The Eldraeverse

…building civilizations with my space elves in space.

Tag Archives: food

Reshkef-Stuffed Ilist Leaves, with Fruit and Flower

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 17, 2012

Makes about 20 appetizers.

Ingredients

1 jar seawater-cured ilist leaves.
1 large onion
½ hand fresh sevet herb-mixture, adjusted seasonally
1 hand golden sun-dried Veilyns grapes
½ hand petals, flowers of pencail
1 hand mixed sweet nut paste
2 breasts of reshkef
reshkef broth
table spices and citrus juice to taste

Preparation

Rinse mature ilist leaves in several changes of cold water, then blanch leaves in boiling water until their initial blue-black color has paled to mid-blue (around four minutes).  Note that undercooked ilist leaves contain toxic alkaloids; check carefully to ensure that the leaves have reached an internal temperature above 190 degrees and/or that all traces of class C27 toxins are eliminated with thermograph or chemsniffer, respectively.  Drain leaves well.

Chop separately onion, fresh sevet herbs, and Veilyns grapes.  Mix together with pencail and nut paste, moisten with reshkef broth and mix until a thick paste is formed.  Dice the reshkef breast, and sauté until lightly cooked.  Mix the sautéed reshkef into the paste until even.  Set aside.

Individually, separate layers of ilist leaves to form pockets.  Score the fleshy inside of the leaves in a cross-hatch pattern, taking care not to penetrate the outer layer of the leaves.  (Great care should be taken since the leaves are delicate.)  Having done this, pack the ilist leaves with the reshkef-paste mixture, squeezing the edges closed again.

Place the prepared leaves in a large saucepan, with the seams at the base, covering each layer with salt.  Add reshkef broth until the uppermost layer of leaves is just covered, cover pan, and simmer for two-thirds of an hour.  Drain the liquid and remove the stuffed leaves to another plate, then cover and chill.  Before serving, drizzle the leaves with table spices and citrus juice to taste, and as appropriate.

Serve with sweet wine, preferably unspiced.

- Epicurean Follies, pub. 3169, Cileädrin Domestic Press

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Burgers ‘Round the Worlds

Leave a Comment Posted by on April 18, 2012

Greetings again, readers!

In this month’s issue of A Taste of Taste, we’re going to talk about the humble burger.  One of the simplest foods imaginable – a simple patty of spiced ground meat grilled over flame and slipped inside a bread pocket, along with some simple garnishings and a kimaes for flavor – the burger grew from its humble street-food origins in 9th century Vintiver to dominate the Imperial express-food market as the most popular of its five staples.

The best-known form today, of course, is that popularized by the Astroburger, ICC corporation (formerly Atomic Burger, before their separation from the Lovely Atom Synthetic Drinks and Liquors Company, ICC) and the regular fare of their chain of wildly successful express-food restaurants and fly-in food stops, which is very close to the Vintiver classic; the meat used is hasérgalrás, grilled medium, garnished with a sharp but plain hard cheese, onion, kesseth leaves, and a simple thick-tomato kimaes.  Variations on this essential theme can be obtained from any of dozens of burger restaurants, from simple express-food chains to the expensive burgers on offer at Don’t Eat Vat, with certified natural-grown meats and soil-cultivated garnishes.

But, as we shall see, there are thousands of variations out there.  On Eliéra alone, for example, as well as hasérgalrás we see burgers composed of meat from the reshkef, sevesúr, líhasúr, nekhalyef and tiryef in various regions, and a few even made from meat of the larger tubefish.  In the Crescent Kingdoms of Leirin and Telírvess, they are marinated in the grain liquors of the region, and served raw, with egg yolk.  In the Cyrsan Islands, burgers are garnished with fruit, and served with a honey-sweet kimaes.  In Azikhan, mushrooms are required as part of the garnish, and may even be substituted entirely for the meat.  Travinthia prefers to use loose diced or sliced meat rather than ground meat formed into patties in its burgers, and in Ellestre, they are served between grilled flatbreads, rather than in a pocket.

