大象传媒

Chapter 16

Kitchen sancturary

For the next few weeks Molly and Marie arose at 5 am to start preparing breakfast for the company headquarters. They were detailed to cater for the Officers and N.C.O's whilst the ranks were catered for by male cooks in the kitchen of the house which they had been taken to the very first day they arrived the male cooks in another kitchen belonging to an even larger house than the Berries.
The Berries was a double fronted house, two huge bay windows one each side of an (imposing) entrance to a great black door. The black and white marble steps to the front door were continued throughout the floor of the hallway which led off to several doors. Molly and Marie made their way to the kitchen. Cor some kitchen was their comment. The actual kitchen had obviously been run many years before by a large staff of servants who must have slept at the top of the house. The part that they had got on their knees and scrubbed before being called away that very first day. Molly had never seen a kitchen like it before but she recalled her mother Jess telling her about the kitchen she worked in as a girl and this was similar. A huge wall dresser lined one end of the room, with shelves stretching across from end to end. Beneath the shelves were three cupboards. Just behind the door which led the way into the kitchen, high up on the wall near the ceiling, was a metal bar, hanging from this were several bells in graded sizes. The floor was made up of terracotta coloured flagstones. The cooker was going to be the massive black? Range which filled almost the entire side at one end of the room. What a monster it looked thought Molly, she wondered whose job it would be to clean it. She had that job allocated her at home every week and her mums was tiny compared to this un. Leading off the kitchen was another room with more shelves. The shelves lined three of the walls. Underneath was a worktop made of black and white marble. Beneath the worktop there were several drawers, then more cupboards below. Crickey! This must have been their larder, what a size? Said Marie. Yes answered Molly, I heard that big yard next door belongs to this and its ever so big, Royalty used to keep their horses in the stables which you can see when the big gates are open, built right along the bottom of the big cobbled courtyard. There is even a flat over the top where the grooms used to live.
The very first morning the arrived to begin their cooking duties the found four men performing various jobs. One was bringing in coal from the yard in a huge bucket, whilst another was placing wood in the great ready for lighting. Won't be long before we get the kettles boiling gels to brew the tea said one tall fresh faced looking individual named Bob as he put a match to the paper underneath the wood. Hooray, just do with a good strong cuppa char said the other placing a second bucketful of coal ready for a refill by the side of the great. At first all seemed well after a bit of coaxing the fire started. However suddenly there was a fall of soot from the chimney. Whooosh! Smoke poured out from the fireplace, bits of black grit were landing everywhere, cough cough splutter splutter, What the hells happening gasped Bob. He opened his eyes which were pouring with tears down his blackened face. Looks as though some silly sod should have ordered the chimney sweep first. The breakfast for the men upstairs had to be abandoned and given over to other quarters that day until the sweep had been. The range was replaced by a gas cooker after a few weeks.
Molly and Marie did very well managing with the kitchen range as neither were experienced cooks apart from the fact the number of men they had to cater for was larger than any family gathering. Molly had had a chat to Mrs Griffs who was extremely helpful in giving hints on cooking. She used to help out by cooking some items, perhaps a roast beef joint or just the batter pudding which wouldn't fit into the old range oven with the rest of the food nothing had been really prepared and organised at the outbreak of war therefore, one made the best of a bad job and improvised.
Molly repaid Mrs Griffs kindness later as we shall see.
The stores came each delivery day by lorry this consisted of the tinned foods, Pilchards, Pink Salmon, Corned Beef tea sugar etc. The meat had to be collected from the butchers stores which was situated a couple of streets away. At first with careful planning and Mrs Griffs help they managed to keep the meals appetising enough. The meat was always a problem because that had to be stretched out to cover the number of dinners anyway right from the beginning. The complaints of what no more meat just had to be answered by sorry we have asked but can't get any more by Molly and Marie. However, after a few weeks of the pilchards and pink salmon began to get refused with vulgar remarks. Remembering Q/Sgts advice the day she sat in the stores listening to his lecture on how best it was never to refuse any goods or decrease your stocks, Molly advised Marie not to stop the tinned food coming. We may need it one day Marie and it keeps and we can fill the drawers up and have store. Then came the day Molly and Marie were told that a flat had been fixed up for them over the stables next door. Unfortunately as often happens in the forces Marie was being sent to another unit whilst herself had been detailed to cook for the female staff alone. This left Molly with mixed feelings. Disappointed at losing Maries friendship but softened by being promoted cook for twelve women in her own kitchen. The men they had been cooking for were having their food cooked by the main mess.

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