The bustle of the market, the avalanche of fragrances and the sea of colors always produced in Martell a state very close to happiness. He always arrived very early on Saturday mornings with his shopping bag over his shoulder and the first thing he looked for was Maqui's coffee stand. That morning he was in the mood for a coffee with cinnamon. That reminded him of his grandmother with whom he grew up as a child, now in his twenties he reproduced many of the habits of the old woman he loved so much. Martell was a quiet guy, of medium height and toasted skin almost like the cinnamon that perfumed his coffee that morning.
_ Good morning, my boy! Maqui greeted him with a wide smile and continued.
_ What are you cooking today? The date is near. Tell me in the meantime what can I serve you?
_ Good morning Maqui! With cinnamon please! That's how I want it today. Martell answered with his deep and powerful voice that was totally out of tune with his presence.
_ Yes, there is a month left for the tests, and I have a lot to learn. Today it will be fish. The young man continued.
_ I don't think you'll have any trouble getting the best fish in the market," said Maqui, smiling mischievously.
_ Thanks for the coffee, see you later.
Martell said as if it was really going to happen later. He always said the same thing and by now everyone who knew him knew it was his way of saying goodbye.
Martell walked on, stopping from time to time at the spice or vegetable stalls. He touched or smelled everything, even using his ears to determine certain characteristics of some fruits or vegetables. His meticulousness was a sight to behold and by now everyone in the market let him do as much as he wanted.
At the fish stall Alice attended the customers always with a smile, at some distance she saw Martell approaching while he finished eating a pie that he gobbled as if it were one of the delicacies he prepared himself. Alice smiled with a different smile as she saw him approaching with his particular way of walking "as if he were doing little hops" she said.
He arrived and stood last in the line of customers, with his arms crossed and a condescending smile until it was finally his turn to be served.
_ Good morning Miss Alice said, smiling mischievously.
_ Good morning, she replied, hiding a smile.
_ You know what I'm coming for. He said very confidently.
_ Yes, I've set aside the best of the lot for you to choose Martell, hiding the smile with more difficulty.
_ No, you know very well that I came for you. He told her as he approached her to kiss her.
Alice could no longer contain her smile and she returned the kiss while she caressed his cheek subtly.
_ Come, said the girl, I will show you what I have; at the same time that with a gesture she indicated to her companions of the post that she would be absent.
Martell and Alice, they knew each other since they were children then they studied together and as they grew up nothing made more sense to them than to be together and they have done so for the last two years. She was studying design at a high school and on weekends she spent her time helping her family with the market stall.
Martell for his part always wanted to cook, to find the simplest and at the same time most delicious way to make food. He always remembered what his grandmother used to say: "Good food on the table is a small miracle and the one who prepares it makes small miracles every day" that's what he wanted to do; small miracles for the people he loved.
That's why he wanted more than anything to enter the chef school, he had already passed two tests, he only needed the third one; to make a live preparation for a jury that if they approved his dish would guarantee him a place in the school. He had less than a month left to prepare.
The month passed. It went by quickly between visits to the market, socializing with Alice and many hours of cooking. That test day morning caught Martell looking out the kitchen window into the courtyard, a steaming cup of coffee the prelude to his thoughts. He tried to concentrate on everything he had learned as a child with his grandmother in her kitchen, the smells came to him as if she were right next to him preparing that potato broth she always made for him when he was sad or just to spoil him. Alice crept up behind him and hugged him and whispered in his ear.
_ Today is your big day my love! You have to be early. She said as she planted a loud kiss right on Martell's smiling cheeks.
The young man dressed in white was waiting his turn in a room, outside another aspirant was doing his test. He had 30 minutes to prepare a dish with the available ingredients that he would not know until he entered the kitchen, all while the judges watched. At last he was called to present his test, he walked confidently while the judges watched him and took some notes from his entrance. In front of him a simple kitchen with the basic utensils and next to it a counter with the ingredients; a generous portion of fish, vegetables, spices, a quarter cup of vegetable oil, salt, eggs and wheat flour.
Martell's eyes sparkled, the last few weeks he had spent perfecting his fish recipes and there in front of him was everything he could possibly need and more. He looked at the judges as they looked back at him with some disdain and heard the order to begin from one of the judges who activated a timer.
Martell rolled up his sleeves, picked up the fish and with impressive skill began to clean it until he had finished the entire portion, quickly turned on a burner and had some trouble as he tried to graduate it to medium heat, however he returned to the fish and gently caressed it with salt, set it aside while the pan heated and began to clean the vegetables. From time to time he glanced at the judges and the clock above their heads, ten minutes had passed. He dredged the fish in flour and put it on the fire, back to the vegetables, he wanted a flawless presentation, he turned the fish over, back to the vegetables, and it occurred to him to make a garnish with the skin of a tomato, he looked over his shoulder at the judges, the clock and the fish. It will only take a minute to make the garnish Martell thought as he bit his lips putting the garnish together. Martell seemed to have everything under control, except for the knob on the burner, the flame on the burner got out of control and when the aspiring chef returned to the fish to remove it, it had burned out.
With frank bitterness he turned off the burner, saw the entire portion of damaged fish. With a handkerchief he wiped his face, without daring to look at the judges he saw the clock, he had 10 minutes left. He rested both hands on the counter and reviewed what was left on hand; the vegetables, spices and a couple of potatoes. He remembered his grandmother and her restorative broth, looked back at the judges and quickly set out to recreate that dish that fed his heart and soul so much. There were a few seconds left to the limit, the judge raised the timer, Martell finished serving the soup and as a final point he added the finely chopped cilantro as his grandmother did while she said "Green for hope".
The judges one by one were tasting Martell's dish, after the last of them tasted they gathered for a moment to deliberate, then the one who had kept track of the time turned to the young man to tell him.
_ Your dish, despite being a last minute choice, is simply the perfection. Welcome to our academy!!
This is an original story from @joalheal for The ink well community in their weekly prompt #56: Perfection.
Image courtesy of Pixabay
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
