Prosernos
While cooks are certainly a profession that is beloved throughout the civilized nations, and especially within the borders of Kanda, the Empire has a higher class of chefs who have become masters in one of the most important fields of the culinary arts: Preserving!
Living in the classical world, The Empire Of Kanda has ever struggled with the truth that the proper storage, preservation and dispersal of food is most important for a long lived and stable existence.
Wine spoils easily, meat goes bad, berries and fruits rot and vegetables get all dry and yucky. Refrigeration as a concept exists but it ONLY applies to things like potions and is a very magic intensive process that requires considerable maintenance, such that the Liv of a Shar might have his own PERSONAL cooler that his Mysterios tends to on a weekly basis but nobody else can enjoy ice chips in such a Mediterranean climate and even the Liv's own cooler has limits to space; such that it could never preserve food for the entire Holding. Instead, The Bringer Of Fertility saw fit to bestow upon the people of Kanda a profession that would dedicate itself to the preservation of food and drink alongside the judgment of its quality throughout the ages for time eternal!
Thus: The Prosernos!
Wine spoils easily, meat goes bad, berries and fruits rot and vegetables get all dry and yucky. Refrigeration as a concept exists but it ONLY applies to things like potions and is a very magic intensive process that requires considerable maintenance, such that the Liv of a Shar might have his own PERSONAL cooler that his Mysterios tends to on a weekly basis but nobody else can enjoy ice chips in such a Mediterranean climate and even the Liv's own cooler has limits to space; such that it could never preserve food for the entire Holding. Instead, The Bringer Of Fertility saw fit to bestow upon the people of Kanda a profession that would dedicate itself to the preservation of food and drink alongside the judgment of its quality throughout the ages for time eternal!
Thus: The Prosernos!
Career
Qualifications
While Prosernia do not have any formal training requirements and the credentials for a Prosernos are generally loose at best, mostly a matter of word fame, it IS necessary to at least be able to cook capably, as becoming a Prosernos is a career that takes cooking to its highest forms.
If you want to become good at preserving food you must first be at least somewhat capable at preparing it. However, if one is a capable chef and has a motivation for preserving food and developing new forms therein, they can almost certainly find a master to train them in the finer arts of preserving anything from grapes to meat.
Having good patience and attention to detail is often important and being very clean, while it can certainly be trained into a student, is one of the most important first steps. Both men and women alike can be Prosernia and many promising girls grow up to take on highly prestigious positions of political importance through their skills at preserving exotic goods for the elites.
Ever in demand at the frontiers, becoming a Prosernos is one of the few ways that the average woman of Kanda might take part in active military service, as they will be set quite immediately to bolstering or perhaps just inspecting the already impressive food stores of the Empire.
If you want to become good at preserving food you must first be at least somewhat capable at preparing it. However, if one is a capable chef and has a motivation for preserving food and developing new forms therein, they can almost certainly find a master to train them in the finer arts of preserving anything from grapes to meat.
Having good patience and attention to detail is often important and being very clean, while it can certainly be trained into a student, is one of the most important first steps. Both men and women alike can be Prosernia and many promising girls grow up to take on highly prestigious positions of political importance through their skills at preserving exotic goods for the elites.
Ever in demand at the frontiers, becoming a Prosernos is one of the few ways that the average woman of Kanda might take part in active military service, as they will be set quite immediately to bolstering or perhaps just inspecting the already impressive food stores of the Empire.
Career Progression
One GENERALLY starts out as a cook before they are ever a Prosernos, typically one more concerned with filling the larder rather than ensuring personal freshness.
After attaining a sort of good reputation about having a full, consistently untainted larder a chef might well be approached by a local Prosernos and regarded positively for apprenticeship.
While most Prosernia in training tend to be in their mid-twenties it is not unknown even for children to be taken under the wing of a local Prosernos, especially young women with a clear talent for foodcraft. After they are taken in a trainee generally learns the preservation of meat via drying, spicing, curing and jarring in rendered oils.
Then they are trained in vegetable pickling and immediately after that they are taught how to make jams, jellies and other fruit preserves.
Finally preserving eggs, making sauces and concocting relishes are taught at length.
Though it is not limited to this, one of the highest forms of instruction under a Prosernos involves the customization and improvement of the trainee's family Uls, which they will work with at length to ensure it brings honor and gravity to the family. When all of these arts are mastered the student is given the first and most pivotal lesson in being an OFFICIAL Prosernos; Wine And Beer!
While many make their own wine at home out of grapes and berries from the family garden proper wine, made for the market, is almost universally made by well trained Prosernia who have mastered the methods of preserving and fermenting such things.
Trained to have a fine sense of cleanliness, temperature and moderation in artifice, the Prosernia of Kanda all but run the imperial alcohol industry from start to finish, running a sort of guild that scours the realm to find new hopefuls.
Through these courses a student's master will bring them to many coopers and discuss the value of properly sealed barrels, high quality ingredients, patience and cooperation with the process of fermenting.
During these lessons the master will teach the student about the mysterious flameless boiling that some liquids do when they are mixed up with special ingredients and left in the dark. As any Prosernos may keep no less than 50% of their profits without taxation and often work on what amounts to commission, capable of setting their own prices, Prosernia often advance through society quite quickly, often becoming Kensaria if they have the resources and spare time to dedicate themselves to all of the other necessary crafts.
