Far From Home

But On The Way

TThff Mfiftfl Fţţ⅓

Tffifi⅓fflfflţft ţ Thff HTh

“Far Thom home but on the way

we will while away the day,
to seek with myth and memory
the taste of how we used to be .”

1 • Far From Home But On The Way

 Far from Home But On The Way:
The Many Food Traditions of the Hæth

A Wanderhome Recipe Supplement

by Jeeyon Shim
 CONTENTS

What Is This Book?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Over Other’s Thresholds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

How To Use This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Beewater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
A Note On Your Larder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Custard Bowls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
On The Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Savory Custard Bowl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Wild Strawberries with Honey Given Gladly. . . . 6 Sweet Custard Bowl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Fishing by the Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Hidden Treasure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Stone Fruit and Tree Syrup Jam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 To Nourish Low Spirits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Sweetroots Baked in Coals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 New Moon Broth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Tidepool Boil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Porridges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Wild Mushroom Porridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Candied Morsels for the Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Games to Play While on the Road. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Basics of Candying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Hidden Leaves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Waste Not!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Leap Fawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Candied Citrus Peels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tavern Foods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Candied Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Perpetual Stews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Candied Sweetroots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Stuffed Loaf. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Candied Herbs And Flowers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Citrus, Nut, and Bread and Cheese Salad. . . . . . . 18 Candied Grains, Beans, And Legumes. . . . . . . . . 27
 What Is This Book?
Far From Home But On The Way is, loosely, a cookbook that is written within the world of the Hæth, understand-
ing food as tradition and living history. Food is a story. The way we prepare it and eat it is a story. Who we choose
(and trust) to share it with is a story. Treat the food presented here as a story, whether to scaffold your character’s
journey in Wanderhome or to nourish yourself when you’re not on your travels.
There are small games scattered throughout this book that you can play at any time. Every game has its own
particular energy and ritual, just as every dish has its own rhythm that carries through gathering the ingredients
you need to finishing the last bite of it. Treat the food presented here as part of your game, and the games as part
of your meal. See what that interplay nourishes in you.
Everything is in keeping with the constraints of taboo within the Hæthland, but if you’d like to make substitu-
tions of your own in any direction that is fine.

How To Use This Book

Everything you’re about to read is a suggestion, as is any tradition. In the same way we must adapt to changes in
season, all our rituals must shift with the rhythms of our capacity and circumstance (or risk not being tended to.)
Recipes are guidelines that show you how to get a certain result the first time and any other time you decide
to adhere to its structure, but do not feel beholden to following anything in here exactly every single time if it’s
not in your nature to adhere to instructions with that kind of precision. At a certain point, when you understand
something very well, it becomes a part of your function as much as the movement of your muscles against each
other, or the way you might track a bird in flight with your eyes. Therefore, it seems unfair of me to expect anyone
reading this book to adhere to a way of functioning that might not be theirs.

A Note On Your Larder

We all keep varying pantries according to means, upbringing, habit, and taste. Often the most fundamental ingre-
dients in our larders are the ones that stay at our elbow — spices, salts, vinegars and oils, flour, grains, dried boun-
ties like seaweed, fruit, fish, etc. — and if you don’t have a pantry already shored up, these items can be costly to
acquire all at once. If you don’t have something in a recipe, don’t hesitate to try to find a substitute! Cuisine is fluid
and changes like language or tradition, and this is intended to be a descriptive text more than it is prescriptive.
The “Rests For Low Spirits” section focuses on food as medicine, food as comfort and nourishment in ways that

Far From Home But On The Way • 4

heal us. We let food help us more when we like the taste of it, which is why many of us from food traditions that
are hard to find outside our own homes sometimes languish in ways we cannot always track. All the sections of this
book, but particularly that one, speak to my own memories of feeling ill or low and what my family and loved ones
made for me to help me recover that, I learned later once I was grown, often contained ingredients and herbs that
have healing properties. When your throat is sore and you make yourself a cup of hot water and honey to soothe
it, that is food as medicine. When you are discouraged and a friend brings you one of your favorite dishes and you
feel your mood lift as you eat it, that is food as medicine. These moments and meals have power. This section is
about how to draw on it deliberately.
That being said, many of the herbs in this section are chosen with a specificity of function in mind. If certain
herbals are recommended, try to stick to them; however, if you know of herbals from your own traditions that you
work better with that have similar tastes and properties, feel free to try them instead.

5 • Far From Home But On The Way

 ON THE ROAD
What might you eat easily out of hand as you travel home? Cooking and eating well on the road takes some extra
consideration. The following recipes can all be made ahead of time and carried with you, cooked up easily in a mess
kit, nestled in or baked over coals, or barely “prepared” at all.
These dishes all hold the taste of the road in them, and while they can easily be made in your home (and will be
delicious) they are intended to be enjoyed in the open air, with the sun or firelight on your face.

