LongTech Hosts Yet Another Bake Off - RPLOG
Participants
Date
30/3/480
Log
It is early in the afternoon, and the LongTech guards are slowly but surely allowing various beings into the small hallway where mages have set up a series of cooking-stations, complete with something of a magically heated surface, and a water-basin near every countertop. Various foodstuffs have been stalled out among the back wall, largely consisting of flours, honeys, and other easy-to-keep foodstuffs. Finally, there's Flora, gesturing for everyone to move to their chosen station, and await instructions.
"Your sure I can't just wheel my cart in here?" Tam, owner and operator of the Tanuki Express asks the guard trying to usher him to a work station, "Only I got all kinds of great little tools for making cookin' easier, y'know!" Fenris would not miss out on this for the world! He is not really sure why Flora would sponsor an event like this, but it seemed like far too much fun to pass up. In the guise of Tam Mikuzukinoyoi, he is more than prepared to try his hand at a little cooking contest.
The tubby tanuki looks over his workstation and smiles around at other participants.
Cirrus arrives, if only for the opportunity to "sample" some other contestants' leftovers. She had a plan of what she would be making, yes, but there were little to no guarantees as to the quality of it. As she approaches her station, she pipes up to one of the nearby mages. "Just a quick question. Can we have any actual fire? Actual fire is nice, for cooking."
"Welcome, yes," Flora offers, as she moves past the gathered beings for a moment, smiling lightly. "Everyone has a cooking station, complete with magical countertop, and oven," she offers, gesturing at the heated countertop, and the handle to open it and access the oven within. "No fire, the stoves are made of enchanted wood. They can handle the heat, but not fire, no," Flora offers, shaking her head lightly.
"If anyone needs any meat, fish, or fowl, let one of the attendants know, yes. It is kept separate to avoid spoiling, yes. The same for tools not stalled out yet," she offers, as she gestures at the various tools. Knives, meat-forks, wooden spoons and pots and pans are present at every countertop, at the very least.
"Now, the rules, yes. No outside ingredients, only use the provided ones. There should be plenty. Any dishes you can make with them are allowed, and making multiple dishes is permitted. If you make multiple dishes, they should be a part of the same menu, and will be judged as such. Collaboration is permitted, but will factor into judging. And no help from any Spirits, she offers one tusked bear, smiling warmly. "The challenge is to make good food, not to see who has the best supernatural connections, yes."
"You have three hours."
Tam smiles and nods along as Flora explains the rules. "Sounds like a plan!" he says happily, then produces a little pad of paper and a stub of a charcoal pencil. He scribbles out a list of ingredients, some vegetables, a little meat and a number of herbs and snags the nearest attendent. "I'm gonna need these things, pal!" he says amiably, "You mind getting them for me while I get started here?"
An Artic Fox finds himself filtering into the hall along with the crowd gathering for the contest. He isn't a cook, at least not one that would dare go to a contest. 'meat on a stick' is just not all that amazing. However, these things tend to have lots of food, lots of good food... And Russell wanted some of it.
He flicks his tail about as he finds a spot just a bit out of the way where he could still watch the action. Though with being short, his head has to poke out from behind shoulders.
Cirrus goes and grabs a bowl, then peers about, and grabs a few cloves of garlic and nabs one of those bottles of "soy sauce" that you find in the Jadelands. She uncorks the top, takes a whiff, whistles, shakes her head, and recorks it to take it back to her station. She whispers some ingredients to one of the attendants, waiting for some ingredients to come back while she starts crushing up some of the garlic. Can't cook without garlic.
A small smile from Flora as everyone sets to work, and the attendants start moving different foods around, carrying everything on plates of some sort to make sure to touch it as little as possible. Meanwhile, Flora moves to the back of the hall, smiling lightly as she gestures for Russell to take a station. "Anything will do, friend Russell. But Flora does expect participation, if friend Russell wants to partake of the food afterwards," she offers with a small smile on her lips, as the impromptu-kitchen sets to work, and she moves past the different tables, making small inquiries as to what the various beings are planning to make.
