Gourmet Emperor: Master Of Culinary World 56 Making Soap

I make a small fireplace near my tent to make that thing. I can't make it near the stove because the smell created during the process is very pungent, so I decide to make it a little further from the crowd. Over the fireplace, I put an earthware pot to cook the ingredients. First I put the fats and fat oil in the pot with a little water while stirring it slowly. I sit facing the direction of the wind blows, so the smell that created during the process will not directly get into my nose. Not enough with that, I also put a cloth that already wetted to cover my mouth and nose.

When the fats in pot start to melt and dissolve, I pour the lye into the pot little by little. The crews that already finis.h.i.+ng their job today, after seeing I'm doing something start to gather in front of me. Looking them sit in front of me and watching what I'm making now, I secretly grinned. I don't tell them about what kind of smell that they will experience later. Basically, soap is some kind of salt too, it's a chemical reaction between amino acids within the fats and alkali which resulting salt (soap) and some hydrogen gases as side products. This process called Saponification, where triglycerides from fats deformed by the alkali into glycerin. If the fats have high sulfuric acids, the gas released by the process is sulfur hydroxide which has a strong smelly odor, like a rotten egg.

The crews start talking between themselves, guessing what I make this time.

"Hey, what do you think Master Henry making this time?"

"I don't know. Master Henry always makes something delicious, probably this one too"

"Yeah, even horse feed can be turned into something nice"

"That tempura and soup master Henry make really delicious, I wonder what this dish name"

"But why he covers his mouth and nose? He's not making something dangerous right?"

"Idiot! That's only fats that Master Henry put into that pot. How come that becomes dangerous?"

"Yeah, you really stupid, if Master Henry making something dangerous, he will warn us not to get close with him"

" .... "

Oh my, they scolding their peers that being cautious, poor him. I just grinned behind my covers. Since I don't know how much ratio between fats and lye that can make the soap, I just keep pour the lye little by little and keep stirring the solution. This soap making process is quite long and the crews start to lite some torches around me. The crews are still waiting in front of me patiently while waiting for dinner ready.

That's good they don't have dinner yet, because if they smell this pungent smelly odor, they will throw up and wasting food that they eat. They lucky that time the winds didn't blow too strong, but when the mixture starts become mushy and thicken, which releasing its gases to the air, the winds start to blow strongly to the crew's direction. And as I thought before, they start running scattered while pinching their nose.

"What the h.e.l.l! What smell is this?"

"Get away! I want to puke!"

"Smelly!!"

"It smells like a basket of rotten eggs broken together!"

"Move! I want to get away from this smelly place!"

"Gos.h.!.+ It's worse than a rotten corpse!"

"That's why master Henry covers his nose, dummy!"

"Stay away! Stay away! Don't come near here"

"Gaahhh! I lost my appet.i.te to eat this night!"

OH my, I almost laugh out loud but I must hold that because the mixture is almost finished and ready to mold. I put some herbs powder like cinnamon into the mixture to give it an aroma for the soap. And then I put the mixture on the molding equipment that I already wiped with grease before so the soap can easily move from the mold when it's done.

After all the mixtures put into the mold, I cover the mold with some fabric and keep them in a dry place to make them hard and ready to use. For a small pot, I manage to make around 10 bars of soap, not bad. Next day I will ask the carpenter to make more molding box and make more soap again.