Chapter 88 – The Other Domus
Every culture had its own unique sauces. Sometimes different cultures shared a similar understanding of how to make them, yet the resulting flavours were entirely different.
One great example was the fish sauce of ancient Greece and Roman, known as garum, and the fish sauces that developed thousands of miles away in East Asia. Both were made from fish and salt, yet each carried a distinctive taste that could not truly be replicated elsewhere.
However, there were also cases in which ingredients existed worldwide, but only one culture chose to turn them into sauce while others simply ate them fresh without considering preservation or concentration. Such as, oyster sauce.
Jade, who had lived as an East Asian in her previous life, used oyster sauce frequently to add flavour to dishes. It could be understood as a natural concentrated umami seasoning that existed long before the discovery of MSG. And, because she had the habit of wandering the internet, Jade had once watched a video on how oyster sauce was made out of curiosity. The process had been surprisingly simple, which was why she still remembered it well enough to recall when Father Rochester asked her for help with providing a recipe.
That had happened months ago, after Jade showed traces that she somehow knew a great number of recipes and did not mind sharing them to help the domus. The malt sugar had been especially successful – so much so that Brother Milo, the monk responsible for producing malt sugar for the domus bakehouse, had even come up with a way to make sweets with it! That alone had provided the domus with a stable source of income, which was one reason every clergy in the domus had grown willing to support Jade’s suggestions, even when they sounded strange at first.
“A fellow domus is having financial problems?” Jade asked, dumbfounded, when Father Rochester summoned her to his study. “Father, I don’t quite see the connection between their difficulties and you summoning me.”
“Well, Miss Jade, you see, I agree very much with your saying about teaching people how to fish rather than simply giving them fishes.” Father Rochester smoothed his moustache. “This particular domus is situated near a bay where most residents are fishermen. It is not a prosperous neighbourhood, and thus the domus received very few valuable donations. They do not enjoy the support of a stable patron as we do, so they live in rather difficult circumstances. When matters become desperate, they request aid from us, and we are always glad to provide it.”
Jade listened to Father Rochester’s detailed explanation, and formed a rough impression of the other domus’s situation.
“Miss Jade, you have shown remarkable ingenuity in making your classroom self-sustaining, and even contributing to the support of our school.” Father Rochester met Jade’s eyes. “Therefore, I cannot help but wonder whether you might have some ideas of how to help our fellow domus overcome this crisis.”
Jade scratched her head. “Um, I don’t live there, so I can’t really say what I could suggest. Most of my ideas come from things I noticed while living here… but I’ll see what I can do. I can’t guarantee it’ll work, though. It would definitely need adjustments based on their capability, and that means a lot of trial and error, and experiments.”
Father Rochester smiled at her. “As the servants of the Light, I assure you we are firm and indomitable when it comes to conducting tests, much like those you carried out before presenting your project proposals to me, Miss Jade.”
The White Robe had noticed a pattern. Before Jade suggested methods for teaching students new skills that could earn coins, she always tested the process herself to refine the ideal recipe before putting it on paper and submitting it to him. In her words, that was called “preparing a proposal for a project”.
The tests sometimes took only a short while, but others required repeated trials and adjustments before she achieved her desired result. It was not work suited to anyone lacking patience. Fortunately, the clergy possessed all the patience she required.
“Alright. Let’s see…” Jade carefully skimmed through the letters sent by the fellow domus.
Unlike Wrynfield Domus, which received mostly farm produce as donations, Grayhill Bay Domus was supplied largely with seafood harvests. Fish, crabs, seaweed, clams… they could eat fresh seafood to their hearts’ content. Of course, eating it three times a day would eventually make anyone grow sick of the constant fishy smell.
Jade knew about the seaweed used in sushi, but she had no idea whether that variety existed around Grayhill Bay. So, making use of seaweed? Nah.
Crabs were not considered gourmet food here because without a proper cold-storage supply chain, shellfish spoiled easily, becoming foul-smelling and dangerous to eat. So, making use of crabs? Another nah.
Fish… Jade knew the simplest way to make fish sauce, which required only fish and salt. But it took a long time and probably smelled very awful… she turned to Father Rochester. “Father, do you think sun-dried fish would work? Or maybe heavily salted fish, like the way we preserve meat?”
“We do have stockfish and salt fish, but they are not especially appealing,” Father Rochester said with a sigh. “Only the poor commonly consume them. Furthermore, that domus likely lacks the strong sunlight needed to dry such harvests properly.”
Jade had noticed that herself. Good sunny days were rare here. Drying clothes was fine, but certainly not enough for preserving food through drying. If she wanted to dry anything properly, she would need an oven set to a low temperature.
