Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically at the end of the chapter. Appendix 1 Folk words and language usage, Appendix 2 Castle places, food, animals, plants and minerals, Appendix 3 a lexicon of Folk and Appendix 4 an explanation of the Folk calendar, time, weights and measures. All follow the story chapters.
28th of Faarl Day 237
Iola had been surprised the strong tasting, to her at any rate, Waggoners’ Hare had been particularly popular with adults, especially elder adults. It had been maekt with far more venison than hare, failing vegetables and excess noodles prepared for a lunch soup. Turner had been to have spaech with her concerning frozen concentrate for a dozen or so gallons of soup. Iola had initially produced the concentrate at the request of the inshore fishers which Turner had heard she now traded with many who crafted away from the Keep. “I’m five or six lunes pregnant and perfectly hale, Iola, yet I’ve got to leave the Keep for at least half a lune. I just can’t cope with all the care family believe I have to have. Otday understands I’m pregnant not ill, and mercy and gratitude to the man he treats me as he always has. He suggestet a short trip on the waggon for my peace of mind and has all in readith, but it would make our lifes easier if we could trade for some of your soup concentrate. What would be your price for say enough small blocks to make a dozen gallons?”
“I’ll give you the concentrate now on the understanding that you’ll pay me when you can, Turner, for you need it now, and I’d prefer payment in meat later rather than in tokens now. There’s no hurry to pay, and I’m willing to let you decide what the soup is worth.” From Turner’s point of view it was the perfect trade and she left Iola ready to pay over the odds in meat because it meant she could leave the following day.
Hares were not common near the Keep, but Turner had paid Iola for the soup with three old, white jacks(1) that she and Otday had killed and grallocht a tenner since. Otday telt her the meat was payment for the soup but the skins were hers in gratitude for her trust. He’d added that all of the several different soups had been excellent. Tied to the outside of the waggon the cold had frozen the grallocht hares, complete with their giblets, till they had been brought in to the kitchens. Not willing to jeopardise the still fragile relationship her office had with some of the butchers, Iola asked Alwydd to skin them for her. He’d asked her if she’d wished the fur, which she hadn’t, and she was astonished when he telt her how much was in the account with the furriers he’d opened for her with the pelts, for it was a lot more than she’d have asked any for the soup. Though a little of the strong tasting meat went a long way, and the sample had taken a remarkable quantity of failing vegetables without it being obvious, three hares had been not nearly enough to make a full batch of soup, so Iola had asked Will if he could provide her with any more hare. Will had said, “Not immediately, nor even betimes due to the weather, Iola, but I suggest you use venison as it is a similar taste. If you will, I shall tell my hunters there is now a requirement for hare. Oft, rather than risk braeking an arrow they ignore them as it is not a popular meat.”
She’d said, “I’ll see how the soup is acceptet first, and if it is appreciatet I’ll let you know regards the hare, Will. My gratitude for the idea of the venison.” When she had explained to Dabchick what she wished, Dabchick had telt her that though the hunters had not yet brought in any venison it was usually available, but Sgœnne, when looking for aurochs to make sausage with, had found a small red deer carcass that had been overlookt in one of the warmer cool chambers and as a result the stag had been overhung. Dabchick explained that since it would be much stronger tasting than usual they had been going to dilute it in a large batch of aurochs sausage, but better she taekt it. The hare, the overhung venison, the necks from animals of a dozen species mostly various kinds of deer, and a quantity of mixt, bony, fatty trimmings Dabchick had intended to offer Iola for stock, along with more noodles specifically maekt for the soup and a generous amount of roots in need of use, had enabled twelve hundred gallons to be produced. Nine hundred were frozen and the remainder was nearly all consumed over two eve meals with many elders asking how oft it would be on the menu. Iola considered the aegt venison to have been perfect to extend the hare, and Dabchick said she would leave all the meat on a pair of carcasses and set them aside to age for her as soon as she had them. Iola had telt Will she could use whatever hare his crafters could provide.
The bakers, who maekt the noodles, had come to realise Iola’s activities were enhancing their significance as cooks rather than as just bakers of bread. Toad in the Hole(2) was popular and usually servt with boiled waxroots,(3) a dark green and gravy. Baking was a high status craft to the Folk, but it had little status in the kitchens, so after producing the Toad in the Hole the bakers had been eager to widen their produce in line with Iola’s requests for spiced or seeded noodles, dumplings and what she called soup rolls, fist siezt and shaped, seeded bannocks,(4) none which they had produced before, though the soup rolls were a little like quarter siezt manchettes.(5) Oft she wished soup rolls in huge quantities, ten thousand or possibly double that when soup was on the main menu, for many enjoyed them and ate two, but they were ridiculously easy to make using pounded, soft, fatty solids left over from rendering lard and dripping. Iola had asked that the fatty solids rather than clarified dripping or lard be uest to give a more savoury flavour to the rolls.
Only a small proportion of the solids had ever been uest in gravy before, but Coriander, who was the Mistress baker, had started using the solids for a variety of types of bread. Dabchick and Coriander had been pleased that most of what had previously been uest as hen food was saving lard and dripping, which had always been in short supply in spring and early summer, and producing tasty products for next to no cost other than that of the flour and a trace of salt and yeast. To produce the rolls, Coriander had the bakers’ long tables placed end to end in front of the ovens. Within minutes, lines of apprentices could start with dough at the far ends of the tables and have hundreds in the ovens at the other ends. They were quick to bake, taking only twenty minutes even when the ovens had cooled considerably and oft only ten when the ovens were hot. As they didn’t need a tin they created very little work for the bakers or the kitcheners(6) who washed up. When she couldn’t give them much notice, Iola sent crafters to assist the bakers. Her crafters worked opposite the bakers forming double lines, one each side of the tables. It was a very efficient process, and so good an opportunity for the two sets of crafters to enjoy exchanging gossip many senior bakers joined their apprentices.
The bakers knew the Folk only ate so much bread, so if they ate soup rolls they didn’t eat something else which meant they weren’t baking much more bread than before. Since many types of dough were maekt up overnight, every night, and Iola had asked that the soup rolls were maekt with what ever was available, Coriander regarded the soup rolls as extremely convenient to produce and the fatty solids were eventually uest in many other bread products, not just rolls. There were rarely many soup rolls left over, and what there were the packed meal makers dealt with as they had become popular as sandwiches. Saught, who was the Mistress packed meal maker, had had spaech with Iola concerning what types of rolls would keep best for use nextday. Iola had admitted, “I don’t really know, Saught. I suspect the bakers would be the best to ask. I do know crusty barley rolls only keep for two days and on the second day are best uest buttert, to counter the drieth, with calt meats and pickles. They’re good with things like Presst Tongue, Slicet Heart, Boiled Ham, that’s Boilt Saltt Gris,(7) and Corned Beef as well as meat though. I haven’t seen any corned beef here, but its easy enough to make, its just kine(8) meat maekt like saltt gris but with spices in the brine too, you’d probably call it Cornt9 Kine. After it’s been pickelt you cook it in simmering water for three or four hours and then let it dry off and cool before slicing. I’d use the simmering liquid in stock, and I suppose you could use aurochs and other meats too.”
Tongue and saltt gris were no surprise to Saught, but heart was, “How do you use the heart, Iola?”
“I don’t suppose it matters how it’s cookt, but boiling would be easiest. Let it cool so it’s easy to remove all the fat and non edible material before slicing, you can do it with your hand you don’t need a knife. Then slice it calt just like any other cookt meat. If you like, I could boil them for you in a kettle of stock and send them to you.”
`
“Gratitude, Iola. I’ll ask Dabchick to make me some cornt kine, and I’ll try the heart, but heart fat and the tops are unpleasant, so after we remove them, what would you wish doing with them.” Saught, like all in the kitchens, knew Iola wished everything that could feed the Folk to do so, even if none else realised it could.
“Send them to Dabchick, I’ll tell her expect them, and she’ll have the tubes cutt off for the dogs and the rest probably mincet for meatballs, sausage or sayal.(10) Trim as much off as you will because none of it will be wastet.”
Saught went to see the bakers who, to her surprise, were little more helpful than Iola. Molly explained, “Once bread leaves us it never comes back as loafs. Any bread that stales all, including us, send to the provisioners. What they don’t provide Eudes with for fryt bread braekfast slices they crumb. They have a special mill to do it. You should see it, it’s astonishing. Two of them turn the handles to keep the stones going fast enough, once they are, another puts loafs in and almost instantly crumb comes out. The only bread that returns hither is the crumb Ingot collects from the provisioners to use in the biscuits for the dogs. In general rye keeps best, then wheat, then oats. Breadseed,(11) smallseed,(12) marranth,(13) conegrass(14) and barley, don’t keep long, but most bread uses mixt cereal flours which are oft blendet with flour maekt from pulses too.”
It wasn’t long before the bakers were receiving sizeable orders for specific types of soup rolls from the packed meal makers who were no longer making sandwiches for folk who were happy to take what they were given, but were asking for what they liekt best. Coriander had mentioned she was thinking they needed a pair of larger ovens to make production of the soup rolls faster. She had idly suggested to some colleagues, “If the ovens had doors at the back as well as at the front then they could be unloadet by crafters at the back who would not be preventing the crafters at the front almost instantly reloading them. I shall make enquiries.”
The bakers were keen to widen their range of products as far as possible, and were becoming innovative too as a result of Vivienne’s contribution, but she freely admitted, though she had worked for a long time in a specialist bakery, there was much concerning baking in its widest sense she knew little of. When Iola had asked the bakers to make the soup rolls, Coriander had asked her what else did she know of they could try. Much of what Iola knew of she had no idea how to make, but she had telt them of French loafs, bread sticks, pizza, gnocchi, dumplings, poppadom, prawn crackers, sour dough, farmhouse loafs, crumpets, oven bottom muffins and a host of other products, many of which Vivienne knew how to make, but many of which she didn’t.
Iola had been thinking of creating a soup that would use substantial quantities of redroot(15) because she knew Coaltit had a need for them to be uest within a lune. It was in conversation with Coriander and Vivienne she’d asked Coriander what kinds of pasties they baked for Saught’s packed meal crafters. Coriander had telt them of a wide variety of fillings and Vivienne remarked, “That sounds like a Cornish Pasty. Suet pastry, cubed meat, starchroot,(16) waxroot, winteroot,(17) onions and seasoning. The only difference I can see is the way you fill them. To make Cornish pasties you start with a circle of pastry put a line of filling through the centre and draw the sides up to crimp them together at the top. The crimpt top was a traditional finish to what was a traditional receipt from Cornwall, hence the name. Whereas you put the filling on one side of the circle and fold the other side over to crimp the pastry on the edge. Cornish pasties will look different, and may hap create interest.”
“Some times we use bigroot(18) rather than winteroot. It depends on what’s available. We use sweetroot(19) too but not too much in the mix.” Coriander said.
Iola suggested, “If you maekt a batch with the winteroot replacet by redroot you’d be helping Coaltit. She needs a lot uest. You could call them Cornish Carrots.”
“Why? Are carrots a kind of pasty?”
“No. Redroots are yclept carrots whence we come. I’m thinking you may have to experiment with the ingredient proportions, Coriander, for redroots can be almost as sweet as sweetroot, often too sweet to use in quantity in a savoury dish,” Vivienne cautioned.
“I’m sure my crafters will manage, for we can always add more cookt starchroot or waxroot to the mix, but my gratitude for the ideas.”
The bakers baked a variety of things using what they referred to as risings, rather than yeast. Iola was interested in the risings and asked Coriander for details of it. “It’s a mixture of two things, Iola. The most important one is grindt up whitish crystals(20) the waggoners and foragers find near hot springs. Most is gathert from the edges of Steaming Waters Lake. The powder froths to produce bubbles like yeast, but it needs help. Joseph sells us the crystals his crafters find in wine barrels.(21) We crush them to powder and they help the bubbles, but you can use buttermilk or fruit juice.(22) Sours work best, but buttermilk doesn’t leave a sour taste. It’s what we use in the batter for Toad in the Hole.”
Iola concluded that risings were like baking powder, and would probably work in soda bread and poppadom. Poppadom she knew were maekt with some kind of pulse flour. Risings would probably make good prawn crackers too, but she had no idea what they were maekt from. She intended to have risings tried in soup dumplings as soon as possible.