And then there are those that have come to us from the Empire’s other worlds, including Phílae’s many handfish burgers, Kythera’s highly-spiced garnishes, the subtly-different near-hasérúr meat of Revallá, the leaf wrappings of Clajdíä, and the cultured mixed-species meats of Aïö.

We hope you’ll enjoy joining us for our exploration of the possibilities of one of the Empire’s ubiquitous and often unconsidered foods.

Until next month, happy grilling!

- editorial page, A Taste of Taste magazine

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Because You Deserve It

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 17, 2012

ANNOUNCING, from Decadence, the Carnifex CS1100 Roasting Oven, with new FlameSheet™, All-Axis Rotisserie™, and Omniscient Chef™ technologies, for the best roasted meat dishes yet!

The Carnifex CS1100 is different from other roasters.  No more is your ability to cook the perfect roast limited by the physical limitations of a spit and a conventional oven’s heating devices, nor even by your ability to determine how the meat is cooking.  The technologies built into this state-of-the-art roaster eliminate these constraints for the professional, while the built-in library of recipes and professional skills make achieving consistent, delicious results simple for even the amateur chef.

Our patented All-Axis Rotisserie™ system makes use of vector-control technologies to suspend the roast in the center of the oven, without the use of a roasting pan or spit, and to rotate it freely around any axis to ensure even cooking and distribution of juices.

Meanwhile, FlameSheet™ nanopore burners inject fuel through myriad nanoscale orifices on each face of the oven, surrounding the roast with sheets of real flame which apply heat evenly to all parts of the roast – or rather, since every one of the nanopore burners can be controlled individually, to apply heat in a precisely uneven manner to insure the roast cooks with perfect evenness.  (Drippings can be collected in an internal reservoir for later use without impairing the even heating.)

But how are you to use these systems to best advantage?  It’s simple, with Decadence’s Omniscient Chef™ technology, which uses a kitchen-adapted form of the same nuclear magnetic resonance imaging used in medicine and engineering to provide real-time imaging of the interior of your roast, its state of cookedness, juiciness and temperature, while a specially trained AI translates this image into precise control of rotisserie and burners to make your desires real.

The CS1100 also incorporates licensed CoCooking™ technology, which uses targeted microwave irradiation to speed up roasting without impairing the delicious flavor of fire-roasted meat, and in conjunction with Omniscient Chef™ can be used selectively to enable a single roast to be prepared to a variety of different temperatures to suit every palate.

And the CS1100 naturally comes with all the usual Decadence features, including natural smoke injection and premarinade options, cyberswarm self-cleaning, integral robotic assistance and autocarving, and integration into any WeaveControl™ compliant automated or semi-automated kitchen.  The optional atmosphere isolation/airlocking system can be added at a modest extra cost for multiple-species kitchens.  Available in all traditional décor options, including shimmersilver, beaten gold, bronze or brasswork, tinted vitredur, and inlaid sapphirized enamel.

Not convinced?  Read renowned food critic Vhúfkarr Rúägh’s review of the CS1100 in next month’s issue of A Taste of Taste, or see it at your local virtual mall or domestic matter-shop today!

Decadence, ICC… because enough is never enough.

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A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine…

1 Comment Posted by on February 17, 2012

…in addition to the common standbys found on almost every world (Blue Brew, Soléä’s, Don’t Eat Vat, and so forth), the Starfall district also includes more than a few unique, local restaurants.  Here are three of our favorites:

Rhúäghz Vhúeff (2A4 Star Ln., at Meryn Ave.) is a dar-bandal ethnic restaurant.  From outside, it looks like any hole in the wall, but once you’re inside, the warmth and the rich smells of the food caught in the barrel-vault ceilings properly reflect the rich dining experience to come.  The food and drink are very traditional dar-bandal, concentrating on rare red and blue meats – including the best roast mid-leg of reshkef this writer has ever tasted – and heavy, yeasty stouts and porters.  (They do have several tables equipped with biped-friendly chairs, and will bring you your drinks in more usual glasses if you prefer, but go ahead, stick your face right in the bowl and give lapping it up your best shot.  The friendly regulars will appreciate your attempt to follow local custom, and you might just get a free drink or two.)

