See the way it pops and dances as it boils off?"
Roz nodded and watched as he filled the ladle to the brim and with a
practised flourish, quickly poured a ring of creamy dough mix then,
spiralling inwards towards the centre, filled it with the last drop. с
'There ... see? The right size, just over a hand's breadth across,
nice even thickness."
'Hmmff!" Roz took the offered ladle, filled it to the brim and managed
a lop-sided imitation. 'Is there any rule that says they have to be
round?"
'No,' laughed Cadillac. He lifted the edge of the first bake with a
flat tapered wooden flip shovel and turned it over. 'But once you
start pouring, keep going otherwise it'll fall apart." He removed his
neat, circular flat-bake from the stone and passed Roz the small
shovel. 'Don't overcook the top side, otherwise it gets too brittle.
Just leave it long enough to brown."
'Yeah..." Roz tried to turn her mis-shapen bake over.
It broke into several curved fragments. 'Damn!" 'Never mind. It's
still eatable." Cadillac picked up a fragment, blew on it then took a
bite. 'Delicious. You just need more practice, that's all."
Roz handed him the mixing bowl. 'Show me again, champ. Several
times." She watched Cadillac produce ten more faultless flat-bakes in
as many minutes then, when she was allowed to start turning the next
batch over, she said: 'I thought this was women's work - like
fishing."
Cadillac smiled. 'The only real women's work is bearing children. The
normal everyday tasks are shared by everyone in the clan regardless of
sex and age. If the women seem to have cornered certain tasks, it's
more a question of aptitude and convenience. There are no hard and
fast lines of demarcation. The females fight, and the male warriors
can prepare food and make flat-bakes.
Comes in handy when you're away on a hunting expedition."
'Yes, well, it's going to take me a while to settle in.
I feel so useless! Nothing I've learnt up to now has prepared me for
any of this. If you were to break a leg it would give me a chance to
prove I was actually capable of doing something." Roz laughed. 'On
second thoughts, don't. All I know is medicine the way it's practised
in the Federation. I could probably give you a diagnosis, but without
the equipment and the drugs I probably wouldn't be able to cure you!"
