So, I often run food as an important part of my games. Occasionally they are the focal point which a campaign may revolve around, or at least will bleed into whatever the PCs do. Food, like music, language, fashion, and other parts of culture, set atmosphere and impart meaning in ways words fail.
I will also say here I was, and still am, extremely envious of Benoist's table where he spoils his players with French cooking, sometimes even thematically related. A pity he is still on a 'personal sabbatical'. Maybe he'll join in for a recipe or two.
Anyway, it's currently late at night (the best time to go grocery shopping, I think — no crowds!), and I have around 4 lbs. of pork shoulder to marinade and then dump into the crock pot for 8+ hours. I was going to do a family traditional semi-Italian seasoning, a la bay leaf, oregano, rosemary, etc. (along with S. American family secrets that I'd tell you and then have to kill you). But I am also thinking of my PbP game here and thinking of Great Basin seasoning, like sage, sumac, pine nuts, and a shot of rye whiskey to tenderize (for the wild rye).
I'll get back and let you know what I finally chose — and whether it tasted good or not — but I thought a cooking topic would be fun here.
Anyone prepared, or interested in preparing, a campaign relevant recipe? Always wondered what Karamaikos or Ierendi food tasted like and have strong opinions on that? What does go into good dwarven grog? Share.
Well, I expected better from the sage experiment. I think the whiskey tenderizer was unnecessary with 8 hours of slow cooking, though it did impart an interesting low note. The lack of sumac, substituted with fenugreek/leek/parsley mixture and lemon peel, probably did not help. I think the parsley, and the un-fried fenugreek, lent a barely detectable bitterness which added earthiness, but overwhelmed the lemon peel. Note, from now on I will always panfry the fenugreek-ed meat before sending it anywhere else; its oils really change from that direct heat.
Other people complimented it, and added it was sage-y, but they must have been trying to be kind. It needed way more well-roundedness before it is presentable. I have higher expectations. Skip the whiskey tenderizer and go straight for more onions.
Tenderizing the meat in an herb marinade with whiskey was unnecessary and confined a lot of the flavor to the meats. Just throw it in and wait 8 hours.
Yes, the celery and cabbage are not as American Indigenous, but it needed some extra volume and I was low on onions, carrots, and other veggies.
Work-in-Progress Slow Cook Sage Pork Shoulder
3-4 lbs. Pork Shoulder, ideally whole (leave the bone in and don't trim the fat, I lost a lot of flavor from the trimmed fat even though I saved the bones)
1 shot Whiskey, tenderizer with dry herbs & salt (skip this step)
4-5 Celery stalks (or a whole celery heart), chopped large chunks
1-2 Red Bell Pepper, chopped large chunks
1 lg. Onion, yellow. (I'd add 2 now)
1/2 head Cabbage, green
8 cloves Garlic (may want to add 4 hours into cooking, they tend to fade by the 8th hour)
1 1/2 cup Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Oil (I went with butter)
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 1/2 tsp Sage
1 1/2 tsp Thyme
1 1/2 tsp Fenugreek/Leek/Parsley mix (skip and add more onion or a bay leaf)
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Sugar (counterbalance)
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Lemon Peel to taste
Out of pine nuts, and damn are those things expensive.
Skip most of the nonsense I went through, throw it all in the slow cooker and go to bed. By the 8th hour, if anything is left it'll be all cooked together. (OK, maybe stir once in a very rare while to make sure everything settles into the broth...) Goes best with a sourdough bread to sop up the juices.
We generally go through 5-8 bottles of wine and someone cooks dinner every session. WE have venison stew coming up this week.
I am an aspiring foodie and wino. I envy both Benoist's and Vreeg's gaming feasts.
That said, I don't fucking cook for the fucking ingrates I'm already GMing for. I mean, sure, I'll throw a dinner party to them on occasion, but I keep it separate from the gaming because (1) we play on week days and I couldn't find the time to prep the awesome dinners I enjoy cranking out, (2) we have to work the following day, (3) I can't GM and cook at the same time, and (4) when our L5R GM recruited his foodie brother to whip up fancy dinner for our game nights we ended up eating and drinking a lot and not really spending much time gaming.
Lately the furthest I'll go is buy some nachos (not Doritos, the oven-roasted and unseasoned stuff) and whip up a dip or two (guacamole and mango chutney are perennial favorites) and sometimes get a few cold cuts and bread. Most often we end up ordering pizza. Sometimes we open a bottle of wine, most often people default to beer (it is pretty damn hot down here, most of the year).