Pizzas were a lunchtime success, and as they were merely large, thin, yeast risen bannocks, spread with pounded loveapples(23) and bellfruit,(24) grated cheese, sliced air dried sausage and much left unserved from the previous eve’s meal the bakers considered them useful and easy to produce. They were served with dried, rough crushed mild mercyfruit,(25) mixt herbs and more grated cheese as accompaniments for diners to help themselfs to.
Iola and Vivienne had both suggested the bakers have spaech with some of the other newfolk because they should be able to find someone who knew how to bake at least some of what they had telt them of. Coriander had asked the Master at arms staff to make enquiries on the bakers’ behalf and to their delight, they had come across Michelle, now crafting making cheese, who was a skilled and knowledgable baker and cook too. She had agreed to cross craft with them for two days a tenner, and to write down for them what she knew. She had given them a dozen receipts to try there and then, and much to their joy, said it would probably take her a lune or two to recall and write down all the rest in her memory, for there was much. The pastry cooks had been amazed at the huge range of sweet pastries Michelle had introduced them to using yeast and what they regarded as bakers’ methods. The only dish they had previously prepared that had been remotely similar to her receipts was Fat Bread, a pudding maekt of stale bread, fruit, suet and spices sweetened with sweet roots, which was served with a sweet sauce.
A significant innovation brought by Michelle had been Puff Pastry, which she had telt of in connection with the making of the popular sausage rolls. Puff pastry had maekt sausage rolls even more popular, especially calt in packed meals. Iola in conversation with Michelle and Vivienne had mentioned the risings, and Michelle had said, “I’m not surprised, Iola. I know baking powder is just a mixture of cream of tarter and bicarbonate of soda(26) and both have been known for a long time on Earth. I mixed them myself once or twice when I ran out of baking powder, and I usually used bicarbonate of soda with buttermilk for soda bread. I’ll speak to Nancy, she may know more because she uest to lecture on the history of science.” They had spaken of all they were aware of and maekt notes for Michelle to mull over. “Prawn crackers were made with flour from a tropical root.(27) I can’t remember the name of the root, Iola, but it was tapioca flour. There’s probably little chance of finding that here because it’s too cold, but no doubt something else will be able to produce a similar product. I’ll ask and see what I can do. Changing the subject, if you replace a third of the flour in dumplings with breadcrumb they rise better. I meant to mention it before but forgot. We’ll maybe need to experiment with the exact proportions because the flour here is different. I’ll tell Coriander.”
“Do you know how to make pork pies, Michelle?” asked Iola.
“Yes, but I rarely bothered because the ones made by the village butcher were so good. Why?”
“It occurt to me that Saught may like to use them for packt meals and the salad makers would appreciate them for variety too. Coriander wishes new ideas and would probably like to make hot water pastry, but I have never knoewn how it was maekt.”
“There’re hundreds of recipes, probably as many as there are cooks, but they’re all basically the same, flour, fat and hot water. It’s very easy to make. None of the amounts are critical, and as usual the seasoning is a matter of personal taste. I know Coriander’s bakers would make the pastry, but who would make the filling and the jelly? And what would be used for pork because gris isn’t the same?”
“Yes it’s not, but I could make the jelly from gris feet and the feet of many other things too. I use offcuts any hap to add substance to soup. The meat could be almost aught including gris. Dabchick would be happy to make the mix from what she needet uest and what ever vegetables she and Coaltit considert appropriate. Would you have spaech with Coriander regards the pastry? I presume its the same no matter the pie size?”
“Yes, it’s the same but there’s a limit to how big you can make them or you don’t get enough jelly and crust with some of the pieces. I doubt it would work as a tray bake, but it’s maybe worth a try using a thicker crust with something to hold it up to provide space for the jelly. I’ll have a word with Coriander, and give her an idea of how much filling and jelly a given quantity of pastry needs, but I suppose as long as there’s enough any surplus mix could go in sausage or soup and jelly in stock or soup.”
“The pork pies my butcher used to make had hard boiled eggs in the middle, Michelle. That made a slice of pork pie cooked in a loaf tin look nice on a plate,” added Vivienne.
“So did mine.” Michelle said, “So I’ll tell her about that too, and no doubt Dabchick and Coaltit will get back to you on the filling, Iola.” Michelle paused in thought and said, “I don’t know how you two feel, but I don’t think my life has ever been this exciting. After Rodney died I thought my world had ended. I certainly never thought I’d be happily married again. I suppose the truth is my life on Earth did end, but I’m having a lot of fun on Castle.”
Vivienne nodded, but said, “My life never really started before Castle. I suppose I was content, but looking back I can see I was never happy. I’d reared two children to whom I was just a convenience, and when I wasn’t that any more they left leaving no contact details. I’d never even got close to being married, and like you, Michelle, I’m now happily married. I’m looking forward to children and my life has never been this good. Strange really what a difference introducing someone to a pork pie can make!”
Iola smiled and said, “The difference is not due to introducing things like pork pies, Vivienne. It’s due to being appreciatet and valuet for sharing them. Castle is a good place. My dad dien in the army, and my mum remarryt, but she’d changt. It was almost like she’d dien with Dad. My stepfather was a minister, but he wasn’t a kind man. I was only ever happy at my friend’s house. I don’t feel old enough to marry yet, but I have agreen to marry Heron one day, and I have more fun crafting here than ever in my life before. It’s far better than going to school which we were telt was preparing us for life. Now I’m not preparing for my life. I’m living it.” The three women went their separate ways each thinking her first life may have been very different, but life now was good, and she was happy for the other two too.
To the bakers’ surprise even Ingot’s production of dog biscuits from vermin spoilt grain and flour was promoting their status, though the vermin spoilt materials would betimes be uest and thereafter he would be using just enough good grains and flour to bake other leftovers into dog biscuits.
Hot Water Pies were in almost endless variety regards flour and filling, but it was agreed they were best with just meat and no vegetables. The small individual pies with pickles were an instant packed meal success for their convenience, but the half stride long, loaf tin versions uest for slices of pie with salad, and the tray bake versions would have to wait upon warmer weather for judgement since few wished salad when there were so few fresh ingredients available and most preferred hot meals when it was so cold.
Much less strong tasting than the hare soup, though equally popular, but with the young, had been the Duck Dumple maekt from the carcasses of poultry and game birds, and the finely chopped leaf stalks and cores of whiteleaf(28) after the bulk of the whiteleaf was sent to the vegetable cooks. The bakers had maekt the light, fluffy, fragrant dumplings with crushed, dry toasted cumin seed and risings added to the flour and breadcrumb mix. The soup had been accompanied by the darker, tough, outer leafs of the whiteleaf, which had been de-stalked, crisp dried, crumbled, and sprinkled over the soup as it was served, a duly recorded, celebrated and appreciated idea discovered by Fledgeling, one of Iola’s most limited crafters. Fledgeling had been cleaning the stoves when she noticed a dried leaf on the edge of one, and when she picked it up to remove it it had disintegrated, but some of the hot leaf had stuck to her fingers. She had put her hot fingers into her mouth to cool them, and it tasted good, strong, but good. Intrigued, she had put a fresh leaf on the stove edge, and she’d watched in fascination as it dried and shrivelled in front of her eyes. A minute of so later, still watching the leaf and wondering how she could transfer it off the stove before it burnt without braeking and losing it, or burning her fingers, Letta had asked her what she was doing.
Fledgeling had decided to push the leaf off the stove onto a plate with the handle of her brush, and as she did, she said to Letta, “It tastes good. Eat some, Letta.” Letta, who though limited was nowhere near as limited as Fledgeling, after tasting the leaf had agreed it was good and suggested they went to tell Iola. Iola had decided to use the leafs, maekt up to the required quantity with some kail, as a soup accompaniment, Crispy Kail Crumble, and had credited the idea to Fledgeling. That Fledgeling could be so highly thought of for such a simple idea reinforced Iola’s crafters in their belief they were all important to her. Milligan, who had read Fledgeling’s discovery from the record in the accompaniments book to the assembled soup kitchen staff and proposed the toast to her, was fascinated by the loyalty Iola created in her much older staff in such a natural way at the derisory cost of a few gallons of wine and a little time every now and again, and he was considering how he could establish her as a rôle model for some of his more promising junior cooks.
Iola’s crafters had only maekt twenty gallons of the hot, spicy vegetable and pulse soup, Mercy Water, that had been created from gourd, the tiny bright red pulses that went sunrise(29) on cooking, green beans,(30) peas, redroots, garlic, lastbloom root,(31) earthnuts,(32) and considerable input from Spoonbill including dried mercyfruit and grindt fireseed.(33) The accompanying soup rolls had been baked with a little dried mercyfruit powder, some of Spoonbill’s spice mix and a proportion of rye flour which Master baker Knawel had said, “Will not only give them a different taste and a chewy texture, the darker colour will enable them to be instantly distinguisht from those containing no mercyfruit.” Though it had been enjoyed by those who liekt hot, spicy food, Will had had a second portion in the stead of a main meal, and it had quickly disappeared, it had been decided twenty gallons was only a little over cautious, and next time they would make twenty-five gallons, though the rolls would contain rather more mercyfruit. It had also been decided due to its popularity the chopped sour apple and onion with honey accompaniment would be produced in larger quantities to accompany a variety of other soups.
There were four gangs of firekeepers who looked after the stoves in the kitchens. The kitchen firekeeper gangers, Beaver, Cnut, Godwin and Ilsa, were assisted by their deputies Holdfast, Jeanne, Tara and Lanfranc respectively. Whilst not the brightest of folk, none were intellectually impaired, and they managed gangs of two dozen crafters in the warm weather, but like the soup makers the gangs were reinforced by scores of volunteers in the cold season. The gangs had to have deputy gangers because they worked by day as well as by night. Unlike other fires in the Keep, the kitchen stoves only uest wood because seaburn(34) degraded the firebrick linings too quickly. That was a mixt gift for the kitchen firekeepers because, though the seaburn stores were farther away than the wood stores, the stoves were voracious in their wood consumption which was why their gangs had so many crafters. The night gang spent most of their time restocking the kitchens’ wood stores. The gangs not only brought in wood to the kitchens’ wood store, they managed the stoves in accordance with the cooks’ instructions and removed the ashes to the composters’ ash store too.
It had been Jeanne of the firekeepers, a few of who had started to take their leaf with Iola’s crafters, who had telt Iola bones could be uest in the stoves as fuel. Initially she had been reluctant to allow the firekeepers to burn the bones before finding out what the composters’ reaction to that was. Furrier of the compost makers had telt her they crushed all the ashes with a horse drawn roller before use, and the bones were appreciated as they maekt good compost. They had always burnt the bones themselfs before, and then crushed them twice. Since all bones in the entire kitchens ended up with her crafters, if she burnt them on their behalf it was only the ashes from her stoves they would have to crush twice, and she would have their gratitude for the work she was saving them. He telt her they would create a separate store for her ashes and inform the firekeepers of the new arrangement. Iola, as a result of Fledgeling’s discovery of the Crispy Kail Crumble had had the smiths make steel shelfs to fit over the horizontal section of the flues of her stoves to dry aught she desired, and she’d thought them ideal to dry the bones on before burning them.
To Iola the key to all her problems was organisation and time, and a lack of either was the enemy of efficiency. Her solution was simple, besides the fifty gallons of hot soup which had to be available at a minute’s notice, always have reserves of ready-cooked soup frozen to cover an emergency, it hadn’t taken long before she had frozen a two day’s supply of soup, but elsewise prepare everything as far in advance as possible and allow cooking time to replace crafter effort. Aurochs, kine, bear, winter-elk or other beast heads intended for ‘kine’ soup had been difficult things for her crafters to cut the meat off, and hence it had not been maekt oft despite it’s popularity. Iola’s technique of having entire heads of smaller beasts and heads of larger beasts chopped in half by the butchers simmered overnight maekt it easy to remove all the edible material from them. Overnight cooking resulted in the previously fused skull bones simply falling away from one another and all else coming easily away from the bone, which produced more edible material than had previously been possible. Though they were virtually tasteless, cooked brains finely chopped or pressed through a coarse sieve put both nourishment and body into a soup, and there were then only the sharp shards of bone from any half heads to contend with.