Tam carefully sets up his workspace, laying out several cutting boards, some sharp knives, a small mortar and pestle and a large frying pan along with a large mixing bowl. The tubby tanuki rolls his neck and shoulders, stretches dramatically, sets his wide, flat, bamboo hat atop his head, then starts to work!
It would be hard to say the exact recipie he is using, since he hardly seems to measure anything, tossing ingredients into his bowl with speed and practiced precision. Soon he has a generous coating of flour on his thick forearms and he is mixing a thick, pasty dough. The tanuki starts to wander a little, looking at other cooks' work as he mixes.
Cirrus works a lot slower than, say, Tam, and her recipes are much more simple. She pours some of the sauce into a bowl, adds the garlic to it, dices up some beef in nice, large chunks, and sticks it inside. A marinade! She sticks a lid on the bowl and sets it aside for the time being. She then goes and speaks to one of the nearby attendants, seemingly intent on acquiring... swords? She appears to want to acquire rapiers for whatever she's doing.
Russell had not counted on this;he'd gone on the notion that there'd be a surplus he could snag a few bites of. However, without anyone in mortal danger, the fox's desire to stay out of the spotlight overrides anything else, and he backpedals a bit, "I'm flattered but I'll pass. It'd be a waste of food, since I know little aside from cooking things on a spit until they're charred." He slinks a bit further back and silently regrets acting like a scavenger.
A small smile, a shake of the head. "As Friend Russell wishes. If Friend Russell changes his mind, there is still plenty of time left, yes," she offers, before one of the attendants gestures her over to Cirrus's table, and explains what her cousin is requesting.
"Are rapiers necessary? Why not just a prong?" the she-cat asks, looking more than a bit confused at the request, while she keeps an eye on the rest of the room.
Tam wanders around, making small talk with other cooks and some of the attendandants who seem familiar with him. He DOES run a food cart, after all. The tanuki seems most interested in the tusked bear and his work. "What's on the menu?" he asks with a smile, still stirring and kneading his dough vigorously.
"Why -not-?" Cirrus replies, with a smile on her face. She ends up shrugging, however, expanding upon the answer. "They're not strictly necessary. A little heat won't damage the steel, though, and it'll look rather neat. Actually, there's one thing: A rapier is slightly flattened, so the stuff won't slide around or rotate."
Russell's nose samples the air on instinct, but doesn't yet smell anything that makes him curious. The conversation about using a Rapier of all things to cook with makes the fox blink a few times. A Dueling sword being useful in a kitchen? It's so bizzare to his sensibilities that he wanders over to investigate.
"You're cooking... What now?" Russell asks, blinking his eyes a few times, "That has to be one of the more... intresting things I've heard of."
A raise of the brow, a soft muble. "Hrm. Flora will have to think on it for a bit, yes. When does Cousin Cirrus need them?" she offers, raising her brow lightly.
The bear gestures at his plate, smiling brightly. "Peanut-sauce from the Jadelands, creator potato-sticks, and a little invention of my own," he offers, gesturing for one of the attendants, and asking if it's possible to refridgerate or freeze things.
"Jadelands?" Tam asks, "No kidding! That's where my Dad is from! And my dish. . . Guess I shoulda tried from something more local, huh?" The tanuki continues to mix. Apparently the dough he is making needs some good, sturdy kneading. "You ever been out there? Or just got a killer cook book?" To listen to the tanuki speak, one would imagine him growing up in the Sweetwater farmlands, not the far off, exotic Jadelands.
"I'm making kebabs! Basically, skewered meats and veggies. I'd like to get started properly cooking at a little past the two hour mark, so they're still hot and juicy." Cirrus says, prodding around at the fresh ingredient pile for some peppers, onions, and the like. She'll start cutting and salting them soon-ish.