Chanaz Elirik (110 Summer Blvd., at Nebula Rd.) brings Cinnare street cuisine indoors, with a variety of “food stands” scattered around a multileveled open space, where you can either take your food to one of the scattered tables to sit and dine, or wander, eat, and chat as you view some of the art on display around the restaurant.

While the food produced by the Elirik team and their guest chefs is excellent, especially the shellfish and the land crustaceans, one of the major reasons to come here for lunch or an afternoon snack is the clientele.  Located almost directly between many of Delphys’s major entertainment and art studios and the starport, Chanaz Elirik attracts a fascinating range of customers with equally fascinating conversation.  Recommended for anyone, but especially for those with an interest in the arts and media.

Gianeth and Selves’ – really? – (B9 Thousand Scents Rd., btwn Coldgas Rd. and Plasma St.) is the place for those interested in the outré.  Make your reservations at least two weeks in advance and be prepared to submit cell samples when you do, because Gianeth’s is an autophagy restaurant.  One of the most highly rated chefs to come out of the Delphys Academy, the sheer variety of dishes which Gianeth Kirzaer has been able to recreate in his chosen cuisine, to say nothing of his original creations, makes this restaurant a must for anyone who wants to stay on top of truly cutting-edge dining.

And if you are among the many who’ve chosen Delphys as a honeymoon destination or to rekindle an old flame, you absolutely should not miss Gianeth’s honey-glazed Two-Heart Special.  Combine it with the imported Merianvard icewine and a reserved island bower in the District of Flowers as the evening ends for an unforgettable romantic experience.

- from Delphys, Planet of Myriad Delights, (pub. Delphys Resplendent Awareness Circle)

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The Age of Flavor

1 Comment Posted by on January 6, 2012

Rejoice, my fellow canids, for the Age of Flavor has come!

While it has taken a few years, ranchers and meatwrights across the Empire are finally beginning to sell the meat they produce in a manner appropriate for those of us blessed with our sense of smell.  While a few of our cousins may be able to discern a few of the subtleties of flavor found between naturally raised meat and vatmeat, to us, that distinction is as clear as night and day.

And now, those differences can be savored.  Following on from last month’s article on spicing up the blandness of much vatmeat, Vhúfkarr Rúägh begins a new series in this month’s issue taking us through the subtleties of today’s luxury meat market for the discerning nose; from the distinctive herbal tang of the hasérúr ranches of the Selenarian plains, the almost metallic notes from the Azikhan high valleys, the sweet overtones of the vine-fed animals of Palar and Istalyn, to the subtle nuttiness of a Veranthyr woodsbred.  Over the next year, learn how to find and procure these and a dozen other varieties of hasérgalrás raised especially for this market, and how to prepare them to best bring out their flavor.

Relatedly, our alcohol correspondent (Evell Cerron-ith-Cerron) discusses the new trend in microbrewing with a range of unsedimented, extra-yeasty dark beers appearing to suit the canine palate, and with Vhúfkarr makes some suggestions on how to coordinate them with your choice of meat.

Also in this month’s issue: a selection of recipes for Phílae handfish, how to cook with, rather than in, microgravity, and a guide to best matching spices across the Empire’s six most popular metabolic biochemistries.

Until next month, good hunting!

- editorial page, Calenmot issue of A Taste of Taste magazine

(Much as I hate to play Mr. Disclaimer here – dogs, and other canids, who haven’t been removed from Earth as ancient wolves, spent thousands upon thousands of years evolving separately, been domesticated by another species entirely, been selectively bred, genetically engineered, uplifted to sophoncy, and then genetically engineered again can’t metabolize alcohol, and are in fact poisoned by it.  So while the dar-bandal of the Empire may, thanks to their artificially enhanced livers, enjoy a nice thick stout with their steak – don’t give your dog a beer, m’kay?)

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