How It All Goes Down
- Hassan makes his new home in a tiny attic room at Le Saule Pleureur.
- He is a little creeped out by the attic room, which is empty except for a crucifix over his bed; he promptly hides this in a dresser drawer. There's also a butchering book on his bedside table, with a note from Mallory.
- He describes a recurring dream that he has during this phase of life, in which he is literally a fish out of water.
- Hassan begins his rigorous training which involves everything… except cooking. Huh.
- He goes home on Mondays, his days off, and his family bombards him with questions as he crashes on the couch. All except Papa, who stays to the shadows, but listens.
- One day Hassan is frustrated and asks Mallory when he will start cooking; she simply says that he will when the time comes.
- Hassan proves himself to Mallory with his good memory of oyster varieties, and she reaches out and pats his cheek with a dry and hard hand. He is turned off by this gesture, along with the fact that Jean-Pierre is red faced with jealousy from across the room.
- Hassan remembers that this in-between phase of leaving home and living across the street is personified by the time that he goes to town with Mallory to learn how to shop the market.
- They run into Papa, joking around with Madame Picard. Mallory greets them in a friendly way (or, friendly for Mallory), and Hassan feels super uncomfortable stuck in the middle of them.
- Flash forward six months.Mallory is out for the day and Monsieur Iten comes to the door to sell oysters. Hassan is forced to make an executive decision about whether to accept the order, and when he catches Iten trying to sell different types of oysters under one name, he makes him change the order.
- Hassan is promoted immediately afterward, since Mallory actually arranged the oyster delivery herself as a test.
- It is now winter, and Hassan fails at making soufflés and gets snapped at. Margaret (remember the pretty sous-chef?) comes to his aid, though, and helps him correct the mistake. One accidental touch of their arms, and he's in love. Again.
- Their relationship begins a few weeks later. They have a fiery unspoken moment while reaching for pans, and she solicits him for an afternoon visit to her flat.
- His relationship with Margaret provides a break from the hard life at Le Saule Pleureur, but they rarely have time to spend together. He begins to worry that he isn't taking time for her, especially after she makes a sad comment about the situation, which reminds him of his mother and makes him feel really guilty.
- Hassan realizes that Margaret is the first woman that he doesn't want to run away from, so he decides to spend next Monday (his day at home) with her instead.
- The women in his family give him hell for the decision, but Papa understands and sends his blessing.
- Mallory and Leblanc take a day trip to run errands. The staff is suspicious about their little rendezvous, but nothing is ever confirmed.
- On this particular day, Mallory switches up everyone's kitchen duties. They all freak out as they rush to make things work; for his part, Hassan is tasked with the main meat dishes, featuring hare.
- He combines the traditional French flavors of white wine and garlic with the Indian flavors of yogurt and cucumber.
- Mallory returns for inspection and despite the criticism here and there, is pleased with Hassan's work; Jean-Pierre promptly explodes by hurling his shoe across the room. Simmer down, JP.
- Mallory has not realized until now that her treatment of Hassan has made the rest of her kitchen feel slighted. She understands jealousy—it's kind of her thing, after all—and so she steps forward and (gasp) kisses the hand of Jean-Pierre, asking forgiveness.
- Furthermore, she announces to the kitchen that his talent is far bigger than Le Saule Pleureur, and that she won't be around for much longer; she bequeaths the restaurant to Jean-Pierre once she is gone. Hold on… Is this the same woman from Chapter 5, who looked out of the window of her mansion like a ghost?
- Flash forward three years: Hassan accepts a position as sous chef of a top Paris restaurant.
- He spends one of his final days in Lumière with Margaret. They go into town to pick up some lunch, and then drive to the valley for a picnic; it's a beautiful day in early fall and they don't talk about the upcoming move.
- A pair who is picking mushrooms in the woods breaks their silence—it's Madame Picard and Papa. Hassan is horrified at first, and then realizes that his Papa has lived a long time by himself and deserves to find happiness again. He's also not used to seeing his father act so carefree and fun loving.
- Hassan is forced to wrap things up with Margaret before he leaves. While they are enjoying breakfast together in her house, he nervously asks her to come with him. She declines, and they part ways.