Raisa's Journey II: Pasta Della Strega

I had just finished my year at the Kaiser-Kochschule, studying under the greatest of Efenland’s culinary scholars and magirists. While I had initially intended to return to Hühnerberg for the Sommertide, my gastromancy professor recommended I search out an apprenticeship in Alta Marea, a maritime city-state in northeastern Latium. Alta Marea was a city built on stilts with vast canals and bridges stretching throughout the landscape like veins. Many exotic spices and ingredients flowed in and out of Alta Marea’s docks attracting culinary elites and scholars alike. Even the great Dario d'Ambrosio, High-Magirist and Personal Chef of the Empress of Latium started out as an apprentice for a cuisinier in Alta Marea. 

I had been wandering the Culinary District of Alta Marea for days now, despite beaming recommendations from my tutors I was rejected from seemingly every restaurant and eatery in Alta Marea. “Come here, signorina!”, a plump old woman with a bulbous nose and a paisley headscarf called out to me from an alleyway. The woman, who introduced herself as Strega Agnes ran a little eatery known as “Nonna Agnes”. Agnes who insisted I called her Nonna (everyone called her Nonna), brought me in and gave me a plate of the most delicious pasta I have ever tasted. After eating my fill, I explained I was a culinary student looking to earn my keep and expand my horizons. Nonna offered me a position in her kitchen stating that her old helper, Grasso Antonio, had betrayed her trust and she had hexed him. Working in Nonna’s kitchen I was given quite a bit of creative leeway in exploring different Latin dishes and cuisine. The one rule I was commanded to obey was to never touch the large iron pot in the back of her kitchen. The pot constantly emitted sounds of fizzing and bubbling and honestly gave me quite a fright while cleaning late at night. 

One night after a large supper rush, I was cleaning the kitchen when Nonna pulled me aside, “Signorina, come, come, I will teach you the truth”. She hoisted off the iron lid of the mysterious pot with a graceful dexterity unbefitting of her frail arms. Inside was a pool of boiling water despite no flame to light it. She stuck her long wooden spoon into the water and stirred while chanting the phrase “Bola, Bola, Bola”, three times. The water roiled and pasta began sprouting from the water like worms emerging from the earth. Once the pasta filled the pot to the brim, she gave three kisses and the water calmed and no more pasta emerged. This pot was the Cauldron of Similagina, the Latin Goddess of Pasta. A legendary artifact handed down to the high priestesses of Similagina, seemingly lost centuries ago. “A long time ago, in a faraway city, my old apprentice, used this pot but could not control its power, the pot overflowed and engulfed the city, the pasta slithered across the ground like snakes, strangling and entrapping the citizens. Many lives were lost that day and if it were not for the quick thinking of my sister, we would have lost the city. Raisa, you remind me of my sister, I will teach you in the ways of magia della cucina.” 

Over the following months, Nonna taught me the ways of Gastromancy, the art of magical cooking. During my final days with her she gifted me a Cochleārium, a magical spoon that is a Gastromancer’s wand in performing their magic. Each Cochleārium she taught me was crafted meticulously by hand, mine was carved from a rich dark walnut wood with engraved runes and sigils lining the shaft. As a test of what I had learned, she instructed me to prepare her a dish of Pasta della Strega or Pasta of the Witch, a gastromancy dish that allowed one to divine the future. The recipe is as follows:

The Ancient Art of Pastacraft

Ingredients: 

    • 4 Eggs

    • 15 Milliliters of Squid Ink

    • 300 Grams of Flour

    • 150 Grams of Semolina 

    • 1 Kilogram of Squid (cleaned and cut into rings)

    • 30 Milliliters of Olive Oil

    • 13 Cloves of Garlic

    • 200 Milliliters of White Wine

    • 20 Grams of Basil

    • 4 Sprigs of Oregano

    • 2 Lemons (zested and juiced)

    • 1 Fly Agaric Mushroom

    • 5 Grams of Dried Henbane 

    • 100 Grams of Butter

    • Salt and Black Pepper

Instructions:

First, this dish utilizes poisonous ingredients and must only be prepared by a properly trained Gastromancer who is capable of neutralizing said ingredients. To prepare the pasta first combine your eggs and squid ink until homogenous. Grind your Dried Henbane into a powder with a mortar and pestle and combine with the flour and semolina in a large bowl. Make a shallow well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg and ink mixture. Kneed the mixture by hand for 10 minutes until it forms a dough, if too crumbly add more water, if too sticky add more flour. Form the dough into a ball and then let sit for one hour. then split the dough into four equal portions. Set the fourth portion aside, then flatten the three remaining portions onto a floured surface. Roll out the three portions with a baker’s pin until paper thin. Dust the rolled out dough with flour then fold loosely like an accordion. Cut the rolled dough across the folds into thin strips with your Athame. Unroll the pasta and let dry for a quarter-hour.

