Arthimur's Guide to Human Cuisine (book)

Arthimur's Guide to Human Cuisine

Foreword

Being the esteemed cook that I am under his majesty Caduan Chelochi, I have done a recent study in the fare of our Human subjects in Zoluren, as well as made a study of foods of our closest neighbors in Therengia, whom despite some differences of opinion in government over the years still seem to share a common interest in food. I have found over the course of my dabbling with the tastes of other races as well as Human, that Humans seem to have a certain knack of creating splendid feasts from ingredients that by themselves would be meager or common. The peasants especially seem to excel at this, and more often than not have I disguised myself as a wanderer to sup at their tables to get an inside look at how they live. If any of those remember the lanky stranger or remember finding a silver mysteriously placed on the hearth after offering hospitality and actually read this book someday, I hope they can forgive my deception. I assure you none of the recipes I may have acquired leave the royal library.

In any case, I have taken the basics of what I have learned as a chef and from peasant life to compile this small book that offers a sampling of basic Human foods. Please enjoy!

Arthimur Contesisant, 165 A.V.

Chapter One: Common Zoluren Fare

Basic Pasta

The vital staple food of this province's Human population. Usually made just before serving, it is sometimes pasty but clings to any flavors and herbs and mixtures served with it. I have also heard of instances of peasants drying this for storage in the winter when chickens do not lay so well.

4 handfuls wheat flour 
3 chicken eggs 
3 spoons water 
 

Put flour on chilled kitchen board, make a well in the center. Add eggs and water in center and beat firmly, adding small amounts of flour in until it is all combined. Knead. Roll out thinly over the board and cut into strips. When strips dry boil in a large pot of water.

Boar Sausages

There are many versions of this sausage, but this is my personal recipe. Boar and pig sausage is widely used in the Zoluren province especially. It is normally rather spicy, and is usually served fresh, unlike the dried jerkies sometimes used by a few other races. It is also often served with pasta.

6 handfuls of ground boar meat 
3 ladles of boar fat 
1 spoon of hot pepper 
   (for milder sausage 1 Halfling spoon of hot pepper 
    and a Halfling spoon of marjoram) 
a Halfling spoon of salt 
half of a Halfling spoon of dried sage, black pepper, 
    coriander, caraway 
 

Mix ingredients and put in sausage funnel. Push into intestine casings. Boil in large pot of water.

Red Fish Sauce

A typical spicy fish sauce used in many pubs around the Oxwaithe waterfront. The pubs are less than reputable, perhaps, but a good sauce is worth the hassle. Served with pasta.

5 tomatoes 
2 red peppers 
1 clove garlic 
1 ladle clam oil 
spoon of butter 
1 spoon hot pepper 
2 Halfling spoons sea salt 
1 5 stone filet of grek 
12 shucked clams 
5 unshucked steamed clams 
10 anchovies 
 

Peel and boil tomatoes. In hot pan add butter, chopped peppers, and hot pepper. Cook til peppers are soft. Add tomatoes and oil. On low heat add grek and clams, and simmer until flesh is white. Add anchovies. Pour over pasta. Add steamed clams to top.

Meat Sauce

This recipe I have found in several farming family homes extending all the way to Kaerna. It is served with pasta, although I have also seen a similar rice version.

2 handfuls ground pork 
2 handfuls ground beef 
1 Halfling spoons salt 
1 Halfling spoon pepper 
half a handful fresh parsley, minced 
half a handful basil, minced 
half an onion, minced 
1 clove of garlic 
1 spoon dried marjoram 
1 ladle oil 
 

Combine pork and beef and brown in hot pan. Mix other ingredients and add to pan. Heat through and then serve over pasta.

Pebble Soup

This is considered a staple peasant food in many Human communities. Basic leftover pasta is rolled into pebble-shaped pieces and set to dry about 6 anlaen before serving. The pasta, if cooked correctly to just underdone, creates a pleasant texture in the otherwise plain broth. The name seems to have originated during the war when food was scarce, and it was said that peasants were made to eat pebble and stone to survive. This seems to have been less than true, but rather they lived on plain broth and flat bread, with a Halfling spoon of the pebbled pasta to give it body. Now, however, the pasta is actually the main ingredient to the soup.

2 Handfuls pebbled pasta (pasta rolled into pea-sized 
    balls) 
1 onion minced 
half a carrot, minced 
half a pepper or celery stalk, minced 
6 ladles meat broth 
2 spoons salt 
1 Halfling spoon of pepper 
 

Away from center of fire or stove, add onion carrot and other vegetables into broth. Add salt, pepper and other spices to taste. Cook for 2 to four anlaen. Add pasta ten minutes before serving. Usually served with toasted buttered bread on top.

Sausage Pie

Sausage pies are very popular among the working class, as it can be baked the evening before to be tied in cloth and taken to work or the fields for a midday meal.

half a rope of boar sausage, diced 
3 potatoes, diced 
3 onions, sliced 
1 carrot,  diced 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1 spoon salt 
1 spoon black pepper 
half a round of White Zoluren cheese, cubed 
  
Crust: 
3 handfuls wheat flour 
1 spoon ice water 
1 egg white 
1 egg yolk 
 

Mix egg white and ice water into flour with knife until it begins to look like pebbles. Divide in half and roll it out thin. Line pan with dough and prick with knife. Add sausage, potatoes, onions, carrots, garlic, cheese, and spices. Put other dough on top, brush with egg yolk. Cover and bake for an anlas.

