Blood Spiced Meat

Blood spice is a term the gnolls for any meat they have seasoned with the blood of a Bombardier Ankheg. This recipe is specific to the tribes of the Deadlands in the Wild Plains.

Recipe

• Any large slab of meat

• Suspend over a smoking pit

• Pour bombardier ankheg blood over meat. Enough to coat all surfaces, but not so much for excessive dripping

• Leave sit over smoker until blood is dried, repeat pouring process to desidered level of spiciness

• Make sure meat is fully cured and all blood has soaked in or dried

• Serve and enjoy

Flavor

Due to the properties within the bombardier ankheg that make it capable of shooting a liquid that ignites when it touches air, the entire creature seems to have some elements about it that suggest strong ties to the plane of fire. The sensation is something the gnolls call 'spicy' and other humanoids would say has a taste similar to curry. As each gnolls uses different smoking methods, uses different meats and uses varying amounts of blood, it is almost impossible to ever have the same meal twice. It is most likely these varying levels that make it most comparable to curry as each gnoll makes it to preference.
Antelope is the most common game that is used for this recipe. Other frequently used meats come from bison, giraffe, ostritch, bighorn sheep and warthog. Some of the braver gnolls have been known to manage to take down some of the abundant rhinoceros, but it is very rare.
There aren't too many souces of useful burnable materials, but the gnolls make due and have even managed to find several that other humanoids would consider choice smoking materials. These include mesquite, desert holly and juniper. Some even use dried out cacti and throw in various grasses and flowers to make up for lack of smoke flavor.

History

This method of cooking was developed in the aftermath of the Endless War. After losing the ages long war to the lizardfolk of the Vagrant Marshes, the gnolls of the Wild Plains lost a major source of food and water. With only a few things they could safely and reliable hunt, the gnolls began experimenting with recipes to break the monotomy of only eating one food. The idea came from the first bombardier ankheg a hunting party encountered in the Howling Sands. Having been forced to resort to using their powerful jaws to bring it down after their weapons were burned away, the searing blood was the most interesting flavor sensation they had experienced in generations. Rather than hunting the ankheg exclusively, they began cooking their other foods with the blood to stretch their rations as best they could, ultimately settling on the smoking method.