Chapter 51: The cult of Alex(1) (1/2)

When Alex woke up from his sleep, it was already noon.

He cleaned his room, rubbing the spear he made vigorously even though there was no way any dust could have accumulated on it after just one day.

After appreciating his craftsmanship for a bit, he left his room.

'Hermes' room is locked...' Alex looked on to the opposite end of the corridor and wondered if the latter came back or not.

Alex then performed his daily hygienic rituals.

*Grrrrrrr*

Alex giggled at this sound and realized it was his own stomach protesting for food. He just noticed he felt more hungry than usual and wanted to make a hearty breakfast.

Making his way to the kitchen, he thought about recipes he could make and ultimately decided on preparing a breakfast sandwich.

There were eggs, pork, and beef.

Unfortunately, the lack of processed cheese restricted this dish from awakening its full potential.

Alex gloated.

Whenever Hermes went out on any trip, he would bring large amounts of dough with him. Alex took out a round ball of bread dough from the icebox, and the funky smell of yeast invaded his nostrils.

He portioned the ball into two equally-sized dough balls and ignited the oven.

To replace pickles, which were an essential part of any sandwich in his opinion, Alex would make use of what was available to make pickled onions.

Coincidentally, some wine that was placed in the cellar had 'spoiled' and vinegar was exactly that, 'spoiled wine', so he could use that.

He added salt and sugar to the acidic solution and thinly cut some onions, that he proceeded to place in the brine for a quick pickle.

The bread went in the oven to puff up and turn into enticing slices of toasted bread.

As the nostalgic fragrance of freshly-baked bread enveloped his senses, he grabbed a stone plate, which he would cook the eggs and the beef patty on.

There were no metal skillets or cooking vessels in this era, so Alex decided to put them on his to-forge list for the future.

For his purposes, nonetheless, stone tools would work fine, albeit they reached cooking temperatures much slower because of their lower thermal conductivity.

'Whatever.' Alex shrugged and started cutting the meat in the meantime. He minced the meat very finely and kneaded it until it was reminiscent of ground beef and reached his desired texture.

The bread was fully baked by now so he left it to rest on the side as he put two eggs to poach in a pot of boiling and salted vinegar water.

The stone plate reached his desired temperature so he shaped the ground beef into a circular thick patty and put it on the hot plate.

*Szzzzzzzzzz*

The raw beef immediately produced sizzling sounds as it came into contact with the hot surface.

The entire room now smelled of American breakfast.

When one side of the patty was at serious risk of burning, he flipped it, using his hands that were mostly immune to cooking temperatures.

Alex only then realized he lacked a very important element to a sandwich.

'The sauce'

He had to work fast, so he concocted a quick vinaigrette with yogurt, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice.

All of the rest of the components were ready. The beef patty had developed a brown crust and it seemed extremely juicy.