All For Love [Reth x OC x Jel]

Salsa

"Maybe if I cook down the ingredients first..?" Azu furrowed her brow as she eyed the collection of ingredients in front of her; trying again to recreate one of her old favorite snacks, in hopes that she could share the recipe with Reth. She'd only just gotten home from her night with Jel; but after watering her crops and tending to her preserves jars, she'd decided it was time to work on the mystery of why Kilima had tacos, but did not have tortilla chips. Her very first thought when she'd found heat root out in Bahari was that it belonged in a salsa, so she couldnt fathom how no one had tried it yet.

The chips part was easy enough; just making some corn tortillas, cutting them into chip-sized strips and salting them before baking; but the salsa to go with them was giving her a little more trouble. She'd made something similar a couple of times now; but it was chunkier, and more acidic than she'd remembered it being, so she couldnt help but think she was missing something.

She tried again with her new thought; dicing her tomatoes, onions, peppers and garlic up to put them into a pan this time, starting to reduce them down like she would if she were making a curry sauce. Once it was about halfway cooked though, she took it off the heat; adding some ground spice spouts and heat root to it as it cooled, stirring in a little bit of salt and pepper, and giving it the littlest sprinkle of sugar to cut the acidity a bit. It took a little while for this batch to cool after she put it into a jar; giving her the chance to wash the dishes while it sat in her icebox.

She took it back out as soon as she was finished; grabbing one of her chips and scooping some of the homemade salsa, trying a bite of the newest batch. Her eyes lit up at the flavor, instantly being about to recognize it as the spicy treat she'd enjoyed countless times in her first lifetime; it might have just been because she hadnt had it in so long, but it even tasted better to her. It was fresh and tangy, with a kick to it that left her tongue warm after just a couple of chips. "Mmm~" she grinned, giggling to herself as she closed the jar again before she could eat it all. "Miles is gonna love me so much, Im totally the best big sister~" she cackled to herself as she put it into her bag and gathered up her chips into a bowl, taking it and a whole new set of ingredients out of her icebox to bring them to the inn.

"And the best girlfriend~" she beamed as she put the last of them into her bag, heading out to see the chef; she was eager to see how he reacted, since spicy foods were usually his favorites. It didnt take her all that long to reach the inn, as usual; hurrying up the steps and over to Reth's counter, grinning when he waved at her.

"Hey, babe~" Reth chuckled as she ran over to him, raising his brows at the huge grin on her face. "What's with the face~? Are you up to something again?"

Azu only giggled at him, reaching into her bag to pull out the bowl of chips and set them on the counter, followed by the jar of salsa. "Try it~"

Reth furrowed his brow at the food in front of him; able to recognize the little pieces as cut up tortilla shells, but not able to figure out what the fuck was in the jar. "Alright, I'll bite-" he chuckled, taking the jar and opening it, his brows shooting up when the scents of peppers and heat root hit his nose. He gave it a sniff; humming as he detected tomato and garlic in it as well, before taking one of the tortilla strips she'd made and using it to scoop a little bit out of the jar to try it.

Azu grinned as she watched his face light up, his brow furrowing a little as he chewed; giggling a little as he went back for another bite, taking more of the salsa this time. "Good, isnt it~?"

"Mhmm-" Reth nodded as he set the jar back down, swallowing his bite before he smiled at her, raising his brow. "Super good; its got a real nice depth to it, its not just spicy. What is it, exactly??" he laughed, squinting down at the jar. "And can I have your recipe?"