Prepare a fire then cast the set-aside forth portion of dough into the fire while chanting, “IO TRIVIA, GREAT GODDESS OF THE CROSSROADS, ACCEPT MY OFFERING AND SHOW ME THE WAY”. Then bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. In a large frypan heat up the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add the chopped up Fly Agaric mushroom, oregano, wine, 50 milliliters of water and cook while stirring frequently with your Cochleārium. Cook for five minutes while focusing your Æther through your Cochleārium and into the dish. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook till al dente. Put aside 50 milliliters of the pasta water and drain the rest of the pasta. While the pasta cooks, add the squid to the pan and season with salt and pepper for three minutes. Add the cooked pasta, butter, basil, lemon zest, lemon juice and pasta water to the pan and cook for 3 minutes. While cooking stir constantly with your Cochleārium and chant “THREE-FACED GODDESS, MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE, THE TIME IS NOW, THE PLACE IS HERE, OPEN THE GATE AND GUIDE US”. Plate and serve. A trained diviner can foretell the future by viewing the shapes and knots of the pasta when plated. Those who consume at least a serving of the pasta experience prophetic dreams the next time they fall asleep. 

Raisa of Hühnerberg, the Author of the Liber Gustum, Magirist, and Gastronomancer Extraordinaire

Previous: Raisa and the Academy 

Next: Raisa and the Serpent of Mediolanum 

The Races of Efenland

There are many great races of Efenland of varying shapes and sizes. Prior to the Great Thaw, Efenland was mainly inhabited by hunter-gatherer races such as Elves and Dwarves (before they migrated into the mountains and underground). While conflict still existed, most of the races lived in harmony. This ended following the Great Thaw as humans migrated from the South Lands and conquered Efenland. Most other races fled to the periphery of the continent fearing subjugation by the Iron Fist of Man. However, many non-Human races still live throughout Efenland continuously warry of the human invaders. 

Average Height of the Races of Efenland

• Human: Homo Sapiens, the most common race of Efenland, they were once minority prior to the Great Thaw but through blood and iron conquered the continent and drove many of its natives into exile. Adult Humans stand anywhere between five and six feet tall. 

• Elves: Homo Sylvanus, the Elves resemble a more slender Human and is slightly taller with most adult Elves standing around six feet tall. They have noticeably large ears, pronounced brow ridges, slightly larger eyes with epicanthic folds. There are four main groups of Elves in Efenland, the Väki of the North, the Alfar of the East, the Sylvans of the South and the Tuatha of the West. Most continue life as hunter-gatherer’s and are more prone to magic than other races. 

• Dwarves: Homo Pymeus, the Dwarves resemble shorter and stouter humans standing between four and five feet tall. Both male and female Dwarves have excessive body hair and wide noses with pronounced brow ridges. Long ago a great conflict between the Dwarves and the Elves drove the Dwarves into the mountains where they built vast underground cavernous cities. The Dwarves who remained on the surface diverged and became a nomadic society known as the Gnomes. 

• Giants: Homo Gigantes, the largest of the Efenlander races, Giants stand between ten and twelve feet tall, but legends tell of Giants who grew to fifteen or even twenty feet tall. Giants have abnormally long arms and large feet to help with balance. They possess a secondary heart-like organ known as a Follis to help move blood throughout their massive body. While they originally lived in the forests of central Efenland, conflict with Humans and other races have driven them into the mountains. 

• Goblins: Homo Gobelinus, the shortest of the Efenlander races, standing between three to four feet tall. They resemble Homo Floresiensis with Gibbon like features such as a flat nose, sunken eyes, enlarged canine teeth, and long arms. They have notably longer fingers and toes than most hominids allowing Goblins rapid movement through the narrow mountain passes and dense woodlands. They typically form tight-knit tribes with limited agriculture and mostly nomadic hunter-gathering. Humans have led multiple wars of extermination against the Goblins and extreme discrimination and prejudice has forced many of the Goblins out of their homelands and pushed many into crime to make ends meet. 