Wild Strawberries with Honey Given Gladly

A dish put together and eaten quickly, to take best advantage of both components. It’s barely a recipe, but there
are certain things that must be true for the food to shine.
The first is that the strawberries must be good. Have you ever slipped a wild strawberry over your lips, still warm
and soft from the sun? It is incomparable. Such a small thing, smaller than a hazelnut, that contains boundless
sweetness and intoxicating fragrance. In lieu of wild strawberries, which need someone to help you discern and
find them (rather than the edible but watery, bland mock strawberries that often grow alongside them) you can find
the best strawberries at your market or ask someone who grows them to trade some with you.
The second is that the honey you use ought to be gathered or traded for locally, to take best advantage of the
services your local bees and their shepherds lovingly provide you. Local honey is also food as medicine, as it can
help you build your immunities to unfamiliar flora that may tickle your nose when you travel to a new place.

Fishing by the Water

There isn’t really a recipe for my favorite way to prepare freshly caught fish, so much as memories of good meals
shared with friends after a long day on the shore or the docks by fresh water. Where I live there’s a kind of fish that
isn’t originally from here, but it’s been introduced and it’s thriving and it’s indelibly a part of the lakes and rivers
where I live now. It’s called bluegill, and you can catch it at any point of its life (unlike some other fish that must
be thrown back if they are too small). It has clean white meat and if you pat it very dry after cleaning and dressing
it, fry it in a generous portion of butter in a pan over wood coals until the skin is very crisp, serve it on a bed of
whatever tender greens are growing nearby with a sprinkle of salt and whatever spices you have on you, and eat it
just like that. I imagine there are few things that could bring you greater contentment during a long journey.

Far From Home But On The Way • 6

Stone Fruit and Tree Syrup Jam
If you happen upon a bounty of fruit, this is a favorite of travelers all across the Hæth. Many will happily trade a small
flask of tree syrup and a sunny little lemon or orange in exchange for a hastily woven basket’s worth of ripe stone fruit,
almost bursting their skins before they’re picked. Maple syrup is common, but birch and box elder are not unheard of.

Ingredients
ţ  1 lemon or orange with a clean rind (try to make sure it hasn’t been coated with anything that will disagree
with you; some farmers coat their fruit in beeswax or more caustic things to protect them from rot)
ţ  2 cups of stone fruit, rinsed, stones removed, and chopped into large chunks
ţ  ⅓ cup of dark maple syrup

Place the stone fruit and syrup in a medium saucepan or large mess kit, and set it over a steady fire
that will bring it to a bubble. (A stovetop is a fine substitute.)

Zest the lemon or orange into the pot, cut it in half, and squeeze the juice in as well. Bury the pithy
rind in the soil to let it decompose or otherwise dispose of properly.

Bring the mixture to a light boil, over medium heat, and stir frequently with a heat-safe spatula or
branch with the bark carved off and shaped into a flat paddle. Break the chunks up as they simmer
into a thick jam.

Once the mixture’s cooked for about 10-15 minutes, test a small amount on a clean cool surface, like a
plate or the bottom of a tin cup. When it cools, run a finger through it. Does it seem watery, or does it
hold the trail like a ribbon? Once it’s thickened to your liking, take your pot off the heat.

Let cool for 15-20 minutes. (Hot, sugary things are VERY hot.) Spoon some immediately over freshly
cooked ash cakes, oatmeal, buttered bread, or whatever delicious thing the farmer you’ve traded with
gives you that will taste good with jam. Offer them as much of the jam as you like, then transfer what-
ever you’re keeping into a clean glass jar. Keep cool in running shaded streams. If you have the luxury
of an ice box, it will keep for two weeks. Note: This is not the type of jam you can store in your larder for
a year or more. Some in the Hæth have the means to boil their jars and lids and tongs and take the precau-
tions to make sure their preserved bounty will not spoil; some do not. This is a recipe that all can make.

7 • Far From Home But On The Way

Far From Home But On The Way • 8
Sweetroots Baked in Coals
Many travelers know how to identify plants whose roots or corms are delicious when baked nestled within a bed
of glowing, jewel-like coals. If you are not practiced at identifying food in the wild and, just as importantly, how
to harvest it without causing lasting harm, ask someone you’re traveling with who is adept at it to help you. It is
a gift to ask for this kind of help, as well as to be asked. If you are staying in someone’s home to rest along your
journey, it’s very likely they will already have some sweetroots in their cellar. Rare is the home without a basket of
small potatoes with soil still clinging to their skins, or a tub of sand holding layers of plump, bright carrots neatly
arranged so they do not touch each other in their long, cool storage. Yams, taro, turnips, beets, or anything that
grows plump in the ground can be cooked this way, though how long it takes for them to be tender through and
through may vary.
Regardless of the root you are cooking, there are two ways to bake sweetroots in coals: one is the long way, by
washing and keeping them whole, and the other is the shorter way, by cutting them into coins or large dice. Either
way, clean them, coat them with a healthy slick of oil until they shine, sprinkle a little salt on them on all sides, and
tuck them into a packet of thick, sweet leaves (banana, lotus, maple, seaweed) and wrap them with clay. (If you are
in a home, thinly beaten foil works as well, but use two layers when cooking on coals and make sure you don’t leave
small shreds behind when you unwrap it. If you are cooking the roots in an oven instead of coals, one layer is fine.)

