Delicious in Dungeon, Tuesday, Per 6

[sailor_meshi]

They were back on the second level today, since they were once again harvesting a special kind of plant monster. Rather than being on the rope bridges, however, they were making their way over tree branches the width of a regular street, with other kinds of vegetation growing off them them.

"This," Senshi said, holding up a root vegetable that bore a surprising resemblance to a person, "is a mandrake. Mandrakes are very nutritious and also real good for spell users, I guess, because they're full of mana, especially the heads. You can pack 'em even more full of nutrients by growing them in spirit-rich environments, but that's magic stuff and I don't really truck with that. All parts of mandrakes are edible, though they're kinda bitter for some folks' taste." There was a way to mellow out the taste, but he hadn't learned that one yet, class, sorry. "The problem is, of course, harvestin' 'em. When pulled out of the ground, mandrakes let out a scream that causes anyone that hears it to have a mental breakdown and usually die. If you pay close attention to the face, you can tell the one wasn't harvested yet and the one that was. In the first case, the one that was pulled up has both its eyes and it's mouth wide open for the scream, as opposed to the one that is still kinda restin'." He passed both mandrakes around for the class to study.

"Now, when you're foragin' for mandrakes, you find 'em by the crown of leaves that poke grow above ground. They got a kinda peppery scent to 'em, and look like a very loose head of lettuce. Now, when you find one to harvest, the trick is to kill it by cutting its head off before it has the chance to scream. You pull it up by the crown, gentle so the greens don't tear off in your hands, and just as you get the eyes uncovered, you position your knife, pull fast, and slice off the head as fast as you can, right above the little neck frill." Hunkering down, he demonstrated, his knife seemingly both fast and sharp enough to cut the wind, hand steady and stroke sure. "Because they're not proper monsters, cutting off the top of the head or anything won't 'kill' it, the whole head has to be removed if you want to stop it from screamin' when it's dug up."

Why? Because magic was weird, that was why. Don't ask.

"Now, mandrakes can basically go in everythin', but today we're gonna have 'em with basilisk eggs. We're gonna talk about basilisks next class, but for those who don't know, basilisks are a monster with the head and body of a chicken, and their tail is a snake - but not a snake tail, the snake half also has a head. Like a chicken, a basilisk lays eggs every two or three days, but their eggs look more like snake eggs, ovoid leathery shells and you can feel the insides kinda slosh around. Usually they're laid beneath low-hanging plants and bushes to keep them out of the sun and also sight of egg-stealin' predators. Basilisks don't make nests, but rather leave a layer of feathers beneath their eggs to rest on. If you end up fightin' off a basilisk, you can usually find yourself a nest somewhere in the vicinity. Basilisks don't like to stray far from their nests unless they're chasin' down somethin' they think is a threat. Since we're not dealin' with the basilisk today, the eggs are for takin', the real practice is gettin' the mandrakes out without lettin' 'em scream. Of course, their screamin' ain't gonna kill you or break your brain, but it is gonna be real loud and obnoxious, so learn fast."

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Sign In #5

[sailor_meshi]

Screaming!

Listen to the Lecture

[sailor_meshi]

It's a fairly short one, all things considered!

Hunt Your Mandrakes

[sailor_meshi]

There are plenty around, so take all the time you need to practice! Your classmates' ears might not thank you, but it's important to get the technique down!

And you'll be better at slicing throats when you're done, so this is basically a double lesson. You're welcome, everyone who isn't Hannibal.

Prepare the Meal and then Eat!

[sailor_meshi]

Because omelettes didn't do well with being prepared several hours before eating them, Senshi had a special surprise! Rather than learning to cook them in the sim and eating food he'd prepared prepared previously, what he'd done was gather a bunch of mandrakes and basilisk eggs and brought them to class with him. Once everyone had finished learning how to decapitate the mandrakes, he ended the simulation early and led the class to the cooking classroom where they got to actually prepare the ingredients in real life!

"Now, to prepare mandrakes, first you see if you can unwind the limbs from around the body, and then snap 'em off. That makes the torso easier to peel - and don't bother tryin' to peel the limbs, just shave off any darker bits. Dice the peeled torso and limbs, then cut the leaf crown off the head and roughly chop those up. You can eat the leaves and head raw, or boiled, or sauteed, which is my preference. You know I like usin' up leftovers, so we're tossing some mimic meat in this pan along with a bit of oil and cookin' them all together, then set the fillin' aside."

"As for the basilisk egg, you'll find it's too squishy and malleable to crack. You gotta make a slit in the shell, and then let the yolk pour out of that until the shell is empty and deflated. There's no whites and it's a lot thicker and creamier than a chicken egg usually is, so our omelettes are gonna be a lot brighter and more richly flavored. Add some salt and pepper and a little bit of water, then mix the yolks with a fork to aerate 'em so our omelettes will be fluffier. Pour the eggs into the pan and let em' cook for a few minutes, shiftin' 'em around if they need help cookin' evenly. Then, once they're mostly set, add your fillin's, along with any additional herbs or seasonin's you've got, then fold your omelette either in half or into thirds. Let it finish cookin' for another three, maybe four minutes, and...it's done! The mandrake heads make a great, mana-refillin' garnish when you go to serve it, too."

Eat up, class!

Talk to Senshi

[sailor_meshi]

Either in the sim or while he's bustling around cleaning up the kitchen.

OOC

[sailor_meshi]