Clay Giant Culinary Arts

Cooking for the Clay Giants

Plates and mugs clatter against heavy wooden tables as platters of food are passed down the row. Loud voices ring out through the village, the raging fires illuminating the long tables that had been set up in the middle of town. These people need little reason to gather together and celebrate, but no matter the occasion, food is at the center, platters and plates piled high with meats and succulent vegetables, tankards of liquors and drinks. When Clay Giants gather together, it is not simply a dinner, every occasion is a feast for kings.
Compared to other races of the world, the culinary arts of the Clay Giants are rather simple, using only the simplest of ingredients that come from places of hard work and love. The import of ingredients is rare, as these people prefer to only use the fruits of their own labors to nourish their large bodies, far from a simple task. Meat and a variety of root vegetables are staples in the diets of Clay Giants, things easily found throughout the Cradle of Clay. Simplicity is a necessity but even simple can be delicious.
The cuisine and cooking techniques that have become common in the Cradle of Clay are millennia old, but do not reach back to the early days of the Clay Giants in the area. These techniques and favored dishes have been refined over centuries, becoming staples that all in the Cradle of Clay and even some in the northern areas of the Great Plains know and create frequently.

Cuisine

Geography and available flora and fauna heavily change what types of cuisines are prevalent in certain areas but no group has changed their environment so much to find the best flavors as foods as the Clay Giants. Animal and plant husbandry is central to their culture, changing the available flora and fauna for the better.
The people of the Cradle of Clay take pride in the plants and animals they have bred, using, but not abusing, the land to bring them riches in the form of meats, vegetables, and alcohol. Unlike many of the other races of the world, the Clay Giants survive on farm-raised meat and crops, instead of gathering what is offered in nature. This produce has become a large export to parts of the Northern Continent, including the Human Empire.

Meats

Meat is the center of the diet of the Clay Giants. In the early years of their time in the Cradle of Clay, they trapped and hunted wild game, anything that would add to the diet of wild berries and vegetables that they lived on. As the Clay Giants delved further into domestication and animal husbandry, meat from farm-raised animals became more common until it was the main staple.

Cradle-Fed Beef

Steak by Edson Saldaña on Unsplash

Cradle-Fed Beef can refer to meat from either the Black Stout or the Tatanka from the Cradle of Clay. While this meat is a staple of Clay Giants' diets, it is also one of the largest exports from the area other than Arcane Dust.

Cradle-Fed Beef

Cradle-Fed Beef refers to any meat from Black Stout or Tatanka raised by the Clay Giants. This meat often is known for its marbling and taste that comes from animals that are raised on prairie grasses as well as grain. While these creatures are mostly considered free range and can roam across parts of the Cradle of Clay, these animals are constantly fed Cradled Wheat and other grains that the Clay Giants have bred specifically to be used as animal feed.
This meat is often heavily salted using salt gathered from along the sea and seasoned with herbs native to the Cradle of Clay. Butter is made from the milk of the Black Stout and is used in the cooking process. Steaks or other slabs of this meat can be cooked in a variety of ways, including roasting over open fires, drying into strips of jerky, or searing in cast iron cookware.

Game Meats

While Cradle-Fed Beef is more common on tables throughout the Cradle of Clay than game meat, meat from wild animals is still common in certain areas. For travelers, game meat, mostly venison, is a necessity as it is quick to dry and easy to carry long distances. Wild game is easy to procure throughout the Cradle of Clay cheaply while Cradle-Fed Beef can be somewhat expensive to buy, even though it is available essentially in every

village. Game meat is also much lighter and does not require the care to prepare correctly.
Game meat, especially in the field, has little preparation other than heavy salting or maybe some sparse seasoning. The point of this meat for the traveler is to prepare quickly and have a small store of meat if other sources of food are difficult to obtain. Larger villages may prepare and sell specialty jerkies that are better seasoned and dried for purchase by travelers, but game meat can easily be obtained and dried while traveling.

Alcohol

Grain is another staple of the Cradle of Clay, but not often as food on the table. Most grain is used as animal feed or is mixed with other ingredients and distilled and aged into a variety of liquors. Whiskey is the most common, a heady, strong alcohol made using Cradled Wheat. This alcohol is another import of the Cradle of Clay, but is not nearly as prominent as meats or Arcane Dust.

Geyser Whiskey

Geyser Whiskey is the most common whiskey distilled in the Cradle of Clay. To the Clay Giants, it is simply known as "clay slurry," a drink that is as common as water on most tables. Across the Northern Continent, the whiskey is often called Geyser Whiskey because when the alcohol is lit on fire, it emits motes of light that are reminiscent of the eruptions of the Arcane Geysers.
This whiskey is considered one of the strongest in the world, causing most to not be able to drink more than a single shot. This is far from the case for the Clay Giants who liken the strength of the drink to a light ale that one may drink for breakfast. Geyser Whiskey is commonly exported to the Human Empire and to the ports of Fire & Gold, Inc. so that it may be sold in areas of Nótios and the Zóni.

Other Liquors

The Clay Giants strictly distill grain liquors, with the most common being whiskey. Other grain liquors, such as vodka, gin, and some ales, are also produced in the Cradle of Clay, although far less frequently than whiskey. These liquors are often only for export as the grain and conditions of the Cradle of Clay are perfect for distilling. The Human Empire is the largest importer of these liquors, but they can also commonly be found in Coastland. Ales are the greatest exports of this nature because of the low alcohol content that can be handled by the smaller races, such as Halflings, Fairies, and Rodenta.

Whiskey Barrel

Barrel by Dan-Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash

Whiskey barrels in the Cradle of Clay are made with wood of the Black Cedar and crudely forged metal strapping. These barrels are made to hold roughly fifty gallons of liquid and to be aged for decades or possibly centuries.

Related Ethnicities

• Clay Giant Culture

Techniques

Many cooking techniques of the Clay Giants were not originally created in the Cradle of Clay. Many of them came from other cultures and slowly became integral parts of the culinary arts for the Clay Giants. The two most common techniques are cast iron cooking and distilling.

Cast Iron Cooking

Cast iron cookware was originally created by the Dwarves for camping and travel, an invention that did not catch on in every day life. As relations between the Dwarves and the Clay Giants continued, those of the Cradle of Clay learned not only writing, but cooking techniques that worked quite well for their large size and hearty meals.
Once this type of cooking caught on in the Cradle of Clay, the Clay Giants asked for a variety of cast iron cookware from the Dwarves. Skillets and dutch ovens were most common as they could easily cook hearty stews and large slaps of meat.

Cast Iron Cooking

Cast Iron by Blake Carpenter on Unsplash

Cast iron cookware is an important staple of the Clay Giant Culinary Arts. This cookware was originally made by the Dwarves of the Great Furnaces to be used for camping and travel, but it has become an item of every day use in the Cradle of Clay.

Distilling

Distilling was a technique that came to the Clay Giants from the Halflings that often created fruit-based liquors like brandy. The Clay Giants were not in favor of the sweeter alcohols but believed that the grains they grew could be used to create other hard liquors and ales. Their focus was on beverages with high alcohol content as most alcohol from other races was considered to be "ineffective" as it was nearly impossible for a Clay Giant to be inebriated.