In the Hæthland, to be rooted means that the travails of the previous years, when nothing was certain and all could be
lost easily and without warning, have cleared out of your life. It feels good to eat roots, baked until the coals dim and
the clay dries and cracks around them, and remember that even if we are still in our travels somewhere there is a place
where we can both rest and grow at the same time. Break open the packets of earth and leaves (with care, for they are
very hot inside and out), and pick the roots out of their steaming cradles with utensils or sharpened sticks. Fill your
bellies and sleep easy.

9 • Far From Home But On The Way

 Tidepool Boil
When the tide ebbs far enough that you can venture out into the rocks to look into the limpid pools that are left behind,
you can often find enough to supply you and a friend with plenty for a hearty, briny meal. Every coastline is different.
Where I live, when the sea recedes I can find marine snails, mussels, urchins, and if I’ve brought a poke pole with me (a
hook and bait set on a slender, sturdy pole made out cane or similarly strong but flexible material) I can try my hand at
bringing in rockfish, crab, and pricklebacks. If you have an ambitious digger in your party you can watch for the little
fountains of seawater that spout above the sand and go after the clams that they are a sure sign of. (It used to be that
abalone were abundant enough that you could take your iron out to the pools to find them, but now you have to dive
for them. Maybe it is different where you are; I hope so.)
The most spare version of this dish is just the bounty of the tidepool, clean seawater, whatever greens you can
find near camp, and whatever spices you happen to have in your pack. For our purposes, this recipe is written with
market offerings in mind and much more like something you would find in a tavern or a friend’s kitchen.
Foraging for food from the sea is to be undertaken with caution. If you do not have sufficient experience, do not
have a partner to go with you who does, do not know when the red tide renders your bounty inedible because of
how sick you would be eating it, or do not know who (or what) may chase you off the rocks; give your local fish-
monger a visit. They will be glad to see you, and their likely substitutions are noted below.

Ingredients:
ţ  A small bucket, about 2 lb or 1 kg worth, of tidepool invertebrates like mussels, turban snails, crabs,
young octopi, gooseneck barnacles, and urchins (which will be prepared at the end)
At the fishmonger: It is hard to beat a trio of mussels, shrimp, and clams.
ţ  Small handful of sea greens like pickleweed, sea lettuce, nori, and New Zealand spinach.
At the market: Chard (with the ribs removed) makes a decent substitution.
ţ  3-4 small creamy potatoes (like red potatoes, Yukon gold, or fingerlings,) cut in half
ţ  One large ear of sweet corn
ţ  One head of garlic, cloves split, trimmed, and peeled
ţ  One fresh or dried bay leaf. Depending on where you are, you might even find a bay tree not too far
from the beach. Ask an expert how to identify one.
ţ  One lemon with clean skin, for zesting
ţ  Half a stick of sweet (unsalted) butter
ţ  If you have dried stock cubes in your traveling pack, this is an excellent way to use them. If you are at the
market, buy either vegetarian bouillon paste or your favorite fresh vegetable stock

Far From Home But On The Way • 10

ţ  Any spice blend that tastes good with seafood
ţ  Salt to taste
ţ  Optional: a half cup of white wine or pale ale

Before doing any of the cooking, do all of your prep: Clean the vegetables and cut the corn into
rounds and the potatoes in half. Make sure all seafood is picked over, cleaned, scrubbed, and otherwise
prepared to add straight to the boil. Julienne your leafy greens and wash your pickleweed, if you’ve
foraged some.

Whether over a small, banked fire in a sand pit or the flames of your stove, bring a stock pot with the
stock (if using paste, about 6 cups liquid,) bay leaf, garlic cloves, zest of one lemon (peeled off the fruit in
strips, with any white pith removed,) potatoes, and spice blend. If using wine or ale, add it now. Boil for
15 minutes.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and add corn.

After a few minutes, add your shellfish. Simmer until the shrimp is just pink and the mussels and clams
are just beginning to open, and turn off the heat and cover for them to finish cooking off the flame.
(Do not overcook them, as they will become quite tough.)

In a separate pan, melt half the butter and once it’s stopped foaming add the greens and sautee them
until just wilted. Add a small ladle of the seafood broth and the juice of half a lemon, stir, and taste. If
you’d like more brightness, add another half lemon’s worth of juice.

Serve the seafood by picking it out of the broth and serving on a bed of the greens. Strain the broth of
all bits and pieces, then reheat the clarified stock with the rest of the butter floating on top. Serve in
bowls alongside.