• Ogres: Homo Barbarus, also known as Orcs, are one of the most divergent members of the Hominidae Family with some scholars arguing they are a transitional race between the Gorillini and Hominina. Ogres stand between six and seven feet tall and both male and females are highly muscular with very thick necks. They resemble a cross between a Hairless Gorilla and Homo Habilis with a flat nose, pronounced brow ridge, sunken eyes, and large canines. They are highly aggressive and territorial but have been witnessed being very tender with their own younglings. They are a primarily matriarchal society. 

Raisa's Journey I: Urschnitzel

I was born in an Abramite shtetl in the outskirts of the Austerreich. A small village by the name Hühnerberg, roughly six leagues north of Vindobana. Born a quarter-dwarf (on my mother’s side) I was raised to only cook and clean for the men of the village. While I loathed the cleaning, I grew to love cooking. Not that I cared much for what the boys said of my cooking (nor did I care much for boys anyways). It was my Bubbe Breindel who taught me everything I knew during my time in Hühnerberg. It was during one Sabbat in late Summer when Bubbe Breindel told me to leave Hühnerberg for Vindobana, there I could truly hone my culinary craft. Under the cover of night, I stole away from Hühnerberg, atop my donkey Eyzl, with only my cooking journal, a set of knives, and a couple ducats. 

Vindobana was breath-taking, a bustling urban metropolis in contrast to the rural hovels of Hühnerberg. Steamwagons cruised through the packed streets as smoke billowed from the rooftops. Barkers and merchants shouted above the roar of factories hoping to attract a couple ducats from passerby’s. At Vindobana’s heart was the Kaiser-Kochschule, a culinary university of the highest degree where lowly cooks are trained to be high-chefs or magirists. The few students who show enough aptitude are taught in the ways of gastromancy or culinary magic. Gastromancy as an art infuses magic into the cooking process creating unusual meals and eliciting magical effects upon tasting said dish. 

I was allowed to prepare a single dish for my entrance exam, to be tasted by legendary headmaster of the university. While other cooks prepared elaborate Gaulish entrées and Latin desserts, I opted for something more homely. Urschnitzel is often sneered at by the culinary elite, seen as a dish for drunken farmers not the nobility. Ur or Aurochs were massive horned bulls that could produce enough milk to feed a whole family but due to the amount of grazing land they required, they could only be raised in rural Austerreich. I could only imagine how I looked, a quarter-dwarf frantically pummeling strips of Auroch Steak with an oversized mallet as the grains fell from the inspector’s hour-glass. I only just managed to garnish the Urschnitzel with a handful of Petersilie when the bell rang. 

Applicants fell like flies as the Headmaster rejected dish after dish. I began to sweat as I feared maybe I had simplified my dish too much, why would the instructor of high-chefs choose to eat a simple peasant dish? With a swift flourish of his silver fork and knife, the Headmaster sliced off a coin sized piece of the Urschnitzel. It felt like the entire world froze as I waited in dread for the Headmaster to slowly chew and swallow the morsel. He said nothing but gave me a curt smile and moved along to the next candidate. When the Deputy Headmaster stepped up to the Podium, I sighed and began to pack up my tools expecting the worst. But by some miracle, he called my name, Raisa of Hühnerberg, as among the newly accepted students at the university. It was only after the ceremony did the Deputy Headmaster stop me to say that the Headmaster had grown up a poor boy in the mining town of Iuvavum, the dish having reminded him of his humble origins and childhood. The recipe for Urschnitzel is as follows:

Depiction of an Adult Male Auroch or Ur

Ingredients:

    • 4 Auroch Steaks (roughly 200 grams each)

    • 50 Grams of Flour

    • 7 Grams of Paprika

    • 5 Grams of Salt

    • 3 Grams of Pepper

    • 2 Eggs

    • 250 Grams of Grated Bread

    • 140 Grams of Auroch Lard

    • 2 Grams of Petersilie

    • 2 Lemons

Instructions:

Pound the steaks with an iron mallet to an even 10 millimeter thickness. Add the flour, paprika, salt and pepper together into a bowl. Add the grated bread and beaten eggs in two other bowls. In a large cast-iron scutella pan heat the auroch lard until melted and crackling. Dredge each steak in the flour mixture first, then the beaten eggs and finally the grated bread completely coating the steak. Then gingerly place each steak into the scutella pan. Fry each steak for 3 to 4 minutes on each side until a deep golden bread. Serve with lemon slices and garnish with petersilie. 

