Stygian Salad

Stygian Salad is one of the many dishes known as Magical Delicacies (foods with magic in them). It is the rarest form, as it requires the use of a form of dark magic that is not often used, Stygian Darkness. Due to its absorption ability, the darkness allows the Salad to keep various ingredients together without mixing, allowing for a unique taste of separate ingredients together.

Creation

Stygian Salad was an idea that spawned in The Month of Festivals 547, meaning it has only existed now for a few months. Chef and Artist Cozall Redfury witnessed Stygian Darkness in the Temple of the Goddess Ioun, and noticed its special properties (as listed on the sidebar)
Cozall made a passing joke to his friend, Vodron Susk, saying that this would work well for cooking, and later jokingly mentioned a Stygian Salad. However, upon returning to the Magic College, he found himself struck with inspiration, and spent two days coming up with ideas before he had the perfect recipe.
He even used his Art Magic to make both Stygian Darkness for the salad as well as small boxes with ice magic in them to preserve the food. Then, he sent it off to his father Forvan Redfury, a star chef in Human Territory, to sell at his restaurant, where it became a hit. Humans loved the different variations it came in, believing it to be a wonderful taste of different cuisines from different cultures. Despite this, Cozall has gone on record saying he had no thoughts of other cultures eating it, instead simply what would produce the best flavor with each magic affinity.

Stygian Darkness

Dark magic is one of the eight magic affinities. While normally Dark magic has the counter of light magic, and absorbs other affinities, there is a special variation that functions in the opposite manner. Stygian Darkness absorbs light, and with other affinities, it has less of a chance of absorbing it and more just stopping it.
This strong type of magic is something very few mages even know about, so the fact that it is used in a dish at all is a testament to the creativity of Totanian mages. Most people would attempt to use a powerful magic for combat, but instead it was used for a salad.

Ingredients

Cozall Redfury by Jarhed

There are various ingredients that can be used for the different types of Stygian Salads. The main style of dish depends on the magic affinity used in its creation (dark cannot be used as a style because it's already used for the Stygian Darkness in all salads). The different salads are as follows:

Fire

The Fire Salad is the most popular, with a very spicy taste. The ingredients used are cilantro, lettuce, garlic, meat from an Onker, topped with both Fire and Stygian Dark Magic. This is the most popular because Cozall was a Fire mage and was able to easily produce these, so most common association with Stygian Salad is the fire variant.

Wind

As Cozall's friend who helped him with the idea, Vodron Susk, was a Wind mage, the Wind Salad had to be for Vodron. Vodron happened to be a big fan of onions, so Udai Onions were the central ingredient (aside from Wind and Stygian Darkness, of course). Other ingredients include cups of vinegar and mayonnaise, as well as celery. With the Stygian Darkness, it gives the Salad a dry flavor that is contrasted with the other parts of the salad, where the mayo and vinegar are.

Ice

The main ingredient here is iceberg lettuce, which hails from Moroza. Cozall tried to make a Morozan recipe, and the ingredients follow those of a traditional Salad from Moroza (other than the Ice and Stygian Darkness). Iceberg lettuce, bacon, tomatoes, mayonnaise, garlic, onion, and eggs. Morozans have happily gobbled up any servings of this, though they say it is not the same when separated by Stygian Darkness.

Earth

A typical garden salad, with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot, and chives topped with Earth magic, Stygian Darkness, and whatever dressing the consumer wishes paired with it. This is the salad for the most basic of Salad eaters who still want to try Stygian Salad, as the basic ingredients give a grounded feeling and taste that can compliment any meal as an appetizer.

Water

A seafood salad, with the fish special of the day as well as salt and pepper, lettuce, Udai onions, and cucumbers. Adding the Water and Stygian Darkness gives a moist taste that pairs well with dry food or bread, and this has allowed this to be a popular menu item for Forvan.

Lightning

A smoky tasting salad, alongside the Lightning and Stygian Darkness is a whole host of ingredients including radishes, Udai onions, asparagus, peas, and coriander. What adds to this is what covers the Lightning Salad, with garlic and lemon juice.

Light

A play on words, this salad is not just light because of the Light magic that is used for the salad, but also because it is a light meal. A small portion of salad with lettuce, tomato, onions, and croutons, this is offered both as an appetizer to not fill people up before their meal, as well as being added to the desert menu for people who want a little more food.

Forvan Redfury by Jarhed

Preparation

Preparation for Stygian Salad varies depending on the type, though once the ingredients have been gathered (for some types like Water and any of those that involve Udai Onions, as the ingredients are tougher to get than others). Cozall and Forvan Redfury are the only known chefs who can produce this with their Art Magic and Food Magic respectively.
Cozall sent some initially to Forvan, but after learning the recipes, Forvan was able to mass produce them for his restaurant with his Food Magic. The process is simple, with a wave of his fork the meal is in front of him. However, his workers sometimes have to make the base salad themselves, and therefore spend hours slaving away to put the ingredients in the bowls.
The process of putting them together, however, is simple, as Stygian Salad works off of the principle that it is not mixed, and therefore it only needs to be tossed together into a bowl and, occasionally, some ingredients are put together. An example of this is any recipe with salt, which is applied to the entire meal rather than separated with Stygian Darkness.