Iola reorganised her kitchens, with some of the stoves designated for such purposes, and ordered a couple of fifty gallon kettles which when they arrived were two feet and two spans across, one foot and two spans high and had a fullth of fifty eight gallons to the rim. They were the biggest kettles ever maekt, and one of them was permanently producing stock for the meat cooks to make gravy and sauces with, whilst the other was in use for things like kine soup. The big kettles were able to take an entire head, other than may hap a mammoth head which Iola had not yet had to deal with, which meant no longer having been chopped in half there were no sharp bone shards. Thus, with far less effort, a given amount of directly inedible material maekt more than twice the amount of soup produced previously. It didn’t taste quite the same, probably due to the brain, finely minced lung and other non-meat, as well as meat, additions from Dabchick, but it was different, not inferior. The first two batches of Iola’s Aurochs Imrigh were considered good, but her addition of dark beer sediments courtesy of Joseph’s crafters, white hotroot(35) and Spoonbill’s blend of herbs and spices to the third batch was considered to give it a superior taste. Joseph had been delighted to provide, free of charge, the sludge he had always believed was of more value than as just kine feed or compost.
Iola had come across the sludge by accident when buying beer for a Bear Bone Brightbean(36) Broth and the smell reminded her of Marmite(37) which she knew had been maekt from brewers’ yeast concentrates and was full of vitamins, so she tried a bit and before long she was using rather a lot, of what she whimsically referred to as Mymate, in various soups. Spoonbill was delighted by what for him was the discovery of a powerful and readily available meat flavour enhancer. Crag, a young provisioner, was trying to evaporate some of the water out of it so it would keep more conveniently without losing any of its flavour. Iola had telt him, “Marmite is very salty, which must help to preserve it,” and Dabchick was encouraging his efforts. Some of the receipts Iola knew required a number of ingredients that were not available on Castle, many unavailable ingredients could be replaced with something readily available, but some could not. In order to try some Mediterranean receipts Iola had been trying for a while to find a substitute for olive oil. Adela couldn’t help as she had no idea what olive oil tasted like.
29th of Faarl Day 238
Jason went to see Judith before lunch. “Mercy, Mistress Judith, my mum complains the babes are making her front heavy, and she’s nowhere near as big as you, how do you stay upright?”
Realising what he had said he started to apologise, but Judith just laught and replied, “With great difficulty sometimes, Jason. How can I help you?”
“Dad sent me to tell you we have all the wheel spokes forgt to shape and longth, and a few spares. I’m making the rivets and fittings to hold them to the centre shaft. Dad has startet putting the rivet holes in the spokes’ ends. He sayt to tell you the first one taekt him half a day, but the second one only half an hour because after the first one he knoewn what he was doing. We are going to start work an hour earlier to fit the spokes in, and we shall have all the spokes with their fittings and rivets finisht by the end of Luval, finishing eight a day. We can only do eight because we have to do other work too. Dad’s leaving fleetfoot behind him(38) repairing portcullis bits for the ingeniators some of which are past repair, so he’s having to make new ones. I was going to do more of your stuff, but Dad’s just had a priority order for three dozen cant hooks(39) for Bull’s foresters via the Council which I’m going to have to make. Seems the Keeps’ supply of cut firewood is running low and they need the extras so their volunteers can handle the dryt sticks whilst Bull’s crafters cut them. The other smiths are just as busy, and Gem is helping me with the hooks by cutting the hinge rivets and punching the holes. So, my sorrow, but we’re doing all we can. Wolf has his pattern makers working on the wheel ends including the rim gears, which he sayt to tell you are going to be cast on the wheel ends as he says it’ll be less difficult than casting the dovetails for wooden teeth. He telt me to ask you to go to the foundry when it’s convenient, he wishes details of the teeth for the pattern makers, and to discuss the axle fittings and bearings. I don’t know why. That’s it, Mistress Judith.”
“Thank you very much, Jason. That’s excellent news. I’ll go to see him after lunch. Tell your dad I am very grateful for you starting work early, and tell Gem he has my gratitude for helping too.”
Jason left leaving Judith wondering where Storm and the children were. She decided to go for lunch in the Refectory, but her family weren’t there, so wincing as she shrugged her shoulders, she collected her meal. As she ate she was still looking for her family, but they didn’t appear, so she left to go to Wolf’s foundry. Wolf was pleased to see her, and shewed her into his affairs chamber. “You any idea where Storm and the children are, Wolf?”
“I’ve no idea where Storm is, but your horde goent with Molly’s for lunch, and they’re planning on learning of the Way this afternoon with her sister and her children. I don’t know where they goent for lunch though.”
“I suppose they’ll all appear eventually, probably ravenous, and that’s just Storm I’m talking of. Any way you wanted to see me.”
“Yes. First the wheel ends. We doet a few strongth tests to braek a similar casting. Axel telt us what to do, and he calculatet the castings can be safely maekt in six identical pieces with cast teeth, which can be boltet or hot rivetet together. He’d prefer them rivetet, for our bolts are not as strong as the ones he is uest to. The driven teeth will be all right to run with wooden teeth, or we can cast those for you too. Give details of the rim gear teeth to Terry some time will you? I know you plannen on using an oak wheel-axle running in ironwood bearings. However, we could cast a piece of iron to fit berount the oak, and run it in a two part softer metal bearing, which would last a lot longer. The bearings are easily replaceable, and it would also avoid the cost of the ironwood. This is all knowledge we have only sincely(40) acquiert from newfolk, mostly George. What would you like us to do?”
Judith didn’t hesitate, “You do what ever you and George consider is going to provide the best solution, Wolf. How long do you think it will take to have the wheel ends finished?”
“A lune and a half may hap two. We have only just startet on the pattern, and we need details of the teeth. We’ll have to make twelve castings, six left and six right hand versions. Though the same basic pattern will do for all twelve, we shall have to take it apart and reassemble it as a mirror image for the second set of six.”
“What of the intermediate rings?”
Wolf grinned and replied, “A tenner. I’ll shew the the first one if you like?”
“What you’ve one maekt already‽”
“Yes, and it was a perfect casting first time. We shook it out(41) this forenoon. So, we just cast the others from the pattern when we’re casting something else too. It takes the apprentices an hour to ram(42) the drag(43) and cope.(44) To start with we thinkt we would need a cheek,(45) possibly two, but a bit of clever thinking by Oak avoided that. However, because it’s a big flask(46) the cope sand needs a lot of internal support, and we’re setting the drag box screwt to a reinforcet moulding board on the ground ramming it up over the pattern and screwing a similar top board to it before inverting the whole lot, we unscrew the moulding board and then it’s a straight forward piece of work. It’s just big and heavy and we handle it with the overhead hoist George designt.” He escorted Judith into the foundry workshop and taekt her to a corner where she saw a very large ring of metal leaning gainst the wall next to its wooden pattern. Closer inspection shewed her it had regularly spaced holes in the periphery and alternating flat lugs with smaller holes in them on both sides at one foot intervals. Over the years she’d seen some very poor castings, but this was a superior piece of work with no visible imperfections and virtually no flash(47) at the parting plane.(48)
“Very good. Very good indeed, Wolf.”
“That’s it really, Judith. I’ll keep you informt as to progress.”
Wolf escorted her out, and she left still wondering where Storm was.
30th of Faarl Day 239
It was not long over the new year and cold, but no more so than expected, and as had become usual the requirement for hot soup was high and increasing. Iola, her crafters and volunteers were working long hours and were tired. The soup kitchens had always cooked by night as well as by day, but at this time of the year there were as many crafters crafting overnight as during the day because the ingeniators and their volunteers were having to craft all hours, and they had to be supplied with hot soup. Despite the number of crafters working at night they were still barely keeping up with demand, but as long as Iola crafted long hours it was a matter of pride to her crafters to keep up without complaint. Adela had telt her in previous winters they had never managed to keep up with demand and the ingeniators had had to make do with leaf and cold food, which had maekt Iola determined this year would be different. Iola did not approve of unnecessary work and felt, given the exhausted state of her crafters, something had to be done.
Though blötroot(49) soup was popular and gave them a much needed rest from time to time, and the novel pink coloured and spicy breadseed soup rolls, that were produced by adding some of the blötroot and green hotroot(50) shreds to the dough, were a popular accompaniment, especially with children, it couldn’t provide her crafters with all the respite required, and it lacked the substance needed by the ingeniators. Too, more variety was needed which meant something had to change in addition to the creation of new, fast and easy to make soups which taekt time Iola didn’t have to develop. Iola was working on a celery and conegrass soup, but it was nowhere near ready for the Refectory. She was also trying to remember what went into a hot and sour Lao or Thai soup, and what it was called. She knew the ingeniators would appreciate the heatth of the mercyfruit, but she was too busy to give either much thought. Once the ingeniators had discovered Mercy Water they asked for it every few days, and like the Chile con Carne soup it was now being maekt in hundred gallon batches. Once Coaltit’s crafters had understood what Iola considered was essential to Mercy Water, and what could be varied according to availability or need of use, they selected the ingredients for her, oft including small quantities of thirty or more fruits and vegetables.
Without consulting any, Iola abandoned many of the traditional soup making techniques in favour of ones that did not require as much input from her crafters. Most of her crafters had been stunned when she telt them, “We are going to stop boning poultry, and all small game before cooking, we are not butchers, and the bones will still end in the stock kettle eventually, if some of the meat does too so be it, it’s not loes. We’ll cook them whole at least a day in advance. Where possible, we’ll scrub rather than peel vegetables for soup as well as stock, and only remove what is necessary, none sayt aught when we so prepared them on my first night. As usual, we’ll take a meat mallet or a piece of fuel wood to the tough stalks and cores for the stock. That should become a bit easier betimes. My granddad and my brother Alwydd like fishing, and they had Posy make the squad some heavy round oak things callt priests to kill fish with. I’ve askt Alwydd to have some maekt for us to crush vegetables with, they’ll be like a piece of fuel wood but with a handle on one end which will make them easier to hold. I don’t know how how long we’ll have to wait for them, so it’s the fuel wood till then. As to the poultry and small game we place the carcasses in a large strainer with any vegetables we are using for the soup, cook them till they fall apart, allow the strainer to drain and cool, push the vegetables through a coarse sieve to remove any fibres and then remove the bones and aught else requiert to the stock kettle before cutting the meat to size. Any cereals or dryt pulses can be pre-soakt overnight before cooking in the water below the strainer. I suggest we always have some soaking whether there is a plan to use them nextday or no since they will never be wastet. Any vegetables requiert in firm pieces for substance we’ll parcook separately. Then when all is ready we recombine the ingredients and adjust the seasoning during the final cooking. Spoonbill has sayt he will help. Any carcasses and bones from the provisioners, butchers and the kitcheners’ servers can be dealt with the same way.”
It wasn’t long before meat, vegetables and pulses were all cooked separately using Iola’s methods, so three hundred rather than one hundred gallons of soup could be maekt as a batch, and with far less effort. Since, when soup was a main menu dish, a minimum of six hundred and fifty gallons were required, and it was normal to provide four main soups, in addition to what was left from lastday and any small scale soups presented to see how they were appreciated, three hundred gallons was a two day supply of one of the four main soups. Contrary to what her detractors said would happen regards soup quality suffering due to being maekt in larger quantities, the soups were now tastier because Iola’s methods extracted more from the bones and stalks than the methods uest before. Adela was known to have trenchantly responded to such criticism that no matter what Iola did her soups couldn’t be any worse than those produced before she took over the office, and the Folk had already adjudgt them to be far superior since they actually drank them and none was threwn away. Adela considered that since Spoonbill had become an enthusiastic collaborator of the soup kitchens, because his opinions were valued not just his spices and herbs, things had to improve. The increased cooking time, and hence reduced effort involved, gave the crafters a breathing space, though all knew, it being not far into winter, there was a lot of cold weather in front of them. However, they also knew they would be reinforced by many more volunteers as the winter worsened. An additional benefit of this was by the time Iola’s crafters had finished with them many of the bones were so soft Gage’s dogs could eat them.
A tenner since, when Coaltit had been having spaech with Iola at one of their regular meetings concerning the fruit and vegetables in store she’d said, “Some of the leeks are beginning to soften, Iola.”
“How much and how long have we before we’d start to lose them, Coaltit?”
“It’s just one bin, may hap two hundred weights, and not a matter for immediate concern, may hap half a lune before the first become unfit to eat. Most will keep a lune more.”
Since Coaltit had started to give Iola early warning of deterioration in the stores life had become much easier for their crafters. Remembering that Dabchick had said the provisioners had a surplus of smoked fish Iola knew she had an idea somewhere in her mind, but it had been a tenner before Cullen Skink surfaced.
“How are the leeks, Coaltit?”
