The kitchen used suspended pots, but Maria found a flat-bottomed iron pot, which she placed on the stove and used as a frying pan.

She started with the egg and bacon sandwiches. The bacon was ready-made, simply cut from the kitchen's cured back meat. Without toast available, she had someone fetch a large loaf from the bakery, slice it, and pan-fried it until golden. Then she assembled the sandwiches with fried eggs, bacon, and raw cabbage leaves. Unfortunately, there were no tomatoes, so adding ketchup was out of the question.

After cleaning the pan, she began frying the chicken breast. Soon, the aroma of garlic and honey filled the air,...