Chef's Deviation

I finished my breakfast a little faster than usual. The food was good. The fried tempe, the stewed greens, and the sauce, they are just harmonious. The chef seems to be on point today. Food in a place like this tends to deviate quite frequently from time to time. But today was not the day.

Adia, who was sitting diagonally to me, seemed to be not as delighted as I do. She seems to have trouble with the food. Maybe she doesn't like it? Stomachache? That may be not the case because I saw her picking these herself. It must be something else.

"Having trouble with your appetite?"

"Ah, no Miss Tiwi", she startled a little bit.

"No? These food then?"

"I just don't want to finish the food. I don't know what these are."

Her face shows a mix confusion and hesitation.

I looked at her plate and I know immediately what she meant. Sometimes, inside food like these, mixed some unusual things. Most of the time, the chef basically uses common ingredients. On rare occasion however, there are things that are unknown. But it was actually something special to the chef. This time it was sandung lamur. These are boiled beef fat (plus other random things) with seasoning. Darkened with soy sauce and cut to pieces.

"Adia, you know that you are not a kid anymore, right?"

"Yes, I know, Miss. I remember Grandpa said that we have to respect whatever food served in our table by eating them properly, but..."

"Why did you take it then?"

"Because the plate still full. It would be a waste if no one is eating them..."

"Adia, no buts. The flavor's just not for you..."

"...yet."

She exhales he breath.

"Yeah, no buts", she said as she tries to eat again.

Seeing her a bit coerced with my words, I took some food off her plate. Add some rice, and with my leftover sauce, it's all good again. Her eyes sparked when I did.

Since I knew exactly what I eat, It is delicious to me.

As I thought, the chef was on point today. Maybe I should have taken the sandung lamur instead of tempe, but, whatever. Let's save it for another day. Pretty much sure this wouldn't change in one or two days. I knew the chef. I was the one who recruited him after all.