Raisa of Hühnerberg, the Author of the Liber Gustum, Magirist, and Gastronomancer Extraordinaire

Next: Raisa and the Pasta Pot

Raisa's Journey IV: Pain Renaître

It was the Year 1837 of Our Lord in the outer realms of the Lordship of Bourgogne. I had left Mediolanum roughly a Moon prior seeking apprenticeship under the Magister’s Guild of Gaul. The Kingship of Gaul is a land of great adversity, the wealthy nobility dined upon the most lavish of dishes and exotic plates while their serfs tilled the lands with barely a rusk or porridge to feed themselves. 

While serfdom had been eliminated throughout much of western Efenland, the crown of Gaul had managed to hold onto this archaic practice through the Sorciers de la Cour. Magical bastards, the lot of them, the Sorciers are an order of sycophantic mages who pledged loyalty to anyone with enough ducats to their name and delighted in tormenting the Gaulish peasantry. 

As my donkey, Eyzl, was fatigued after days of travel along the River Rhône, I made haste towards the village of Riverain roughly ten leagues south of Lugdunum. Spotting the glow of fires and chimney smokes emerging from the cozy cottages of the local peasantry, I tethered Eyzl to a nearby hitch. Inside I met a married couple of villeins, Ysabeau and Onfroi and their young daughter whose name I could not remember. Ysabeau and Onfroi were indebted to the Manor of Lord Barnabé, a local nobleman (and a glutton at that). In exchange for a couple cuprum, the couple provided me with a bed of a straw to sleep, water for Eyzl and food and drink. They presented me with a grainy bread not dissimilar to Horsebread, they called this bread Pain Renaître or Reborn Bread in Anglish. 

Ysabeau explained to be that Pain Renaître was a specialty of the local Gaulish serfs. It was created using the scraps and crumbs of bread, flour and seeds often sweeping the flours to scavenge what little they could during times of hardship. As such the bread was reborn from discarded scraps. In exchange for a couple more cuprum she offered to provide me the recipe for inclusion in the Liber Gustum. Since the composition of Pain Renaître differed based on what was available, this recipe will simply provide a standard example for the bread. The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

    • 50 Grams of Barley Flour

    • 50 Grams of Wheat Flour

    • 50 Grams of Millet Flour

    • 50 Grams of Rye Flour

    • 250 Grams of Breadcrumbs

    • 200 Grams of Dried Peas

    • 200 Grams of Brewer’s Barm

    • 350 Milliliters of Water

Instructions:

Grind your Breadcrumbs and 100 grams of your Dried Peas into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. Mix together your Barley, Wheat, Millet, and Rye flours. Add the powdered Breadcrumbs and Dried Peas to the flours and slowly add in the Brewer’s Barm and Water. Mix until a thick dough is formed then leave covered for 4 hours. Roughly chop the remaining 100 grams of Dried Peas and knead them into the dough. Form the dough into a ball then wrap in a cloth and place in a covered basket for one day and one night. Score your loaf with a knife and place in a hot oven and bake for half an hour. If one desires a longer shelf life, let the loaf cool for a night then bake once again for half an hour. 

Author’s Notes: 

This grainy bread is a personal favorite of mine, whilst the nobility preferred the milled white flours, I much prefer the earthy flavor and texture of peasant breads. Ysabeau provided me with two loaves for the road and I savored them greatly, using them to sop up a stew I prepared and later toasting and slathering with lard and honey. I should consider some way to rebrand this simple dish to the gourmands at the Guild. 

Raisa of Hühnerberg, the Author of the Liber Gustum, Magirist, and Gastronomancer Extraordinaire 

Previous: Raisa and the Serpent of Mediolanum

Next: Raisa and the Cuisinier of Parys

Curried Cinnamon Bird: Dālcīnīcīl Karee

The Dālcīnīcīl, better known as the Cynnamolgus or Cinnamon Bird, is a pheasant sized bird of prey native to the Eastern Lands of Mahadvipa. The Dālcīnīcīl builds its nests atop the tallest of trees using bark and branches stripped from cinnamon trees. In stripping the trees of their bark, the Dālcīnīcīl consumes a large amount of raw cinnamon throughout its life. However, hunting the Dālcīnīcīl is no easy task requiring a great amount of cleverness to take down the elusive birds. Arabian hunters opted to lure the Dālcīnīcīl with chunks of meat then net it whereas the native Mahadvipans opted to use lead tipped arrows to send the bird’s nest crashing to the ground. The bird’s nest can be ground up and used for its cinnamon content and the bird itself can be cooked for the nobility where it is praised for its natural spicy quality. Dālcīnīcīl Karee or Curried Cynnamolgus is unique among Mahadvipan dishes for using less spices than most Curries as the Dālcīnīcīl possesses its own unique spice. 