“All are usable but some won’t be in a few days.”
“I can use eighty weights immediately if you can give me three hundred and fifty weights of mixt waxroots and starchroots?”
“I’ll have the starchroots sortet through immediately for you, we were going to sort them in a tenner or so but now is just as convenient. We’ve just doen the waxroots, and there’re may hap a couple of hundred weights in want of use immediately already on their way to you. Eighty weights of leeks will help, better a hundred, but there will be as much again to use in a tenner. What are you planning?”
“A soup maekt from cookt leeks, cuebt waxroots, masht starchroots to thicken and smokt fish. It has milk, butter and cream or possibly soft cheese in it and a gentle seasoning. If you have any onion, garlic, fennel or other pale vegetables to use include them.” Now Iola had finally remembered Cullen Skink she was no longer preoccupied with it and as other things surfaced in her mind she laught. “I don’t know why it taekt me so long to remember, but I’ve just recallt that lamb or better mutton makes a good soup with leeks too, and it’s easy to make, so send me the entire bin of leeks and I’ll have both maekt. They’re different enough to serve together.”
Coaltit smiled and said, “When you reach my age you become familiar with an erratic memory. What’s mutton, Iola?
“Adult sheep meat. I’m not sure when lamb becomes mutton, but I associate the word with the fuller flavour of older animals.”
Coaltit nodded and continued. “I’ll have the leeks and extra waxroots sent to you starting immediately. The starchroots will take a little longer. May I include some choake(51) with the leek?”
“No. I’d rather not because the choake may overpower the leek, but remind me of them sometime because I know of a good receipt that will use significant quantities of them. I’ll have some of my crafters help you with the starchroots, Coaltit. I’d better see Dabchick and the dairy crafters.”
Coaltit and her crafters supplied the leeks and waxroots within the hour and enough starchroots for Iola’s crafters to begin. Iola had thought may hap Arder Skink would be good name, but eventually decided on Castle Skink, purely because like Cullen Castle began with a C.
When Iola went to have spaech with Dabchick her crafters telt her that Dabchick was not hale but would return betimes, and Bluesher supplied the smoked ide(52) immediately, ide rather than delta(53) being what Dabchick wished uest first. “What’s wrong? Is Dabchick ill or has she had an accident?”
Bluesher smiled, “You could say both, Iola, but it’s Nigel’s fault. She’s feeling sorrow for herself and irritatet with him, for she’s never suffert from forsickth(54) before. Don’t worry. I’ll give her some leaf with herbs to settle her when she returns. There’re so many women in the kitchens we always have some on hand as well as the herbs for lunesickth.(55) You’ll may hap need to remember that before too many winters have passed.”
Iola smiled and said, “Probably, and I’ll probably blame Heron too.”
When Dabchick returned, Bluesher wordlessly passed her a mug of leaf. “Gratitude, Bluesher. It does help.” She took a mouthful before turning to Iola and said, “Forsickth does take some of the joy out of pregnancy, Iola. I uest to believe some maekt over much of it, but I don’t any more. How can I aid you?”
Iola explained what she required and Dabchick said, “We can supply you with lamb joints immediately, Iola, but I presume you wish bones and would prefer sheep?”
“Yes. I don’t see the sense in using carvable joints, and sheep would give more taste.”
“We have some sheep and lamb bones in a freeze chamber, but no where near enough, and we shan’t have any more sheep for nearly a lune. However, we can supply you with the quantity of bones you need if you’ll accept kid and goat as well as sheep. Most have a good bit of meat left on, and it’s a similar taste.”
Iola smiled and said, “No doubt the Folk would prefer to have the bones make a soup rather than as a main meal when times are hard. Send me what you wish uest first, and I’ll try it and ask Spoonbill to adjust the flavour if necessary. Congratulations on your babe, and don’t be too hard on Nigel.”
Dabchick sighed and said, “As you know, we both willen this babe badly, but he drives me to distraction with his care. Despite forsickth, I’m pregnant not ill, and I do know it’s because he loves me and has no knowledge of life before his incursion. Come and eat with us one eve, you and Heron, and we’ll have spaech of pregnancy and babes. It’ll do me a favour if it seems as if I’m helping you as an intendet couple. That way Nigel may achieve a better understanding too without being embarrasst by his lack of previous knowledge. Would you do that for me, Iola?”
“I’d enjoy that, and we’ll both be grateful too. Is the eve after nextevenigh too soon?”
“No that would be lovely.” Iola left and was looking forward to the eve, for Dabchick she knew would answer every thing she wished to know in a way her mother couldn’t. All the Folk were blunt, but Dabchick had no sense of embarrassment either, and all knew she found her marriage difficult from time to time, even though she was deeply in love with a man who loved her beyond distraction, because of her man’s sensitivity due to his history. The entire Folk had great respect for Nigel, as they did for Aaron, and accepted they were different and would naturally be difficult to live with, so though many women envied Dabchick her status for being married to Nigel there was not a one who wished to change places with her.
Iola went looking for soft cheese or thick cream, and Orchid of the dairy crafters had asked, “We are able to supply what you askt for, Iola, but is there any hap you could use twenty weights of very soft cream cheese that despite the addition of garlic has virtually no taste? It’s in good condition, but that would save us having to mix herbs or even mercyfruit into it.”
“I don’t know. If it’s blendet gradually into milk to a smooth consistency and bringen to a simmer will it separate, Orchid?”
“I don’t know either, but we can find out in a few minutes. Will you to wait whilst I try it?”
“Of course.”
The cheese didn’t separate, but as Orchid had said neither did it add much taste to the milk it had been blended into. “You wouldn’t believe how much garlic there is in that, Iola. How much of it do you will to take?”
“I’ll take it all if I may?”
“Gratitude, that’ll save us a lot of effort. I’ll bring it all to your kitchens myself as soon as I find a handcart. If you need any more soft cheese after adding it to your soup just ask.”
Castle Skink, and Billy Bone Broth were successful soups both in terms of their ease of preparation and their taste. Choake Chowder was maekt with frozen fresh keld,(56) mixt shellfish and minced, mixt fish trimmings. The smoky taste of the choake was complemented by the substance provided by the starchroot, and like Castle Skink and Billy Bone Broth it was both easy to prepare and appreciated. When Coaltit asked Iola if she could use some softening root vegetables next Iola had said if she could have some more leek and waxroots with some barley too she would make Welsh Cawl with Dabchick’s remaining goat bones. Cawl she explained came from a place called Wales and like a lot of substantial soups it was a dish descended from poverty. It uest traditional Welsh ingredients like sheep and leek but oft included what ever was available usually roots and barley. Things were getting easier for Iola’s crafters.
It was three in the afternoon when Morris came to see Iola, “I was going to go home and do some painting, but we’ve just had an elk(57) and her two calves delivered. They weren’t grallocht when killt, so at three days from the kill they’re maybe too ripe. If you don’t want them I’ll send them to Gage, because no-one else will use them. If you do want them, we’ll gralloch them immediately, but they’ll need immediate cooking, so you need to look at them now, Iola.”
“If they’re not too bad I might have an idea. It’s been giving me no saught(58) for a tenner or more, Morris. So let’s take a look, or is that a smell?”
“They do smell, but it’s not too bad.” He grinned, “I’ve eaten a lot worse, but we were in action, hadn’t had any supplies for nearly a week and were bloody hungry.”
It was as Morris had said, the carcasses were high with bloated stomachs but probably acceptable if uest appropriately. “I’ll take them, Morris. If I set the kettles to heating would you have the pieces bringen to me to go straight in them?”
“No trouble, Iola. We’ll have the hides off in minutes. If you want the offcuts skinning too we’ll do it all at the beginning.”
“Yes please. We’ll try to use it all.” Iola returned to her kitchens to tell her crafters what she required before returning to Morris.
Morris’ crafters had the elk hanging from gambrels, skinned and grallocht, and he asked, “What about the grallochth, Iola?”
Iola look at the piles of grallothth on the floor and replied, “The offal and the rest seem all right, so I’ll ask Dabchick to deal with it.”
“Good. If you give us half an hour the lot will be acooking. What are you planning on doing with it?”
“I’m still trying to remember the proper name, but it was a hot and sour soup from Laos or Thailand. I was thinking that the hot and sour spicing would be able to reduce any over-high tastes to acceptable levels, and the ingeniators are willing to take a lot of heatth in soup.”
“You mean Tom Yum?”
“Yes! But I’ve been trying to remember the name for ages. How doet you know? You couldn’t have servt there could you?”
“No, but I’ve been to Thailand for a holiday. That is a good idea because some of that cuisine is seriously hot. If anything could use the meat that could. I take it you wish the whole lot cubed ready to cook?”
“No need to bother, Morris. Just cut the carcases into pieces small enough to go in a kettle. The cooking can do the butchery.”
“Tell me when it’s ready will you, so I can try it?” Iola nodded and Morris said, “We’d better finish here before the meat crawls into your kettles.” Both were laughing as Iola left to find Dabchick. Morris’s crafters brought the large pieces of meat still on the bone on handcarts and put them into the kettles.
Russell brought the last cart and asked, “You want the offcuts in the kettles too, Iola?”
“Please, Russell, the ones on the end stove.”
Dabchick had the offal and everything else dealt with within the hour and brought the lungs for Iola to make stock with. As Iola put the lungs to join the skinned heads, feet and tails in a stock kettle strainer, Dabchick telt her, “The guts and tripes are fine, for now they’re washt they don’t smell any worse than aught fresh. We’ll use all the casings and the tripes will end up in meatballs with the bits we’ve already mincet. I’ve sent the gall bladders to Thomas’ ink makers, and Eudes has already taken the kidneys and livers. He cookt a sample and opient they would be eaten within half an hour at braekfast. He’s changt his nextday’s menu, and sayt he’d tell Ashridge and Polecat when he can. The hearts are in a freeze chamber, but if Saught wills them cookt I’ll have them sent to you before they freeze. There wasn’t much to send to Ingot for the dogs’ biscuits and there’s naught left now the stomach contents have goen to the composters. Any leaf in that kettle, Iola?”
The six hundred and odd weights of carcasses were cooked till the meat fell off the bones. Even at that stage, though Iola thought the soup was going to be at least acceptable, she carried on cooking the soup originally planned in case the elk be considered too gamey. After Redstart cut the ends off the long bones for them, Iola’s crafters removed all the bones to the stock kettles, cut up the meat and added fungi, garlic scapes,(59) green onion tops in need of using, yellowroot,(60) droon,(61) tallgrass shoots,(62) kroïns,(63) waternut,(64) yellow sour liquid,(65) Spoonbill’s spice blend and a considerable quantity of mercyfruit with some ground fireseed. When done, a little ocean leaf(66) for thickening and some more salt maekt a soup that was considered different, but tasty. The elk eventually maekt over twenty-five hundred gallons of Elk Tom Yum, and Iola had the concentrate for most of it frozen to add to her emergency supply. She suspected it would be appreciated if she served up a hundred gallons at regular intervals, and she maekt the ingeniators aware of its availability.
It was whilst deciding what should go into the Tom Yum that Iola had remembered reading a receipt for Egg Drop Soep in a magazine. She knew it was spelt that way because the article explained that the receipt presented was Indonesian rather than Chinese in origin and they uest the Dutch spelling of soup. Essentially it involved whisking a little flour into a meat stock and cooking it through. The eggs had a little flour whisked into them too to keep them silky smooth and prevent poor texture, and then were drizzled through the tines of a fork into the barely simmering stock which was kept gently moving to allow the egg to firm a little into wisps without coalescing into a lump. She’d read the soup could be reheated even from frozen, but considered it would be at its best served immediately whilst the egg was still soft which meant small batches of stock would have to have the egg added at the serving counters. She thought five or ten gallons at a time would work, but on the scale she cooked she needed a better way of adding the egg than a fork provided. She tried using a sieve, but a vegetable strainer worked best. After a little experimentation she had a method that worked, and her crafters enjoyed Egg Drop Soep for lunch. Iola had spaech with Herleva who was the kitchener in charge of the serving staff that day concerning the addition of the egg. “You don’t need to send any of your crafters to us, Iola. Just shew some of my crafters how its doen and we’ll deal with it. After all it’s little different from adding the swirl of cream, sipps or other accompaniments some of your soups need. We’ll be happy to do it for you. When would you like to try it?”
“I considert putting ten gallons on thiseve to see how it is receivt. I bethinkt me as two separate five gallon batches. Do you wish to send some crafters to me to see how its done?”
