Cyclopean Sausage: Sikelós

Background: Sikelós is a popular mutton or lamb sausage named after the Sicel and Sicani tribes of Trinacria. The Sikelós was first created by Cyclopean tribes living in Trinacria and were later introduced to Latium and Hellnos where it spread throughout southern Efenland and the northern coast of the Sunlands. In contrast to most sausages, the Sikelós is around 30 centimeters long, a relatively normal size for a Cyclops but quite a mouthful for most humans and elves. As such a single Sikelós is typically cut in half and shared between two people. It is most commonly eaten wrapped in a flatbread with shredded pickled onions, roast garlic and Kýklopaskó cheese. Unlike Kýklopaskó, the production of Sikelós has spread far beyond the Cyclopean populace to the dinner tables of different races and creeds. There are a multitude of variations with some Latins putting wolfpeach purée and petersilie on theirs while the Gaulish variety might be served on a baguette with melted cheese and mushrooms. Kingdoms as far north as Anglia have adopted the Sikelós as well and serve it with a mustard sauce with grilled onions on a toasted roll. 

Traditional Production of Sikelós

Ingredients:

    • 2 Kilograms of Lamb Meat

    • 450 Grams of Lamb Fat

    • 30 Grams of Salt

    • 20 Grams of Rosemary 

    • 10 Grams of Fennel

    • 5 Grams of Coriander 

    • 5 Grams of Black Pepper

    • 100 Milliliters of Red Wine 

    • Lamb Entrails

    • 3 Grams of Origanum

    • 3 Grams of Thyme

Instructions:

Chop your meat into cubes and mix in the salt and let sit for a half-hour. Mix the Lamb Fat into the meat and roughly mince. Then let the mixture sit for another half-hour.  Add in the spices, herbs and wine into the meat and stir until fully combined. Add your minced meat to a meat grinder and grind into a paste. Extrude the paste into the lamb entrails, tying off every 30 centimeters lengths before separating the sections. Hang your sausages to dry in a dark and cool environment overnight before consuming with Kýklopaskó and flatbread.

The Cuisinier’s Toolbox: Knives of Gaia

The Cuisinier's Toolbox is going to be a series of entries regarding the culinary tools and equipment of the world of Gaia, the tentative name for the fantastical world of How To Cook Your Dragon.

As an aspiring chef there are many tools at your disposal whether you be a Tavern Owner, a Magirist, or a high Gastromancer. Some tools might be familiar to the commonfolk while others are only used by the culinary elite of Gaia. This entry will encompass a quick overview of the most common culinary knives throughout Gaia. 

    • The Athame: A double-edged knife commonly used in the kitchen for a variety of different         purposes.

    • The Boline: A sickled shaped knife used for cutting herbs and vegetables. 

    • The Cleaver: A heavy knife used for chopping meat and breaking bones.

    • The Culter: A small, rounded knife, the dullest of the lot, used for spreading butter and              jams. 

    • The Flayer: Despite its dark past, the flayer is best used for filleting meat and peeling               fruits.

    • The Kervan: A large knife with a surprisingly thin edge used for carving meats. 

    • The Phleam: A tiny knife used for precise cuts and incisions in meat.

    • The Seax: Every chef’s sword is their Seax, a large kitchen knife used for cutting,                    chopping, and slicing. Apprentices are typically gifted Seax’s from their masters. 

    • The Serrula: A long serrated knife used for cutting through bread. 

    • The Sica: A curved flexible blade used for de-boning fish and meat. 

    • The Whetstone: While not a knife, every aspiring cook knows that success lies in keeping        one’s knives sharp and one’s wit even sharper. 

Cyclopean Cheese: Kýklopaskó

Background: Kýklopaskó or Ciclòpichi is a popular folkcheese from Hellenos and southern Latium (specifically the Isle of Trinacria). The cheese is said to have been created by the Cyclopean tribes of Trinacria where it spread to southern Latium and Hellenos. The production of Kýklopaskó has not changed in centuries and still is created by hand with each batch requiring certification that it was created by a Cyclopean Cheesemaker who has been approved by the Arkhityrokómos (Head Cheesemaker). Despite their barbaric past, the Cyclops are highly respected for their tradition of metalworking, sheepherding, and cheesemaking. Some humans have attempted to capitalize on the popularity of Kýklopaskó by producing cheaply made cheese and selling it a lower price, this has in turn resulted in said merchants being visited by the Cyclopean Xadélfia and a swift end to their business schemes.