However, as it stands most Prosernia are quite happy advancing fiscally through society by the work of their own hands and many can end up having small armies of lesser Prosernia under them, having trained entire schools of food preservation into existence that may or may not compete with each other. When the life of a Prosernos comes to a close they may either be the beloved cheesemaker of a farming village in the core or the biggest and most well known food preserver on their section of the frontier but they will certainly have had a life of good food and good friends.
Due to the nature of their profession, Prosernia seldom have time to become lonely in life; ever in demand and quick to marry when they see a good chance, often with many children and just as many productive animals thanks to the profitable nature of their role in society.
While most Prosernia in training tend to be in their mid-twenties it is not unknown even for children to be taken under the wing of a local Prosernos, especially young women with a clear talent for foodcraft. After they are taken in a trainee generally learns the preservation of meat via drying, spicing, curing and jarring in rendered oils.
Then they are trained in vegetable pickling and immediately after that they are taught how to make jams, jellies and other fruit preserves.
Finally preserving eggs, making sauces and concocting relishes are taught at length.
Though it is not limited to this, one of the highest forms of instruction under a Prosernos involves the customization and improvement of the trainee's family Uls, which they will work with at length to ensure it brings honor and gravity to the family. When all of these arts are mastered the student is given the first and most pivotal lesson in being an OFFICIAL Prosernos; Wine And Beer!
While many make their own wine at home out of grapes and berries from the family garden proper wine, made for the market, is almost universally made by well trained Prosernia who have mastered the methods of preserving and fermenting such things.
Trained to have a fine sense of cleanliness, temperature and moderation in artifice, the Prosernia of Kanda all but run the imperial alcohol industry from start to finish, running a sort of guild that scours the realm to find new hopefuls.
Through these courses a student's master will bring them to many coopers and discuss the value of properly sealed barrels, high quality ingredients, patience and cooperation with the process of fermenting.
During these lessons the master will teach the student about the mysterious flameless boiling that some liquids do when they are mixed up with special ingredients and left in the dark. As any Prosernos may keep no less than 50% of their profits without taxation and often work on what amounts to commission, capable of setting their own prices, Prosernia often advance through society quite quickly, often becoming Kensaria if they have the resources and spare time to dedicate themselves to all of the other necessary crafts.
However, as it stands most Prosernia are quite happy advancing fiscally through society by the work of their own hands and many can end up having small armies of lesser Prosernia under them, having trained entire schools of food preservation into existence that may or may not compete with each other. When the life of a Prosernos comes to a close they may either be the beloved cheesemaker of a farming village in the core or the biggest and most well known food preserver on their section of the frontier but they will certainly have had a life of good food and good friends.
Due to the nature of their profession, Prosernia seldom have time to become lonely in life; ever in demand and quick to marry when they see a good chance, often with many children and just as many productive animals thanks to the profitable nature of their role in society.
Payment & Reimbursement
Prosernia are generally well paid for their work in being artisans that make specialty and even sometimes novelty products who can generally set their own prices.
It is near certain that at least half of all Prosernia are simple game sellers, local fruit preservers and village picklers who take their price in a certain portion of the village's surplus.
However, the latter half tend to be extremely aggressive, highly mobile tradesmen who draw up considerable commissions as they travel to different parts of the Empire during the many shifting harvest seasons from east to west and north to south; ensuring that larger farming communities have the hands and expertise present at any time that they need to keep the surplus crops from going bad. As there is never a lack of need for pickling radishes or boiling down jams in the country Prosernia are always in high demand, tending to only be stalled in their propensity to charge as much as they can get away with by the local law's upper limit on pricing gauging; as defined by the regional Longar.
Even then, such traveling Prosernia tend to sell whatever extra product they may have back to the very community from whence it came before journeying off to the next opportunity. Some Prosernia work extremely high profile retainer positions for the higher aristocracy, always around just in case they are needed and being paid a regular salary by their patron alongside a place to make their own home and family in the holding while being conveniently available for any potential jobs their superior has for them.
Those Prosernia paid as retainers to live on good land tend to have their hands full with the near constant attentions of young women who will throw whatever money they have at the Prosernos to learn various kitchen tricks that impress prospective husbands and advance their respective potential careers.
While it can be a difficulty to maintain, this also ensures that Prosernia on retainer have no shortage of help willing to pay to work in the kitchens. While life as an aristocrat's personal retainer does not often make a Prosernos wealthy by itself it does provide no shortage of opportunities with the upper classes!
On top of that, a fair amount of private savings can be set aside in such comfort to develop an independent style of cooking within a small community and perhaps allows for the opening of a humble but attractive preservation academy. (Which itself may bring far more wealth)
It is near certain that at least half of all Prosernia are simple game sellers, local fruit preservers and village picklers who take their price in a certain portion of the village's surplus.
However, the latter half tend to be extremely aggressive, highly mobile tradesmen who draw up considerable commissions as they travel to different parts of the Empire during the many shifting harvest seasons from east to west and north to south; ensuring that larger farming communities have the hands and expertise present at any time that they need to keep the surplus crops from going bad. As there is never a lack of need for pickling radishes or boiling down jams in the country Prosernia are always in high demand, tending to only be stalled in their propensity to charge as much as they can get away with by the local law's upper limit on pricing gauging; as defined by the regional Longar.
