Clever Gretel

In a prosperous household in a bustling town, there lived a cook named Gretel who was famous throughout the neighborhood for her exceptional culinary skills. She could prepare the most delicious roasts, bake the fluffiest bread, and create sauces so flavorful that people would travel from neighboring towns just to taste her cooking.

However, Gretel had one significant weakness—she loved good food perhaps a little too much, especially when it came to the dishes she prepared herself. The aroma of her own cooking was simply irresistible to her, and she often found it nearly impossible to resist sampling her creations.

One particular day, Gretel’s master, a wealthy merchant, had invited an important guest for dinner. He wanted to make an excellent impression, so he instructed Gretel to prepare two of the finest roasted chickens she could manage.

“Gretel,” said the master, adjusting his finest coat, “I am expecting Herr Wilhelm for dinner this evening. He is a very important business partner, and I want everything to be perfect. Please prepare your famous roasted chickens with all the herbs and seasonings, and make sure they are golden brown and succulent.”

“Of course, sir,” replied Gretel with a curtsy. “I will prepare the most magnificent roasted chickens you have ever seen. They will be so delicious that your guest will never forget this meal.”

The master smiled with satisfaction. “Excellent. I must go out to attend to some business matters. I will return with our guest at precisely seven o’clock. Have everything ready and waiting.”

Gretel set to work immediately, selecting the two finest chickens from the kitchen stores. She cleaned them carefully, stuffed them with fragrant herbs, rubbed their skin with butter and spices, and placed them in the oven to roast slowly to perfection.

As the afternoon progressed, the most heavenly aroma began to fill the kitchen. The smell of roasting chicken, seasoned with rosemary, thyme, and sage, wafted through the air and made Gretel’s mouth water uncontrollably.

“Oh my,” she murmured to herself, opening the oven door to check on her handiwork. “They are turning the most beautiful golden brown color, and the smell is absolutely divine.”

She basted the chickens carefully and returned them to the oven, but the tantalizing aroma seemed to grow stronger by the minute. Gretel tried to busy herself with preparing the vegetables and setting the table, but her eyes kept drifting back to the oven.

When she opened the door to check the chickens again, one of them had a perfectly crispy wing that looked irresistibly delicious. “Surely,” she reasoned to herself, “the master won’t notice if just one tiny wing is missing. After all, I must taste the food to ensure it’s properly seasoned.”

She carefully twisted off the crispy wing and popped it into her mouth. It was absolutely perfect—crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and seasoned to perfection.

“Delicious!” she exclaimed. “But now the chicken looks unbalanced with only one wing. I should remove the other wing as well to make it look symmetrical.”

Before she knew it, both wings had disappeared, and Gretel was feeling quite pleased with her culinary skills. However, now the chicken looked rather odd without any wings at all.

“Well,” she said to herself, “I suppose I should eat the other chicken’s wings too, so they both look the same.”

One thing led to another, and soon Gretel had sampled the legs, then the breast meat, and finally she had devoured both entire chickens, leaving nothing but bones.

“Oh dear,” she said, suddenly realizing what she had done. “What am I going to do now? The master will be returning with his important guest at any moment!”

Just then, she heard the sound of the front door opening and her master’s voice calling out, “Gretel! We have arrived! Please bring the chickens to the dining room immediately!”

Gretel’s mind raced frantically. She quickly gathered up the chicken bones and tossed them into the fireplace, then smoothed her apron and tried to look composed as she hurried to greet her master and his guest.

The master appeared in the kitchen doorway with a distinguished gentleman beside him. “Gretel, this is Herr Wilhelm. We are ready for those magnificent roasted chickens you prepared.”

Gretel curtsied politely and said in her most serious voice, “I’m terribly sorry, sir, but I’m afraid there’s been a most unfortunate incident.”

“What kind of incident?” asked the master, his face beginning to show concern.

“Well, sir,” Gretel explained with perfect composure, “I had the chickens roasted to absolute perfection and was just about to bring them to you when the most extraordinary thing happened. Your cat somehow got into the kitchen and managed to steal both chickens right off the serving platter!”

The master looked shocked. “The cat? But how could the cat manage such a thing?”

“I was amazed myself, sir,” continued Gretel smoothly. “The clever creature must have been planning this for some time. It knocked over a chair, climbed onto the counter, and made off with both birds before I could stop it. I chased it out of the house, but it was too quick for me.”

Herr Wilhelm, who had been listening to this story with growing amusement, began to chuckle. “My dear fellow,” he said to the master, “you have a most remarkable cook. Not only can she prepare delicious food, but she can tell the most entertaining stories!”

The master, however, was not amused. “Gretel, this is a disaster! What are we going to serve our guest?”

But Gretel was ready for this question. “Fear not, sir! I anticipated that something like this might happen—you know how unpredictable cats can be—so I prepared a backup meal. I have a beautiful roast beef that I was saving for tomorrow, along with roasted vegetables and fresh bread. It will be every bit as delicious as the chickens would have been.”

And indeed, Gretel did have a roast beef that she had been preparing for the next day’s meals. She quickly set about carving it and arranging it beautifully on the serving platters with the vegetables and fresh bread she had made that morning.

When the meal was served, Herr Wilhelm declared it to be one of the finest dinners he had ever enjoyed. He complimented the master on having such a resourceful and talented cook.

“Your Gretel is truly remarkable,” he said. “Not only does she recover gracefully from unexpected setbacks, but she prepares food fit for a king!”

The master, pleased that the evening had turned out well despite the supposed cat incident, thanked Gretel for her quick thinking and excellent backup meal.

Later that evening, after the guest had departed and the master had retired to his study, Gretel sat in the kitchen with a satisfied smile on her face. She had learned an important lesson about self-control, but she had also discovered that her quick wit could get her out of even the most difficult situations.

From that day forward, Gretel made sure to prepare extra food whenever she was making something particularly tempting. She also kept a closer eye on her sampling habits, making sure to taste only what was necessary to ensure proper seasoning.

And whenever she told the story of the “cat that stole the chickens” to other cooks in the neighborhood, they would laugh heartily and shake their heads in amazement at Clever Gretel’s resourcefulness.

“Remember,” she would always conclude with a wink, “a good cook must be prepared for any emergency, and sometimes the best ingredient in any recipe is a quick wit and a creative explanation!”

The master never did figure out what really happened to those chickens, but he did notice that his cat seemed to be getting an unusually large number of treats from Gretel for quite some time afterward.