A Cyclops selling Kýklopasko to Hellenic sailors

Ingredients:

    • 4 Liters of Sheep Milk

    • Fresh Rumen of a Young Lamb

    • 15 Grams of Yogurt

    • 100 Grams of Salt

    • 50 Milliliters of Lemon Juice 

    • 5 Milliliters of Wine Vinegar

    • 3 Sprigs of Rosemary

Instructions:

Warm the milk to blood heat then stir in the yogurt and let sit for an hour. Pour the mixture into a fresh Rumen of a young, unweaned lamb and tie off. Gently massage the rumen to make sure the rennet is fully mixed into the milk. Let the rumen sit overnight. Cut open the rumen and pour the now congealed curds into a pot. Use a knife to roughly chop the curds into cubes. Place a cloth over a bowl then pour the curds into the cloth to let the whey drain off. Bring the corners of the cloth together and tie off, then let the bundle hang over the bowl. Allow the curds to drain for a quarter-day (six-hours). The curds should have congealed into a larger block during this time. Prepare a brine by adding 100 Grams of Salt, 5 Milliliters of Wine Vinegar, Rosemary, and 50 Milliliters of Lemon Juice to 2 Liters of Water. Submerge the cheese in the brine for 1 to 2 days then drain and let sit uncovered for another 1 to 2 days to dry. Consume with olives, Sikelós, or flatbread. 

Yuletide Sweets: Zuckerkinder

Background: The Zuckerkinder are a popular dessert consumed by children during the Festival of Yuletide. It is said that the creation of the Zuckerkinder was taught by the great Jǫlfuðr and is an example of folk or hedge magic that can be practiced by the commonfolk even those without a grain of magical potency. 

The legends say that the Zuckerkinder created from the blood of a polite child will be friendly and playful whereas a Zuckerkinder created from the blood of a naughty child will be mean and spiteful. As such children are expected to be on their best behavior or else their Zuckerkinder will torment them. Since the magic of Zuckerkinder is gifted by the Jǫlfuðr, the Zuckerkinder will only animate during Yulemonth. If the blood of a truly malicious child is added to a Zuckerkinder, it will animate and any other Zuckerkinder near it will carry the child off and they will never been seen again. 

Children chasing after a playful Zuckerkinder

Ingredients:

    • 750 Grams of Flour

    • 20 Grams of Gingifer

    • 5 Grams of Canella 

    • 12 Grams of Saleratus

    • 2 Grams of Nutmeg

    • 2 Grams of Ground Cloves

    • 1 Gram of Mace

    • 3 Grams of Salt

    • 215 Grams of Butter (softened) 

    • 350 Grams of Sugar

    • 200 Milliliters of Honey

    • 250 Milliliters of Blood from any Mammal 

    • 50 Grams of Fresh Mandragora (finely chopped)

    • 13 Drops of Children’s Blood (freshly acquired)

    • 5 Grams of Ergot 

    • 5 Grams of Traumpilz

Instructions:

Grind your Ergot and Traumpilz into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. Mix the flour, ground cloves, gingifer, canella, salt, saleratus, mace, nutmeg into a bowl. Then stir in the Ergot and Traumpilz powder. In a separate bowl beat the butter until smooth then add the sugar and honey until combined. Then slowly mix in the Mammal Blood (not the Children’s Blood) and finely chopped Fresh Mandragora. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to rest. After resting gradually and methodically mix the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture along with the Children’s Blood until a thick dough is formed. Cover the dough and let sit for a quarter-day (or 6 hours). After sitting roll out the dough to a 6 millimeter thickness. Using a knife or pastry cutter cut out humanoid shapes from the dough and lay them upon a baking platter. Place the platter in an oven and bake for 10 minutes. While baking it is imperative that one recite the following incantation, HAIL OH GREAT YULEFATHER HEAR OUR CRY, ÚR LÍFINU KEMUR BLÓÐ OG ÚR BLÓÐI KEMUR LÍF, at least seven times for the enchantment to fully take effect. Once removed from the oven, your Zuckerkinder will immediately animate upon being touched by a child and will remain animate for up to one hour before hardening and de-animating. Consuming an animate Zuckerkinder is unspeakable and must not be done under any circumstance under penalty of eternal servitude to the Jǫlfuðr.

Elven Reindeer Stew: Peurapata

Background: The Elves are an ancient people, native to the far north of Efenland they have migrated south into central Efenland over the centuries. The Elven language or Keeli has numerous dialects with the purest dialects remaining in the far north whereas the southern Elves have adopted many Teutonian, Dwarven, and Norðurlander loan words. The Northern Elves primarily refer to themselves as the Väki whereas the Southern Elves refer to themselves as the Álfar. The Álfar were driven out of central Efenland by the Teutonian Empire during the Glorious War leading to a great exodus of Elves from Efenland to the far north. The Álfar refugees have adopted the Väki tradition of raising reindeer. What is presented here is a traditional Peurapata or Reindeer Stew, a signature dish of Väki Elven cuisine. The Álfar refer to this dish as Hreindýrigrýta in their dialect. 