Opa, I like what you've done to that pork roast. I've got a charcoal grill for birthday and I'm dying to throw a piece of pork on it. By Jove, I love it that we don't have an off-topic forum, but we could (I did once) use the Facebook community for trading recipes. :D
A few recent dinner scenes amongst here (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.994220260634135.1073741827.329090750480426&type=3&uploaded=7). As well as some game images.
Quote from: LordVreeg;830916A few recent dinner scenes amongst here (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.994220260634135.1073741827.329090750480426&type=3&uploaded=7). As well as some game images.
You and Benoist spoil your players rotten. For shame... (and move closer and save me a seat. :p)
Butcher, I feel you about the challenge to balance weekdays and dinner party preparation. Also it is a challenge to not make it all about the dinner unconsciously. That, and if no one appreciates it, why bother so much?
We should talk about simple snacks, and campaign thematic snacks. What campaign setting are you running? Maybe we can blend theme and simplicity.
Thank you kindly about the pork shoulder. I am still working on it, though. I'll repost version 1.2 one day, and maybe I may even get it thematic to my liking.
As for the grill, congrats! Papaya seeds make a good meat tenderizer, too. Have pineapple, green apples, and table grapes. Tenderize chops with the papaya seeds and a bit of the fruit juices (season to taste), pork skewers with pineapple, onion, and green apples, and the leftover fruit for a fruit salad (a squeeze of lemon juice to keep it lively and fresh). And any leftover fruit juice will go great with club soda or mixed drinks.
Oh, listen to me, babbling on about food...
Quote from: Opaopajr;831039We should talk about simple snacks, and campaign thematic snacks. What campaign setting are you running? Maybe we can blend theme and simplicity.
Nothing right now, but I feel some games will lend themselves more easily to this than other. Smoked pork hocks and ale for WFRP, harissa lamb leg for Al-Qadim or Glorantha's Pavis... hell, didn't Ed Greenwood go into considerable gastronomic depth with his Realms articles?
Aquelarre, a dark fantasy/horror RPG set in Medieval Spain, also dedicates decent word count to the dietary habits of Moors, Christians and Jews of that time and place.
Modern and SF games are a bitch, though. What do you serve at a World of Darkness or Eclipse Phase game?
Quote from: Opaopajr;831039Oh, listen to me, babbling on about food...
Taking the food talk to PM before Pundit or OHT bust our balls about it. ;)
Hey, we're keeping it game related. We can talk about food. :p
Medieval Spain, the secret is more garlic than you can shake at a religious heathen/infidel -- with two hands! :D
WoD would depend on the locale. Eclipse Phase could be a lot of fun with atomic gastronomy, but could flop too. At least there's Dippin' Dots and Jones Soda as a last resort.
Now that I'm running Moonsea > Phlan stuff I kinda should try a Finnish dish. But I had Finnish roommates and I know their palate. Ingredients would be very sparse. Maybe lots of salmiakki licorice alcohol and beef pot roast n carrot consommé, the roast being the main course. There'll be no extra seasoning in the roast or consommé besides salt (maybe a lone morel mushroom, but that's too far). I need more recipes. :(
Quote from: Opaopajr;831099WoD would depend on the locale.
I can see that working for 3, 4 sessions tops.
Quote from: Opaopajr;831099Eclipse Phase could be a lot of fun with atomic gastronomy, but could flop too. At least there's Dippin' Dots and Jones Soda as a last resort.
Look, I'm as entertained by molecular gimmicks in haute cuisine as the next guy, but I'm not cooking this stuff.
I think it's a fun idea, to "pair" food and drink with games, and by Jove my enthusiasm towards food and wine is right up there with my enthusiasm towards games, but all too often it's not terribly practical.
Oh, I don't know. Cooking can save quite a bit on the cost of eating out while gathered together. Which is why I think a discussion of thematic snacks is called for.
I mean, just think of Maztica:
1. chili salsa, of the many delightful varieties. spicy mango, salsa fresco, guacamole, etc.
2. mild pepper slices, or bell pepper slices, as corn chip alternatives. (chilies dipped in chili salsa was a common Aztecan hors d'oeuvres).
3. Cantina taco snacks with a fajitas and refried bean bar.
4. anticuchos skewers (yay, cow's heart!), for blood sacrifice or Lopango.
5. hot chocolate drinks and dark chocolate nibs, chili flakes optional.
6. something seasonal to the campaign...
