Evening Gamers!

It has been a while since I have posted any roleplaying stuff and after a few conversations with fellow gamers (and one really good post on Dungeons and Donuts you can read HERE.) I came up with the idea for a new series of articles. Curios will be a periodical article that will feature tables and flavor to enhance various locations.

What’s in the Kitchen features a number of dishes and knick knacks that players may find in any area being used to cook or prepare food. I have also decided to incorporate one of my favorite feats from 5^th Edition D&D called ‘Gourmand’. While I encourage DMs to use skill checks to identify the unusual ingredients found below, those with the Gourmand feat can identify each after sampling them. This feat and a bunch of other great ones are part of the Unearthed Arcana series and can be found HERE.

d12 - Curio

1. A large iron pot holds a thick creamy soup filled with bits of unknown meat. Gourmand: Berbalang Cheese Soup 
2. A large marble mortar and pestle gathers dust on one high shelf. A fine dust partially fills the bowl and a closer inspection reveals a human tooth.
3. Several long thing pastry tubes rest on the counter, filled with a spicy smelly meat. Gourmand: Behir Rolls 
4. A large wok rests against the wall covered in soot from heavy use. Scrubbing it clean reveals that it is made from Adamantium.
5. Inside the oven you find a small sheet holding a dozen puffy triangles. The filling is sweet with earthy undertones. Gourmand: Goodberry and Rhubarb Turnovers 
6. A bloody cleaver is wedged deeply into a cutting block, the name ‘Barry’ carved into the thick handle.
7. A small metal tin contains a variety of thin light brown shards, studded with some kind of nut. Though hard to bite through it tastes both sweet and salty. Gourmand: Peanut Brittle 
8. Within a cupboard, you find a worn cookbook the large heavy tome obviously well loved. On the inside cover, an inscription reads “To help you to get a start with your new restaurant. - Prianna”
9. A small pie sits cooling on a window sill, adorned with several apples cut to look like roses. Someone has apparently used their hands to scoop out a small piece, perhaps a small child or halfling. Gourmand: Blooming Rose Creme Pie 
10. A wooden box made of walnut opens to reveal a velvet lining. Upon the rich blue fabric rests a full set of silverware whose onyx stone handles are carved into the form of horses.
11. A half dozen figs, filled with cheese and drizzled with honey and almonds, sit arrayed in a semi-circle upon a plate. Gourmand: Almond and Honey Stuffed Figs
12. A thick cut steak, grilled to perfection, smelling of pear and brown sugar. Gourmand: Chile Glazed Basilisk Steaks 

d6 - Senses

1. The smell of mold and damp fills the space and the air has a faint hazy quality.
2. This room smells pleasantly sweet, its surfaces spotless in their cleanliness.
3. You instantly pick up the caustic smell of blood the moment you set foot in the room. The old scent is almost overpowering.
4. The smell of fresh baked bread explodes out of this room, surrounding you in warmth.
5. Old chains and hooks dangle from the ceiling in the far corner of the room, above a single iron grate. Tattered pieces of meat still remain giving off the foul smell of rot and decay.
6. A powerful earthy smell hits you as you step into the room. One entire wall appears to be overgrown with various edible plants and herbs.

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Recipe: Sangoire

"Poets describe Sangoire as 'blood spilled by moonlight'. It has taken me several years of studious research to recover this recipe. It was once the specialty of the guild before Kresk was destroyed, which considering our Lord is a vampire comes as little surprise."

- From the Journal of Mattias Softpaw

Cateloge Number: R-01

Ingredients

Madder Plant (Grown for 5 years) – 1lb

Chalk – 3 oz

Alum

Directions

Take the Madder plant, which have been growing for a period of five years, and harvest it in the late fall or early winter. Remove the roots and dispose of the rest as they contain no dye.

Soak the roots in water and give them several good washings to remove all the soil and debris. It is important to make sure they are thoroughly clean, lest the dye become contaminated. While the roots are still wet chop them into fine pieces.

Take the diced roots and add to a vat of cold water. Now take the chalk and dissolve it in hot, not boiling, water and allow to cool. Add the chalk to the vat and mix together. Allow the solution to ferment for seven days, covered with a tight lid to prevent mold, stirring several times per day.

On the seventh day strain the solution through a fine silk sieve several times to ensure no debris is left behind.