Even then, such traveling Prosernia tend to sell whatever extra product they may have back to the very community from whence it came before journeying off to the next opportunity. Some Prosernia work extremely high profile retainer positions for the higher aristocracy, always around just in case they are needed and being paid a regular salary by their patron alongside a place to make their own home and family in the holding while being conveniently available for any potential jobs their superior has for them.
Those Prosernia paid as retainers to live on good land tend to have their hands full with the near constant attentions of young women who will throw whatever money they have at the Prosernos to learn various kitchen tricks that impress prospective husbands and advance their respective potential careers.
While it can be a difficulty to maintain, this also ensures that Prosernia on retainer have no shortage of help willing to pay to work in the kitchens. While life as an aristocrat's personal retainer does not often make a Prosernos wealthy by itself it does provide no shortage of opportunities with the upper classes!
On top of that, a fair amount of private savings can be set aside in such comfort to develop an independent style of cooking within a small community and perhaps allows for the opening of a humble but attractive preservation academy. (Which itself may bring far more wealth)
Other Benefits
In being the chief producers of Wine, Beer, Vinegar, Jam, Jelly, Pickles, Relishes, Preserved Meats and Fermented Sauces in the Empire, Prosernia are considered a position that receives rather impressive, if perhaps entirely mundane, benefits!
To say nothing of them seldom getting hungry and being in demand in almost any community, a Prosernos with a consistent place of residence will find locals and visitors alike knocking at their door for some of their special craft; bringing all sorts of business, reputation and good advertising to them without the artisan ever having to step out of the front door.
To say that a Prosernos hardly ever needs to pay for where they stay also goes without saying, as communities are more than happy to feed and house one if they continue their labors as usual. Moreover, Prosernia are generally considered highly reputable and make capable Kensaria if they can score the promotion from the many circles involved in Kensaria politics.
Understanding and being able to keep track of so many small systems at once is noted as being a huge step into the door for the position of Kensar and almost a quarter of all Kensaria find their beginnings among the humble ranks of the Empire's Prosernia. More personally, in having strong connections to the domestic fields, many lecherous chefs find the path of a Prosernos to be one that quickly leads to much desired romantic and intimate attachments.
No shortage of enterprising men and women alike seek out special means of food preservation either to make long journeys bearable, to make the most out of their land and what it produces, to impress potential husbands and employers or simply to develop marketable skills that others do not posses.
Manipulative and selfish Prosernia who leverage their domestic specialties to entrance potential love interests and/or find their way into higher courts via sleeping one's way to the top can be found anywhere in the empire!
What was the old adage?
The Fastest way to the heart is through the stomach? Regardless of the inclination of the Prosernos in question, it has long become a tradition in Kandia society that former students looking to marry their Master continually cook for them until the rest of society insist that they get married.
It is said that this strange tradition began shortly after the first departure of The Founders Of Kanda, when young ladies would journey into the dangerous forests of the continent after their would-be husbands to bring them food until all of the lumberjacks and hunters would simply refer to the women as "Such-And-Such's Wife."
While the notion has largely fallen out of practice for the rest of the Kandia, it still remains strong in Prosernia Culture and there has been many an overfed village cheesemaker or town pickler that married someone simply to avoid getting too fat from the eager gifts of their overzealously marriageable neighbors.
To say nothing of them seldom getting hungry and being in demand in almost any community, a Prosernos with a consistent place of residence will find locals and visitors alike knocking at their door for some of their special craft; bringing all sorts of business, reputation and good advertising to them without the artisan ever having to step out of the front door.
To say that a Prosernos hardly ever needs to pay for where they stay also goes without saying, as communities are more than happy to feed and house one if they continue their labors as usual. Moreover, Prosernia are generally considered highly reputable and make capable Kensaria if they can score the promotion from the many circles involved in Kensaria politics.
Understanding and being able to keep track of so many small systems at once is noted as being a huge step into the door for the position of Kensar and almost a quarter of all Kensaria find their beginnings among the humble ranks of the Empire's Prosernia. More personally, in having strong connections to the domestic fields, many lecherous chefs find the path of a Prosernos to be one that quickly leads to much desired romantic and intimate attachments.
No shortage of enterprising men and women alike seek out special means of food preservation either to make long journeys bearable, to make the most out of their land and what it produces, to impress potential husbands and employers or simply to develop marketable skills that others do not posses.
Manipulative and selfish Prosernia who leverage their domestic specialties to entrance potential love interests and/or find their way into higher courts via sleeping one's way to the top can be found anywhere in the empire!
What was the old adage?
The Fastest way to the heart is through the stomach? Regardless of the inclination of the Prosernos in question, it has long become a tradition in Kandia society that former students looking to marry their Master continually cook for them until the rest of society insist that they get married.
It is said that this strange tradition began shortly after the first departure of The Founders Of Kanda, when young ladies would journey into the dangerous forests of the continent after their would-be husbands to bring them food until all of the lumberjacks and hunters would simply refer to the women as "Such-And-Such's Wife."
While the notion has largely fallen out of practice for the rest of the Kandia, it still remains strong in Prosernia Culture and there has been many an overfed village cheesemaker or town pickler that married someone simply to avoid getting too fat from the eager gifts of their overzealously marriageable neighbors.
Perception
Purpose
Just as their name suggests, Prosernia exist to preserve all manner of food and drink, ensure the freshness of a community's sustenance and to maintain the larders of a population throughout the colder months.
Some particularly skilled Prosernia might even use magic to reconstitute spoiled food or rescue dishes that have been botched in the cooking process, though this ability is rare even in the higher courts.
