Meaty Dreams (pt 3)

Writers: Yvonne
Date Posted: 31st May 2024

Characters: Oselle
Description: Oselle tastes tests the experimental sausage.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 13 of Turn 12

Oselle was up before dawn as was her usual custom, and was pleased to find a pot of tea wrapped in a cozy had been delivered to her front room while she slept. She poured herself a cup and sat for a moment, savoring the silence, before taking her cup to her bathing room. A quick bath later and she was ready to face the day.

But first, breakfast. Oselle brought her dirtied cup and the teapot back to the kitchens and exchanged it for a clean plate, which she filled with fruit, toast and smoked fish-- and of course, Leron's experimental sausage. The assistant cook had left a link of it especially for her.

She sat near the front of the Dining Caver and poked at the thing with her fork. It looked... too smooth. Smoothly brown and speckled with herbs and spices. This was... **Different,** she told herself firmly. There was no sense in letting her own judgement get ahead of actually trying it. She delicately cut the end off and examined the inside, which was also smooth. **Meat should have texture,** she thought glumly to herself. Reluctantly she put the bit of sausage into her mouth.

It was... all right. The skin of the sausage had a nice snap to it and the inside was surprisingly juicy and well seasoned for food that had the texture of ... batter? Tuber dumplings?

"Well, Headwoman?"

Oselle managed not to jump as Leron slid into the chair opposite her own. The cook had dark rings under his eyes and the jittery smile of too much klah and too late a night. She looked down at her plate. "It's certainly a different sort of sausage," she ventured.

"I can think of _so_many_things_ we can do with meat if we make it into a paste like that. And I know that a lot of the trimmings already go into other things, but I think if I tweak the proportions I can get a really lovely paste. Just think-- if we could get a Smith to make us a mold, we could have meat dragons as centrepieces for the next Hatching!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Oselle said quickly, quivering piles of meat-paste dancing in her head. "But I am happy to see you so excited. Let's test the sausage maker over the next few sevenday to make sure that the Weyr enjoys the texture first, hmm? It's a bit of a change."

"The mouth feel is like nothing else." Leron's smile was dreamy and he was staring vacantly over Oselle's left shoulder. "We could mix it with gelatin... what do you think of a meat cake? I could decorate it with radishes and fingerroots-- ooo, a cheese spread with herbs and nuts could be icing!"

**Faranth help me,** Oselle thought helplessly. She didn't have the heart to quash Leron's culinary fantasies this early in the morning. "Let's stick to sausages for now," she said as kindly as she could. "Have you been up all night, Leron?"

The assistant cook blinked. "Uh, well... maybe, but I barely noticed the time go by."

"Take the morning off," Oselle said firmly. "I don't want you near anything sharp until you've had a minimum of six candlemarks good shut eye. I'll inform the kitchen that they'll need to make do without you."

Leron looked guilty. "I'll be fine..."

"Absolutely not," the Headwoman said. "Go to bed, immediately. And leave me be to finish this sausage in peace."

Leron yawned as he slunk away, his shoulders slumped with guilt. Oselle took a calming sip of tea before starting in on her breakfast proper.

When she left the Dining Cavern, Oselle slipped the sausage to a hungry looking canine sitting by its owner's side. The owner was oblivious as the canine snarfed it down in two bites and licked its lips.

At least the new sausages had one fan.

Last updated on the June 1st 2024

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Meaty Dreams (pt 3)