“If you like, but I’m happy for you to do the first one at the serving counter whilst they watch, and then you oversee them doing the second. I’d like to see it doen myself too. What bethink you?” Iola was happy to do it that way, but was surprised when Herleva asked, “If it’s popular can you produce more quickly? I ask because I assume you’ll have plenty of stock and eggs available, and your new soups always disappear quickly.”
“Yes. I’ll make sure the stock is hot and have crafters on hand to beat the eggs if requiert. I’ve enough stock and eggs to produce the usual hundred and fifty gallons if it’s needet, and the Vegetable Noodle Soup will keep till nextday, for we only add the noodles quarter of an hour before it’s to be servt.”
Iola taekt Fletcher with her to make the first batch of soup, and as he poured the egg into the strainer Iola moved the stock with a huge willow whisk that the kitcheners had provided. “Who makes the balloon whisks, Herleva? Because I’d like to order some.”
“The coppicers Jasmine and her husbands, Ash and Beech. Probably her wife Lilac too by now. They’re back at the Keep now but very busy. Take that one till you get some maekt. We’ve a dozen or more. Why doet you call it a balloon whisk, Iola?”
“That’s what that type of whisk is callt whence I came, but I don’t know why.”
As Herleva had predicted the soup went quickly and was much enjoyed. Whilst Elaine and Kaya prepared the second batch Iola asked Fletcher to arrange for the rest of the stock to be brought and the eggs prepared and delivered to the counter.
“I considert it may have been complicatet, but that is ridiculously easy, Iola. It’s also a unique looking soup. I can see it being popular. Is the stock difficult to prepare?”
“No. It’s just bones, heat and time, Herleva, though you can add an endless variety of other ingredients to it, but I doetn’t wish to go to a great deal of trouble till I knoewn it would be enjoyt, so this just has Spoonbill’s seasoning in it. It is unusual to look at and I wasn’t sure regards it.”
Kaya who’d whisked the egg in said, “You’d consider it would be hard work to whisk because it looks heavy like a stew, but it’s really easy. All you have to do is keep the simmering liquid gently moving.”
Fletcher arrived with a dozen of Iola’s crafters with the rest of the stock in twenty five gallon kettles with watertight lids on kitchen carts. As the kettles were eased off the carts on to the heated serving counters he said, “The eggs are being prepaert and will be here in five or ten minutes, Iola.” The soup continued to disappear rapidly and there was no stock left after the eve meal was over. Herleva had had all her serving staff pouring and whisking in turn and had done both herself and like Kaya all had been surprised at how easy it was. For Iola it was her most successful soup to date because all it required was stock, eggs, minimal input from her crafters and Spoonbill’s spice mix.
The making of the hot and sour soup had triggered memories for Iola other than soup and she had been to see Eudes and Fulbert concerning a main meal dish based on what she remembered as sweet and sour pork. Both had been interested, but they wished to know what to serve it with as a staple. “White wheat, noodles, barley, masht roots or even with sauce layert with wide, flat noodles like the Lasagne you cookt, but I’d use white wheat if I had a choice,” Iola had said. The two men were beginning to realise that Iola cooked with what was readily available rather than having her crafters spend a lot of time preparing exotic substitutes for what she was familiar with.
After ten minutes conversation, Eudes asked, “So you consider any meat at all, deep fryt in batter will be acceptable?”
“As long as its not too tough, or if it is, cutt small or even mincet and flavourt to be tasty, you can use Mymate if you will, I opine it will be acceptet, Eudes. You could even use some small soup meatballs if you ran short of what you were using. Dabchick’s got a thousand weights [2000 pounds, 1000Kg] on hand permanently. Why?”
“This time of year, the foragers bring me large amounts of snails. They’re findt in huge numbers all together where they’re protectet from the caltth and at this time of year they don’t need keeping a few days to purge as their guts are empty. I was just wondering if I could use them in the dish as a change from making Buttery Garlic and Ramsom Flower Snails. What bethink you? Would they be acceptable with a sauce baest on sour juice and some of Coaltit’s sweeter fruit, that are even sweeter now they are drying out a bit, if I cook a bit of honeyroot(67) with it?”
It was Fulbert who replied, “There’s only one way you’re going to find out, Eudes. It seems a good idea, and it has to be worth trying on a small scale, doesn’t it? You could always use four-fifths of some other meat and one fifth snails, say naught, and see what happens.”
Eudes smiled and said, “Yes. Only I shall use five or more different meats.” He thought a second and resumed, “Snail, prawn, meatballs, poultry and venison sounds good to me, and I’ll ask Dabchick for what ever meat trimmings of any kind she has cutt to size to start with. Gratitude for the idea, Fulbert. What are you planning on cooking?”
“I shan’t use one of our usual staples. I’ll use seed sprouts in their stead, flash fryt with a seed oil, maekt up with shredd whiteleaf if there’s not enough available. I’ll use waternut, starnut,(68) may hap bullnut,(69) tallgrass shoots, celery and redroot in the batter. I’ll see what else Coaltit has that will cook and remain crisp, and that with some spices from Spoonbill in the batter flour will do.”
“If you will to try some thing different with snails, Eudes, you could always try a receipt I know of that originally uest almost aught, fish, meat or vegetables, but the receipt I know of uest mussels. The style of cooking was I bethink me callt Escabèche, but that may have been the name of the liquor, any hap it uses sour juice from fruit or wine to cook the food in and time. It would be easy to do with snails though. Cook the snails in the minimum amount of water, they are steamt really, for a few minutes. Drain and shell them. Heat as little oil or butter as you need to cook them in and add finely chopt onions, garlic and bellfruit. Cook all till the onions and garlic are soft but not brownt and remove from the heat before adding the sour juice and seasoning. The spices I’m familiar with aren’t available here so use salt and sweeter spices, smokt bellfruit powder was in one receipt I know of, but use what you fancy. I imagine fresh herbs would be good. Finally pour over the sour juice and allow to chill making sure the snails are below the sour juice. Leave chillt for two or three days and the juice will have fully cookt the snails. It was servt at room temperature with torn manchettes to mop up the juices and dustet with powdert bellfruit, yet you could try serving it warm with whatever you fancy.”
“I’ll try a small quantity to start with. What does it taste like, Iola?”
“I’ve no idea. I seeën a receipt callt Moules à l’Escabèche which meant Mussels in the Escabèche style, but I’ve never cookt or eaten it. Escargots à l’Escabèche would be Snails in the Escabèche Style. I’ll write it down for you to give the kitcheners for the menu boards. I’d like to try some when it’s ready. I just bethinkt me it would be quite easy to do and when ever you have a lot of snails a useful receipt. Of course if you’re short of snails you could add fish or shellfish to the requiert quantity. I don’t know any exact quantities or details unfortunately, so you’ll have to experiment a bit.”
Both Sweet and Sour Snail with White Wheat and Sweet and Sour Crisp with Seed Sprouts were huge successes, and Iola was delighted the meals contrived by Eudes and Fulbert had been so successful and more so when they asked her if she could remember aught else their junior crafters could cook as a complete meal. Still thinking of oriental food, or at least westernised versions of food that had purported to be oriental, Iola considered what she could do to make Chop Suey and Chow Mein. Chop Suey she knew meant something equivalent to bits and pieces and it was dish originally prepared using left overs. Her limited experience of Chinese food was mostly from reading, and her only direct experience from just one restaurante which doet a take away service too, and its chop suey uest a large quantity of bean sprouts as a staple in the stead of rice, included beef, pork, chicken, prawn, red and green peppers, celery, onion, carrot, bamboo shoots, water chestnut and cashew nuts, but it uest very little of each. It was thickened with some sort of flour and it was so lightly spiced it was not obvious with what, though she knew it was slightly sweetened and had included soy sauce.
She knew Spoonbill could make an equivalent of a Five Spice mixture, and Soy Sauce she could manage without since she considered it to be a dark, liquid form of salt and not dissimilar from Mymate. Mein she knew meant something to do with noodles and she had tried both types the restaurante near Melanie’s selt. In the dish they called, Lo Mein, the soft, flat noodles were either boilt or steamed, she suspected the latter, and they contained a meat of your choice, ginger, garlic, onions and slightly crunchy green vegetables: peas, mange tout peas, broccoli, green beans. The greens varied with what she presumed was seasonal availability and the dish was served with soy sauce. In the other dish, referred to on the menu as Chow Mein, the crisp, thread-like noodles were fried and served again with a meat of your choice, but the vegetables were softer and red: carrots, peppers, red cabbage and the odd piece of sweet potato and beetroot. Sometimes the colour of the vegetables was due to food dye. Again ginger, garlic and onions were uest and she assumed soy sauce and oyster sauce were uest too in the thick sauce it was served with.
Most of the ‘Chinese’ receipts she had read included a variety of convenience ingredients like tomato ketchup and usually included sugar too, which she suspected to be decidedly Western and not Oriental. However, as dishes which could use leftovers they were attractive to her, and she correctly considered Fulbert and Eudes would be happy for their junior crafters to experiment with them, especially as regards the spices. She decided she would explain to Dabchick the little she knew concerning fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and fermented black beans because Dabchick would be interested, and Crag was the obvious crafter to do the experimentation, for he would relish the challenge.
She also recalled having read of shungiku(70) an edible chrysanthemum grown for both leaf and flowers. The same article said all chrysanthemum were edible but most needed blanching to reduce the bitterth in the leafs. She asked a couple of grower friends regards them to be telt the plants were grown mixed in with other crops because their smell discouraged insect pests, and they were uest in strewing herbs with the daisies in big spaces such as the Greathall and hung in bunches in chambers and stables during the summer to drive flies away. They were also grown for their ornamental flowers. She was telt the petals of the smaller more leafy varieties, which smelt less strongly, were uest for leaf blends, and asked if she willen to try some. When the leafs and petals arrived Spoonbill was impressed and said he could understand straightforth why they were considered a tasty vegetable that in small quantities would complement blander dishes superbly. Spoonbill and she did not take long to create a range of Oriental spice mixes, most of which contained spices unique to Castle, but she missed peppercorns.
Iola, Coriander, Dabchick and Coaltit were taking leaf together at one of their regular meetings, and Coriander was telling of prawn cattails. Her bakers had been producing quality Poppadom to go with all sort of meals not just spicy ones for some time, but it had been some time before a good equivalent of prawn crackers had been created by her crafters using the advice provided by Michelle and Nancy. “Those Prawn Cattails that Michelle and Nancy contrivt are so popular with all meals, not just your spicy soups, that the waggoners are having difficulty leading in enough cattails for us to prepare them once a tenner, Iola. The problem is the whilth they have to be transportet, for the only place the foragers can harvest them at this time of year is Steaming Waters Lake where they get the risings from, so they’re loading with that too. Else where the cattails and the mud they grow in are freezen. The waggoners and the foragers are glad of the work for there’s little else to do and have errectet a cabin and stables from ready maekt parts at the lakeside, but the cost is high due to the extra oats the teams need to work in the calt.”
Dabchick added, “Drying and milling the sea food we use for the prawn flavour is no problem, for many use sea food powder in all sorts of things any hap, so we always have plenty on hand.”
Coaltit said, “The starch is easy to extract once we have the roots. We wash them with the wind washer,(71) crush them with a pair of rollers, agitate the crush for an hour again using the wind washer, skim off the larger bits and pour the remainder through a sieve. It doesn’t take long for the starch to settle. We remove the bulk of the water with a syphon and pails and allow the starch to dry hanging up in tight weaven flaxcloth bags. Two days later it can be uest.”
Coriander smiled and continued, “I suspect as the weather worsens the foragers and the wagoners will suspend the harvesting and seek nearer sources when the weather improves.”
Iola lookt thoughtful as she said, “Michelle telt me she was going to find a substitute for tapioca flour to make prawn crackers with and it was Nancy who suggestet the starch out of cattail roots or even using the pollen in the spring. They were both amazt at how easy it was once Nancy had bethinkt her of the idea. I know they believt the prawn powder would be more difficult to obtain than the starch, Dabchick, but you could use shrimp or slaters in the stead of prawns and not bother shelling them just dry and mill them. You could even use crab and lobster shells. However, it’s good to know something is easier than anticipatet for a change. Buzzard and Raymond have sayt they’re going to cultivate cattails possibly in the water outside the moat. I hope they succeed because the prawn cattails are tasty, much tastier than prawn crackers which I suspect were only providet as a texture component to a meal, but may hap they were maekt with the minimum quantity of prawn flavour to reduce their cost.”