Whether it be fermenting wines, beers, meads or ciders, drying meat, making jams and jellies or even pickling eggs and jarring sauces for fresh pasta, the average Prosernos is around to ensure that one's pantry always full and that the inventory is fresh and long lasting under any circumstances!
Some Prosernia also make good names for themselves in being the functional equivalent of health inspectors for either governmental powers or private industries seeking to raise the standard and quality of their operations. A well trained Prosernos has gone through many years of special conditioning to make them acutely aware of every possible detail that could ruin an operation, leaving them more than able to ensure a workplace is as clean as possible.
Even the tiniest contaminants can ruin weeks of work so almost all Prosernia are extremely sensitive to even small amounts of dust and grime that would otherwise give the average Kandia no pause at all. While most legal concerns around the state of public health might fall predominantly under the purview of Kensaria and Scurilia, the rigid culture of Kanda's Prosernia guarantees that they are the ones to do the bulk of reporting on potentially dangerous situations in society alongside the Siviandia.
Though they are not doctors or surgeons like the Enthiria can be, the average Galetar often has the dietary and social experience to spot health problems in a given community before it gets out of control.
Often the first to notice a minor plague incubating in their neighborhood, there are no shortage of well known Prosernia throughout Kandia history who saved the community around them from sickness and death by bringing attention to the ill when others had not yet noticed the threat.
Though a Prosernos has no particular legal acknowledgment or authority as a medical worker, it is a foolish populace who ignores their advice on matters of public health.
Some particularly skilled Prosernia might even use magic to reconstitute spoiled food or rescue dishes that have been botched in the cooking process, though this ability is rare even in the higher courts.
Whether it be fermenting wines, beers, meads or ciders, drying meat, making jams and jellies or even pickling eggs and jarring sauces for fresh pasta, the average Prosernos is around to ensure that one's pantry always full and that the inventory is fresh and long lasting under any circumstances!
Some Prosernia also make good names for themselves in being the functional equivalent of health inspectors for either governmental powers or private industries seeking to raise the standard and quality of their operations. A well trained Prosernos has gone through many years of special conditioning to make them acutely aware of every possible detail that could ruin an operation, leaving them more than able to ensure a workplace is as clean as possible.
Even the tiniest contaminants can ruin weeks of work so almost all Prosernia are extremely sensitive to even small amounts of dust and grime that would otherwise give the average Kandia no pause at all. While most legal concerns around the state of public health might fall predominantly under the purview of Kensaria and Scurilia, the rigid culture of Kanda's Prosernia guarantees that they are the ones to do the bulk of reporting on potentially dangerous situations in society alongside the Siviandia.
Though they are not doctors or surgeons like the Enthiria can be, the average Galetar often has the dietary and social experience to spot health problems in a given community before it gets out of control.
Often the first to notice a minor plague incubating in their neighborhood, there are no shortage of well known Prosernia throughout Kandia history who saved the community around them from sickness and death by bringing attention to the ill when others had not yet noticed the threat.
Though a Prosernos has no particular legal acknowledgment or authority as a medical worker, it is a foolish populace who ignores their advice on matters of public health.
Social Status
Prosernos is a well respected role that nobody has considered lesser or without merit for well over a millennium.
Though they are not normally mentioned in common conversation, one can be sure that any lower aristocrat worth his salt has a few squirreled away in his manor; pressing, drying, curing and fermenting!
And, with good reason, one can assume he probably pays them quite well so as to encourage them to ignore the potential paltry propositions of posh peers seeking to poach perfectly productive Prosernia from their patrons. Indeed, while the Prosernos is a very common role, it is perhaps because of this that its middle class existence is considered so necessary.
In a society so dedicated to efficiency and order like Kanda the role of Prosernos comes with an unwavering promise that all Kandia can respect. With The Prosernos, nothing will go to waste!
Nothing will be lost to the rigors of rot and no bones need be discarded for the dogs or pigs.
Under the watchful eye of the Prosernos not a single fish scale shall go without use, not a single leaf left without application. While perhaps the Prosernia are not the highest profession of Kanda they are a capable class of people well respected for the necessity of their position.
Their efficiency and dedication to making the most out of any situation, culinarily or otherwise, has brought them respect from the Kandia People since the time of Jorgan Bjornson: The First Bringer Of Fertility.
So great is their status as a necessity within Kanda's overarching infrastructure that The Empire has, at least twice, descended into what amounts to small scale civil war over claim to the best Balnoaria.
Though these dreadful events are long past, they certainly lend credence to the idea that "Wars Have Been Fought Over Less." In a strange turn of events, The Prosernos is perhaps one of the most socially unifying of the well known professions of Kanda.
While it certainly applies that food tends to bring people of all types together, The Prosernos takes this idea to its ultimate, logical extreme.
Though not doctors or surgeons, the Average Prosernos has just enough understanding of health to rub elbows with medically minded Enthiria.
Despite the fact that they do not make soap themselves, their overwhelming need to stay fastidious in the face of even the smallest most of dust ultimately keeps Prosernia eager to maintain good relations with their local Socandaria.
Even though their jobs have very little to do with one another, no self respecting Prosernos has avoided getting to know their local Siviandus, as the architects and engineers of Kanda ultimately build the larders, pantries, breweries and smokehouses upon which the Galetaria so desperately rely.
