| Book Compilation | |||
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| Note | |||
| This is a compilation of books assembled for easier reading. |
Corelanyan Cuisine, Vol. 1
Welcome to the very first volume of Pameryawen's Essential Corelanyan Cuisine! (The publisher told me the title was too long to put of the book cover, but this is the full title of my work.) When I reached the young age of one hundred, I left my home island of Solstice and traveled to other Altmer settlements and was absolutely shocked to discover that they enjoyed (and a use that word loosely) a completely different cuisine compared to what we experience on Solstice. Their food is quite bland, with muted flavors and a tepid selection of practically tasteless spices. Their food isn't necessarily inedible, but rather boring when compared to the dishes we know and love. I decided to write a little recipe book to capture the essential essence of Corelanyan Cuisine, which somehow grew to encompass multiple volumes.
A culture is defined not only by its beliefs, its art, and its social institutions, but by its cuisine as well. What follows are the most purely Corelanyan and Solstice recipes that define us and bring comfort and excitement to our tables.
Fattened Tide Guppies
Traditional Summerset dishes utilize a lot of fish. Kippered Silvertrout is a royal delicacy and Eton Sprat are commonly served for supper to commoners. When Clan Corelanya arrived on Solstice, they could no longer find Silvertrout nor the wriggly Eton Sprat, so they improvised. Instead of Kippered Silvertrout, we served Kippered Bronzebass. Replacing Eton Sprat, however, was quite impossible. Eton Sprat has a very nutty flavor and fatty texture that you can't quite replicate with any other fish. Yet again, improvisation! A Corelanyan noble experimented by raising a tide guppy inside a rather large coconut to attempt to infuse it with nuttiness. The guppy grew quite fat and, much to the noble's surprise, he had created an amazing culinary innovation. This tide guppy is exclusively served raw, as its fat content makes it burn too quickly when exposed to high heat.
Ingredients:
One live tide guppy or other small fish.
A whole coconut.
Algae.
Seawater.
Preparation:
Cut the coconut in half, retaining both halves.
Retain enough coconut water to fill one half to the midway point.
Fill the rest of the half coconut with seawater.
Take the fish and gently transfer it into the filled half coconut.
Cover the surface of the liquid with algae.
Cutting a large, circular hole in the top of the unfilled half to allow in sunlight and air.
Place the half of the coconut with the hole over the filled half.
Set the coconut on a windowsill.
Every day, add a handful of algae through the hole.
After repeating for seven days, remove the top half.
Pour out the liquid.
Notice that your fish has become fat and tasty.
Descale the fish and cut off its head.
Slice the fish into bite-sized filets.
Serve raw atop steamed saiewin grains and enjoy!
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Nocturnal's Mystery
In my professional opinion, the dish affectionately known as Nocturnal's Mystery is one of the pinnacle dishes of Corelanyan cuisine. Served exclusively at dusk and evening festivals, never in the morning or the afternoon, it is celebrated for its bold flavor and tasty surprise. The dish gets its name as it was originally prepared by a devout follower of Nocturnal to Kinlady Torinwe and Argonian elders during the negotiations to end tensions on the island. The chef attempted to create the Argonian delicacy, Saxhleel Nagahsee, but in a preparation that would be palatable to High Elf tastes. In traditional Nagahsee, a rodent fed a diet of rice, parsnips, and mushrooms is placed within a snakeskin and served alive and kicking to Argonian diners. As Altmer will never consume a rodent of any kind and we never eat our meat live, the chef substituted other, more suitable creatures, and made sure to cook everything until it was quite dead. I understand that some Saxhleel enjoy the wriggling feel of the live mouse in their Nagahsee, but I certainly do not. Ensure that you begin cooking this dish early in the morning so it will reach the proper doneness by evening.
Ingredients:
A large coral crab (never a mudcrab).
A chicken, plucked and beheaded.
A guar, eyes removed.
3 heads of garlic, each split in half.
A large pineapple.
Saiewin grains.
Preparation:
Take your chicken, split it half, and remove the intestines.
Place one garlic head within, half a head on each side.
Take the coral crab and pry open the top shell.
Spread the saiewin into the crab.
Atop the saiewin, place your chicken, skin side up.
Place several rings of pineapple so they form a circle around the chicken.
Sprinkle a generous amount of serren pepper over the chicken and pineapple.
Place the top shell back on the crab. If the top won't stay down, tie together with twine
Slice open your guar, downwards from neck to groin.
Remove the innards.
Insert the stuffed crab into the guar, and add the remaining garlic heads.
Roast guar over a bed of hot coals until the scales turn a dusky gray.
Serve on a silver platter with Queens Sauce (see Volume 2).
Corelanyan Cuisine, Vol. 2
This is the second volume of Pameryawen's Essential Corelanyan Cuisine! (The publisher still tells me that the full title is too long to put of the book cover.)
One thing that is nearly impossible to grow on Solstice is wheat. The soil here is too sandy or too soft to support the cultivation of wheat crops. While some nobles have managed to establish private wheat fields for their personal use, most here utilize a common cereal grain known as saiewin. This absolutely delightful grain has for multiple uses here on Solstice. Saiewin noodles, bread, sweetrolls, and batter for frying fish are just some of the ways we utilize this grain. Saiewin is made from saie blades, which resembles a light green grass that grows in rows of stalks that can reach as high as a tall Altmer.
The young stalks are rigid and have a high starch content. As the plants age, they sprout reddish brown flowers with strands of spiky seeds. Once these growths sprout, the stalks should no longer be used to make saiewin grain. The flowers turn the starchy blades bitter and the spiky seeds are poisonous to everyone except Argonians. The saie blades must be harvested while they are young and reach between two and six feet in height, which usually takes a year. They are best harvested in winter.
Saiewin Noodles in Fish-Fruit Broth
This tasty dish is served at food sellers throughout Sunport and is a favorite of guild workers, college docents, and nobles alike.
Ingredients:
A bowl of ground saiewin grain.
A mug of fresh water.
Two handfuls of stockfish.
Two plums.
A clove of garlic.
A mug of seawater.
Rinds of a sun melon.
Preparation:
Combine ground saiewin and fresh water in a large bowl.
Knead into a ball and set aside to rest.
In a large pot, combine seawater, garlic, plums, stockfish, and sun-melon rinds.
Heat to a rolling boil.
Form your saiewin dough into a sheet.
Cut into noodles and place on a flat pan.
Dry the noodles over a low flame until rigid.
Place noodles into the boiling fish-fruit broth.
Cook noodles to desired consistency.
Scoop into bowls and serve.
Queens Sauce
Meridia, Azura, and Nocturnal are our most sacred and beloved Three Queens. Each guides us in our lives and our routines, as they are the suns, the stars, and the night. It is said that a young acolyte created a special sauce for a festival on Azura's worship day. The sauce was so well received that Azura herself took him to her realm of Moonshadow and rewarded him. Later, the recipe was adjusted to add ingredients to honor Meridia and Nocturnal, creating the fabulous and versatile sauce known today as Queens Sauce. Midnight Peppercorns for Nocturnal, Dusk Dillweed for Azura, and Sunleaves for Meridia.
Ingredients:
A scoop of sunspice (Meridia).
A sprig of dusk dillweed (Azura).
A pinch of ground midnight peppercorns (Nocturnal).
Yolk of one guar or chicken egg.
Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a bowl, in the proscribed order.
Whisk until combined.
Serve as a dressing on salad or as a sauce on the dish of your choice.