Chapter 7 Grilled Fish, Flying Curse and Water of Life and Death
There is no doubt that among many countries in the world, the British love for fish is definitely ranked in the top three. Although most of their cooking methods for fish are fried or grilled, this does not affect them.
Love for fish.
You know, in order to gain profits from fish and meat exports and to feed a larger population, the British government even launched the navy many times to carry out the "Cod War" for more than 20 years from 1944 to 1976.
Loch Lomond, which supplies the entire Scotland with fresh water, is the largest lake in the UK.
It is connected to dozens of other lakes and fifty rivers, and most of the cold water contains a variety of fish, including salmon, sea trout, rainbow trout, grayling, and sometimes even brown trout.
Swim in it with the snakehead fish.
However, it is regrettable that the government has explicitly banned all fishing activities by fishing boats, and then due to some "minor accidents" a year ago, many additional regulations were added, such as "No throwing any objects", "No electrification into the lake", etc.
Waiting for weird terms.
Nowadays, if you want to taste the delicious Loch Lomond fish, the only way is to hold a fishing rod and sit on the lakeside to fish. All other methods will be regarded as poaching.
However, Elena, who calls herself a senior foodie, has always been very resistant to fishing.
Different from normal people: normal fishing steps of placing bait, taking the hook, and closing the rod.
Before Elena harvests, she usually needs to pray that the fish that takes the bait will not happen to be one of the dozens, but may be hundreds of big, fat guys wandering in Loch Lomond - with relatively small strength.
Silver-haired little Luoli was humiliated more than once by being dragged into the water by a hooked fish.
The most tragic time was that she was even "fished" into the water four times in one day. In the end, the frustrated little Luoli went straight into the stone workshop of the town overnight and used the power of science to complete her revenge.
However, today is obviously a lucky day for her.
After leaving Benitez's hut and carrying fishing gear to the lakeside, Elena caught three salmon and one grayling in less than an hour. Although compared to professional fishermen, Elena caught
, the number is not too much, but it is more than enough for the orphanage.
Oh no, to be precise, a little more.
Elena glanced at the small plastic bucket placed by the river. After putting in four big fish, it was indeed a little too narrow. The most important thing was that she didn't want to go back to the orphanage so early.
Even if Benitez's mood doesn't improve after he bumps into him, a bit of nagging is definitely unavoidable.
"This fish looks so beautiful."
The girl squatted down, stretched out her fingers and gently played with the grayling in the cold bucket, which looked different from the rest of her friends. Its appearance was vaguely fluorescent, its back was greenish-brown, and its belly was almost white.
There are irregular black spots on the head, back of the fish body, dorsal fin, and pectoral fin; there are green, red and black spots on the side, dorsal fin, and caudal fin, and the colors are extremely bright and beautiful.
"You are so good-looking. If you and the three of them were put together, they would definitely fight."
Elena tilted her head and thought for a moment, stretched out her hands, skillfully grabbed the fat fish tail, and threw it to the ground hard.
Pia~Pia~Pia~
After a few symbolic flops on the ground, the big fish felt tired and fell asleep obediently.
Grayling, also known as cat fish and eastern salmon, is a common edible fish in Scotland and Ireland. It has delicious meat, sweet taste and warm nature, and few spines. It can be caught all year round. After catching, the scales and bones are removed.
Wash and use fresh.
Whether it's deep-fried, souped, or grilled, its deliciousness can be perfectly demonstrated.
If there is any disadvantage, it is that cooking Yadong salmon is a little more troublesome. If the fish glands are not cleaned out, it can easily lead to diarrhea and nausea.
Of course, this is not a big problem for Elena. After all, this is not the first time she has been forced to cook ingredients outdoors like this.
Elena stood up and found a few stones by the river, forming a small pile of stones. She found some dry branches on the bank and lit a bonfire with a lighter. Then she opened the fishing gear bag placed aside and took out the
The kitchen knife inside skillfully began to remove the scales and internal organs of the grayling.