Coriander said “Bluesher took some of the prepaert dough mix to freeze to see if when thawt it would be acceptable. It freezes well, so the intention is to prepare a large quantity of the dough when the cattails are readily available, pollen and root starch, and freeze it to use over the year. The herbals say it is very nutritious and will be well come in the spring when things become more difficult.”
The Mixt Minestrone Melange was so called because it was infinitely variable. Based on poultry stock and pulverised loveapples, it uest any cooked vegetables from the day before the kitcheners did not will to re-serve, eventually that oft became all of them, because it maekt both sets of crafters’ lifes easier, maekt up to the required quantity with fresh vegetables cooked in the stock. Addition of herbs and noodles or sometimes a cereal grain and it was done. It was a very easy soup to make three or even six hundred gallons of.
Iola’s meatball and gnocchi soup was eventually named Ingeniators’ Gnocchi because the ingeniators regarded it as the perfect fuel for their activities outside, which they had to undertake at that time of year, regardless of the caltth and the wind, to keep the water supply flowing, all safe and a route to Outgangside open. Vast quantities of soup were provided for them and their hundreds of volunteers, but Ingeniators’ Gnocchi was their favourite substantial soup. The small size of the gnocchi and meatballs meant the soup could be conveniently served in a mug with a spoon, and they were delighted it was named after them. Firefly, at Master ingeniator Roebuck’s request, had started making wider than usual two handled mugs for them with huge handles that a big man could put mittened hands through to warm them. That the new mugs were of more fillth(72) than the old ones was approven by Roebuck’s crafters too. Spoonbill’s herb and spice mixture for the starchroot gnocchi, had had ever increasing amounts of mercyfruit powder in it as the ingeniators became uest to it and demanded more as the weather became calter. Too, the elk Tom Yum was disappearing as rapidly as Mercy Water, though extra mercyfruit was being added to both, again at the ingeniators’ request. Iola was considering other Tom Yum soups baest on what ever was in need of use, but her next offering was Folk Tom Yum which was baest on offal meatballs and celery in want of use.
The bakers had gnocchi, dumpling and noodle production down to a fine art. They uest a line of apprentices as they did with the soup rolls, but this time the food moved away from the ovens to the handcarts to take it to Iola’s kitchens. The meatballs were now being maekt by using the sausage extruder and chopped to longth twenty at a time by devices maekt by Francis he referred to as roller knifes. Francis’s son, Cliff, had gone to Iola’s kitchens to collect a box of braeken cutlery for repair and had mentioned to his dad how the meat balls were maekt. He’d considered it amusing they were extruded so quickly only to have to be cut off one at a time with a knife. Intrigued Francis had been to see for himself and the roller knife was created. The roller knife was a series of freely rotating circular metal blades a wiedth and a half apart mounted on a central spindle, which produced meatballs no larger than the size of a man’s thumb nail. They were herbed rather than spiced and the extruder and the roller knifes meant thousands could be produced, boxt and frozen within an hour by a dozen crafters. The liquid the meatballs were cooked in for Ingeniators’ Gnocchi was a meaty marrow bone stock, maekt from bones out of the freeze chambers, which had had dried fungi cooked in it and was liberally dosed with Mymate. The fungi were subsequently uest in Cock-a-Leekie, which Iola maekt from cockerels supplied by Odo and game birds supplied by Gage, both came to her via the butchers and then Dabchick who also included any small game best uest without saying too much of it.
The production of Ingeniators’ Gnocchi was an involved process requiring coördination mongst Iola’s crafters, the provisioners, the storekeepers, the bakers, the vegetable cooks, the pastry cooks and the cheese crafters. The early forenoon process started with Alice’s pastry cooks separating the eggs required and taking the yolks to the bakers. The pastry cooks retained the whites to make snow pies(73) with, using what ever fruit they askt the storekeepers to provide Iola’s crafters with. Some of Iola’s crafters prepared the fruit and then taekt it to the pastry cooks whilst others scrubbed and prepared the starchroots provided by the storekeepers and taekt them to the bakers to be cooked in their ovens. Iola’s crafters helped the bakers throughout. By the time the last of the starchroots went into the ovens the first in were ready to come out. They were cut in half and the bulk of their contents removed whilst still hot. The contents of the starchroots were mashed and, after cooling, mixt with the egg yolk, seasoning and flour required to produce the gnocchi, which were returned to Iola’s kitchens. What maekt the involved process so worthwhile was the starchroot shells which were left with half a wiedth of starchroot for subsequent filling with cooked vegetables by Fulbert’s crafters.
The vegetable cooks collected the grated cheese from Orchid’s cheese crafters and sprinkled it over the vegetables prior to the bakers returning the cheesy, filled shells to the ovens to reheat and melt the cheese ready to be served for the midday meal. The whole concept had come to be because for so long all Iola had ever been able to do was cook in her head. With no distractions from real food, some of her ideas were sophisticated in terms of linked receipts. When she cooked she wished to know in advance what happened to everything. She’d required yolks but wasn’t prepared to do aught till there was a use for the whites. Most of her cooking uest unpeeled vegetables in the soups she maekt, so she had wished to find a use for the starchroot skins. Her original plan had been to boil the starchroots and skin them whilst still warm, but she hadn’t liekt the idea of mincing the skins to add to a soup, and drying and milling them was a lot of work for little reward. Then she considered the idea of baking the starchroots and producing the shells. It required a lot more starchroots, but it produced two meals, and her crafters didn’t have to peel the starchroots for either of them. For Iola it was just a matter of organisation and coöperation, and since she was highly thought of by all the significant crafters and none else wished to be ordered to coöperate with her as they knew would happen if they were difficult it was easily organised. The bakers, now even more involved in meal preparation, were happy to be even more regarded as cooks by the rest of the kitchen crafters.
Because she was just passing the shells on to Fulbert’s crafters Iola hadn’t considered a name for them, but Fulbert and Polecat wished to know what they were to be yclept. It didn’t take Iola long to conjure Seven Craft Tatties,(74) because it taekt the efforts of seven sets of crafters to manage the entire process. Any ruffled feelings caused to small personalities as a result of their belief they had temporarily been subservient to a girl were settled as a result of the name. Their contributions had been acknowledged, and would be known to the entire Folk, who enjoyed discussing Iola’s receipt names as they waited for their food.
It was not possible for the pastry cooks to play their part and make snow pies as oft as Ashridge wished the popular Seven Craft Tatties on the lunch menu, and at Iola’s suggestion they maekt meringues with whipped cream and fruit which solved the problem of what to do with the egg whites when gnocchi were required. However when gnocchi weren’t required, there remained the problem of the starchroot middles. Fulbert and Iola were discussing the problem, “I could of course just serve the removt starchroot centres masht, but I would rather have something else on thateve’s menu when starch root has been a major meal on the lunch menu, Iola. Have you any suggestions?”
“There are any number of soups I could use them in as thickener, but it does seem a waste when I could as easily use mincet, raw, unpeelt, small starchroots and waxroots that Coaltit would like uest, or even just the mincet washt raw peels when you take either peelt for other meals. You could of course mash it and turn it into sgons,(75) servt hot with butter or soft cheese at braekfast or lunch or as an accompaniment with a soup.”
“Starchroot sgons‽ I’ve never hearet of any making sgons with starchroot. Whose crafters would make them, yours, mine or the bakers? How complicatet are they to make?”
“I don’t believe it matters, Fulbert, because they are so easy to make any of us could do it. I maekt them at my friend’s house when I was little. Mash the starchroot, add a bit of finely shredd suet, butter or even rendert fat and a trace of salt, mix it all and use flour to dry them off to make a firm dough. Depending on how wet the masht starchroot is, somewhere between five and ten times as much starchroot as flour. Roll them out with a pastry pin, may hap a wiedth thick, with a bit of flour to prevent sticking and cut them into pieces. It was traditional to roll them out roughly circular may hap a foot across and cut them into eight wedges. My friend Melanie’s mum cookt them on an oilt griddle, which was a flat pan with a handle, but sayt her mum had cookt them in the oven. It beseems me if a cleant stove were not too hot they could be cookt straight on the top of it like the mincet meat flats, which is why I sayt any of us could cook them. The idea is similar to making Leaf Melts.”(18)
Escargots à l’Escabèche was not a popular main meal for Eudes, but it was a popular accompaniment when served with some of Grangon’s fish dishes. It was particularly popular served with mijom(76) and Eudes’ crafters taught Grangon’s crafters the details they had uest with the snails. It wasn’t long before the technique was being uest to cook all kinds of sea produce and meat too, but only in accompaniment quantities. Eudes and Grangon considered it to be a highly successful innovation which turned a number of their more repetitious meals into some thing different and more interesting to eat at a time of year when variety wasn’t always easy to provide.
