3rd Ashan, 720
"Are you sure that it's okay that I'm the one who helps you with this, Kirei?" Maerin asked shyly.
"Usually I take notes for you, and Kirion is the one who does this part."
Kirei nodded. It was true that Kirion was usually the one who helped her to read whenever she wanted to. But Kirion was off spending time with some of his friends from school, and Kirei didn't want to interfere with that. Besides, Maerin was old enough to take her job seriously, and Kirei knew how much Maerin wanted to help her. Doing this would show her adopted daughter how much trust she had in her.
"I can take notes for you." Aerin offered.
"That way, Maerin won't have to do both jobs."
Kirei nodded to Aerin. She walked over to brush up against her legs, and purred in gratitude. Then she walked back over to where Maerin was busy getting the books out.
"Which book did you want to read?" she asked.
Kirei considered the books carefully, reading through the titles. Some were clearly cook books. They would only have recipes, and given Kirei's lack of hands, she wasn't able to actually try making anything. As a result, she rejected those out of hand, pushing them away with a paw one by one. Maerin got the message. She quickly picked those books up, and put them back on the bookcase where they belonged. Kirei gave the ones that were left a second look. Several of them looked interesting, but one stuck out in her mind. It was about citrus fruits. Kirei had read through parts of this book before. There were some recipes, but there was also plenty of information about the fruits themselves. Which ones could be used for various uses, and why. Which parts of the fruit could be used, and what types of dishes they were used in. Things like that. Last season, she had learned what zest was, and she had decided she wanted to look into it further and learn how to zest a citrus fruit. But she had never gone back and done so. So it was for that reason that she chose that particular book now. Once she had made her decision, Maerin picked up the rest of the books, and put them away too.
"Where do you want to start?" Maerin asked as she opened the book, and turned to the table of contents.
Kirei read through the table of contents until she found what she was looking for. Then she tapped her paw on the ground five times to tell her adopted daughter which chapter she wanted to read. Maerin nodded, and flipped through the pages until she got to chapter five. Then she pushed the book towards Kirei while Aerin got ready to take notes on what her adopted mother was reading.
When you want to add a nice sweet and tart citrus flavor to food without using the actual fruit, there are two ways to go about doing it. You can use either the juice, or the zest. The juice is good, but the zest is even better. This is because it has natural oils that will impart much more flavor than you will get from using the juice. Using the zest instead of the juice is also good because sometimes all you need is a little bit.
Zest can be used for many different things depending on which tool was used to make it. Finely grated zest from a microplane can be used in batters, doughs, and any time you want the zest to melt into the dish. Curly zest from a citrus zester can be used for cocktail garnishes and for candied citrus decorations. Finally, large pieces of zest from a peeler or paring knife can be used for rimming cocktail glasses, cocktail garnishes, and for infusing things like oils or sugar syrups.
Kirei paused in her reading, and glanced over at Aerin to see how she was doing on taking notes. She saw the ten arc old girl writing furiously with a tense, focused look on her face. Not wanting to pressure her adopted daughter, Kirei allowed herself to think about what she had just read so that she could really process it. In doing so, she gave Aerin some time to catch up. Only when she was certain that Aerin was ready did she tap her paw on the ground once, signalling Maerin to turn the page for her.
There are four easy ways to zest a citrus fruit. The basic method is the same with all four ways, but the tool you use is different. You can use a paring knife or a vegetable peeler if the size of the zest doesn't matter. But for finely grated zest that melts into a pound cake or batch of cookies, a microplane produces the best results. And if you’d like a pretty garnish for your dish, a citrus zester is the best tool to use. Regardless of which cooking tool you use, there is one simple rule; remove just the thin, colored skin, or zest, of the fruit. Always leave behind the soft white pith that lies underneath. This can be tricky to do, but it does get easier the more often you do it.
Kirei looked at the images of each tool that were pictured towards the end of the chapter. The microplane was essentially a grater with a handle similar to the kind a knife would have. By the looks of it, it would grate very finely...much like the book had suggested. It was a very expensive cooking tool, but while she didn't have one herself, she had seen one in use at Cally's. Kirei hoped that she would be able to get one of her own some trial.
She wanted to read more about the various tools used to zest a citrus fruit, but Aerin was still furiously trying to catch up in her note taking. Besides, she needed to get out and go hunting soon if she wanted to bring down something suitable for offering to Cally's totrial. So she stood, and shook herself to loosen up her muscles. Then she stretched a bit.
"Are you finished for now, Kirei?" Maerin and Aerin asked in unison.
Kirei nodded.
"I'll put the book away after I'm finished taking notes on what you read then." Aerin promised.
Kirei purred at her before she headed out.