And, of course, the Scurilia and Kensaria of Kanda deeply rely on the Prosernia to enforce good standards and monitor the populace for small infractions that might otherwise threaten the public trust and wellbeing.
Needless to say, while some professions compete with each other or even regard others as conflicting in their personal interests, there is nobody in their right mind that would regard the career of a Prosernos to be without worth; for cooking, once truly mastered, is the only skill for which nothing bad can be said in good faith.
Though they are not normally mentioned in common conversation, one can be sure that any lower aristocrat worth his salt has a few squirreled away in his manor; pressing, drying, curing and fermenting!
And, with good reason, one can assume he probably pays them quite well so as to encourage them to ignore the potential paltry propositions of posh peers seeking to poach perfectly productive Prosernia from their patrons. Indeed, while the Prosernos is a very common role, it is perhaps because of this that its middle class existence is considered so necessary.
In a society so dedicated to efficiency and order like Kanda the role of Prosernos comes with an unwavering promise that all Kandia can respect. With The Prosernos, nothing will go to waste!
Nothing will be lost to the rigors of rot and no bones need be discarded for the dogs or pigs.
Under the watchful eye of the Prosernos not a single fish scale shall go without use, not a single leaf left without application. While perhaps the Prosernia are not the highest profession of Kanda they are a capable class of people well respected for the necessity of their position.
Their efficiency and dedication to making the most out of any situation, culinarily or otherwise, has brought them respect from the Kandia People since the time of Jorgan Bjornson: The First Bringer Of Fertility.
So great is their status as a necessity within Kanda's overarching infrastructure that The Empire has, at least twice, descended into what amounts to small scale civil war over claim to the best Balnoaria.
Though these dreadful events are long past, they certainly lend credence to the idea that "Wars Have Been Fought Over Less." In a strange turn of events, The Prosernos is perhaps one of the most socially unifying of the well known professions of Kanda.
While it certainly applies that food tends to bring people of all types together, The Prosernos takes this idea to its ultimate, logical extreme.
Though not doctors or surgeons, the Average Prosernos has just enough understanding of health to rub elbows with medically minded Enthiria.
Despite the fact that they do not make soap themselves, their overwhelming need to stay fastidious in the face of even the smallest most of dust ultimately keeps Prosernia eager to maintain good relations with their local Socandaria.
Even though their jobs have very little to do with one another, no self respecting Prosernos has avoided getting to know their local Siviandus, as the architects and engineers of Kanda ultimately build the larders, pantries, breweries and smokehouses upon which the Galetaria so desperately rely.
And, of course, the Scurilia and Kensaria of Kanda deeply rely on the Prosernia to enforce good standards and monitor the populace for small infractions that might otherwise threaten the public trust and wellbeing.
Needless to say, while some professions compete with each other or even regard others as conflicting in their personal interests, there is nobody in their right mind that would regard the career of a Prosernos to be without worth; for cooking, once truly mastered, is the only skill for which nothing bad can be said in good faith.
Demographics
Because it is such an equal, recognizable and necessary field within The Empire, at least one percent of all Kandia have been formally trained, to some degree, in the arts and crafts of the Prosernos.
So synonymous with Kandia Society is their position that, even if they don't make a career out of potting meat, it's still all too easy to find someone in any given community that knows enough of the trade that they can inspect a larder or help out with the pickling vats. It is equally reasonable to line up a hundred children and have at least ten of them presently training under whatever local Prosernos will take them for the course of their childhood, normally at the behest of their parents.
All fathers know their sons will one day have to march as Leconia in Ta Miloti Do Kanda and they can all remember from from their own tenures that one's rations on campaign always need improvement.
Similarly, all mothers know that their daughters will one day be wed to hungry, well trained and highly demanding husbands who expect that their food be better than the rations they've been served for perhaps as much as two and a half decades on campaign.
Because of this, it serves everyone in the whole of society that children learn a few tricks from their local Prosernia before reaching adulthood.
So synonymous with Kandia Society is their position that, even if they don't make a career out of potting meat, it's still all too easy to find someone in any given community that knows enough of the trade that they can inspect a larder or help out with the pickling vats. It is equally reasonable to line up a hundred children and have at least ten of them presently training under whatever local Prosernos will take them for the course of their childhood, normally at the behest of their parents.
All fathers know their sons will one day have to march as Leconia in Ta Miloti Do Kanda and they can all remember from from their own tenures that one's rations on campaign always need improvement.
Similarly, all mothers know that their daughters will one day be wed to hungry, well trained and highly demanding husbands who expect that their food be better than the rations they've been served for perhaps as much as two and a half decades on campaign.
Because of this, it serves everyone in the whole of society that children learn a few tricks from their local Prosernia before reaching adulthood.
History
First trained by The Bringer Of Fertility, as a role, The Prosernos has not changed much over the years so much as it has EXPANDED!
Originally Prosernia were relegated to the most basic of food preservation when the founders lived.
Sometime later the would-be Vinars incorporated wine making and brewing into their ranks.
The making of Uls and Freg was perfected within their numbers, claiming the legendary sauces as their own while countless old recipes left by The Founders were recovered and restored for the eating pleasure of the masses.
With their own kitchen worn fingers, for centuries at a time, the Prosernia of Kanda constructed the very culinary foundation of the Empire from the ground up. Eventually the humble but very real power of the Prosernia came to ascendance as they started adopting all preservation methods from any nation that Kanda conquered, of any culture they integrated and of any strange recipes lost in ruins they could find.