…
crackle, sizzle~
The flames burned the dead branches, making a pleasant crackling sound, and the plump fish juices dripped on the red-hot stones, making a heart-stirring sizzling sound.
The branches by the lake are actually not very suitable as a fire source for barbecues, because the smoke they raise is more choking than other fire sources, and the thick smoke will inevitably affect the taste of some grilled fish.
However, Elena, who was squatting on the ground and flipping the grilled fish attentively, obviously didn't care about these insignificant flaws.
"Wow, this one is really beautiful."
Elena licked her lips, her little nose twitched, she looked at the grilled fish in her hand with bright eyes and swallowed.
The white and tender fish skin has been grilled to a golden color. Due to the fishing ban in Loch Lomond, the grayling in the lake is obviously fatter than those sold in the market. The golden fish oil slowly seeps from the cracked fish belly.
When it comes out, people can't help but move their index fingers.
"It smells so good, my mouth is almost watering. But there is one last step."
After carefully looking at the grilled and browned fish, Elena tried hard to resist the urge to bite it directly.
The girl happily picked up the salt shaker and pepper shaker placed next to the stone pile, quickly sprinkled it on the fragrant grilled grayling, then picked up a small oil brush and brushed the entire body of the fish one last time to spread the flavor as much as possible.
Uniform.
"Hey hey hey, it's done, let's eat!"
Elena rubbed her hands with satisfaction, picked up the grilled fish from the fire, closed her eyes and inhaled the aroma of the grilled fish, her little head shook back and forth intoxicatedly, opened her little mouth, and couldn't wait to
Bite it down.
At this moment, Elena vaguely heard the voice of a slightly familiar adult woman next to her, and she felt that her right hand holding the barbecue skewers suddenly became empty.
"The grilled fish is coming!"
Aww...wow, huh?!
After biting an empty one, Elena opened her eyes in confusion. There was nothing in her hand, even the iron stick used to pierce the fish had disappeared without a trace. And not far in front of her right, there was a figure wearing a Scottish suit.
Professor McGonagall in a plaid coat held up her wand in one hand and held a sizzling grilled fish in the other.
——OVO——O-O——O_O
"My fish..." The silver-haired little Luoli looked dumbfounded. His eyes moved back and forth between his hand and Professor McGonagall for a few times, and he finally realized what had just happened.
Her grilled fish was taken away by Professor McGonagall's flying spell.
There are people in this world who use flying spells to snatch food! A noble wizard actually uses magic to snatch the grilled fish from a little Muggle girl!
"Bandit! Give me back the fish! I caught it with my own hands and then baked it after working hard for more than ten minutes!"
Elena's delicate little face turned red with anger for a moment. She stood up angrily and rushed towards Professor McGonagall in an attempt to snatch back the fruits of her labor.
Piaji……
Before she could even take two steps, Elena felt a numbness in her calves. Then the girl stepped on her right foot with her left foot and fell down on the grass by the lake with a loud sound.
"Ouch, it hurts... I've been squatting for too long, my legs are cramping."
Elena sat up and carefully poked her calf with her fingers. A soreness that was like an electric current immediately made little Luoli almost burst into tears.
Helplessly maintaining her original posture and not daring to move any more, Elena sat on the ground and raised her head, with a tearful face, she looked unwillingly at Professor McGonagall in front of her, and shouted angrily.
"Give me back the fish! What do you want, you annoying old woman!? I told you, you will never go to Hogwarts!"
Old woman?! Forget it...don't argue with children.
Professor McGonagall couldn't help but twitch her eyebrows, and glanced at Elena, who fell to the ground and fell to the ground. She was angry and funny - she was such a stubborn little girl. She was about to shed tears, but she still couldn't.
He maintained a fierce look with teeth and claws, and refused to give in at all.
"Don't worry, admission to Hogwarts has always been voluntary. I came here just to have a good talk with you."
While speaking, Professor McGonagall pointed to Elena's calf and asked in a gentle tone,.
