do other things, but even with the insistence from multiple sources that Gluttony isn’t just about food I can’t help but think that might not be the entire truth. It seems that food is at least as important as combat is to Wrath, even if it isn’t the whole story.*

”Let’s keep it with just the one for now Kat. Perhaps tomorrow we can branch out, but we don’t have any rep. Not that we need it really, but it does help a little. Can you go over the process and what I’ll need to grab yer?” Said Freddy slowly. He was clearly still thinking as he said it, as if the answer was the obvious one that he didn’t quite want to commit to.

”Well, in that case I’ll tell you everything for one of the easier foods we used to make. It’s good because we can split it up however we want really based on the size of the dish and the number of ingredients we throw in. Should be the easiest dish to scale that I know and fairly nice besides” said Kat

[Lamb tagine with dates & sweet potatoes Recipe]

”To start off, we’ll need some olive oil, or just cooking oil really, but what we use is olives, do you recognise those” Kat was honestly a little surprised to see Freddy nod. Taking that as a sign she continued ”Next is four full onions that I’ll be chopping, or maybe Kamiko doesn’t matter. Sorry I’m getting distracted, just the ingredients.

”So we need, the olive oil, the onions, some ginger, lamb?” Freddy shook his head, ”Right um… do you know mutton?” Freddy waved his hand in an uncertain manner ”It’s from a fluffy animal with fur on it…?” Kat trailed off, seeing the lack of real understanding.

”We’ve got a few of them, so try and narrow it down…” said Freddy

”Right um… it’s fairly easy to sub in steak or pork if you had to” Freddy nodded at those ”but lamb is from a sheep, they are fluffy and white animals. Um… the meat ages both well and poorly at the same time. The older the animal, up to a point, the richer the taste but it’s really quickly becomes tougher and much harder to eat” explained Kat

”Right, we can make sure ye get somethin like that. Can’t promise it’ll be perfect but it’ll be good enough I think” said Freddy easily

”Right, um, then more spices, cumin, paprika, coriander and cinnamon?” Freddy nodded at this so Kat continued, ”Sweet potato” Freddy got a mad grin at that ingredient so Kat moved on, ”and some dates. There are a few things you can put over the top as well, but we can deal without if we have to. That’s normally a ’throw what we have around on’ type thing.”

[6 tbsp olive oil

4 onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh root ginger

2kg boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 5cm chunks

4 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp each paprika and ground coriander

2 cinnamon sticks

850ml passata

700g sweet potato , cut into chunks

350g pitted date

To serve

100g blanched almond , toasted

good handful coriander , roughly chopped]

”I’ll admit ter my surprise over the potatoes. One of the most common foods in all the multiverse. Those buggers show up everywhere. So we’ll certainly have plenty of them. I think the only other one that might be an issue is… the er… date?” asked Feddy

Kat opened her mouth before closing it twice as fast. You know. That’s a shockingly good question. I… I’m not sure I’ve ever seen undried dates. Freddy, you ask the hard questions. ”Honestly Freddy, now that you ask, I realise I don’t really know either” replied Kat.

This, was clearly a mistake. Instantly the air felt like it was five degrees cooler, and there was a pressure emanating from Freddy that was not at all pleasant, like Kat was being crushed on all sides by heavy rock. Kat grit her teeth before she reacted by pushing her own aura out and trying to cover Kamiko as well, but it wasn’t much help. Freddy was clearly superior, even if he wasn’t trying to damage them actively.

The silent war raged on for around thirty seconds before Freddy finally managed to real himself back in. ”I… I’m very sorry Kat. That was unbecoming of me. It is rather frowned upon here to use ingredients you do not understand. I do realise ye aren’t one of us, and I shouln’t be mad but… please understand it’s hard.

Kat used the dwindling pressure to cover Kamiko more thoroughly with her own aura. The smaller demon was obviously uncomfortable with what just happened and Kat decided that aura induced fear was something she had no compunctions removing with aura induced calm on her own end.

”It’s fine” said Kat, trying to project the understanding that really it was, but her voice flat, and the underlying concern for Kamiko who was still shivering slightly beside her having not been able to fight against Freddy’s aura as easily.

”Right well… tell me as much as ye can about these dates” asked Freddy

”Well, they are really quite sweet, it sort of seeps into your mouth very easily and they are quite chewy, at least when dried. Very squishy, and I know a few kids like to have them in their mouths to just chew on when they are younger with weak teeth.” Explained Kat

Freddy frowned. ”Yeah… I’m not actually sure we have that… sure we got substitutes but… the picture I’m getting from this isn’t quite the same as anythin in my memory. We got raisins, but they ain’t what ye after right?”

Seeing the shake of Kat’s head Freddy pondered his options for a moment as he walked. Recipes were delicate things, he knew this, and didn’t want to insist on something that would change it up too drastically. It needed to be similar enough not to hurt the dish, but obviously he’d not tried the original so he only had Kat’s word to work with.

Still, he wasn’t a Gluttony demon for nothing. His mind was already going over hundreds of candidates to replace the ’dates’. Many were discarded based on the fact they simply didn’t feel the same in the mouth as Kat had described. That coupled with the image he’d received it took some time to find something sweet and chewy but finally settled on a fruit, but needed a question answered first.

”Where in the dish is it used exactly?” asked Freddy

”It’s one of the last things you do actually, besides the garnish. Once you’ve got everything else in the pot, and you’ve let your sweet potatoes cook you add the dates right at the end and stir them throughout the whole pot before cooking it for about five minutes longer. At the end of that you double check the seasoning and start plating” said Kat

[Add the sweet potatoes, stir well, cover again, then cook for 20 mins or until the potatoes are just tender. Stir in the dates and heat through for 5 mins. Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. To serve, spoon the tagine into a serving dish and scatter with the almonds and coriander.]

”Right right” said Freddy ”We can work with something I have in mind a substitute.. I think it might be a little more stringy then I’d exactly like for a true replacement but these ’dates’ might be unique to your home world or simply too close to some other fruit I don’t personally know for people to overlook.”