Heir of Aurelian

Frank ran down the stairs of his house in the mid-evening. He was about to go out and shoot some fireworks with his friends. The boys had gotten hold of some prime explosives, and he wanted to mess around with them. However, the moment he descended the stairs, he spotted his mother cooking dinner. Normally, his elder sister Maria assisted the woman, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Being the filial son that he was, Frank immediately noticed that his mother was overwhelmed with the amount of food she was cooking. He sighed heavily before asking his mother where his bitch of an elder sister was.

"Mom, where's Maria at? Shouldn't should be helping you with dinner?"

The woman sighed heavily and shook her head before scolding her errant daughter.

"Your sister is out with her friends again, and on Sunday night nonetheless, I swear ever since that girl entered college she has become an entirely different person..."

Though Frank was about to do the same thing, it was a family tradition for the women to get together and cook a nice family meal on Sundays. Frank knew little about the ways of cooking, but could perform the basics.

The boy could not stand to see his mother so disappointed. Because of this, he quickly pulled out his phone and texted his friends that he wouldn't be able to make it before taking off his coat and hanging it in a chair. After doing so, he rolled up his sleeves and took up a knife, where he began to help his mother with the meal preparation. The woman was surprised to see her son was helping and patted him on the head before teasing him.

"Look who is mommy's little helper!"

Frank merely smiled. Unlike his father, he did not speak back to his mother; he had too much respect for her. In an era where less and less women were faithful to their husbands, his mother continued to be the glue that kept his family together. Currently, the woman was in the middle of making the sauce, which Frank was instantly curious about.

"Is that Alfredo? I've always wondered how you make it. Though I never knew that you made it fresh!"

The woman smiled as she quickly instructed her son how she made her homemade Alfredo sauce. The woman grabbed hold of her boy's cheeks and pinched them before teasing him once more.

"You want to learn mommy's secret recipe? Very well, since you are being such a good boy this evening, I suppose I will show you. I start by warming up the butter and cream in a large saucepan with low heat, where I let it simmer for two minutes. If it is boiling, you've gone too far!

After that, I add in the fresh garlic that I have sauteed in butter as well as other seasonings such as salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, dried basil, oregano, and onion powder. From there, I whisk it for about a minute while the garlic cooks.

After doing all of this, it's a simple matter of adding freshly shredded Parmesan cheese to the mix, and stir until it is melted and smooth!"

Now that you know, why don't you cut up that chicken? We will then cook it and add it to the mix! Then you can eat your mother's homemade chicken Alfredo!"

Frank smiled as he worked alongside his mother to create the creamy noddle dish. They worked in tandem for some time until the meal was complete. They sat around the table for a few minutes before Frank's mother received a text message.

It was a notice from her husband that he would be staying at work late for the night and to eat without him. She immediately began to pout, noticing this Frank was already aware of what happened, and hugged his mother in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't worry, mom, you still have me here!"

The woman wore a pretty smile before serving up the food. She was happy knowing that her son had decided to cancel his plans to eat dinner with her.

"That's right, I will always have my little Franky Boy to look after me!"

Frank chuckled lightly as he and his mother said prayers before taking a bite from his meal. The intense flavor of the chicken Alfredo immediately caused the dream to end, and Marcellus to wake up from his nap with a large strain of drool coating his documents. The dream was extremely vivid, as was the process of how to cook the meal. He had no choice. Marcellus knew he would not be satisfied until he tasted this dish for real.

Luckily for him, there were a few chickens that the idiot Honorius kept around the palace that he could butcher to sate his desire. As such, he quickly left his office and entered the yard where the chickens sat and played around.

Marcellus grabbed Honorius' favorite chicken, whose name was Rome, and dragged it off to be beheaded. With the swing of a hatchet, the prized possession of the previous emperor was decapitated. With its death, Marcellus had begun to butcher it thoroughly, first by removing its feathers so all that remained was skin, and then by cutting off the breast.

Once the white meat was fully removed from the chicken, he brought it to his slave, Sigefrida, who was already in the kitchen. She gazed upon the gory scene with shock before mocking Marcellus for his actions.

"Did you just Butcher Rome? Isn't that a bad omen? After all, it shares the same name as your precious city?"

Marcellus merely chuckled at the woman's joke before handing over the fresh meat.

"Put this on the grill, will you? I plan to take some of our food stores and make us a unique treat..."

Sigefrida was surprised to see that Marcellus was willing to cook, but sure enough he had fired up the stove and raided the pantry where he made use of locally produced cheese, dairy cream, and the other herbs that were necessary to reconstruct the meal he had tasted in his dream. Though he did not know what parmesan was, he knew from the dream it was some form of cheese, thus he made use of what he had to make the tasty Alfredo sauce.

Sigefrida could smell the savory aroma of the Alfredo sauce and was surprised. It was not something she had ever encountered before. However, she did not ask what Marcellus was up to, and instead grilled the chopped chicken breast for him. Once it was complete, Marcellus mixed it together. Unfortunately, pasta did not exist yet, and because of that, he could not make the exact food he had tasted in his dream. Instead, it turned into a creamy chicken soup.

With the food fully prepared, Marcellus served three bowls, one for himself, one for Placidia, and one for Sigefrida. Once he and Sigefrida had sat down, he called out to the missing girl with a voice so loud it echoed in the halls.

"Placidia, get your ass in here. It's lunchtime!"

Within moments, he could hear the sound of footsteps descending from the stairs until the sight of the young woman rushing through the door caught his eye. Placidia looked at the food, and was quite surprised to see that it was not something she recognized. She quickly asked what the food was as she sniffed its savory aroma.

"What is this?"

Marcellus merely smiled before informing the girl of the name of the dish.

"It is a new creation. I saw it in a dream. It is called Chicken Alfredo. Come, taste it and give me your honest opinion."

The trio sat down at the table and feasted upon the bowls of Chicken Alfredo soup. They were surprised when they tasted it; it was so much better than anything they had ever tasted before. The Romans had relatively bland food that would normally be considered inedible by modern standards. Things such as field mice and flamingo tongues were considered a delicacy by the Roman elite.

However, Marcellus had an advantage nobody else seemed to have. He received dreams of his past life while he slept. Who knew they would extend to the culinary arts? Unfortunately, he was lacking in several things, such as basil, pasta, onion powder, etc. However, he had some garlic on hand, as well as salt, pepper, and oregano. So it wasn't a total wash.

Though the dish wasn't quite the same as he remembered in his dream, it was a close enough amalgamation, which the two young women by his side seemed to enjoy as they dined on the creamy soup with fat smiles on their pretty faces. Placidia could hardly contain her joy as she exclaimed her thoughts aloud.

"This is the best thing I have ever tasted!"

As for Sigefrida, she could not help but agree. She nodded her head silently while eating the meal with as much grace as a mere slave could manage. Upon seeing that they both thought it was tasty as he did, Marcellus came up with another bold idea for income. He planned to open up stalls which served this new meal, and whatever else he may dream of in the coming days. He was beginning to think he might become the founder of a new era of Roman cuisine!