Index of significant characters so far listed by Chapter
1 Introduction
2 Jacques de Saint d’Espéranche
3 The Folk and the Keep
4 Hwijje, Travisher, Will
5 Yew, Allan, Rowan,Siskin, Will, Thomas, Merle, Molly, Aaron, Gareth, Oak, Abigail, Milligan, Basil, Vinnek, Iris, Margæt, Gilla, Alsike, Alfalfa, Gibb, Happith, Kroïn, Mako, Pilot, Briar, Gosellyn, Gren, Hazel
6 Chaunter, Waxwing, Flame, João, Clansaver, Irune, Ceël, Barroo, Campion, Limpet, Vlæna, Xera, Rook, Falcon, Cwm, Sanderling, Aldeia, Catarina, Coast, Elixabete
7 Mercedes, Spoonbill
8 Lyllabette, Yoomarrianna
9 Helen, Duncan, Gosellyn, Eudes, Abigail
10 George/Gage, Iris, Waverley, Belinda
11 Marc/Marcy, Pol
12 George/Gage, Marcy, Freddy/Bittern, Weyland, Iris, Bling
13 Thomas, Will, Mercedes, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna
14 Kyle, Thomas, Will, Angélique
15 Mercedes, Morgelle, Gorse, Thrift, George/Gage, Chris, Iris, Thrift, Campion
16 Bling
17 Waverley, Mr. E
18 George/Gage, Larch, Mari, Ford, Gorse, Morgelle, Luke, Erin
19 Will, Pilot, Yew, Geoge/Gage, Mari, Ford, Gosellyn, Cwm, Cerise, Filbert, Gareth, Duncan, Helen, Thomas, Iris, Plume, Campion, Pim, Rook, Falcon, João, Hare
20 Yew, Rowan, Will, Thomas, Siskin, Weir, Grayling, Willow
21 Brook, Harrier, Cherry, Abby, Selena, Borage, Sætwæn, Fiona, Fergal
22 Yew, Thomas, Hazel, Rowan, Gosellyn, Siskin, Will, Lianna, Duncan
23 Tench, Knawel, Claire, Oliver, Loosestrife, Bramling, George, Lyre, Janice, Kæn, Joan, Eric
24 Luke, Sanderling, Ursula, Gervaise, Mike, Spruce, Moss
25 Janet, Vincent, Douglas, Alec, Alice
26 Pearl, Merlin, Willow, Ella, Suki, Tull, Irena
27 Gina, Hardy, Lilac, Jessica, Teal, Anna
28 Bryony, Judith, Bronwen, Farsight
29 Muriel, Raquel, Grace
30 Catherine, Crane, Snipe, Winifred, Dominique, Ferdinand
31 Alma, Allan, Morris, Miranda
32 Dabchick, Nigel
33 Raquel, Thistle, Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Phœbe
34 Eleanor, Woad, Catherine, Crane
35 Muriel, Hail, Joan, Breve, Eric, Nell, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
36 Selena,Sætwæn, Borage, Grace, Gatekeeper, Raquel, Thistle
37 Siân, Mackerel, Winifred, Obsidian
38 Carla, Petrel, Alkanet, Ferdinand
39 Dominique, Oxlip, Alma, Allan, Tress, Bryony
40 Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Ella, Kestrel, Judith, Storm
41 Ella, Kestrel, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane
42 Weights & Measures and Sunrise & Sunset Times included in Ch 41
43 Ella, Kestrel, Serenity, Smile, Gwendoline, Rook, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane, Sapphire, Mere
44 Pearl, Merlin, Rainbow, Perch, Joan, Breve, truth, Rachael, Hedger, Ruby, Deepwater
45 Janet, Blackdyke, Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster
46 Janet, Gina, Alastair, Joan, Breve, Truth, Bræth, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
47 The Squad, Mercedes, Fen, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
48 Bronwen, Forest, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Kathleen, Niall, Bluebell, Sophie
49 Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster, Imogen, Wryneck, Phœbe, Knapps
50 Erin, Nightjar, Eleanor, Woad
51 Gina, Jonas, Janet, Gerald, Patrick, Tansy, Craig, Barret, Ryan
52 Constance, Rye, Bling, Bullace, Berry, Jimmy, Leveret, Rory, Shelagh, Silas
53 Rachael, Hedger, Eve, Gilla, Mallard, Fiona, Fergal, Tinder, Nightingale, Fran, Dyker
54 Pamela, Mullein, Patricia, Chestnut, Lavinia, Ophæn, Catherine, Crane
55 Susan, Kingfisher, Janet, Gina, Jonas, Ruth, Kilroy, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
56 Gina, Jonas, Patricia, Chestnut, The Squad, Hazel, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch, Mangel, Clary, Brendan
57 Erin, Nightjar, Xera, Josephine, Wels, Michelle, Musk, Swansdown, Tenor
58 Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverley,Yvette, Whitebear, Firefly, Farsight, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch
59 Lilac, Firefly, Farsight, Lucinda, Gimlet, Leech, Janet, Blackdyke
60 Douglas, Lunelight, Yvette, Whitebear, Thrift, Haw, Harebell, Goosander, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew, Matilda, Evan, Heron
61 Brendan, Clary, Chloë, Apricot, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Otis, Harry, Gimlet, Leech, Jodie
62 Gimlet, Leech, Lark, Seth, Charles, Bruana, Noah, Kirsty, Shirley, Mint, Kevin, Faith, Oak, Lilly, Jason, Gem, Ellen
63 Honesty, Peter, Bella, Abel, Kell, Deal, Siobhan, Scout, Jodie
64 Heather, Jon, Anise, Holly, Gift, Dirk, Lilac, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Ivy, David
65 Sérent, Dace, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Clarissa, Gorse, Eagle, Frond, Diana, Gander, Gyre, Tania, Alice, Alec
66 Suki, Tull, Buzzard, Mint, Kevin, Harmony, Fran, Dyker, Joining the Clans, Pamela, Mullein, Mist, Francis, Kristiana, Cliff, Patricia, Chestnut, Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverly, Tarragon, Edrydd, Louise, Turnstone, Jane, Mase, Cynthia, Merle, Warbler, Spearmint, Stonecrop
67 Warbler, Jed, Fiona, Fergal, Marcy, Wayland, Otday, Xoë, Luval, Spearmint, Stonecrop, Merle, Cynthia, Eorle, Betony, Smile
68 Pansy, Pim,Phlox, Stuart, Marilyn, Goth, Lunelight, Douglas, Crystal, Godwit, Estelle, Slimlyspoon, Lyre, George, Damson, Lilac
69 Honesty, Peter, Abel, Bella, Judith, storm, Matilda, Evean, Iola, Heron, Mint, Kevin, Lilac, Happith, Gloria, Peregrine
70 Lillian, Tussock, Modesty, Thyme, Vivienne, Minyet, Ivy, David, Jasmine, Lilac, Ash, Beech
71 Quartet & Rebecca, Gimlet & Leech, The Squad, Lyre & George, Deadth, Gift
72 Gareth, Willow, Ivy, David, Kæna,Chive, Hyssop, Birch, Lucinda, Camomile, Meredith, Cormorant, Whisker, Florence, Murre, Iola, Milligan, Yarrow, Flagstaff, Swansdown, Tenor, Morgan, Yinjærik, Silvia, Harmaish, Billie, Jo, Stacey, Juniper
73 The Growers, The Reluctants, Miriam, Roger, Lauren, Dermot, Lindsay, Scott, Will, Chris, Plume, Stacey, Juniper
74 Warbler, Jed, Veronica, Campion, Mast, Lucinda, Cormorant, Camomile, Yellowstone
75 Katheen, Raymnd, Niall, Bluebe, Sophie, Hazel, Ivy, Shadow, Allison, Amber, Judith, Storm Alwydd, Matthew, Beatrix, Jackdaw, The Squad, Elders, Jennt, Bronze, Maeve, Wain, Monique, Piddock, Melissa, Roebuck, Aaron, Carley Jade, Zoë, Vikki, Bekka, Mint, Torrent
76 Gimlet, Leech, Gwendoline, Georgina, Quail. Birchbark, Hemlock, Peter, Honesty, Bella, Hannah, Aaron, Torrent, Zoë, Bekka, Vikki, Jade, Carley, Chough, Anvil, Clematis, Stonechat, Peace, Xanders, Gosellyn, Yew, Thomas, Campion, Will, Iris, Gareth
77 Zoë, Torrent, Chough, Stonechat, Veronica, Mast, Sledge, Cloudberry, Aconite, Cygnet, Smokt
78 Jed, Warbler, Luval, Glaze, Seriousth, Blackdyke, Happith, Camilla
79 Torrent, Zoë, Stonechat, Clematis, Aaron, Maeve, Gina, Bracken, Gosellyn, Paene, Veronica, Mast, Fracha, Squid, Silverherb
80 George/Gage, Niall, Alwydd, Marcy/Beth, Freddy/Bittern, Wayland, Chris, Manic/Glen, Guy, Liam, Jed, Fergal, Sharky
81 The Squad, Manic/Glen, Jackdaw, Beatrix, Freddy/Bittern, Fiona, Fergal, Wayland, Jade, Stonechat, Beauty, Mast, Veronica, Raven, Tyelt, Fid
82 Gimlet, Leech, Scentleaf, Ramsom, Grouse, Aspen, Stonechat, Bekka, Carley, Vikki, Morgelle, Bistort, Fritillary, Jed, Warbler, Spearmint, Alwydd, Billie, Diver, Seal, Whitethorn
83 Alastair, Carrom, Céline, Quickthorn, Coral, Morgelle, Fritillary, Bistort, Walnut, Tarragon, Edrydd, Octopus, Sweetbean, Shrike, Zoë, Torrent, Aaron, Vinnek, Zephyr, Eleanor, Woad, George/Gage, The Squad, Ingot, Yellowstone, Phthalen, Will
84 Morgelle, Bistort, Fritillary, Alsike, Campion, Siskin, Gosellyn, Yew, Rowan, Thomas, Will, Aaron, Dabchick, Nigel, Tuyere
85 Jo, Knott, Sallow, Margæt, Irena, Tabby, Jade, Phthalen, Yumalle, Stonechat, Spearmint, Alwydd, Seriousth, Warbler, Jed, Brett, Russel, Barleycorn, Crossbill, Lizo, Hendrix, Monkshood, Eyrie, Whelk, Gove, Gilla, Faarl, Eyebright, Alma, axx, Allan, daisy, Suki, Tull
86 Cherville, Nightshade, Rowan, Milligan, Wayland, Beth, Liam, Chris, Gage
87 Reedmace, Ganger, Jodie, Blade, Frœp, Mica, Eddique, Njacek, Whiteout, Sandpiper, Serin, Cherville, Nightshade, peregrine, Eleanor, Woad, Buzzard, Silas, Oak, Wolf, Kathleen, Reef, Raymond, Sophie, Niall, Bluebell
88 Cloud, Sven, Claudia, Stoat, Thomas, Aaron, Nigel, Yew, Milligan, Gareth, Campion, Will, Basil, Gosellyn, Vinnek, Plume
89 Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Silverherb, Cloudberry, Smokt, Skylark, Beatrix, Beth, Amethyst, Mint, Wayland, Bittern, Fiona, Fergal, Joan, Bræth, Nell, Milligan, Iola, Ashdell, Alice, Molly, Rill, Briar
90 Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Beth, Beatrix, Sanderling, Falcon, Gosellyn, Gage, Will, Fiona, Jackdaw, Wayland, Merle, Cynthia, Jed, Warbler
91 Morgelle, Tuyere, Fritillary, Bistort, Jed, Otday, The Squad, Turner, Gudrun, Ptarmigan, Swegn, Campion, Otis, Asphodel, Jana, Treen, Xeffer, Stonechat, Bekka, Vikki, Carley, Beatrix, Jackdaw
92 Turner, Otday, Mackerel, Eorl, Betony, The Council, Will, Yew, Basil, Gerald, Oier, Patrick, Happith, Angélique, Kroïn, Mako
93 Beth, Greensward, Beatrix, Odo, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Otday, Turner, Gace, Rachael, Groundsel, Irena, Warbler, Jed, Mayblossom, Mazun, Will, The Squad
94 Bistort, Honey, Morgelle, Basil, Willow, Happith, Mako, Kroïn, Diana, Coaltit, Gær, Lavinia, Joseph (son), Ruby, Deepwater, Gudrun, Vinnek, Tuyere, Otday, Turner
95 Turner, Otday, Waverly, Jed, Tarse, Zoë, Zephyr, Agrimony, Torrent, Columbine, Stonechat, Bekka, Vikki, Carley, The Council, Gage, Lilly
96 Faith, Oak, Lilly, Fran, Suki, Dyker, Verbena, Jenny, Bronze, Quietth, Alwydd, Evan, Gage, Will, Woad, Bluebell, Niall, Sophie, Wayland, Kathleen, Raymond, Bling, Bittern
97 Jade, Phthalen, Yumalle, Margæt, Tabby, Larov, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Fritillary, Brmling, Tench, Knawel, Loosestrife, Agrimony, Jana, Will, Gale, Linden, Thomas, Guelder, Jodie, Peach, Peregrine, Reedmace, Ganger, The Council, Faith, Oak, Lilly, Ellen, Gem, Beth, Geän
98 Turner, Otday, Anbar, Bernice, Silverherb, Havern, Annalen
99 Kæna, Chive, Ivy, David, Birch, Suki, Hyssop, Whitebeam, Jodie, Ganger, Reedmace, Whiteout, Sandpiper, Catherine, Braid, Maidenhair, Snowberry, Snipe, Lærie, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Fritillary, Ælfgyfu, Jennet, Cattail, Guy, Vikki, Buckwheat, Eddique, Annabelle, Fenda, Wheatear, Bram, Coolmint, Carley, Dunlin
100 Burdock, Bekka, Bram, Wheatear, Cranberry, Edrian, Gareth, George, Georgina, Quail, Birchbark, Hemlock, Bramling, Tench, Knawel, Turner, Otday, Ruby, Deepwater, Barleycorn, Russel, Gareth, Plantain, Gibb, Lizo, Thomas, Mere, Marten, Hendrix, Cuckoo, Campion, Gage, Lilly, Faith
101 Theresa, Therese, Zylanna, Zylenna, Cwm, Ivy, David, Greenshank, Buzzard, Zeeëend, Zrina, Zlovan, Torrent, Alastair, Céline, Meld, Frogbit, Midnight, Wildcat, Posy, Coral, Dandelion, Thomas, Lizo, Council
102 Beth, Beatrix, Falcon, Gosellyn, Neil, Maple, Mouse, Ember, Goose, Blackcap, Suede, Gareth, Robert, Madder, Eider, Campion, Crossbill, Barleycorn, George, Céline, Midnight, Alastair, Pamela, Mullein, Swager, Msrgæt, Sturgeon, Elliot, Jake, Paris, Rosebay, Sheridan, Gælle, Maybells, Emmer, Beauty, Patricia, Chestnut, Irena, Moor
103 Steve, Limpet, Vlæna, Qorice, Crossbow, Dayflower, Flagon, Gareth, Næna, Stargazer, Willow, Box, Jude, Nathan, Ryland, Eller, Wæn, Stert, Truedawn, Martin, Campion, Raspberry
104 Coolmint, Valerian, Vikki, Hawfinch, Corncrake, Speedwell, Cobb, Bill, Gary, Chalk, Norman, Hoopoe, Firkin, Gareth, Plover, Willow, Dewberry, Terry, Squill, Campion, Tracker, Oak, Vinnek,
105 Council, Thomas, Pilot, Vinnek, Dale, Luca, Almond, Macus, Skua, Cranesbill, Willow, Campion, Georgina, Osprey, Peter, Hotsprings, Fyre, Jimbo, Saxifrage, Toby, Bruana, Shirley, Kirsty, Noah, Frost, Gareth, Turner, Otday, Eorl, Axle, Ester, Spile, David, Betony
106 Jodie, Sunshine, Ganger, Peach, Spikenard, Scallop, Hobby, Pennyroyal, Smile, Otday, Turner, Janet, Astrid, Thistle, Shelagh, Silas, Basalt, Suki, Robert, Madder, Steve, Bekka, Cowslip, Swansdown, Susan, Aqualegia, Kingfisher, Carley, Syke, Margæt, Garnet, Catkin, Caltforce, Council, Thomas, Briar, Yew, Sagon, Joseph, Gareth, Gosellyn, Campion, Will, Qvuine, Aaron, Siskin, Jasmine, Tusk, Lilac, Ash, Beech, Rebecca, Fescue
107 Helen, Duncan, Irena, Scent, Silk, Loosestrife, Tench, Knawel, Bramling, Grebe, Madder, Robert, Otter, Luval, Honey, Beth, Beatrix, Falcon, Amethyst, Janet, Lilac, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Fiona, Blackdyke, Bittern, George, Axel, Oak, Terry, Wolf, Vinnek, Dittander, Squill, Harmony, Jason, Lyre, Iola, Heron, Yew, Milligan, Alice, Crook, Eudes, Abigail, Gibb, Melanie, Storm, Annabelle, Eddique, Fenda, Lars, Reedmace, Jodie, Aaron, Nigel, Thomas Will
108 Aldeia, Coast, Chris, Wayland, Liam, Gage, Fiona, Fergal, Beth, Greensward, Jackdaw, Warbler, Jed, Guy, Bittern, Spearmint, Alwydd, Storm, Judith, Heidi, Iola, heron, Beatrix, Harle, Parsley, Fledgeling, Letta, Cockle, Puffin, Adela, Gibb, Coaltit, Dabchick, Morris, Lucimer, Sharky, Rampion, Siskin, Weir, Alsike, Milligan, Gosellyn, Wolf, campion, Gareth, Aaron, Nigel, Geoffrey, Will, Roebuck, Yew
109 George, Lyre, Iola, Milligan, Gibb, Adela, Wels, Francis, Weir, Cliff, Siward, Glæt, Judith, Madder, Briar, Axel, Molly, Coaltit, Dabchick, Bluesher, Qvuine, Spoonbill, Ashridge, Morris
110 Nectar, Cattail, Molly, Floatleaf, Timothy, Guy, Judith, Briar, Axel, Storm, Beatrix, Iola, Coaltit, Siward, Cockle, Gibb, Lune, Manchette, Gellica, Dabchick, Morris, Sycamore, Eudes, Fulbert, Abigail, Milligan, Ashridge
111 Iola, Turner, Otday, Alwydd, Will, Dabchick, Sgœnne, Coriander, Saught, Ingot, Molly, Vivienne, Michelle, Nancy, Fledgeling, Letta, Milligan, Spoonbill, Knawel, Beaver, Cnut, Godwin, Ilsa, Holdfast, Jeanne, Tara, Lanfranc, Furrier, Joseph, Crag, Adela, Jason, Judith, Gem, Wolf, Storm, Terry, Axel, George, Oak, Coaltit, Posy, Gage, Bluesher, Nigel, Heron, Aaron, Orchid, Morris, Russell, Thomas, Eudes, Ashridge, Polecat, Redstart, Herleva, Fletcher, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Lilac, Elaine, Kaya, Fulbert, Buzzard, Raymond, Firefly, Roebuck, Francis, Cliff, Odo, Alice, Grangon
Word Usage Key
Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically.