"Is it uncomfortable? How about I help you take a look first."
Although gloating about others' misfortune seemed a bit excessive at this time, Professor McGonagall's mood did lighten up a lot as Irene fell to the ground.
No matter how precocious she is, she is still just a child under eleven years old, the most naive, willful, and arrogant, but also the cutest and easiest to correct.
As if sensing the smile in Professor McGonagall's gaze, Elena gritted her teeth, stretched out her hands to pull up her sore calves, hugged her knees with both hands, and raised her head to look at the wizard in front of her with a hostile expression.
"Give me back the fish! Otherwise there is no need to discuss anything else!"
"If you agree to follow me to visit Hogwarts, then I will return the grilled fish in my hand to you."
Professor McGonagall walked towards Elena, the grilled fish in her hand swayed back and forth intentionally or unintentionally, and as she spoke, she calmly observed the little girl sitting on the ground.
This time, the communication with Benitez went smoothly beyond Professor McGonagall's expectations. After she briefly introduced her intention, Benitez was extremely cooperative.
Sure enough, as Benitez said, Elena's biggest weakness lies in her delicious food.
As the grilled fish in Mag's hand swayed left and right, the silver-haired little Luoli's eyes unconsciously followed the grilled fish and moved slightly left and right.
"Really?"
After hearing what Professor McGonagall said, Elena hesitated slightly and repeated it with a skeptical tone.
"Just a visit, nothing else?"
"It's just a visit, I will send you back here later."
Professor McGonagall nodded and answered seriously.
"make a deal!"
Elena rolled her eyes slyly and readily agreed without thinking. At the same time, she spread her little hands forward and repeated again with a particularly serious expression.
"Give me the fish back!"
"Okay, okay..."
Mag shrugged and reluctantly put the grilled fish in Elena's hands again. To be honest, she really couldn't understand why such a smart little girl would be so obsessed with eating.
After talking with Benitez for a while, she realized that maybe Dumbledore's thinking was a little too complicated - the reason why she ate the owl was really just because of greed.
"Okay, can you follow me to Hogwarts now?"
Standing aside silently until Elena finished finishing the grilled grayling, Professor McGonagall asked gently.
"Hiccup~"
The silver-haired little Luoli narrowed his eyes, burped happily, wiped the corners of his mouth, stood up and patted the grass clippings stuck to his body, curled his mouth and said, "Sorry, I lied to you."
Anyway, according to the "Muggle Protection Act", as long as Elena does not take the initiative to attack Professor McGonagall, then Professor McGonagall cannot use any magic against her - the dignified Vice-Principal of Hogwarts, if he uses magic on minors,
But being wanted by the Ministry of Magic is a real joke.
Elena looked at Professor McGonagall confidently, with a proud smile on her face, fully expecting to see the surprised, angry but helpless expression of the witch in front of her.
"It's okay, I know."
"Huh?" Elena's expression froze, and she suddenly felt something bad.
Professor McGonagall smiled slightly and said calmly, "So I put a few drops of diluted water of life and death on the grilled fish."
Regarding how to persuade Elena to go to Hogwarts, Benitez only emphasized three things from beginning to end.
First, don't try to reason with Elena.
Second, you can never convince Elena.
Third, even if you convince her, she will find ways to cheat.
"Life and death...what?!"
The silver-haired little Luoli's eyes widened and he pointed at Professor McGonagall in disbelief.
Before she could finish her words, a sudden and intense sleepiness hit her. Her eyelids became extremely heavy, her body went limp, and she staggered to sleep in Professor McGonagall's arms.
"What happens next depends on Professor Dumbledore." McGonagall hugged the sleeping girl in her arms and raised her wand in her right hand.
After a crisp sound was heard in the air, the two figures disappeared by the lake.
————
(Meng Meng Da You Meng is begging for food. Please recommend and vote for the new book. Hey, hey, there is a big chapter of more than 3,800 words! The protagonist is finally going to Hogwarts.)