The Kitchen (click on the pictures for a full view)
The kitchen is large, as it has to be to do all the cooking and prep work to feed all the Jarls and Mistress� of the home. We also are quite lucky that we have such handsome raiders for Jarls, and are never with out any spice, liquor, or anything you could ever dream of in the kitchens. So, lets get started with the first of the visual aids, the Lodges lay out, and the kitchen its self!
When you walk in to the kitchen, take a look around to see where things are, and where to find what you need when cooking, serving, or doing chores with in the lodge. The visual lay out has been updated now, and with in the kitchen its self, you will find a wide array of items that are available for use. To the left of you will be the shelves of serving vessels that is 6 feet high and contains the following items: -clean horns - Plates (both large, medium and regular) - mugs - bowls (both paga and regular) -tankards -trays -goblets -Tea and black wine cups -clean pitchers - slave bowls and cups Everything that is placed on the shelves must be washed, dried and made sure that none of it is broken, as Jarl would not want us serving his guests with broken things. If you find something that is nicked, bent, or broken, either toss it, or place it with the slave cups and bowls for us to use.
Next to the shelves is the wine rack. In here bottles of specialty wines and liquors is stored, as well as the small glasses used to drink the sweet drinks with. Just so you do know, all open bottles must be recorked from the cork basket, and placed on the top shelf so that it will be used first.
Here is a list of wines available:
- Arian Kalana
- Cosian Wines
- Fruit wines
- Bottled Rence Beer (single serve)
- Ta- Wine
- Turian Liquors
- white wine
- Palm wine
Remember, Jarl and his men are incredible raiders, and have just about everything that we could ever need or want from their travels. Speaking of travels, there is also botas hanging above the wine rack that are empty. We are to NEVER serve from a bota in the lodge, always fresh from the kegs , barrels, or bottle. These are here for when Jarls are going on a trip or out hunting, and wish them to be filled for their outings
** remember, these wines are served at room temperature so all the wine and liquor found in the rack is all at room temp, the cold stuff is in the shed out side, which we will get to in a moment.
Next to the rack is four sets of barrels/casks that have been stacked two high. To get the liquid out, use the taps that have been placed at the bottom of the barrels. It is a good idea, when they need to be replaced, to take the empty down, and see if you can find a Jarl or a strong sister to help you put a new one up as they are quite heavy.
The barrels contain the following drinks at room temp:
- Paga
- Mead
- Ale
- Kalana
- Water
**a note on this....when you are refilling pitchers from the warming racks, always get it from the barrels. also, we should not be getting warm mead or paga from the kettles, we need to be serving it from the pitchers that are out on the warming rack. the kettles are for boiling water, making kalda, and stews...
Now, along the south wall of the kitchen is the stoves, that are heated with coal and wood depending on the heat needed for them. How they work is that there is a burn basin at the bottom that you will need to put coal and wood in to stoke the fires. On top of the stove, which is made of out cast iron, is where you can open up burners for cooking in large pots and pans. To bake, you just open the door in the middle of the stove, adjust where you want to place the baking good on the shelf, and make sure the fires or coals are where you want them to be. (for baking, I recommend using just hot coals, not flame). The further down the stove you get, you will find three open spots that are constantly burning with fire and coal, this is where the kettles sit for boiling water, making kalda, or to make large quantities of soups and stews. The kettles actually sit inside of the stove its self on a rack, which helps them hold the heat in better while cooking.. You can find attachments that will raise the flame or lower it on the side of these stoves, and pieces of mettle that you can use to put meat on to roast over the flames.
Now, on the west wall of the kitchen is where we have a lot of storage for open things that we use on a daily basis. The first set of cupboards are actually open, and hanging in them and on shelves are all our cooking utensils that we need. Pots and pans of all sizes, kettles, as well as all of the wooden things, spatulas, and so forth. The next set of cupboards holds the spices, teas, herbs, and other such things.
The spices we use in the lodge are the following:
- salts
- peppers
- cinnamon
- vanilla
- sugar
- dried onion
- dried garlic
- nut meg
- clove
- mint
- containers of tea leaves
- Honey
You will also find, in the cupboards and hanging in baskets along the wall and counters, different veggies and fruits that we have on hand. These depend on the season, but, usually, most of them can be dried or canned in jars for use during the off season months.
Vegetables on hand:
- carrots
- onion
- sul
- beans (both dried and canned)
- carrots
- Cabbage
- Katch
- Kes
- Mushrooms
- peas
- peppers
- radishes
- dried rence
- tur pah
- turnips
- Vargis
Fruits on hand:
- apricots (both fresh and jarred)
- various berries (both fresh and jarred)
- cherries (dried, fresh, and jarred)
- Celane melon (fresh and only during summer and fall)
- kalana (fresh, dried, and jarred)
- larma (fresh, dried, and jarred)
- grapes (fresh, dried, jarred)
- peaches (fresh, dried, jarred)
- ram berries (fresh, dried, jarred)
- tos pit (dried, fresh, and jarred)
All of those things can be found in the cupboard, and in the dry storage area on the shelves.
Keep moving down the cupboards, you will find a barrel of water along side them, that hold the dish water, and in the counter are two wash basins. This is where you will wash and dry dishes, and place them on the counter to be put away on the shelves.
Next to this is the door that leads out in to the shed where we store cold things, barrels, and other wonderful stuff that will not fit in the kitchen yet. We will go over this in more detail in a moment. To the right of the doorway is another set of cupboards with all the things needed for baking. All the flour, more sugars, chocolate, and other goodies are stored in the upper cabinets, but in the counter here, you will find three large basins filled with ice. Every day, multiple times a day, they should be emptied of the water, and refilled with fresh ice chips from the ice shed. You need to make sure that pitchers of fresh juice are placed in these, as well at least one bottle of kalana to chill here.
Now, in to the dry storage area of the kitchen, which is through the open doorway from the right side of the kitchen entrance, you will find everything you need to refill empty containers in the kitchen, as well as barrels to replace the paga, mead, and ales in the kitchen. There is pretty much an endless supply of these things, if we run out here (which is almost impossible as it is constantly stocked when fei tells the thralls to do it)
Now, I am sure you are wondering by this point exactly where we are supposed to do the prep work, cutting meats, cheeses, and breads, or setting out things for a large feast when they are doing cooking. In the center of the room there is a large wooden table that has kitchen knives attached to it for carving of meats and breads. Make sure that when you are doing using this table that you clean it up when finished. Also, if you are looking for bowls for making dough, mixing things, or what not, they are stored under here.
Now, in to the dry storage area of the kitchen, which is through the open doorway from the right side of the kitchen entrance, you will find everything you need to refill empty containers in the kitchen, as well as barrels to replace the paga, mead, and ales in the kitchen. There is pretty much an endless supply of these things, if we run out here (which is almost impossible as it is constantly stocked when fei tells the thralls to do it)
As we all know we don�t stock cold, chilled, meats, or dairy products in the actual lodge kitchen its self. We have to go outside to the cold storage shed to get those things.
There is two levels to this shed, the top level holds the following:
- Butchered meats
- Dairy goods (milk, butter, cheeses)
- Eggs
- juices
- barrels of water
- some ice (to keep things chilled)
- fresh fruits
- fresh veggies
The second level holds the following:
- large blocks of ice
- meats
- frozen fruits
- frozen veggies
Most of the meat we get will come in butchered, if not, they have to be hung to bleed out and cure before we can butcher them. When we are cutting meat, it is to be taken in side and carved or cut on the center table.
** Most of our prep work should be done on this center table, so, especially after messing with meats, you need to make sure to wipe down and clean up the table.