Chapter Two: Common Therengian Fare

River Rice

This staple food known to be shared by both Humans and River Elves in the area is a short, somewhat bland grain used in a variety of ways. To enhance its natural nutty flavor, fry gently in butter before boiling or steaming.

Saffron Venison Rice

Pheasant, leucro, and bear also can be successfully used in this recipe. The mixture, though slightly sweet because of the apple, is strong in flavor, to offset the sometimes unpredictable taste discrepancies that come with hunted game. This meal is especially popular in the mid-autumn to early winter when the animals are in prime condition.

10 stones of venison, braised and chopped 
2 ladles of venison broth 
2 handfuls of rice 
1 Halfling spoon saffron 
1 spoon salt 
1 Halfling spoon thyme 
half a handful of dried apple, diced 
half a handful of pine nuts 
 

In a bowl steep saffron in broth for 5 roissaen. Add all ingredients, except for rice, into a large pot. Put rice in cloth and drape over pot. Put lid over rice. Put over medium flame for 15 roissaen. Remove cloth and add rice to pot. Stir occasionally. Cook until broth is gone and rice has sticky consistency.

Therengian Apple Pie

Perfect for any table, this common treat is often served with coffee. Golden apples are almost exclusively used in Therengia for this, as the red tend to break up and sugar when cooking. Make with basic crust, sprinkled with sugar (use Halfling confection sugar if you want a more frosted look).

6 Gold apples 
1 lemon 
half a handful of sugar 
a few drops of Therengian white wine 
2 spoons of flour 
1 spoon of butter 
 

Peel and core apples and slice thinly. Dust with flour and add to pie crust. Pour in sugar and mix lightly. Sprinkle wine lightly to taste. Form apples so that they are slightly higher in the center and put spoonful of butter in center. Cover with crust. Bake for half an anlaen.

Apple Dumplings

There's been some controversy over time whether this recipe first originated from the Human or Halfling culture. I'm inclined to think that both of these cultures had some influence in it, as well as other Riverhaven influences.

Dough: 
4 Gold or pippin apples 
4 handfuls flour 
2 spoons cream of tartar 
1 Halfling spoon of salt 
3 spoons of lard 
1 half ladle of milk 
1 half ladle of cream 
2 spoons of sugar 
 
Sauce: 
Ladle of apple juice 
1 half ladle of water 
1 nutmeg ground 
pinch of ground cinnamon 

Combine sauce ingredients and heat, then set aside. Combine flour, tartar, salt, and sugar. Cut in lard and mix until it is grainy throughout. Add milk until it turns into a dough. Kneed and roll it out to about half a nail in width, cut into four squares. Put peeled and cored apple in center and wrap dough around it. Put in pan and pour sauce over. Cover and bake for half an anlaen, basting the pastries occasionally with the sauce. Add the cream. Bake for 15 more roissaen and serve warm.

Roasted Ram

1 crown of thunder lamb 
5 medium turnips 
handful of parsley 
1 onion 
3 cloves garlic 
1 Halfling spoon of rosemary, crushed 
1 spoon of salt 
1 spoon of thyme 
 

Chop and stuff crown with ingredients, rub butter into meat, or stab meat and tuck butter in openings. Cover and roast for 2 anlaen. For a sweeter roast, glaze the ram with apple juice an anlaen into cooking.

Chapter Three: Festive Foods

Elven Blood Pudding

This dish, almost exclusively served at noble weddings, was originally developed in the Human-Elven War as a custom to protect the couple from their enemies. Of course, real Elven blood has not been used since then, and instead today pork blood is used. Despite protests from Elven leaders on several occasions, the name has remained the same.

1 pig's liver 
Handful of oatmeal 
3 ladles pigs blood 
1 onion chopped 
15 stones of lard 
Halfling spoon of salt 
Half a Halfling spoon of allspice 
Beef casings 
 

Stew pig's liver until tender, then chop. Mix all the ingredients together and put it in a sausage funnel. Fill casings. Put in shallow pan in a large pan of water and cover, steam for 4 to 5 anlaen.

Chocolate Coins

Traditionally used for games in merchant style weddings, these tasty treats have extended to many other sorts of parties. In the past, these were a part of a gambling spree held by the groom's family the night before the ceremony, and then passed out to the children afterwards.

6 stones of chocolate, solid 
3 spoons butter 
3 spoons cream 
2 Halfling spoons vanilla or rum 
Half hand of sugar 
 

Melt chocolate over flames, do not let pan touch stove or flames. Add other ingredients a little at a time, stir continuously. Pour into candy mold or spoon dots of chocolate onto cold paper. Chill thoroughly. Wrap in bronze paper.

The Peasant's Feast

This dish is usually served at weddings, but is also a staple food for many. Originally hailing from Therengia, the dish is normally made with rice, although pasta variations with a spicier base (eliminating the glazing step) have also surfaced over time.

10 handfuls of rice 
10 ladles of pork broth (or beef) 
1 pork bone (or beef) 
3 spoons of saffron 
3 spoons of cinnamon 
2 spoons salt 
2 ladles of apple or ginger honey 
4 sweet onions 
5 hot peppers 
8 tomatoes 
2 cloves garlic 
 

Boil rice in broth for half an anlas. To the honey, add the cinnamon, saffron, and salt. Strain out the rice and glaze with the honey mixture. Put in pot with cut and peeled tomatoes, onions, minced peppers, garlic, and bone. Add back in a ladle of broth to bottom of pan and cover. Add more broth, a ladle at a time, as needed to create steam. Cook for 2 anlaen, then keep warm until served.