For nearly a thousand years the wealthiest Prosernia spent what resources they could spare to scour not only the lands of Kanda but of the entire world for new flavors and methods of preservation.
Some enterprising Prosernia even adopted methods of cooking from The Western Kingdom, Ditwala and Ka Danti, developing the Kandia palate over time into a truly cosmopolitan one that delights in an extremely diverse diet full of new flavors and experiences. Nowadays, thanks to the philanthropic endeavors of great practitioners past, the average Prosernos might know hundreds of long term processes by heart and may possess personal libraries full to the brim with texts, scrolls, ledgers and letters each containing even just one exotic recipe.
While they seldom get the opportunity to put these rare instructions to good use, no Secar is ultimately alone and all are inclined to circulate what special recipes they have throughout the Empire as fast as possible, as most Prosernia go out of their way to learn not only everything the Kandia culinary culture has to offer but to incorporate foreign methods into their cooking and preserving.
Seeking out every possible method that might exist to carry out their duties, the Prosernia are a rare occupational community of Kanda that feels no need to indulge infighting, understanding that their field will only be further expanded and enriched if they all work together to cultivate the art.
Before the present age of Kandia Peace and relative isolation even the least well-to-do of the Empire's Prosernia would go on great cultural and diplomatic exchanges to other realms but, since the Blockade Of Youth, they have instead busied themselves with perfecting the oldest and most outdated of recipes...
All while experimenting with entirely new ideas in the culinary sphere!
Sometime later the would-be Vinars incorporated wine making and brewing into their ranks.
The making of Uls and Freg was perfected within their numbers, claiming the legendary sauces as their own while countless old recipes left by The Founders were recovered and restored for the eating pleasure of the masses.
With their own kitchen worn fingers, for centuries at a time, the Prosernia of Kanda constructed the very culinary foundation of the Empire from the ground up. Eventually the humble but very real power of the Prosernia came to ascendance as they started adopting all preservation methods from any nation that Kanda conquered, of any culture they integrated and of any strange recipes lost in ruins they could find.
For nearly a thousand years the wealthiest Prosernia spent what resources they could spare to scour not only the lands of Kanda but of the entire world for new flavors and methods of preservation.
Some enterprising Prosernia even adopted methods of cooking from The Western Kingdom, Ditwala and Ka Danti, developing the Kandia palate over time into a truly cosmopolitan one that delights in an extremely diverse diet full of new flavors and experiences. Nowadays, thanks to the philanthropic endeavors of great practitioners past, the average Prosernos might know hundreds of long term processes by heart and may possess personal libraries full to the brim with texts, scrolls, ledgers and letters each containing even just one exotic recipe.
While they seldom get the opportunity to put these rare instructions to good use, no Secar is ultimately alone and all are inclined to circulate what special recipes they have throughout the Empire as fast as possible, as most Prosernia go out of their way to learn not only everything the Kandia culinary culture has to offer but to incorporate foreign methods into their cooking and preserving.
Seeking out every possible method that might exist to carry out their duties, the Prosernia are a rare occupational community of Kanda that feels no need to indulge infighting, understanding that their field will only be further expanded and enriched if they all work together to cultivate the art.
Before the present age of Kandia Peace and relative isolation even the least well-to-do of the Empire's Prosernia would go on great cultural and diplomatic exchanges to other realms but, since the Blockade Of Youth, they have instead busied themselves with perfecting the oldest and most outdated of recipes...
All while experimenting with entirely new ideas in the culinary sphere!
Operations
Tools
To stress that a Prosernos is more than a simple cook would not be sufficient.
The Prosernos does not maintain their profession with knives and ladles (though these are invariably present in their inventories!) but rather with presses, drying racks, fermenting barrels and gigantic clay jars with airtight wax seals; all settled in areas underground or specially built for the cleanliness, temperature and isolation required for pickling, fermenting, cheese making, drying, aging and otherwise preserving any and all manner of food.
For large projects gigantic ceramic vats may be required to heat up huge quantities of fluids like milk or liquid butter in the preparation of cheese making or clarifying processes.
Colossal Drying Racks with numerous rungs to hang finely shaved meats take up considerable space and must be in relatively dry, clean and well ventilated spaces.
Special, segmented boilers allow for truly overwhelming amounts of produce to be heated and reduced down to a thick, delicious sludge that will be poured out on cart sized cooling sheets to solidify and dry over neurotically scrubbed stone floors before being pressed into rectangular lengths of fruit leather for storage and later consumption during the frigid winter months.
Often separated by strips of Papyrus, these bits of edible leather are stacked and frozen solid in ice bunkers alongside countless other delicious goodies prepared by the Empire's army of food preservation specialists. Indeed the profession takes so many tools and large processing methods that some higher nobles have opted to have special facilities built on their land ahead of time for ANY passing Prosernia and/or those that they keep on retainer.
So great is the need to produce consistent, built-to-purpose facilities for the highest Prosernia that these aristocrats even go so far as to have entire commercial neighborhoods built using newly standardized templates for these buildings that they've submitted to the Highest Imperial Siviandia, thus ensuring further accessibility and availability of food preservation services throughout all of Kanda
Often this sort of service earns such would-be architects great notoriety from The Imperial Bureaucracy.
Now at least FOUR templates for Prosernia Workshops are commonplace throughout the entire Empire with a fifth design presently undergoing Imperial Appraisal and showing distinct promise!