I mean, it's kinda more fun than chips and Mt. Dew. ;)
Let's try, Dessarin Valley, in honor of 5e's new Princes of the Apocalypse.
Things we know -- a) river fish is a major meat source, from smaller, oilier brown fish (rudd? roach?) to larger, tastier white meat fish (trout? pike?). b) farmlands! though it has erratic weather (MidWestern farmland?).
hm a cage trap being lowered into boiling rape oil could be interesting
Quote from: tuypo1;831420hm a cage trap being lowered into boiling rape oil could be interesting
:huhsign:
Uh, so what'cha cookin' in the cage trap? And how does it relate to gaming?
the thread is about cooking as inspiration i started thinking about things done while cooking my favorite method of cooking is deep frying
therefor adventurers fall into a pit the lid closes on top of them and they are lowered into and burn to death in a vat of oil
Turmish Kabobs v. Moonsea Minute Steaks
(or, what does your people do with a pound of beef?)
Turmish, a land along the souther part of the Sea of Fallen Stars and near the Vilhon Reach, is a well populated land with much trade and it seems like seasonings. The nearness of the Old Empires (Chessenta = Greece, Unther = Sumer, Mulhorand = Egypt), and drawings of the locals, suggests a Near East aesthetic along with similarly readily available food stuffs.
Whereas Moonsea is deliberately drawn from the Finnish mythos and Scandinavian/Ural Altaic region. Weather doesn't support similar ingredients and suggest maybe a shift in food aesthetics. Trade for certain spices might be still done even if they are expensive, but perhaps reserved for seasonal festivities.
Turmish Kabobs
1 lb beef, grounded
1/4 cup minced onions
1/2 tsp garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper, crushed
dusting of cumin, cinnamon, and clove mix to taste (less than 1 tsp)
1 Tbsp lemon juice, wine, or vinegar
Mix salt, pepper, and other dry spices in with the Tbps of wet seasoning, to avoid spice clumping when mixing into the ground beef. Drizzle atop beef, along with garlic and onions, and hand mix together evenly. Shape into small cylinders onto skewers (or a green onion spear to pan fry!) and cook!
Moonsea Minute Steak
1 lb beef, sliced very thin
1 pat butter (rare: drop of safflower oil to season butter)
sprinkle of salt to taste
Get the skillet very hot. Pan off fire, half butter pat right before beef to grease pan and brown the utter. Drop beef in and back to the flame. Salt sprinkle. 15 to 30 seconds in, add rest of butter to avoid beef sticking to pan and flavor. Sprinkle salt again. Remove from pan onto plate to rest, and spoon some of the salted and browned butter atop.
So what do you see as a recipe for another fantasy land?
http://www.saveur.com/smoked-almond-smores-whiskey-marshmallows-recipe
For next gaming session that it is cold enough to use the fireplace
Quote from: LordVreeg;838064http://www.saveur.com/smoked-almond-smores-whiskey-marshmallows-recipe
For next gaming session that it is cold enough to use the fireplace
... That twist on an old favorite is intoxicating. But what to wash it down with?
Quote from: Opaopajr;838171... That twist on an old favorite is intoxicating. But what to wash it down with?
Late harvest Riesling, Tokaj, Jerez Amontillado or white port.
Ooh, tokaj! Others sound great too, but adding tokaj to that sounds like a decadent finish.
If I host a gaming night, I occasionally make pasta sauce from scratch - nothing epicurean, just slow cooked meat, garlic, onions and stewed tomatoes.
However, I consider the importance of food within game settings - especially interesting to me is the cooking of fantastical animals. AKA, is giant scorpion like a massive lobster? Do we break out the butter sauce?
Now that is cool! What would giant scorpion taste like? I heard deep fried scorpion is tasty...
Closest I can think would be George Zimmern's Bizarre Foods where he ate large, tarantula-like spider in Vietnam. They were caught in bamboo tubes then thrown directly upon an open hearth. They were a delicacy shared by males while drinking. He said the roasted flesh inside was unbelievable — he said it tasted like steamed lobster with butter already added.
I don't know how much to believe him sometimes. :)
Quote from: Opaopajr;839378Now that is cool! What would giant scorpion taste like? I heard deep fried scorpion is tasty...
I have no idea (I only ever ate lemon ants, and only once. Tasted like lemongrass), but other people who eat bugs have been nice enough to share their impressions here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniella-martin/what-do-bugs-taste-like-a_b_901775.html) and here (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/295197) and here (http://www.yummly.com/dish/2011/09/bugs-that-taste-like-bacon-other-edible-insects/).