11 • Far From Home But On The Way

 Wild Mushroom Porridge
Almost anywhere in the Hæthland, after the second big rain you can be sure that within a few sunrises and sunsets you
will begin to see the little tufts in the leaf litter, the fresh shelves gently growing off of tree trunks and fallen logs like
soft spreading wings, the proud brown caps and white waterfalls. Mushroom season is glorious no matter how fleeting
or long-lived. The fruiting bodies of vast networks of mycelium spreading through the earth, as our foot tread forms
networks across the roads and trails of the Hæth, provide not only nourishment but a feeling of substance, something
toothsome to savor.
You must, must ask an experienced traveler to help you identify mushrooms if you are not practiced as a forager
yourself. While touching any mushroom will rarely cause harm, ingesting the wrong one or preparing a kind of
mushroom the wrong way can be dire, and not every animal can eat every kind of mushroom. Just because a deer
you know has taken a nibble and relished it does not mean you can always eat from the same cap.
If you don’t know how to identify mushrooms and no one you are traveling with knows either, don’t fret. There
are many of us who venture into the trees after a rain with woven reed baskets (to allow spores to spread as we gather
and wander) who will set up by the roadside or bring our treasures back to taverns and homes, happy to trade with
you or simply offer a gift of our findings out of the same generosity of spirit as the damp, fragrant earth that bore
these fruits for us. If you cannot find wild mushrooms, domesticated mushrooms are also wonderful.

Far From Home But On The Way • 12

Ingredients:
ţ  2 lbs wild mushrooms that sauté well, such as oyster, chanterelle, black trumpet, ereyngi, yellowfoot, mo-
rel, hedgehog, lion’s mane, hen of the woods, or your favorite that’s not listed, cleaned and picked over
for bugs and imperfections, half minced coarsely and half separated into florets or cut into large chunks
ţ  A thick pat of butter
ţ  Olive or walnut oil, about a palmful
ţ  Some form of allium, a generous handful (shallots, garlic, garlic scapes, chives, leeks, and even young onions
in any combination work well,) minced fine to amount to ¼ cup
ţ  Herbs and spices that are easy to find or trade for, both hearty like rosemary, sage, thyme, pepper, bay
leaf, oregano, sagebrush, or marjoram, as well as delicate like perilla, cilantro, wild chervil, or tarragon
ţ  4 cups of rich broth or a heaping tablespoon of bouillon paste (preferably without tomatoes)
ţ  Salt
ţ  A lemon if you have it
ţ  1¾ cups rice, quinoa, millet, or grits

Heat half the butter in a substantial, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, until it’s just barely
browned and just starting to smell toasted and nutty. Add half the oil.

Add large-cut mushrooms and saute over medium heat until all the moisture is drawn out and evapo-
rated and they are well caramelized. Remove from the pan and set aside in a dish.

Lightly brown the other half of the butter, add oil, and cook the minced mushrooms until the mois-
ture is drawn out and evaporated. Add the alliums and herbs and continue to saute and stir for two
minutes, until they release their scent. If using garlic, only cook for one minute.

Lower the heat and add the grains, stir constantly so they toast but do not brown.

Turn off the heat and add the broth slowly. Add a generous splash first while you scrape the bottom of
the pan to release all the delicious brown bits stuck to it, then add the rest.

Bring the pot to a vigorous simmer over medium high heat, and once it’s simmering turn down the
heat to low. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom, and simmer until the
porridge is thick, viscous, and bubbles like a hot spring.

Serve in nice big bowls with a lemon wedge alongside, and portion the large sauteed mushrooms on top.

13 • Far From Home But On The Way

 GAMES TO PLAY WHILE ON THE ROAD
Here are two games to help you when the road feels too long.

Hidden Leaves
When you’re traveling through a green place with friends, appoint one of you (the most knowledgeable with for-
aging in that place) to be the Browser. The rest of you are Leaves. At random, during the game, the Browser will
declare, “I’m feeling hungry for _____!”, with the blank being the name of an edible plant they can see from where
they stand. (i.e. “I’m getting hungry for DANDELION!”) When the Browser names that edible plant they will
cover their eyes and start counting down from 10.
When the countdown starts, the Leaves must find somewhere to hide in the greenery on either side of the path,
in a patch that is within line of sight of the Browser. The only place they cannot hide is behind the plant that’s
been named.
Once the Browser is done counting, they may uncover their eyes. The Browser cannot move from their spot, but
they can turn in a circle. When they think they spot a Leaf, they will call that player out by the name of the edible
plant and an approximate verbal description of their hiding spot. (i.e. “I see a Dandelion Leaf hiding behind the
pine tree with a huckleberry bush growing near its roots!”)
If the Browser spots all the Leaves, they will continue along until they call out the next round. If one of the
Leaves manages to stay hidden until the Browser gives up looking for them, they can reveal themselves and will
be the next Browser. If multiple Leaves avoid being spotted, they can pick a way to choose who will be the next
Browser amongst themselves. Game ends when one or more players want it to end.

Leap Fawn
All the players are new Fawns who want to best each other in their jumping prowess.
To start, one player will place their traveling pack on the path. Each Fawn will take turns jumping over the pack
without touching it with their feet, and calling out the number of packs there are on the path.
For each subsequent round, an additional pack gets stacked on top of the one before (i.e. round two = two packs,
round three = three packs,) and the turn taking to jump over it is repeated.
If a Fawn touches the packs (or knocks the whole stack over) with their feet, they are out. The game continues until
only one Fawn is left and declared winner. Game ends when one or more players want it to end.

Far From Home But On The Way • 14

TAVERN FOODS
The glow of a tavern hearth seen at twilight might be one of the most welcome sights for a traveler in the Hæth.
No matter the season, enjoying a room to store one’s belongings without fear of theft or damage, a bed with
smooth linens worn soft from many washings, and long tables laden with food supplied from a bustling kitchen
and hearth far larger than most homes could accommodate is one of life’s greatest animal comforts. Taverns have
their own seasonal rhythms to savor, and if the road and journey stretch long enough there are always times when
the best feeling is to take respite from them.
One of the many benefits of a tavern hearth and kitchen are the way they allow for more elaborate, and more
filling, dishes designed to serve a potentially unlimited number of guests in a single evening. Stuffed Loaf is a ubiq-
uitous dish on busy nights, and while its celebratory variant Stuffed Harvest Squash is a little more complicated to
make it is also heartier. Both dishes can be approximated in a home kitchen, like so.

Perpetual Stews
Every tavern has a hearth, every hearth has a fire, and on that fire there is always a heavy pot simmering with perpet-
ual stew. Many of us who cook at home know that making stew and letting it sit for a day deepens its flavor, and in a
tavern when you have to keep the hearth lit no matter the season and keep something hot and savory enough to revive
tired guests continually at hand, it’s a simple matter to have a setup for a stew that’s been going for as long as the tavern’s
been standing. While you need to use common sense around food spoilage, most tavern owners know that a properly
made broth (brought to a rolling boil and kept there for a solid minute or two) will be safe to serve as long as it is cooled,
covered, and stored well before being used again. Some taverns simply never take their perpetual stews off their cooking
fires, and while I haven’t had the honor of sampling them I’ve heard that there are some stewpots in the Hæth that have
had stews going from long before the war.
The method is simple, and can be approximated in a home kitchen. To start a perpetual stew, when you make a
soup or stew and particularly like the taste of the broth, strain and set aside a jar’s worth of it (12 to 16 fluid oz.)
and freeze it. When you make your next stew, bring out your last batch’s broth from the freezer and thaw it to add
in. Repeat the process as many times as you like, keeping in mind to 1) always bring your stew to a rolling boil for
at least one full minute, and 2) consider the flavors and how they will mingle.
If you end up keeping a perpetual stew in your own kitchen, you’ll find there is a unique comfort to pulling it
out every time you want something to nourish you. A good perpetual stew will see you through all life’s upheavals,
and so long as you’re able to remember and use it within a few months, it will always be ready for your next meal.

15 • Far From Home But On The Way

 Stuffed Loaf
You will need a large loaf of bread with a sturdy crust, in either a round or elongated shape. Baguettes and dinner rolls are
too slender and too small, respectively; this is a dish best suited to serving many hungry diners at once.
In addition to the bread, choose a stew, curry, or other dish with a thickened, roux-based or reduced sauce for the stuffing.
This is the secret of stuffed loaf in a tavern: there are always leftovers or stewpots brimming over with food, and for all its
fanciful presentation this is frugal ways to use up a large quantity of sturdy food. Just be sure not to use anything with a
liquid broth, as that will leak past the lining of the stuffed loaf and make it soggy.
For the lining, choose a vegetable that can either be sliced into thin, large pieces (like eggplant) or that has sturdy leaves
(like cabbage or collard). If you want a protein-based lining you can try large, thin sheets of bean curd skin or tofu. The
lining is intended to keep it sturdy, because sometimes tables take a long time to work through their plates, but if you like
bread soaked through with something savory feel free to skip it. As long as your loaf is crusty enough, it should stand up to it.

Take your bread and carefully cut straight down into it, leaving about a solid inch at the bottom, with
a small serrated bread knife, turning it as you cut to create a circle a couple inches in from the edge of
the loaf.

Work your hands into one part of the cut and tear the inner section of the loaf out. Cut the top crust
off to be the “hat” on the dish to serve, and cut the inner bread into cubes to toast as croutons in other
dishes or let dry and grind them to crumbs for later use.

Cook your lining by either roasting it slightly or sauteeing it in a little oil in a pan. If using a tofu or
bean curd sheet, follow the directions to rehydrate it and rub both sides with your favorite cooking oil.

Ladle the filling of the stuffed loaf into the lining, throw on a handful of minced fresh herbs like
parsley or perilla leaf, and top it off with the little “hat” of bread crust at a slight angle to show diners
what’s inside.

Celebratory version: For harvest celebrations, a popular variation is to serve a pilaf, stir fry, roast
mushrooms, or fried rice in a whole, roast squash. Many taverns use small sugar pumpkins, cored and
scraped of all seeds and strings, then rubbed all over with clarified butter, bundled in foil or parch-
ment, and roasted at 350ºF for a little over an hour, or until the flesh is tender and easily scraped out
along with the filling. Leave the skin of the squash or pumpkin on, and if you have a denser squash like
kabocha, Hubbard, or acorn, you may need to roast it a little longer.

Far From Home But On The Way • 16

 Citrus, Nut, and Herbed Bread and Cheese Salad
This is a wonderful way to use up some of the croutons you made from hollowing out your loaf in the previous recipe.

Ingredients:
ţ  Bread cubes (leftover from making Stuffed Loaf,) slightly stale or lightly toasted
ţ  A crumbly white cheese, like feta, goat cheese, cotija, or farmer’s cheese. Different kinds of cheese will
shift the flavor profile in different directions. Feel free to play around!
ţ  Your favorite variety of nuts and seeds, such as almond, hazelnut, walnut, pine nuts, pepitas, and more,
in any combination that tastes good with the cheese you’ve selected
ţ  Two or three citrus fruits. Grapefruit, if well ripened, will not be too bitter but will shift the flavor pro-
file (I’ve found that it does better with a slightly milder cheese.) My favorite are pomelos or oranges but you
can really use any kind of citrus you like (except perhaps lemon or lime)
ţ  A large handful of fresh, green herbs that taste good with the cheese, nut, and citrus combination you’ve
chosen. If you include woody herbs like thyme or marjoram, make sure to pull the leaves off the stem
first!
ţ  One small, dense head of a butter leaf or romaine lettuce; Little Gem is ideal. If the weather’s turned and
you can’t find good lettuce, see if the market or tavern keeper is growing endive in the greenhouse. Some
are bitter, but still work well
ţ  Olive oil that you like to eat on its own
ţ  Honey
ţ  Vinegar; an aged balsamic is very good, but apple cider, red wine, and sherry vinegar also work well. If
you use any of the latter three, just add a little more honey
ţ  Salt and ground white or pink pepper, to taste

Find your largest serving bowl, you will likely need a lot of room to mix the ingredients.

On a large cutting board, trim the peels off the citrus so no more white pith is left on the fruit. Cut the
fruit across its segments, so they look like spoked wheels on a wagon, about ¼ inch thin. Cut in half
or quarters if the fruit is very large. (If you have tangerines, you can peel the skins off instead of trimming
them, as the pith on them is not too bitter, and throw in wedges instead of cutting them into wheels.)

If the nuts are raw, toast them lightly over low flame in a pan, until they smell good and are just start-
ing to turn golden. Let them cool on the cutting board, apart from the fruit.

Far From Home But On The Way • 18

Cut the lettuce across the head, and if the pieces seem too large lightly chop them until they’re about
½ inch square.

In the serving bowl combine the bread cubes, nuts, citrus, lettuce, and herbs, and lightly toss with your
hands.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, and honey. Taste it and adjust according
to what you like best.

Once you’ve made your dressing, pour it liberally over the salad and toss it until the fruit, lettuce, and
nuts are glossy and the bread has just soaked it in.

Cover the bowl with a platter and let sit for at least an hour, no more than three, in a cool place where
the ingredients will not turn.

Taste the salad after it’s rested. The bread should be softened but not soggy, the nuts still crisp. Give it
more time if it needs it, and once it’s ready add the crumbled cheese, some herbs or flowers as garnish,
and serve.

19 • Far From Home But On The Way

 OVER OTHER’S THRESHOLDS
One of the first signs that you are welcome in someone else’s home is when they offer you a bowl full of something hot
and nourishing from their hearth. The food of the Hæthland is varied and regionally contextual, but one commonality
is that humble, filling food is often eaten with a spoon, hearkening back to the earliest times our bellies were filled by
others caring for us.

Beewater (With A Note From A Lifelong Shepherd)

Shepherding bees is a time-honored tradition in the Hæth, and if a home doesn’t have its own hives it certainly has
friends and neighbors who do. Every hive’s honey tastes different because it depends on where the bees want to drink
nectar, what season it is, whether their grazing land changed after the war or not, and what blooms in their fields now.
Some of us lost our hives and had to rebuild them, some of us saw our queens fail to thrive because we had to move them
to safety so many times, some of us didn’t have homes to bring our hives to at all; and still there are bees all over the
Hæth, gently nudged by their caregivers toward the best blooms before bringing them back home before twilight falls.
Honey is a symbol of our resilience and determination to care for each other, our land, and everything we tend on it.
In many places, one of the first gifts of hospitality we receive when we cross someone’s threshold is their honey,
in the form of beewater. Making it is a simple 1:5 to 1:4 ratio of raw honey to warm water. Some infuse their water
with herbs or blossoms, depending on the flavor of the honey. Where I live, spring and summer honey tends to
taste bright, almost sour, and is well-complemented by mint, lemon zest, basil, or lemon balm (dried before infu-
sion to avoid a vegetal flavor,) and autumn and winter honey tastes warmer and slightly creamy, and is wonderful
with water infused with cardamom, vanilla pod (just the skin) or cinnamon stick. When you make beewater, make
a large pot of it and serve it in small cups.

Far From Home But On The Way • 20

Custard Bowls
Whether savory or sweet, hot or cold, custard bowls are a wonderful, simple food. They are either baked in chambers
over very gentle coals, or steamed in a double boiler or basket set in a pot. Both these recipes are for the latter, which
yield more even results if you are not accustomed to banking a fire.

Savory Custard Bowl

Ingredients:
ţ  2:1 volume ratio of warm (not hot) water to beaten eggs
ţ  Small pinch fine salt
ţ  2 tsp finely chopped chives or chive blossoms
ţ  2 tsp light soy sauce
ţ  ¼ tsp toasted sesame oil, the most flavorful you can find
ţ  Chive blossoms or wild onion blossoms to garnish, if you like
ţ  Bowls that can withstand heat safely, with snug-fitting lids that have a small hole to allow steam to es-
cape; if you don’t have the lids, use a clean cloth or cling film

In a medium glass or ceramic bowl, beat the water and beaten eggs together until smooth. Add salt
and then mix again for several seconds.

Pour the mixture into bowls, one bowl per egg used (i.e. if you used two eggs, serve in two bowls.) If you
want the custard to be perfectly smooth, pass it through a sieve as you pour it. Sprinkle the chives over
the top, and cover the bowls.

Bring water to a boil in your double boiler. Lower heat slightly and place in a steamer basket and gen-
tly steam over the water for 10-12 minutes (add one minute for each bowl over 2.)

Remove the bowls with oven mitts or folded-over dish towels to protect your hands. Take off the lids,
cloth, or cling film, and cut an even criss-cross pattern into the surface of the custard, and pour the soy
sauce and sesame oil over the top. Garnish with blossoms if you like, and serve.

21 • Far From Home But On The Way

 Sweet Custard Bowl

Ingredients:
ţ  1 egg
ţ  1 cup milk (oat, almond, and soy work, but may alter the texture)
ţ  3 tablespoons sugar (I like sugar grated off a cone of piloncillo, an unprocessed sugar that tastes rich and warm)
ţ  1 rounded teaspoon vanilla extract
ţ  A very scant pinch of salt (optional)
ţ  A few gratings of fresh nutmeg (optional)
ţ  One chunk of candied ginger for the “hidden treasure” game (optional)
ţ  Two heat safe bowls
ţ  A 9” square baking pan

Beat the egg, milk, sugar, vanilla, and if you’re using it, salt and nutmeg, all together until silken and
smooth. Use a slightly bigger bowl than you think you need, to give yourself plenty of room to whisk.

Place the bowls in the baking pan and fill the pan around them with hot water, up to about 1 inch
deep. Pour the custard mix evenly into the bowls. If you’re playing Hidden Treasure, place the candied
ginger in one of the bowls.

Bake uncovered at about 350ºF for half an hour, or until a skewer or knife comes out clean when
inserted.

Far From Home But On The Way • 22

Hidden Treasure
One of you will be the Watcher, and the other the Thief.
You must let the bowls cool completely to play this game. Once they are cool enough to handle, the Thief will
place both bowls on a flat surface and shuffle them at random until the Watcher tells them to stop. The bowls
should be identical, and both players should genuinely not know which one contains the ginger.
Eat in small spoonfuls at a time, conversing naturally, until one of you finds the ginger.
If the THIEF has the ginger, they have found the hidden treasure, and may ask for some small favor of the
Watcher, in the form of a magical artifact they describe out loud (i.e. “I find a wand that finishes a small chore for
me, and I can wave it over the dirtied dishes!”) The Watcher will complete whatever small favor is in the description
of the treasure.
If the WATCHER has the ginger, they have found the hidden treasure, and may ask for a story from the Thief
that has some precious relic of their life contained within it (i.e. “Tell me the story of your traveling cloak, and how
each patch you mended over came to be.”) The Thief will settle in and tell the story in great detail, to the Watcher’s
satisfaction.

23 • Far From Home But On The Way

 TO NOURISH LOW SPIRITS
New Moon Broth
Some of us are attuned to fading light more than others. This is a traditional clear, warm broth whose clarity belies
its deep sustenance. It is commonly offered at many altars, and can be enjoyed in between meals. Many travelers are
offered New Moon Broth as a simple courtesy, because we all know the road can be long and that we may carry more
with us than our traveling packs, and it is good to be offered something clear and sustaining before we rest.