Agreän(s), those person(s) one has marital agreement with, spouse(s).
Bethinkt, thought.
Braekt, broke.
Cousine, female cousin.
Doet, did. Pronounced dote.
Doetn’t, didn’t. Pronounced dough + ent.
Findt, found,
Goen, gone
Goent, went.
Grandparents. In Folk like in many Earth languages there are words for either grandmother and grandfather like granddad, gran, granny. There are also words that are specific to maternal and paternal grandparents. Those are as follows. Maternal grand mother – granddam. Paternal grandmother – grandma. Maternal grandfather – grandfa. Paternal grandfather – grandda.
Heartfriend, a relationship of much more significance than being a girl- or boy-friend is on Earth. Oft such relationships are formed from as young as four and they are taken seriously by both children and adults. A child’s heartfriend is automatically one of their heartfriend’s parents’ children too, and a sibling to their heartfriend’s siblings. Such relationships rarely fail and are seen as precursors to becoming intendet and having agreement.
Intendet, fiancée or fiancé.
Knoewn, knew.
Lastdaysince, the day before yesterday.
Loes, lost.
Maekt, made.
Nextdaynigh, the day after tomorrow.
Sayt, said.
Seeën, saw.
Taekt, took.
Telt, told.
Uest, used.
1 Jack, a male hare. As fas as is known the arctic hare, Lepus arcticus, is the only hare found on Castle. Most do not change their coat colour with the seasons but remain white all year. It was originally thought the hares from far to the south of the Keep which are white in winter and silver gray in summer were a different species but opinion changed when it was realised they successfully bred with the northern form, at what had been considered to be the extreme edges of their respective ranges.
2 Toad in the hole, sausages cooked in very hot fat to which batter is added. The rising agent in the flour makes the batter rise around the sausages.
3 Waxroots, waxy potatoes. Only floury potatoes are usually referred to as starchroots, though the distinction is neither absolute nor strictly adhered to.
4 Bannock, a small flat bread.
5 Manchette, a small, round, high quality loaf baked without using a tin.
6 Kitchener, though part of the kitchen staff the kitcheners are a distinct craft comprising kitchen supervisors and their staff of servers, waiters, dish washers and storekeepers.
7 Gris, feral/wild swine.
8 Kine, cattle.
9 Cornt kine, corned beef. A corn was a small piece and referred to the small pieces of salt that were uest to produce salt beef.
10 Sayal, meatloaf, usually heavily herbed.
11 Breadseed, a hardy grain cultivated for flour, unique to Castle.
12 Smallseed, covers a multitude of species, millets, sorghums, and buckwheats in the main, but others too.
13 Marranth, amaranth.
14 Conegrass, maize.
15 Redroot, carrot. Castle carrots are mostly red, but just about every shade from white, through yellow, sunset [orange], red, perse [purple] to black is common.
16 Starchroots, floury potatoes. Waxy potatoes are referred to as waxroots, though the distinction is neither absolute nor always adhered to.
17 Winteroot, swede, Swedish turnips or rutabaga. Originally winter root.
18 Bigroot, sometimes referred to by the Folk as mangels. Mangels are called mangels, mangel worzels or fodder beet on Earth. Since they grow quickly, are hardy and crop reliably, oft reaching fifty weights, they are extensively grown to be eaten by the Folk as well as their livestock. The varieties grown by the Folk also provide strong tasting and nutritious greens particularly popular with venison. They are also popular uest cooked then chopped to be mixt with cold mashed starchroots which are flattened to the size of a dinner plate and a wiedth thick before oven cooking with grated cheese on top till the cheese melts. The quartered pieces are known as Leaf Melts, and served with a wide variety of meals. Other dark greens are uest similarly.
19 Sweetroot, parsnip.
20 Crystals of nahcolite, sodium bicarbonate, the source of the carbon dioxide bubbles.
21 Crystals of cream of tartar or potassium bitartrate, a weak acid that reacts with the sodium bicarbonate to release the carbon dioxide.
22 Buttermilk or fruit juice, both sources of acid that will react with the sodium bicarbonate.
23 Loveapple, small hardy tomato.
24 Bellfruit, sweet pepper.
25 Mercyfruit, hot pepper, chile.
26 Bicarbonate of soda, oft selt as baking soda.
27 Source of tapioca flour is cassava root from Manihot esculenta.
28 Whiteleaf, a cabbage with a pale almost white centre but dark green outer leafs.
29 Sunrise, Folk word for the colour orange.
30 Green beans, Phaseolus coccineus, runner beans.
31 Lastbloom root, root of rosebay willow herb, Epilobiun angustifolium, also known as Chamaenerion angustifolium.
32 Earthnuts, pignuts, Conopodium majus.
33 Fireseed, the seed of an member of the umbelliferae family unique to Castle. The seed is used ground in food, it is too dangerous to use whole in food though it is so used in pickling spice mixes which are not eaten with the pickles. The vinegar renders the fireseed far less dangerous. Untreated fireseed is so hot an excess can blister the mouth before numbing the taste buds for many days, the blisters can take a lune to heal.
34 Seaburn, sea coal which contains sulphur. The sulphur oxidises on burning to produce sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide which react with the water vapour produced by the burning process to produce sulphurous and sulphuric acids respectively.
35 White hotroot, horse radish, Amoracia rusticana.
36 Brightbean, broad bean or fava bean, Vicia faba. Widely grown on Castle due to its resistance to extreme cold. So called because of the bright green inner seed.
37 Marmite, Marmite is the brand name of a sticky, salty, dark brown food paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour. It is made from yeast extract, a by product of beer brewing.
38 Leaving fleetfoot behind, a Folk expression equivalent to being rushed of one’s feet. Fleetfoot are a species of deer which as their name suggests is capable of extreme speed.
39 Cant hook, also known as a peavy, especially in the US.
40 Sincely, recently.
41 A cast item is said to be ‘shaken out’ of the sand it was moulded in.
42 Ram, pack the sand berount the pattern.
43 Drag, the lower half of a green sand mould. Green sand is that uest for casting, it contains a small proportion of clay which bonds the sand together.
44 Cope, the upper half of a green sand mould, and if middle parts are uest they are called cheeks.
45 Cheek(s) the middle part(s) of a moulding box that are not usually required. Use of cheek(s) makes the moulding process far more complicated.
46 Flask, a complete moulding box, drag, cheek(s) (if required) and cope.
47 Flash, leakage of molten metal at the junction of two parts of a sand mould, usually looking like thin fins.
48 Parting plane, the plane that forms the junction of two parts of a flask.
49 Blötroot, beetroot.
50 Green hotroot, wasabi.
51 Choake, Jerusalem artichoke.
52 Ide, Leuciscus idus a member of the carp family. Usually cool smoked.
53 Delta, a small but meaty oily fish that lives in the brackish waters of the Arder estuary, it smokes well and large quantities are caught and hot smoked for a winter food supply. Delta are related to Liza aurata the Golden Grey Mullet but are not the same. They reach a maximum size of four spans and are sexually mature much younger than any Earth mullet species.
54 Forsickth, originally forenoon sickth, morning sickness.
55 Lunesickth, general term that includes all unpleasant effects of PMS, premenstrual syndrome.
56 Keld, a seafish somewhat like the cod Gadus morhua.
57 Elk, Alces alces, referred to as Moose in some parts of Earth.
58 Saught, peace, also reconciliation.
59 Scapes, some varieties of garlic produce long curling ‘scapes’ at the top of the stem which contain the flower head. If they are removed the garlic bulbs at the base become up to fifty per cent larger. They are a useful additional crop available before the cloves of garlic are ready for harvesting.
60 Yellowroot, the root of various species of dock.
61 Droon, a spicy seed pod it would be generous to describe as cardamom unique to Castle.
62 Tallgrass shoots, bamboo shoots.
63 Kroïns, Chinese artichokes, crosnes.
64 Waternut, water chestnuts, Eleocharis dulcis.
65 Yellow sour, a small, sharp, hardy, lemon like, citrus fruit.
66 Ocean leaf, general term for edible seaweed.
67 Honeyroot beet, sugar beet, Beta vulgaris.
68 Starnut, water chestnut, Trapa natans.
69 Bullnut, water chestnut, Trapa bicornis.
70 Shungiku is a Japanese term for Glebionis coronaria. An edible plant also known as the garland chrysanthemum.
71 Wind washer. A slow speed, wind powered, set of rotating paddles that are equipped with brushes in a wide shallow barrel that is uest to wash vegetables. The barrel is filled with a mix of water and vegetables, usually roots with soil on. Roots as harvested are stored with soil on because they keep better than when washed. The roots are only washed when required.
72 Fillth, in this context capacity. Similar to fullth.
73 Snow pies, meringue topped fruit pies.
74 Tatties, potatoes, starchroot.
75 Sgons, scones.
76 Mijom, a large oceanic pelagic fish which may reach two hundred and fifty weights. The flesh is like that of tuna and there is little waste on mijom. They are tasty and much sought after by the Folk. Mijom is pronounced me + hom, mi:hɒm.