A herd of Väki Peura/Reindeer

Ingredients:

    • 500 Grams of Reindeer Meat

    • 1 Liter of Water

    • 1 Onion 

    • 4 Medium Juuri 

    • 30 Grams of Reindeer Fat 

    • 100 Grams of Mushrooms

    • 10 Dried Puola Berries

    • 100 Milliliters of Reindeer Milk

    • 2 Grams of Pähkinä

Instructions:

Chop the onion and shave the reindeer meat into thin slices. In a large cauldron, melt the fat over a fire. Add the onion, pähkinä and sliced reindeer meat to the hot fat and cook until browned. Add the water and simmer for half an hour while skimming off any scum that floats to the top. Slice the mushrooms and juuri then add the mushrooms, juuri, puola berries, and reindeer milk to the water. Let simmer for another half hour then serve hot. Serve with rootbread or ale. 

Dwarven Cave Sausage: Hellirpylsa

Background: 

Hellirpylsa, better known as Dwarven Cave Sausage is a staple of Dwarven Cuisine. The Dwarves or Dvergar are native to the Mountains of Niðavellir and reside in their great subterranean city of Myrkheimr. During the Glorious War between the Elves of Álfheimr and the Humans of Teutonia, the Dwarves infamously chose to remain neutral in the conflict, they returned to their impenetrable fortresses carved into the mountainsides. In their earthen citadels, the Dwarven Jarls and Thanes built massive underground mushroom farms and bred Cave Boars for sustenance as war raged on outside their homes. The Hellirpylsa became a necessity given its long term storage that could stay fresh for a year in the cool dark climates and was often used as rations alongside Svǫpprmjǫl (Fungus Meal). Hellirpylsa is typically served with Gullinnmjǫðr (Gold Mead) and Svǫpprbrauð (Fungus Bread).

A series of Hellirpylsa with their unique mold casing 

Ingredients:

    • 1 Kilogram of Troglobite Mammal Meat (Cave Boar, Cave Lion, Cave Bear, etc.)

    • 25 Grams of Salt

    • 1 Length of Mammalian Entrail Casing

    • 5 Grams of Svǫpprsáð

    • 2 Grams of Nutmeg

    • 1 Gram of Hvítrmós

    • 1 Gram of Grármygla Spores (for producing a culture)

Instructions:

Separate the meat from the bone and remove any excess fat. Mix in 5 grams of Salt, the Svǫpprsáð, Nutmeg, and Hvítrmós into the meat. Let sit for 10 minutes, continuously pressing out any excess moisture with a cheese cloth then remove and grind into mince. Extrude the minced meat into the entrail casings in 20 centimeter lengths, tying them off individually. Rub the Hellirpylsa with a Grármygla culture then place in a warm humid climate for a day and a night in darkness to feed the culture. This in turn produces the Hellirpylsa's distinctive flavor and allows for longer preservation. Once cultured rub the sausages in a coating of the remaining salt then hang in a cool, dark, and dry climate for up to six weeks to fully cure. Do not worry as the Grármygla will germinate on the skin of the Hellirpylsa however if yellow mold begins to grow on the skin, discard the batch. Once cured the Hellirpylsa must be kept in a cool, dark, and dry environment but will stay edible for up to a year.

Sailor's Friend

Background: Sailor’s Sickness, Redgum, or Seasickness, Davey Jones’ Revenge has been given many names over the centuries ever since humans took to the high seas. First identified by explorers crossing the Atlantean Ocean during the 13th Century when they noticed their crew falling over from lethargy, weakness, and sores. Nobody knew the origin of the mysterious illness that’d turn imperial frigates into ghost ships. It wasn’t until Hindustani merchants advised the sailors of utilizing citrus fruits to combat the “sickness of bloody gums” that a cure was discovered. Efenlander sailors were quick to adopt this cure and bottle it as what would become known as Sailor’s Friend. Due to its legitimately delicious flavor, it became extremely popular even on land as sailors brought it to bars and taverns. It is considered a quintessential drink of Southern Markland

Depiction of an outbreak of Davey Jones' Revenge

Ingredients:

    • 3 Centiliters of Water

    • 3 Centiliters of Kill-Devil Rum

    • 2 Centiliters of Orange Juice

    • 2 Centiliters of Lemon Juice

    • ½ Centiliter of Sugarcane Juice 

    • The Water and Kill-Devil Rum can be substituted by 6 Centiliters of Grog if desired.

Instructions:

Boil the water to ensure freshness and let fully cool. Mix water and Kill-Devil Rum (other Rums are acceptable but use Kill-Devil for authenticity) in a bucket. Skip this step if using Grog. Add the Orange Juice and Lemon Juice into the bucket and stir together. Slowly stir in the Sugarcane Juice then serve or bottle for future consumption. If making a Privateer, add 2 Centiliters of Lime Juice with the addition of Orange, Lemon, and Lime zest served over ice.