Chapter 1236 Craving
Penelope could not help but feel frantic internally.
Among all the skills she had, only her cooking skills were presentable. How else will I be of a match to Arielle if I’m inferior to her in cooking skills too?
Nonetheless, she dispelled that thought at once.
Good knife skills aren’t equivalent to good cooking skills. Ultimately, the most critical component of cooking is still the taste. I’m confident that I can grasp that better than a spoilt brat like Arielle, who has never done any household chores! She will never be able to make her food taste better than mine!
While Penelope was in a turmoil of emotions, Arielle remained composed as she continued cleaning the snapper.
She placed her knife behind the snapper’s pectoral fin and cut through the backbone to separate the head from its spine.
Next, she changed the angle of the knife, slapped the fish lightly with the knife’s surface to flatten it, and sliced it along the two sides of the snapper’s spine to the tail end.
Penelope was clueless that there were so many details and steps to preparing a snapper before making a grilled fish.
She reckoned that Arielle going to such lengths was nothing but a grandiose show to show her skills off.
Subsequently, Arielle chopped off the snapper’s backbone, removed any pin bones on the fish, cleaned it thoroughly, and stuffed some herbs into its cavity before turning on the grill.
She was particular with the temperature of the grill as any slight difference would impact the final taste of the dish.
A mere moment later, she reached out her hand to about two centimeters above the grill to gauge its heat.
Following that, Arielle held up the snapper’s head with one hand and its tail with tongs and carefully put it onto the grill.
A slight crackling sound resonated the entire kitchen, surprisingly pleasing to the ears.
As she drizzled some dry sherry over the snapper, the aroma of perfectly grilled fish filled the room.
A while later, the snapper was in its perfectly cooked state. The fish had retained its shape and its skin intact. Arielle skillfully turned it over to give the other side a good grill.
When the skin on both sides of the snapper turned crisp and achieved its golden brown color, she lifted and removed it from the grill.
“Voila.”
With that said, she placed the grilled fish on a serving plate.
Next, she added some finely chopped onions, garlic, and chili flakes to a clean pan and gently fried them till aromatic.
At the same time, an intense, wonderful scent wafted into Penelope’s nostrils.
The sight and smell of the dish left her taking a deep gulp.
Soon, Arielle was at the last step of her cooking process.
She dribbled some olive oil and lemon juice into the mixture before adding a sprinkle of black peppercorns and gave it a good fry before pouring the sauce over the grilled fish to complete the dish.
Dumfounded, Penelope could not react in time. By the time she swallowed her astonishment, Arielle had picked up her dish and headed out.
Her heart tightened with fear, and she hurriedly followed behind.
Vinson and Susanne had been waiting for a long time. When they saw Arielle walking out, the latter immediately pulled up a warm and affectionate smile on her face. “You’re done so quickly?”
“Yeah.” Arielle nodded. “We have high expectations on the speed of food preparation so that we can serve our food fast. That said, I apologize for making you wait.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about that! Bring it over quickly. The fragrance of your dish filled the air here even before you came out. I was craving for it so badly that I almost drooled!”
Susanne was speaking the truth, and it was evident from how Vinson had emptied two glasses of water while waiting.
