A Menu for an impromptu Cambrae Feast
Full Moon Bread
New Moon Bread
Marbled Rice
Chorizo and King Prawn Gumbo
Spiced Fried Haddock Fillets
Samphire, Asparagus, and Green Bean Salad
Honeyed Plums with Honeyed Yoghurt
"Tonight, we celebrate the full moons." Arthak gestured up at the twin moons, bright in the evening sky. "And we celebrate the fact that thanks to your efforts, my daughter is still with us. Join us for a feast, or as close to as I can rustle up on this wretched island."
First were baskets of bread, a heavy bread and thick textured. Uische's eyes lit up at the sight, and as she tasted a slice, she eyed it suspiciously. "This is different to the bread I have tasted before..."
With a laugh, Arthak nodded. "It would be! This is Full Moon Bread, made with rice through the dough." He lifted one of the loaves, and split it open, indicating the still visible grains of rice. "And..." In the manner of a magician producing a rabbit from a hat, he produced a second loaf, much darker than the first. "This is New Moon Bread. We must honour the moon in all her phases. You will see the New Noon Bread is blackened - we use black rice, and we darken the dough with the ink of the squid. Nothing is wasted on the marshes of Cambrae. It makes for a hardier bread, too. Keeps its freshness for longer."
He laid down the loaves at the small table he had put up to the side of the firepit. "For the inbetween phases, we have marbled rice, a mix of the dark and light grains. But we cannot live on rice alone!" Pulling a cloth from a broad shallow dish, a savoury smell of smoky meat and stewed vegetables filed the air. "A stew from my homeland. The meat is mainly a spiced, smoked, and dried sausage, but Elowyn did manage to bring us some choice prawns up from the rock pools. I made sure she didn't go alone this time, however." He looked pointedly at his young daughter.
She smiled up at him disarmingly. "Don't forget to tell them about the seaweed too, Daddy."
"Yes..." Arthak allowed his attention to be redirected to the table. "Samphire, which I have cooked with asparagus and beans. Simple, but nutritious. And a few lads in the houses to the south caught a few haddock, which I've fried with some spices of my own." He indicated a plate with five fillets of fish, fried to a golden brown.
Again, Elowyn interrupted in her high childish voice. "And I made some small sweets. I begged some plums off of a nw visitor, and I've baked them in the fire with some honey. You'll love them."
"Of course they will." Arthak looked down once again at his daughter, his face this time lit with love and parental indulgence. Then, turning back to the party, he seemed suddenly nervous. "I hope it suits you. I know you dragonfolk don't favour milk or cream, so I avoided anything of that sort. There is some honeyed yoghurt for the sweet, but you don't need to add it. I so wanted to find a proper way to say thank you. Without you, my daughter would not be with us now. Please, help yourself. There should be plenty for us all."
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