Aras Grass
Aras Grass, also known as Skorn is a tall corn-like plant that was painstakingly cultivated to grow as a crop on Arasram. The rocky desert planet has little precipitation, so the plant pulls in airborne and ground-drawn moisture then stores it within the thick leathery stalk. Long sharp spines run the length of the stalk, and the leaves have sharp ridged edges.
The cob of the Skorn can be shucked much like Midgardian corn, though they recommend thick gloves for handling during this process. The bulbous kernels are varying shades of tan and light brown, and have very tough skin.
The preferred method of cooking Skorn is to mash the kernels into a paste then use the Skornmash in a variety of other meals; Harvesting extra moisture from the stalks improves this process. Through generations of selective breeding, the Aras Grass became easier to grow, harvest, and even increased the yield enough to keep the original Arasram colony alive. The efficient water collection in the leaves and roots of the Skorn became a vital source of hydration for the inhabitants of Oberheim.
Ganatskorn is a delicacy created from directly heating dried kernels of the Aras Grass. While drying the kernels is a simple process, after the delicate process of shucking, of course, cooking it is more complicated. Once dried, the tough skin of the kernel is very strong and requires very high heat to create enough pressure to ‘pop’ open.
There are techniques for massaging or lightly perforating the kernels to reduce the required pressure to cook. This also makes cooking the Ganatskorn a little safer. The discovery of Ganatskorn happened when a chef lazily threw some old cobs of Skorn had out a window to rot, but they landed on a bent steel sheet in the sun.
People walking by thought a raid was happening as the kernels exploded in sequence. Whole cobs of Skorn were launched into the crowd and the impact would set the already cooking kernels off. Twelve people died from the Skornblitz that day and since then everyone follows proper disposal procedure of the Aras Grass.
The cob of the Skorn can be shucked much like Midgardian corn, though they recommend thick gloves for handling during this process. The bulbous kernels are varying shades of tan and light brown, and have very tough skin.
The preferred method of cooking Skorn is to mash the kernels into a paste then use the Skornmash in a variety of other meals; Harvesting extra moisture from the stalks improves this process. Through generations of selective breeding, the Aras Grass became easier to grow, harvest, and even increased the yield enough to keep the original Arasram colony alive. The efficient water collection in the leaves and roots of the Skorn became a vital source of hydration for the inhabitants of Oberheim.
Ganatskorn is a delicacy created from directly heating dried kernels of the Aras Grass. While drying the kernels is a simple process, after the delicate process of shucking, of course, cooking it is more complicated. Once dried, the tough skin of the kernel is very strong and requires very high heat to create enough pressure to ‘pop’ open.
There are techniques for massaging or lightly perforating the kernels to reduce the required pressure to cook. This also makes cooking the Ganatskorn a little safer. The discovery of Ganatskorn happened when a chef lazily threw some old cobs of Skorn had out a window to rot, but they landed on a bent steel sheet in the sun.
People walking by thought a raid was happening as the kernels exploded in sequence. Whole cobs of Skorn were launched into the crowd and the impact would set the already cooking kernels off. Twelve people died from the Skornblitz that day and since then everyone follows proper disposal procedure of the Aras Grass.
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