Depiction of the Dālcīnīcīl or Cynnamolgus

Hunting of the Dālcīnīcīl or Cynnamolgus

Ingredients:

    • 1200 Grams of Dālcīnīcīl Meat (legs and breasts)

    • 2 Mangos

    • 2 Onions

    • 60 Grams of Ghee

    • 75 Grams of Sugar

    • 30 Grams of Gingifer

    • 25 Grams of Garam Masala

    • 6 Lemons (juiced)

    • 2 Cardamom Pods

    • 2 Cloves of Garlic

    • 500 Milliliters of Coconut Milk

Instructions:

To prepare Dālcīnīcīl Karee first peel your mangos and dice then mince your garlic, gingifer, and onions. Add 30 grams of ghee and sugar to a pan and heat until the ghee is melted, and the sugar is starting to brown. Then add the lemon juice and coconut milk. Let simmer for 5 minutes then set aside. Melt the remaining 30 grams of hhee to a pan and add diced mangos, garlic, gingifer, onions, cardamom, garam masala and the Dālcīnīcīl meat. Let cook for five minutes then flip the pieces over and cook for another five minutes. Place over a bed of rice and then spoon over the sauce over and serve. 

Werewolf Tea: Morgentau

Background: Morgentau or “Morning Dew” is a beloved drink among the Werewolves of Teutonia. Created to ease the pain of Vollmondkrankheit or “Full Moon Sickness” that follows a Werewolf after their violent transformation every full moon. Werewolves found themselves sickened, exhausted, and nauseated after their night of animalism and the Morgentau served to settle the stomach, ease the bones, and calm the mind. It is often drunk alongside a heaping plate of Vollmond Morgenessen.

Ingredients:

    • 500 Milliliters of Water

    • 5 Grams of Fennel

    • 5 Grams of Mayweed

    • 5 Grams of Rosemary

    • 3 Grams of Salt

    • 15 Milliliters of Honey 

Instructions:

Grind your Fennel, Mayweed, and Rosemary with a mortar and pestle then bring your water to a boil. Once boiling remove the kettle from the heat and add the ground up herbs, salt, and honey. Let steep for 10 minutes then strain and serve. 

The Imperial Cake: Torta Infernale

In the world of How To Cook Your Dragon there is one dessert to rule them all. Crafted by the Archmagirist and high-chef of the Empress of Latium, Dario d'Ambrosio, this dessert is a testament to the great poet Dante of Florentia. D'Ambrosio imagined this dish as his Magnum Opus, to fully articulate his prowess as a cook. The Torta Infernale, is a decadent nine-layer caked with each layer corresponding to one of the Nine Layers of Hell in Dante's Divina Commedia. The cake is tiered with each layer getting smaller and thinner is it moves towards the top. The dish is reserved for those of noble blood and is only served at royal weddings, coronations, and banquets. It is said that people are inherently drawn towards slices from the tiers that represent their sins. 

Depiction of the Inferno

Layer One - Limbo: The bottom layer is a traditional Hellenic Honey Cake with Pomegranate seed, the favorite of many ancient pagans.

Layer Two - Lust: The second layer is a decadent Cheese Cake with slices of Apple, Figs, and Dates resembling the fruit of temptation and seduction.

Layer Three - Gluttony: The third layer is possibly the richest layer of the cake, being a decadent dark chocolate fudge cake, molten chocolate endlessly oozing when a slice is cut.

Layer Four - Greed: The fourth layer represents the treasures of the earth by incorporating walnuts, peanuts, and macadamia nuts with ginger root.

Layer Five - Wrath: The fifth layer represents the heat of anger as a cinnamon spice cake with ground chilis, cloves, and other spices.

Layer Six - Heresy: The sixth layer represents the burning tombs of the Heretics as a rum cake with fire-scorched meringue.

Layer Seven - Violence: The seventh layer represents the blood of the violent by a layer of red velvet cake with cherry cream.

Layer Eight - Fraud: The eighth layer is not a cake but a cream pie.

Layer Nine - Treachery: The ninth layer represents the icy nature of treachery as an ice cream cake.