Week 5 Story: Leo and the Magical Spoon

    There once was a young boy named Leonardo, Leo for short, who lived in a small town in Italy. He came from a poor family and spent most of his time helping his mother around the house while his father was gone at work. Leo’s favorite chore was helping his mother cook. His favorite part was stirring the sauce with the wooden spoon. The wooden spoon was special to him because it had been in the family for ages. There was a story about the wooden spoon being magical, but it had lost its powers when it chipped. He ended up falling in love with cooking, and dreamed of being a chef and owning his own restaurant. He knew his dreams were too big, and that he would just have to settle as being the chef at home. 

Leo grew up and got a job at the town market. While he was walking to work, he happened to pass by the annual town cook off sign. Usually, the winner receives a free dinner at Giuliani’s for their family, but something happened to catch his eye. This time the prize wasn’t just a free dinner, it was the head chef job at Giuliani’s. Leo knew that Mr. Giuliani was getting older, but he didn’t think he would retire so soon. Leo grabbed the sign and continued to the market. When he was done working, he raced home and went to his mother immediately to show her the flyer. She chuckled a little, but then realized that he was serious. She knew how much her son loved to cook, and she taught him well. The next day Leo signed up for the cook off.

The cook off was a two-day event. The first day the contestants were to make their best pasta dish and two finalists would move on to the final round. Leo made Pasta Puttanesca, his favorite meal. This was one of the first recipes Leo’s mother taught him how to make. While teaching him she said, “the secret is in the stirring, you must constantly stir it, and at the end give it just a small time to simmer.” Leo always remembered this, and he did just that during the cook off. Something weird then happened as he was stirring the sauce. The wooden spoon seemed to glow. He looked up to see if anyone else noticed, but no one seemed to pay attention to him. When he looked back down, the spoon had stopped glowing. Leo had always used that spoon while cooking, and it had never done that before. He ignored it and finished making his dish.

As Mr. Giuliani went around tasting the contestant’s pastas, Leo looked up and happened to lock eyes with one of the other competitors. At that moment, the world seemed to stop, she was absolutely stunning. Her name tag read “Sofia Romano.” Leo had a warm feeling inside that he had only felt the first time he ever cooked. Leo snapped out of his trance when Mr. Giuliani began to announce the two finalists, “The two contestants moving forward to the final round are Sofia Romano and Leo Gambini.” Leo walked over to Sofia and congratulated her. When he shook her hand, there was a small spark felt by both of them. They smiled at each other and went home.

Leo couldn’t stop thinking about Sofia. He got up and prepared his sauce for the competition. As he was making it, the wooden spoon began to glow. This time the glow turned into a small face in the sauce. The sauce then started talking and said “Oh dear Leo! You have brought the family magic back. For this I shall grant you a wish.” Leo wished for him and Sofia to fall in love, and then the glow disappeared.

For the final round, Leo and Sofia had to make their best pizza. While they were cooking Leo looked up at Sofia, and she had just looked up at him. That feeling in Leo’s chest came back, and then the wooden spoon glowed again and stopped. The town had gathered to see who the lucky winner would be. Mr. Giuliani announced “these two finalists seem to have a great passion for cooking as it showed in their dishes. I have decided that I would like both of them to take my place as chef at my restaurant.” Leo and Sofia were astonished by the outcome, but delighted because they would get to see each other once again.

Old Wooden Spoon

Author’s Note: My story is a spinoff of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp by Andrew Lang. I have changed the setting and majority of the plot. There isn’t trickery or evil in my version. In the original story, Aladdin is tricked by a magician into retrieving a lamp. He was also given a ring to help him with the lamp. Aladdin ended up trapped in the cave, and while praying he rubbed the ring and a genie appeared. Later on, Aladdin was lovestruck and his mother laughed at the idea of him marrying the princess, but she ended up helping upon his request. In my story the wooden spoon represents the lamp and the ring, and the face in the pasta represents the genie. Leo’s mother taught him how to cook and chuckled at the idea of him becoming a chef, but she believed in him. In the original story, Aladdin is granted unlimited wishes but, in my story, Leo only gets one wish. I kept the idea of love at first in my story because that’s what made the original story great.