Nepu mikuh

The "Traveling Bread"

Nepu mikuh (pronounced nee-poo mee-koox ), or 'the Traveling Bread', is a bread or thick biscuit made from waterseed flour, aelum tuber meal, honey, with a selection of jerked meats and dried fruit. It's taken on long trips as part of a pack of travel rations since the baking process allows for the biscuit to survive rough handling and a wide range of temperatures.

Out of all the ingredients, the honey is important as it acts as a natural stabilizer and antibacterial helping to stave off mold from the bread. Using honey makes preparation tricky as it can make the batter too thick, therefore an ample supply of hot water needs to be on hand when preparing the nepu mikuh.

Traveling Bread as described, follows the dozens of varieties found among the various cultures and settlements of the Ilfar Islands region. In many locations, recipes for nepu mikuh vary by family.

On Eating Nepu mikuh

Saint's teeth, those freebooters came out of nowhere! We had just set camp, so I didn't have time to even grab a knife. All I had was a loaf of nepu mikuh. Well, a few whacks of that upside some skulls sent those thieves running for some healing and left me to my breakfast... once I soaked the loaf so I wouldn't chip a tooth!

— Jamus Sans, cartographer

Nepu mikuh will remain soft while still warm but as it cools, it will lose that soft texture quickly. If the bread is placed in a wrapper like aelum leaves it will remain semi-soft for at least two to three days. However, at the end of that time, the bread will complete its transformation to a hard, almost rock-like consistency. It will remain preserved so long as the bread remains dry and kept away from pests.

To eat preserved nepu mikuh soak the bread in water, milk, curive, mead or other liquid for up to 15 minutes to soften the texture.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Related ethnicities

• Kirika

Ingredients

-waterseed flour
-aelum tuber meal
-honey
-choice of jerked meats
-choice of dried fruit
-water

Preparation

Prep the oven's heat stones then blend the waterseed flour, aelum tuber meal, meat, and dried fruit into a bowl. Heat the honey until its pours like warm syrup.


Pour the honey into the bowl, mixing the ingredients until they are completely mixed together and there isn't any more honey. If the mix becomes so stiff it can't be stirred, add small amounts of hot water. The batter mix should be the consistency to form a slow drop off a spoon.


Use a rolling stone to roll the mix out flat onto a cooking slate or iron tray, then cut into 3 in by 3 in (7.62 cm by 7.62 cm) squares. Slide this into the stone oven once the oven's heat stones are red hot.


Leave in for 20-30 minutes per side, then slide out to cool.