Before dying the fabric soak the cloth in a solution mixed with Alum overnight to ensure best application of the dye. Completely submerge the cloth in the dye for four days. When removed the cloth should appear to be of a rich dark red bordering on black. If not, allow it to soak for an additional day at a time until the proper color is achieved.

Recipe: Nevermore

"So what you're telling me is that a militant group of were ravens brought their Goddess, named the Raven Queen, into our plane of existence and now they're holding a festival? I have just the thing for that."

- From the Journal of Mattias Softpaw

Cateloge Number: B-01

Ingredients

Woad Plant (Harvested near the beginning of the fall in the plant's first year)

Stale Urine (Ammonia)

Water

Directions

To prepare the Woad for dyeing begin by harvesting the plant. In the first year of the plant's life in the end of summer or beginning of fall remove the leaves. The stems may be discarded as only the leafy material of the plant contains the dye. Using a mill or large mortal and pestle chop the leaves into a paste before forming them into small balls by hand. Leave these balls in a drying shed, ensuring that there is no damp present, for approximately four weeks. These balls may be retained for storage or trade but that is not our purpose here.

When the balls are dried break them down into a powder and sprinkle with water and allow to ferment. When this has dried again, you may pack this woad into barrels for storage if you make more than needed.

Take the powder and add it to a vat. Add hot, not boiling, water and the urine. Allow to ferment for three days.

To achieve the proper color take the material and completely submerge it in the vat. Remove this and allow the cloth to dry completely before submerging it four more times. When complete the cloth should appear to be black in color, but will reveal a flash of blue when exposed to light.

Recipe: Tyrian

"Contracting Count Zarovich as my patron has turned out to be far more successful than I could have ever imagined. His blessing has allowed me to form trade ties with the Vistani, allowing me access to things beyond the scope of Barovia... I hope this will be a long and profitable relationship."

- From the Journal of Mattias Softpaw

Cateloge Number: P-01

Ingredients

Murex Rock Snails (Approximately 100,000)

Salt -20 oz.

Directions

Take the Murex and extract the snail within, ensuring as little damage to the creature as possible, and remove the vein which contains the juice.

To every hundred pounds of juice add 20 oz of salt and allow to steep for no more than three days.

Once the required time has passed set the juice to a slow boil in a vat of tin or lead and boil it down. Ensure that the surface is skimmed from time to time with a fine mesh to remove the flesh that has separated from the vein.

After approximately 10 days the contents should be in a suitable liquid state, free from clumps. Test the solution with a piece of fleece which the grease has been cleaned. A tint that is more of a red color is inferior and not to be sought after, however one that is of a blackish hue is proper.

When the liquid is allowed to dry into blocks, 10 000 shellfish should yeild approximately 1 gram of material. This should allow the dying of a single dress' hem, of a suitable color, when liquified. It should be noted that the cloth should be allowed to age after dying as this will allow the color to set deeper and like a fine wine, produces a finer color over time.

Recipe: Lover's Lullaby

"A wedding dress? How cute. It’s odd to see anyone put that much care and attention into something like that, at least not in Barovia. But they paid me upfront... I almost feel bad charging them so much but well, only a fool declines to haggle. Well, I am a mouse of my word."

– From the Journal of Mattias Softpaw

Catalog Number: P-03

Ingredients

Dactylopiidae insects (Approximately 80,000) - dried

Stale Urine (Ammonia)

Alum

Lime

Directions 

Take the dried insects and using a mortar and pestle, grind to a fine dust.

Gather several litres of urine and allow it to sit and become stale. Once this has occurred bring it to a boil and add the powdered insect shell. Once the boil as completly absorbed the powder and has taken on a red hue, filter through a fine mesh to remove an insoluble material that may have been left behind. This should leave a new pot of clear red tinted solution.

To this you add the alum and a measure of lime.  The lime will reach with the alum and change the shade from red to purple.  Continue to add slowly until the mixture takes on a dark lavender color.

To this immerse the cloth for no longer than seven and one half minutes. Remove and allow to dry completely.

The color will change in hue slightly depending on the fabric used within cotton for instance will have the desired color, where as silk will have a darker more rich hue.  It is suggested that a sample piece of cloth is used and additional lime added to ensure a fine lavender color in whatever material is desired.