Gangenkrúks

Short description

The term gangenkrúks (Onkara Röddet for 'wandering pot') describes not a certain recipe, but more a mode of preparing a meal prepared by the Skaura Orohlen when wandering through the Skaura Hrís. Interestingly the Gangenkrúks is only prepared and eaten there, because it depends heavily on the cook knowing the surroundings, where to find something to eat and what is edible and what is not. But not only availability plays a role, but also the ability to combine the ingredients available to a delicious meal. This makes the gangenkrúks not only a meal, but also an art form.

Production and ingredients

Most pots the Skaura Orohlen are usually made of pottery. But pottery breaks easily and is quite unhandy when traversing the woods. So the first thing that sets gangenkrúks apart from other meals prepared by the Skaura Orohlen is the fact, that it is made in a krúks, which is a round-bellied small cauldron made of plate metal. Krúks's are used over a long period of time, some even being several dozen years old. They build up a patina and are covered with bruises and dents, giving each one a unique character.

The second constant factor that can be attributed to gangenkrúks is, that the meal always is a soup or stew. Never is anything solely steamed or fried. The krúks could of course be used for braising, but an unwritten rule says, that soups and stews are the only acceptable gangenkrúks's.

Apart from that, there are really no ends as to what can find its way into a gangenkrúks. Legumes, cabbages, different kinds of meat or fish, herbs, mushrooms, insects and so on. What is important though, is that the ingredients complement each other. This is of course a topic of debate, especially since Skaura Orohlen cuisine takes some getting used to it.

History and role in culture

The Skaura Orohlen have always lived in a forested environment. Knowing this environment is a defining trait of their culture and this also encompasses knowing, where to find edible things in the wild and how to prepare them. For a gangenkrúks that means, that ingredients are not only collected left and right and then put into the krúks to cook, but it means to find ways to use what the forest offers and make it something good. Even in the winter, when normal people don't see much variety in nature and even less things that could make for an ingredient, the Skaura Orohlen will find more than they need and only utilise what makes a good combination in their eyes.

Gangenkrúks is exclusively prepared when outside of the settlement and is a part of the culture of leaving the settlements to accomplish tasks like hunting, gathering, woodcutting or making hikes to visit other settlements or to partake in rituals, which are of the utmost importance for their culture, like the rites of passage, the Nautarsíðit for males or the Tiltroeðit for females among others.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink