With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

 

Chef Amadí

“Buenos días, clase, mi nombre es Elena Amadí, and I make modern Spanish cuisine with a North African twist.” The woman at the front of the room is youngish, maybe only ten years older than us. She has long dark hair and even in her chef’s outfit you can tell she works out. Angelica would call her a hottie and I’d have to agree. We are all in a large kitchen, and Chef Amadí is the last of seven chefs to introduce herself. The whirring fan hanging from the ceiling has done little to stop us from getting sweaty, and although we were excited this morning when we took a tour of the ancient military watchtower, most of us are looking like we’re about to fall dead asleep on our feet.

“I’m not going to make it, Santi,” Malachi whispers. “Catch me if I faint.”

I roll my eyes at him. “You just gon’ fall then, with your big self.”

Chef Ayden clears his throat with that rumble of his. “Okay. Now that everyone has met the chefs, I will tell you who you will be apprenticing with this week. I took into account your strengths and inclinations and paired you with someone you can not only be a help to, but also learn from.

“Amanda, you’ll be at the bakery down the block with Chef Juan. Richard, you’ll be making tapas across the street with Chef Joselina. Malachi, butchery for you with Enrique, learning to make cured meat.” He’s at the very bottom of the list when he looks up. “Emoni, you’ll be working with Chef Amadí. Modern cuisine with a twist—sounds just like you.”