Her gazes returned to the letters. Then she pinned her eyes on the word “clam”. From clams, her thoughts shifted to oyster, and of course, to the famous and reliable oyster sauce that could boost almost any dish.
However, as far as she was concerned, oysters were considered cheap street food here. She was unsure how the richer households viewed them. So she asked, and Father Rochester’s answer gave her a slight boost in confidence.
“Wealthier households do enjoy oysters, though they must come from certain well-regarded harvesting grounds.” Father Rochester said, smoothening his mustache. He paused to think before shaking his head. “I am afraid I cannot recall which locations are considered acceptable, but Grayhill Bay’s oysters would certainly not appear upon their tables.”
Jade blinked, and asked tentatively, “Father, you do know we need to concentrate malt sugar solution by boiling away the excess water until it becomes the syrup we use in the bakehouse, right?”
“Yes,” Father Rochester nodded, raising a brow. “And?”
“And, that could work for oyster broth too.” Jade gestured with her hands as she explained. “Wash the oysters clean after removing them from the shell, then boil them in water for half an hour – the oyster later be eaten, or dried to last longer. The amount of water doesn’t matter because later we’ll boil off the excess anyway. It would probably take hours to reduce into a gray-brownish, sticky liquid. I’m not sure exactly when the fire should be stopped, or how thick it needs to be before it’s considered finished; that’ll be something that needs testing. Finally, thicken it with starch water and add salt to adjust the flavour. This oyster sauce should work well to brighten the taste of stews or stock. However, it’s very time consuming, and I’m not sure how much fuel is needed.”
Father Rochester looked amused, one brow arched. “That sounds rather simple.”
“Well, making malt sugar is pretty simple too,” Jade said with a shrug.
The White Robe fell into deep contemplation before finally nodding. “This is indeed a suitable recipe to help our fellow domus gain additional funds for its management. Would you kindly write the recipe down for me, Miss Jade?”
“Sure. I’ll include the precautions and whatever details I think they’ll need.” Jade accepted the blank paper and pen Father Rochester handed her and began scribbling. “If they plan to sell the sauce rather than using it in their cooking and sell the cooked food, they better find a trustworthy potter to make light-coloured jars. The sauce is dark, so a contrasting jar would give the customers a better impression.”
Forget about using glass jars. Although glass existed, it was still far too expensive for the poor to use as packaging.
After that discussion, Jade continued reviewing school matters with Father Rochester, and soon forgot about it. She only mentioned the story to Josh afterward. Josh had asked for the recipe – he had a habit of studying Jade’s recipes, even when they had nothing to do with baking – and Jade gave it to him to broaden the boy’s understanding of how ingredients could be used.
Not long after, Wyrnfield Domus received a jar of oyster sauce and a basket of dried oyster as gifts of thanks. Jade, however, had been too occupied with the school syllabus to spend time in the kitchen, so she never knew that the stew had gained an extra ingredient that was being supplied to the kitchen constantly ever since. She did notice that it tasted better than before, but never connected it to the oyster sauce recipe she had given out.
And now, at the charity bazaar filled with elegantly dressed guests, she heard her pupil report that there was a booth selling oyster sauce – one that, according to Josh, was very close to her recipe in appearance.
Well, it was only a simple recipe she had picked up somewhere online, so she didn’t particularly mind. What interested her more was the identity of the booth’s owner. “Are they from the Grayhill Bay Domus?”
Josh shrugged. “I don’t know, Sensei. Do you want me to ask?”
“No, it’s fine,” Jade shook her head. “How are their sales based on your observation?”
“Very good,” Josh replied. “Many housewives and housekeepers bought jars from them. They offered samples by dissolving the sauce in a slurry and letting customers dip bread into the stock. I saw many people look surprised by the taste and ask for their location. They even prepared a stack of trade cards for the customers… though not as delicate as ours.”
“They came prepared.” Jade nodded approvingly. “That’s a good thing. Alright, enough resting. Let’s get back to work, shall we?”
“Yes, Sensei,” Josh dipped his head slightly.
Starting from two in the afternoon, ladies from respectable households – particularly the Mistress of those Houses – began arriving at the charity bazaar.
This was their social hour. Some arrived in groups of acquaintances, while others met at the venue and quickly formed their own circles. Jade noticed nosy reporters lurking among the crowd, paying very close attention to these ladies. She wasn’t sure what they could possibly observe, because the ladies remained impeccably polite and never once raised their voices, carrying themselves with a posture far more elegant than those she observed in the morning.
Then, Jade noticed more and more ladies came to their booth. They were not merely buying goods; they kept glancing around as though searching for someone. Jade bowed her head and lowered her gaze, trying her best to remain invisible.
She knew, these ladies were looking for her.