For large projects gigantic ceramic vats may be required to heat up huge quantities of fluids like milk or liquid butter in the preparation of cheese making or clarifying processes.
Colossal Drying Racks with numerous rungs to hang finely shaved meats take up considerable space and must be in relatively dry, clean and well ventilated spaces.
Special, segmented boilers allow for truly overwhelming amounts of produce to be heated and reduced down to a thick, delicious sludge that will be poured out on cart sized cooling sheets to solidify and dry over neurotically scrubbed stone floors before being pressed into rectangular lengths of fruit leather for storage and later consumption during the frigid winter months.
Often separated by strips of Papyrus, these bits of edible leather are stacked and frozen solid in ice bunkers alongside countless other delicious goodies prepared by the Empire's army of food preservation specialists. Indeed the profession takes so many tools and large processing methods that some higher nobles have opted to have special facilities built on their land ahead of time for ANY passing Prosernia and/or those that they keep on retainer.
So great is the need to produce consistent, built-to-purpose facilities for the highest Prosernia that these aristocrats even go so far as to have entire commercial neighborhoods built using newly standardized templates for these buildings that they've submitted to the Highest Imperial Siviandia, thus ensuring further accessibility and availability of food preservation services throughout all of Kanda
Often this sort of service earns such would-be architects great notoriety from The Imperial Bureaucracy.
Now at least FOUR templates for Prosernia Workshops are commonplace throughout the entire Empire with a fifth design presently undergoing Imperial Appraisal and showing distinct promise!
Materials
Unlike most professions, The Prosernos works almost solely with consumable materials; Olives, fruits, vegetables, berries, grapes, grains, hops, eggs, meat, fish, bones, even tannin rich woods, papyrus pith, and organs!
Almost universally these materials are offered to the Prosernos upon arrival, as their role is to offer the service of preserving these things, not of growing and harvesting them. While Prosernia are generally not too picky about the ingredients they receive and can make something edible and usable out of almost anything they're given, a typical occupational requirement is that these ingredients arrive in bulk.
A Prosernos is not present to simply dry a few hands of bananas for you or locate that nasty smell in your pantry that you can't find the source of.
They exist to maintain a community's preserved food needs and perhaps to teach others within that community how to produce and maintain large inventories of long lasting resources that will feed the population over the less productive months.
Because of this, many higher profile Prosernia refuse to accommodate single person requests and maintain their title as a preservation specialist for only large groups of people. This being said, a Prosernia Workshop is often full of barrels of apples, bushels of grain, baskets of vegetables piled in ceiling high stacks and even carts overflowing with freshly caught fish; all to be prepared for long term preservation processes.
No small amount of ingredients will do! Any Self Respecting Prosernos Only Works In Bulk!
Almost universally these materials are offered to the Prosernos upon arrival, as their role is to offer the service of preserving these things, not of growing and harvesting them. While Prosernia are generally not too picky about the ingredients they receive and can make something edible and usable out of almost anything they're given, a typical occupational requirement is that these ingredients arrive in bulk.
A Prosernos is not present to simply dry a few hands of bananas for you or locate that nasty smell in your pantry that you can't find the source of.
They exist to maintain a community's preserved food needs and perhaps to teach others within that community how to produce and maintain large inventories of long lasting resources that will feed the population over the less productive months.
Because of this, many higher profile Prosernia refuse to accommodate single person requests and maintain their title as a preservation specialist for only large groups of people. This being said, a Prosernia Workshop is often full of barrels of apples, bushels of grain, baskets of vegetables piled in ceiling high stacks and even carts overflowing with freshly caught fish; all to be prepared for long term preservation processes.
No small amount of ingredients will do! Any Self Respecting Prosernos Only Works In Bulk!
Workplace
Many Prosernia require gigantic spaces and workshops to maintain proper business under the demands set upon them by their patrons, often these spaces being bought by the commissioner instead of the Prosernos.
The MOST common workshop by far seems to be "The Cave Model" which the Prosernos in question has selectively chosen for the sake of their trade.
Since caves are cool, isolated and can easily be dug out to make a proper structure, many Prosernia find them to be the perfect places for control conditions, easily sectioned off and separated into segregated sections to safely house and isolate various projects from each other.
To be certain, caves also provide a certain amount of seclusion and privacy that many duties of the Prosernos happen to actively require.
However, more standardized templates exist within the ranks of the Imperial Siviandia and, in the case of a location without suitable caves, Prosernia may enjoy one of four different Imperially Endorsed Models from which to practice their trade. Such a workshop is often filled with all manner of bubbling noises, the clicking of tools together and seals hissing themselves open as wax coatings are broken from the pressure within.
Strange new sights, smells, sounds and TASTES never cease to flow forth from the workplace of a Galetar, though that is not to say that they necessarily draw people from all across the countryside!
All Prosernia can manage the preparation of nearly any sort of familiar food but every Prosernos has a specialty and these specialties generally dictate what their workshops smell like.
Cheese specialists are said to have workshops that smell of feet, breweries are often compared to earthy legume soups and Uls specialists are commonly associated with the scent of vinegar and decay. Space and cleanliness, however, connect all such workshops; expansive areas where someone can move around and partition off various areas for working with different types of food that cannot be trusted to touch each other during the preserving process.
