Stagshorn Stew

A vibrantly adorned winter stew garnished with yellow stagshorn mushrooms and served aflame.

Stagshorn stew is a heart-warming dish served in the colder months and is native to the region of Melesh. The signature twist that sets this stew apart from other winter meals is the garnish of stagshorn mushrooms. These small rubbery fungi start growing in Feldturn in woodland areas across the region, but despite their vibrant appearance they have a bland flavour and (often undesirable) gelatinous texture. To make up for it, the stagshorn are marinated in sloe gin and served aflame to warm the cockles of your heart.

Stagshorn Stew by TJ Trewin

How is it made?

Every household has their own favourite flavours to add to this traditional dish, but the core ingredients are the same: seasonal game and vegetables, with as little waste as possible.
The bones from the hunted game (be it hare, grouse, pheasant or deer) are used to make tasty and nutritious broths that serve as a base for the flavours in the stew.
Some families like to add spices or herbs to make the stew spicy, but traditionally the rich flavours are left to be savoured on their own.

How is it served?

Stagshorn stew is served piping hot in a stoneware bowl so that you can warm your hands around the edges until it's just cool enough not to burn your tongue. The leftover sloe gin marinade that the stagshorn was soaking in can be poured over the top and set aflame for a truly warming experience that often impresses weary travellers.
The stew is often served with two pieces of crusty sourdough bread; it's traditional to save one piece of bread until the end so that you can mop your bowl clean and enjoy every last morsel of goodness.

Who eats it?

This dish is very much a family recipe and is enjoyed by everyone, from the most humble farmer to the finest lord. The recipe originates from Melesh but is also enjoyed in the colder countries of Anvil.

Variant: Storyteller's Stew

There are many variants of this recipe that prefer to use hallucinogenic mushrooms as the main ingredient. Such stews should be cooked with caution, as an overdose in trippy mushrooms may cause a temporary paralysing effect along with a bad trip.

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Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Ingredients

• Freshly harvested stagshorn
• Seasonal autumn vegetables such as onions, carrots, parsnips, squashes, potatoes and leeks
• Game hunted locally
• Stock made from the game bones
• Sloe gin

Preparation

1. Marinate the freshly harvested stagshorn in enough sloe gin to just cover it. For best results leave overnight.
2. Skin, gut and prepare your game meat and put aside the bones into a large cook pot. Store the meat ready to use later.
3. Add some roughly chopped onions, celery and carrot and enough water to cover it all.
4. Cook this stock for half a day and strain, discarding the solids.
5. Chop the veg for your stew into large chunks.
6. Fry up the leeks and onions until soft then add in the carrots and other vegetables.
7. When the vegetables are softening up, add in the chopped game meat and cook until browned off.
8. Cover the stew with stock and put a lid over the pot and move to a smaller fire so it won't boil dry.
9. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens up, then fry up the marinated stagshorn in a separate pan.
10. Serve the stew and garnish with stagshorn.
11. (Optional) Pour over the remaining sloe gin marinade over the top and set it aflame.