The fox ohs! "Kabab's, suddenly it's making a bit more sense then. since one doesn't want the food spinning around until you need to do that yourself..." Russell then says, "Don't they have kebab sticks, though? I've never used one, but I could swear that it's something I've seen used."
His tail flicks about, and he comments, "I usually use a long straight branch on a spit, but that's because I cook in the woods."
"Yes. What is wrong with kebab-prongs?" Flora offers, smiling warmly, as she gestures to one of the servants, smiling once more.
"Never been there, m'lad. But I talk with other cooks, y'know. Best way to improve your craft," the tusked bear offers with a smile, before gesturing at Tam's craft. "And you're making? Fair's fair, after all," he offers, as he starts preparing a ragout of sorts.
"Steamed meat and sweet bean buns," Tam says, "More Jadeland stuff. Like I said, that's where Dad was from, so its what I know. I'll serve 'em up with a vegetable curry. I like it nice and hot, but I'll probably tone it back for the judges." The tanuki winks and grins at the bear. "Save me some of that, though. I look forward to trying it!"
Fortunately, Tam's station is nearby, and he can keep talking as he returns to his work table, setting his dough aside to start expertly slicing and dicing meat and vegetables, laying them in shallow bowls and throwing sauces and spices about in careful, precise amounts.
"Kebab prongs don't have the same... thing! Y'know, the whole intangible quality bit. Besides. I think you only have normal prongs, the roundy-ones." Cirrus says, huffing slightly. She starts roughly cutting the veggies, however, clearly intending to skewer them. Maybe she should find some rice. Dunno.
Russell's head points to the ceiling, and he flicks his ears a bit in contemplation, trying to remember the term he's heard. "It's all about... presentation, eh?" He asks Cirrus, looking over at the veggies she's cutting before looking over at the cook he'd met before. "Well, hopefully you get a better reception for your dish here then you did the last time we met, eh"
"Certainly hope so, lad. My pact with messer Olloch seems to not sit well with a lot of people, I'm afraid," he offers, sighing a tad. "All I wanted was to hone my craft to perfection. Nothing more, nothing less," he offers with a small shake of the head, as he continues preparing ingredients for the ragout, before moving on to cutting up potatoes into sticks. "And I wasn't aware Lord Good couldn't handle peanuts, either. I'll be serving the sauce separately from now on."
"Kebab prongs are angled, yes. Cousin Cirrus is thinking of another kind of prong, Flora thinks," she offers, smiling at the sight of the rare few beings who've decided to use the available LongTech thermometers for various purposes, before turning back to Cirrus, and scratching her head. "Flora doesn't get it. Food should taste good and be nutritious, yes."
"Oh! Creators!" Tam exclaims, though his preparations are not interrupted by his conversation, "I heard about that! That was you?" Of course, Fenris knows exactly who the bear is. For multiple reasons, but most people find it disconcerting to learn that you know about their affairs before you have been properly introduced. "You've had all kinds of crazy after you this week, haven't you!" he says, scooping slivers of meat into a thick, sweet sauce, "Shoot, proud of you for sticking to your cookin' pot though!" The tanuki works quietly for a moment, tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he meticulously minces garlic and grinds it down into a paste. "So. . . " he hazards, "What's it like? The uh. . . the Olloch thing?" he waves vaguely at his own jaw.
"Some beings like food that looks as intresting as it tastes. It's not a fancy I strike personally, per-se, but it's something. Two meals that are otherwise the same, the one done up to look fancier will certainly /look/ tastier." Russ says, and adds, "I think it's pretty common in the royal courts and the like for that reason. All of the food they eat is great. So the only way to improve it is to make it wow the guests."
He notices the strage devices that everyone is using, but he has never heard of or seen these thermometers, so he assumes it's a kitchen tool he's got no experience with, which is quite a few of them.
"Prongs will work, though, yes." Cirrus nods, opening the bowl that contains the meat to massage at it a bit, before moving to wash her hands off and start layering the beef and veggies on the skewer. "Flora probably doesn't care as much about how it looks, but."