Stone walls, floors and even ceilings are ground smooth as possible and polished before being regularly cleaned with vinegar, soap and boiling water to make sure that the worshop is never even remotely untidy while the most well known and prestigious of Prosernia may even call upon magical cleaning to maintain perfect conditions for their trade.
Over time, through this fastidious cycle of cleaning and polishing, even dark stone caves tend to transition into bleached out caverns, meticulously measured and maintained over decades or even centuries of careful continuity.
The MOST common workshop by far seems to be "The Cave Model" which the Prosernos in question has selectively chosen for the sake of their trade.
Since caves are cool, isolated and can easily be dug out to make a proper structure, many Prosernia find them to be the perfect places for control conditions, easily sectioned off and separated into segregated sections to safely house and isolate various projects from each other.
To be certain, caves also provide a certain amount of seclusion and privacy that many duties of the Prosernos happen to actively require.
However, more standardized templates exist within the ranks of the Imperial Siviandia and, in the case of a location without suitable caves, Prosernia may enjoy one of four different Imperially Endorsed Models from which to practice their trade. Such a workshop is often filled with all manner of bubbling noises, the clicking of tools together and seals hissing themselves open as wax coatings are broken from the pressure within.
Strange new sights, smells, sounds and TASTES never cease to flow forth from the workplace of a Galetar, though that is not to say that they necessarily draw people from all across the countryside!
All Prosernia can manage the preparation of nearly any sort of familiar food but every Prosernos has a specialty and these specialties generally dictate what their workshops smell like.
Cheese specialists are said to have workshops that smell of feet, breweries are often compared to earthy legume soups and Uls specialists are commonly associated with the scent of vinegar and decay. Space and cleanliness, however, connect all such workshops; expansive areas where someone can move around and partition off various areas for working with different types of food that cannot be trusted to touch each other during the preserving process.
Stone walls, floors and even ceilings are ground smooth as possible and polished before being regularly cleaned with vinegar, soap and boiling water to make sure that the worshop is never even remotely untidy while the most well known and prestigious of Prosernia may even call upon magical cleaning to maintain perfect conditions for their trade.
Over time, through this fastidious cycle of cleaning and polishing, even dark stone caves tend to transition into bleached out caverns, meticulously measured and maintained over decades or even centuries of careful continuity.
Dangers & Hazards
While there are few outright dangers to being a Prosernos it is not unheard of for accidents to happen; namely the falling of barrels, stumbling into open vats and crushing digits in presses.
Many tools of a Prosernos are sharp, large, heavy and unwieldy, all of which can lead to unfortunate accidents happening to young Prosernia who haven't gathered the experience yet to exercise proper caution in the workplace. The propensity to only work with bulk ingredients also tends to mean that Prosernia must be physically fit or risk being crushed by the very materials that they work to preserve, otherwise quickly exhausted by carrying around huge amounts of product for their jobs. Naturally a young Prosernos who is inattentive in his or her studies also runs the risk of having a botched/tainted project, not only a potential strike to their reputation but also an existential threat to them and their clients.
Poorly fermented goods, cheese not made in clean enough circumstances or improperly sealed jars of fruit preserves can poison an entire community and leave the inexperienced Prosernos not only with no clientelle but at risk of being chased down by those afflicted and killed in retribution. While there is not yet any official system of governance over Prosernia specifically, this sort of major flub is regarded by the authorities as a serious offense and a potential assault on the community as a whole.
If the afflicted clients do not exact lethal revenge on the Prosernos in question the unlucky Galetar might be subject to heavy fines or even imprisonment.
Many tools of a Prosernos are sharp, large, heavy and unwieldy, all of which can lead to unfortunate accidents happening to young Prosernia who haven't gathered the experience yet to exercise proper caution in the workplace. The propensity to only work with bulk ingredients also tends to mean that Prosernia must be physically fit or risk being crushed by the very materials that they work to preserve, otherwise quickly exhausted by carrying around huge amounts of product for their jobs. Naturally a young Prosernos who is inattentive in his or her studies also runs the risk of having a botched/tainted project, not only a potential strike to their reputation but also an existential threat to them and their clients.
Poorly fermented goods, cheese not made in clean enough circumstances or improperly sealed jars of fruit preserves can poison an entire community and leave the inexperienced Prosernos not only with no clientelle but at risk of being chased down by those afflicted and killed in retribution. While there is not yet any official system of governance over Prosernia specifically, this sort of major flub is regarded by the authorities as a serious offense and a potential assault on the community as a whole.
If the afflicted clients do not exact lethal revenge on the Prosernos in question the unlucky Galetar might be subject to heavy fines or even imprisonment.
Alternative Names
Galetaria, Secaria, Vinaria, Balnoaria, Dasunaria
No Alternative Names For Prosernia Are Derogatory
No Alternative Names For Prosernia Are Derogatory
Type
Culinary
Demand
Prosernia Are Always In High Demand!
There's Always Some Sort Of Food Needing To Be Preserved!
There's Always Some Sort Of Food Needing To Be Preserved!
Legality
Laws were passed roughly 500 years after the founding of Kanda to ensure the fair and equal treatment of food workers.
While these laws level what some still consider serious penalties on those who would harass or otherwise mistreat such professionals, they have never been challenged and are gladly honored by native Kandia to this day.
While these laws level what some still consider serious penalties on those who would harass or otherwise mistreat such professionals, they have never been challenged and are gladly honored by native Kandia to this day.
Famous in the Field
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