Chapter 327: Chapter 311 – A Feast on the Prairie

“Good food is the one true language that every race speaks.” - Saying from a prehistoric scholar, name lost to history.

When the five of them emerged from the shaman’s tent, Aideen saw that the orcs in the clan were all busy either laying down rugs in a circular pattern around the clearing near the encampment, or otherwise preparing all sorts of food. The scent of roasted meat and stew that simmered in its cauldron wafted over, while a strong aroma of tea - the same strong, salty, buttery tea they just had - came from a massive cauldron where Aideen figured they brewed a whole lot of it at once.

 

Many of the orcs that happened to be nearby looked at first stupefied, then exalted when they saw the old orcish shaman walk on his own towards the clearing, only using his gnarled wooden staff as walking aid. Apparently his health had deteriorated so badly prior to that time that he could barely walk even assisted by his caretaker, and the sight of his newfound vigor seemed to have lifted the spirits of the clan’s orcs.

 

They were ushered by some younger orcs towards one of the rugs that was laid upon the grassy soil, one that had a small pile of comfortable, soft cushions on it. Aideen and Celia were seated cross-legged between the Shaman and the Warchief, which she learned from the former was an indication that they were honored guests to the clan.

 

Soon after they were seated, other members of the orcish clan gathered and sat around the area, as they formed a circle in the clearing. From the way they looked and dressed, Aideen guessed that most of the attendees of the feast were the warriors of the clan, along with the apprentices of the shaman - a smaller group of orcs who were dressed similar to the old orc and seated near him - while the rest of the tribe helped prepare the feast.

 

Before long, some of the orcs who were part of the group that prepared the feast - Aideen noticed that there was no real separation of gender between the orcs - brought large wooden platters over. On some of the platters were large bowls of stew that smelled strongly of meat and blood, while other platters contained stacks of what appeared to be hard, unleavened flatbread, as well as plump dumplings of a dark color.

 

A large bowl of the dark, thick stew was placed before each of them, while a stack of flatbreads and a pile of dumplings were portioned before each group. The elderly shaman who had by then introduced himself as Mahest then showed Aideen and Celia how to enjoy the stew best. The dumplings were directly placed in the stew to absorb the broth until they had swollen up a bit, while they used shards of the flatbread to scoop up the stew, and as it softened, munched on it as well before they took a new shard.

 

Aideen picked up the bowl of stew, still piping hot and wafting steam as it was freshly ladled out from the cauldron. She tossed in a handful of dumpling like she was shown and then broke one of the flatbreads into shards and used the wide end of a shard to push the food into her mouth as she brought the bowl close to her lips.

 

The flavor of the hot, thick stew was rich, slightly savory, slightly bitter, somewhat spicy, and mostly dominated by that rich, iron-y flavor that blood has, and she guessed that the stew itself incorporated no small amount of the blood of whatever animal had been used to cook it. Other than blood, she also chewed on the solid chunks of meat in the stew and quickly identified them as meat from the animal’s various organs.

 

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Since she came from Ptolodecca, she was familiar with the taste and textures of organ meat, from the soft, springy, crumbly liver with its earthy taste, to the tender kidneys, to the pleasantly chewy intestines and stomach lining with their characteristic texture, the spongy chunks of lungs, and the crisp pieces of heart that was contained within the stew. She enjoyed the taste as it reminded her of home - organ meat being something that was generally avoided by the upper crust of Alcidean nobles in the Kingdom and the Empire - and eagerly supped on more of the stew.

 

To her side, Celia also seemed to enjoy the meal quite well. While she was Alcidean, for poor people like her meat was a rarity, and any precious animal that was butchered would have every edible bit of its carcass eaten, from the blood to the organs to the bones for making soup. She devoured the meal with as much gusto as Aideen had, which brought a smile and some cheers from the nearby orcish youths.

 

After it was given a few moments to soak in the broth, the spongy, chewy dumplings proved to be a treat themselves, saturated with the flavor of the stew which in turn meshed well with their own rich, slightly bitter flavor. The flatbreads had a similar flavor, cut by a bit of char on the outside, and Aideen recognized the flavor as that of the tea the orcs seem to drink often. They had probably kneaded some sort of flour with it then roasted and boiled the resulting dough to create those flatbreads and dumplings.

 

The bowls of stew were finished in a short time, and right as if it was scheduled, more orcs arrived while they bore platters of meat, freshly carved off the roasting carcass on a spit further in the encampment. A large platter of the choicest bits of meat was brought to where Aideen and the rest were seated, clearly the best food for the Shaman and his honored guests.

 

Since the orcs generally hadn’t bothered with utensils - Orica picked up a slice of meat with her fingers, while Mahest speared another with a knife - Aideen followed suit and used a knife she usually used for cooking to pick up a slice of meat. The meat had been cooked until the outside had a strong sear on it, but the insides remained tender and pink in color, yet thoroughly warmed up by the fire, and yielded easily as she bit into it.

 

Despite the minimal seasoning used - there was only a small smattering of what looked like crushed, dried herbs on the meat - the strong, slightly gamey flavor of the flesh itself was more than enough to make Aideen enjoy the meal. Interspersed with the meat fibers were small globules of fat that only barely remained after the cooking process, with the rest of it rendered down and contributing to the flavor of the juicy meats.

 

By that time, earthen urns were unsealed, which spread a strong smell of alcohol in the surroundings, and ups were filled with the murky liquor, one that possessed a strong kick, with a flavor that was on the fruity end combined with a touch of herbal flavors and a hint of spiciness. Before long, several such urns were emptied by the revelers, and the feast elevated to a general celebration that encompassed the whole clan.

 

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