Ingredients:
ţ  A kettle
ţ  Kombu (large, thick panels of dried seaweed)
ţ  Salt cured bonito flakes
ţ  Dried mushrooms (you can use just mushrooms if you prefer not to add bonito, which is a type of fish; if so
double the amount, and perhaps use two or three varieties, like shiitake and porcini)

Warming (if you are feeling low and want to feel more active):
ţ  A very thin slice of ginger
ţ  Two slivers of raw garlic, about half a clove, also sliced thin
ţ  Genmaicha, loose leaf, about 1 tablespoon

Resting (if you are feeling low and want to rest without worry):
ţ  A scant teaspoon of honey
ţ  One curl of lemon zest
ţ  Hojicha, loose leaf, about 1 tablespoon

Place the kombu, bonito, and mushrooms in a heat safe bowl. Add either the Warming or Resting
ingredients, depending on what you or your companion needs. Bring the water to a bowl and pour it
over, then cover and let sit for 20-30 minutes. If you are using the Resting blend, make sure to stir the
honey in until it’s completely melted into the broth.

Remove the ingredients with a strainer or slotted spoon, and then strain the liquid through a fine
cloth, mesh strainer, or paper filter.

Far From Home But On The Way • 24

 Serve the broth in as many cups as needed. It should be warm, but not hot. If it’s too cool, add just a
touch more hot water. The flavor should not be very strong, but it should feel good to drink.

Find a space that is shadowed in a way that feels inviting and calm. Drink the broth in silence, with
eyes low-lidded or closed. Try not to dwell too much. The new moon is when a shadow passes over
the world at night, like a friend’s hand smoothing back your hair, to give us the darkness we need to
breathe a little more deeply.

When you’ve finished your broth, try to sleep a little.

Repeat the last three steps as often as needed, until you feel better.

Porridges
Porridges are made with whatever grain is easily at hand, and because the Hæth encompasses so many regional
harvests, many of which vary with the seasons, it is hard to hone in on any particular kind. Instead, porridge bowls
are characterized by certain ratios of both simplicity of labor, as well as ingredients.
The base is always leftover cooked grains (like rice) or broken up, small grains (like cornmeal,) cooked in liquid
until it has thickened and sticks to a spoon. Depending on the contents of the larder, cooks will use anything from
plain water to luxurious broths. You can add aromatics like garlic cloves but generally not too many.
When it’s served, the porridge base is spooned into bowls and garnished with toppings. Dried, crisp salted fish;
minced scallions; fresh white cheese just squeezed and crumbled from the cloth; a sprinkle of warming spices;
toasted seeds; the toppings are entirely dependent on what is abundant, and up to your preference.
Then it’s finished off with either oil or butter. Since this is for flavor as well as enrichment, it should taste good;
neutral oil or butter that has been kept on the counter for many days isn’t the first choice to reach for. Choose a
flavorful oil and fresh or cold butter instead.
Serve it up. There should be plenty in the pot for seconds, thirds, or as much as you need to be sated, with plenty
left for later.

25 • Far From Home But On The Way

 CANDIED MORSELS
FOR THE SEASONS
Basics of candying:
a cloak or a soak
When you candy something, you’re either
cloaking it in sugar or you’re soaking it
through with a sugar syrup. The more del-
icate something is, the more likely you are
cloaking it (i.e. candied violets); the more
hardy, the more likely you’re soaking it (ex-
amples: candied citrus peel). There are some
exceptions, like candied nuts which are
hardy but cloaked in a sugary glaze rather
than cooked and soaked through; and then
there are even exceptions to the exception,
like candied chestnuts or acorns, which are
cooked in a sugar syrup until the sugar lit-
erally replaces the water in the nutmeat! No
matter what though, the principle behind
all candying is the same: sweetness holds
sweetness. The sugar content will prevent
delicate things from turning on you.

Far From Home But On The Way • 26

Waste not!
Sugar preserves food. Honey, the oldest form of sugar, is such an effective preservative that it’s not unheard of for a jar
from thousands of years ago to be found and, if still intact, still edible, along with whatever was stored in it! There
are so many scraps and bits of foods created making other dishes that are simply a shame to toss, but aren’t fit to serve
to guests until they’ve been prepared somehow. I find candying a wonderful way to feel resourceful and industrious
about preventing waste in my kitchen. Remember, with all these recipes the leftover syrup can be used as your base
for Beewater (see the first recipe in the Over Others’ Thresholds section).

Candied citrus peels

Great for preserving the rinds after making something like Citrus, Nut, and Herbed Cheese Salad,
ţ  Citrus peels from good fruit (clean and, if possible, organic or homegrown with minimal pesticides)
ţ  Sugar (a touch of honey is okay, but no more than a 1:5 ratio)
ţ  Optional: spices, ground very fine
ţ  Optional: extracts

Candied nuts
A ubiquitous New Years food stall offering that can be recreated in your home; you could even serve in thick paper cones,
nice and warm, if you want that festival feeling without leaving the comforts of your hearth!

Candied sweetroots
Great for edible but oddly shaped bits and pieces of root vegetables that can be further grated or minced and cooked
down in a honey syrup to make a delicious, nutritious dessert.

Candied herbs and flowers

Perfect for Bloommeadow gatherings!

Candied grains, beans, and legumes

A hot bowl of candied red beans poured over a tavern’s fancier version of the ubiquitous Sweet Porridge is a treat for
chilled fingers during Snowblanket.

27 • Far From Home But On The Way