Orisnuc Stick Bread

from the collected good advice of

Miro Teague

So, there I be, findin’ meself in one o’ them misunderstandin’s that makes yerself have ta leave the Angeshian territories in a most hastily fashion. Perhaps there was a difference of opinion over cards, dice, or mayhaps someone’s hand were in someone elses pockets? I’m not sure, there had been a lot of rum that night.

I had been on the run for the better part of three days. I’d run out uh supplies, spells to use for the day, also ammo for me sling, and still they be comin’ fer me. At one point I had taken me last piece o’ hardtack, loaded the disk of dense, rock hard bread into me sling and fired it at one of me pursuers. I snickered to meself as it flew like some wingless falcon, bounced off the forehead of one of these angry Humans following me and knocked himself off the back o’ his horse with a satisfying thunk.

I will say this: ye’ll ne’er see this Stormborn Halfling steppin’ foot in the “Thirsty Turtle Tavern” again. Aye, they’ve lost me business, that they have!

So, starved, tired and hurt, I had all but decided to stop and give them one more chance to apologize, when I saw one o’ the Totems o’ the Orisnuc territories. Once I crossed the border into Orisnuc lands I’d not be chased anymore. Them Orisnuc don’ like them Angeshians. They been fightin’ one another fer hunnerds o’ years. I turned back just in time to see a shiny flat rock bounce off the side o’ me own head right a’fore all things went black.

Wakin' up in a d-ya-heer is an interestin’ experience ta say the least. Not knowing how yerself got there is an all too familiar feelin’ though. On the plus side, the furs be soft and the fire were warm. On the down side, there were uh very old wrinkly orc Shaman lookin’ down o’er me. A’fore I knew it, he’d done poked meself full a these tiny needles and had incense burnin’ off the ends uh them! I started ta move, only ta find them warm comfy blankets were wrapped round me tight so’s I were at this Shaman’s tender mercies.

I looks him in the eye and says, "You Greenskins won’t takes me without a fight!"

The Holy man looks at me and shakes his head, picks up a wooden spoon and smacks me with it right on the lump that rock left on me noggin. “Little One, Greenskins are fruit that grow farther North from here. They are poisonous and smell like feet… We the Orisnuc are not smelly feet. Now lie still and heal.” Lesson learned...Just sayin’.

I stayed with them Orisnuc fer almost two weeks getting stuck with tiny needles and drinking a tea that I found out later was made from grinding and then boiling mfisha hair that had been dried and ground into a powder to make a medicinal tea. I didn’t ask.

I showed them a few t’ings I learned in me travels and they showed meself a t’ing or two.

One of them t’ings was fermented Lapir milk. Now there’s a drink that will sneak up on ya! Another nice thing was Redroot wine after it had been chilled in the lake for hours.

And then there was Orisnuc stick bread or, mzee-yahool nuh azahee-shoo in the Noru, that was cooked over the hot coals of a campfire or kneaded, then stretched out into a flatish disk about eight inches or so and cooked by placing it directly on the hot coals of the fire… it was very tasty. They told me that this was a very forgiving dough that could be made from different types of flour. Wheat flour, rice flour, almond flour to name a few. Whatever the trader from Copan Shire and other nations had on ‘em that traded with the Orisnuc tribes. The most surprising was when they told me how in hard times when the flour was low, they would make the bread using ground lichens, acorns they had crushed into flour,  or even the pollen from the ends of cattail reeds growing down near the lakes and bodies of water.

Now mind ye, I earned me keep while I was there! Being a sailor, I mended their fishing nets and the like, such as making fish hooks, lures and such. But, the road was calling me onward and I soon had to continue me travels.

Mxiyu na g̊ishu

pronounced mzee-yahool nuh azahee-shoo

So, ta start with I makes meself a nice camp fire and let it start burning down cause we wants the coals for cookin’ this bread not a roarin’ fire. When the fire dies down and ye has white and red coals, that’s when ye are ready ta makes yer Orisnuc bread.
In a nice sized bowl off to the side and away from the fire you wants ta mix together

• Two and a half cups of flour
• One half teaspoon of sugar
• One half teaspoon of salt
• Two teaspoons of baking powder
• Three tablespoons of vegetable squeezin’s -- Avocado squeezin’s is good for this, if you can find it, ‘cause o’ its high burn point since we are usin’ fire and can’t control the temperature of the heat when cooking.
• One cup of water

Now we mixes the dough with our hands makin’ sure all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Yer wants a tacky dough that isn’t too sticky, just sticky enough that you can still work with it and that still has stretch.
Now yer wants to find a nice stick about one inch around or so and probably two and a half feet long. If yer don’ like bein’ that close to the fire makes it longer. There be an ongoin’ debate about stick size. Use what works fer yerself… Just sayin’. Yer don’ wants a fire log, mind ya, not fer this recipe. I takes me dagger and cleans the bark off about the first foot o’ the stick removin’ any knots or splinters - making sure it’s smooth so the bread will release cleanly after it’s baked.
Yer pulls off a nice sized ball a dough maybe four inches, or so, and yer starts workin’ it between yer fingers in a circular fashion until it stretches out into a flattish disk of about a quarter of an inch thickness. Wrap your dough around your clean stick pinching it together so’s it don’ fall off yer stick and hold it over yer hot coals, rotating it in a circular motion so that all sides cook evenly and until it is a golden brown.
Another way to cook this bread is to make yer disks as above and gently lay yer disk directly on yer hot coals. Either by using a forked stick or thick gloves when the underside is golden brown turn yer disk over and cook the remaining side. One or two coals may stick to the bread and must be knocked off but other than that it’s quite tasty and perfect for makin’ a Travelers meal in a hand!
Yer can eat the bread as is, use it to dip into t’ings or fill with flavored meats or even sweet t’ings like jams, butters or preserves ta name just a few. I meself likes ta take two of these breads and add some cheese betwixed them and set them back on the fire a moment or two until there is nothing but melty goodness inside me two breads. The Stick bread can be filled wit all sorts o’ t’ings like cheese, sausages, butters and sweets also! Go wild!
So’s, if ye’er ever on the run after an unfortunate misunderstanding and find yerself in the Orisnuc territories tell ’em Miro Teagues sent ya. Bon appetit !!

A bit of bread for your travels?

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Related ethnicities

• Orisnuc

Raw materials & Components

• Two and a half cups of whatever flour you got ground up
• One half teaspoon of sugar
• One half teaspoon of salt
• Two teaspoons of baking powder
• Three tablespoons of vegetable squeezin’s -- Avocado squeezin’s is good for this, if you can find it, ‘cause of its high burn point since we are using fire and can’t control the temperature of the heat when cooking.
• A cup of water that's fit for drinkin'

Tools

• campfire good and hot
• a nice sized bowl
• clean sticks to cook on,
  or
  sturdy forked sticks for bread-flippin' (unless you got sturdy gloves to reach into a fire with)
• traveler cooking utensils