The Four Essentials of Mandalorian Cooking

Quote :

Draluram: vivid - used only of food, to indicate strong, distinct flavour, lit. "bright mouth" - one of the four essentials of Mandalorian cooking

As defined per the extensive lexicon which can be found in my signature.

Now, I know that "strong" is obviously one of the important factors to Mando cooking. There are many implications that heturam ("mouthburn") is another, as implied by the definition: "a sought-after state of intense burning in the mouth brought about by very spicy food - see also hetikleyc" (where hetikleyc is "spicy, makes the sinuses burn"), as well as the definition of hetikles: "'noseburn' - burning sensation in the sinuses brought about by specific spices - Mandalorians prize this."

So, we've pretty certainly got "strong" and "spicy" as important factors to consider when making a meal for that Mandalorian who just so happened to stop by on his way to the next job or battlefield...but what else should you try to make sure you get into his meal so he doesn't opt for offing you "to leave no witnesses behind," for the fact that you make a damn good feast?


Logically, my guess would be something that gives you a lot of necessary nutrients for keeping your body functioning, to keep you going for a long time. A quick search of the lexicon for "food" turned up yai'yai: "'richly nourishing' - peculiarly Mandalorian description of dense, high-calorie food, of great importance to people dependent on highly portable field rations." This certainly lends to the idea that it'd be one of the "four essentials."


I can't quite find anything that would imply the final essential, though. Again, going by logic, my guess would be "filling" or "substantial," something that'll fill you up and leave you feeling full or satisfied (or, at the very least, not starving) for a long while, to avoid the distraction of hunger. Searching for either of those terms doesn't turn up anything, and the terms for "full" (yaihi'l) and "bloated, satisfied" (yaiyai'yc) don't have extra flavor text to lend to my idea.



So, thoughts? Anyone else agree or disagree on the three maybe-essentials? I've been really curious about this since I noticed that only one of the essentials was clarified, but only just got around to inquiring about the others.

And yes, I went nuts with color-coding things. I blame the chocoloate-covered caffeine-crack (i.e., coffee bean) I just had.

*checks the research*

After careful consideration about the facts and what I know of the Mando culture I would have to say...

And I have to say your on the right track

Strong, Spicy, Nourishing, filling.

This reminded me of a famous dish in brasil which is called Feijoada although it's not spicy it can be with a lil touch of the right stuff [btw don't believe the site, feijoada can be served both day and night and almost certainly several times a week. It's very simple to make and is damn tasy if you ask me and the pot doesn't need to contain all that stuff. You can basicaly throw in any kind of meat you like, as long as you have the black beans ^^ ]

Basically it's a meal where you have a variety of meats, vegetables and cereal based foods that bring that "nourishing" aspect and it's pretty darn heavy so it's very much filling.

I guess one important aspect of mando cooking would be simplicity as well. They would favor meals that are cooked in larger quantities and don't need special cooking skills ( unlike French cuisine lets say and more like Gypsies )

I've sought that state of mouthburn for as long as I can remember, and collect sauces that give that feeling.
I guess I've always had what it took to be mandalorian in this department.

I think that you are pretty much spot on so far. Perhaps one other thing that is sought after in mando cooking that isn't really one of the "four essentials" would be low fibre as mentioned in HC to minimize what comes out the other end?

Tracyn

Tracyn Ordo wrote:

I think that you are pretty much spot on so far. Perhaps one other thing that is sought after in mando cooking that isn't really one of the "four essentials" would be low fibre as mentioned in HC to minimize what comes out the other end?

Tracyn

I'm no expert but isn't it better to have a good amount of fibers in a diet so you have healthy and well bundled lil stacks of poo

ForestRaptor wrote:

Tracyn Ordo wrote:

I think that you are pretty much spot on so far. Perhaps one other thing that is sought after in mando cooking that isn't really one of the "four essentials" would be low fibre as mentioned in HC to minimize what comes out the other end?

Tracyn

I'm no expert but isn't it better to have a good amount of fibers in a diet so you have healthy and well bundled lil stacks of poo

I can't begin the imagine how that would make anyone feel after lunch, especially on the field you want your stool to be "not too hard and not too soft" in order to be combat-ready

Of course if you're on a low-fiber diet you'd better have your adult diapers handy.

This is true. Im not 100% sure, but fairly sure it was fibre mentioned in HC so that it would be harder to track you as you left less behind for them to find...

Tracyn

What Daennika said, I agree with it

Lol I have no clue what to say here but it looks like they're fairly spot on...though from mando cooking to different types of excrettions is a rather interesting course change don't you think?

I expect no less bizarre and perverse in a thread I am involved in, or create.

I'm great at derailing threads with random, perverted comments. I've been well-behaved here.

We're all entitled to a level of humor, and I'm not a chef but I know that you all know that when you got to go, you got to go. Recce or not. Sniping or not.


Spicy food tends to have laxative effects as well. Maybe you want to be able to evacuate before you deploy.

*gigglesnerk* Well put, Dae'buir. Well put.

I had a pretty good appetite going after reading Mel and FR's posts, then you guys had to go talking about poo.

I think immediately of Indian food when I think of Mandalorian food. Some sort of easy, thrown together curry sauce with a ton of spices and meat, thrown over high-nutrient and energy-containing carbohydrates (pasta or something).

Or maybe Mandos eat Chipotle burritos. Hopefully you American vode know what I'm talkin' 'bout. Mmm.

Another weird American high-density food is peanuts/peanut butter. Peanut butter is super filling and is probably one of the most dense foods I can think of off the top of my head. And that must be why uj cake contains fruit (marginally healthy even in cake form) and nuts. Nuts are good for you but you better be prepared to work off the calories!

Okay back to poo: I know I would be the sniper who gets a terrible urge to go at the wrong time, especially if I just ate a curry dish. I bet there are some great Peptobismol-like quick fixes for that in the SW universe.

Ah, that's just great. Now I want Chipotle. Which I have no car to get. Or money to buy. -_-

Also, a fun random fact, the spell check here tries to change Chipotle into Chippewa. Which brings to mind roast camp counselors. And I'm just shooting myself in the foot over this whole hunger issue. It might actually be great enough to overcome my laziness to actually cook something.

And it's all your fault, Catika.

Or you could just forego all flavor and settle for a food cube, nutritionally optimal for soldier and spec-operators but savor-challenged.

What's wrong with food cubes! They're great! Well they are great when you have nothign else to eat and are starving hungry and wouldn't care how it tastes but there you see they're good for something ^^

But food cubes aren't really all that filling though... which makes it that bit worse that they are relatively tasteless, but I guess if you have been in the field for days stalking your target any nutrients ou can get at all will go down well. Just that little bit of a pick me up, ya know...

Tracyn

Tracyn Ordo wrote:

But food cubes aren't really all that filling though... which makes it that bit worse that they are relatively tasteless, but I guess if you have been in the field for days stalking your target any nutrients ou can get at all will go down well. Just that little bit of a pick me up, ya know...

Tracyn

Plus if you put one inside each cheek and talk it'll make some one facepalm and another chuckle XD

ForestRaptor wrote:

Plus if you put one inside each cheek and talk it'll make some one facepalm and another chuckle XD

"Whuzza mu'ur, oo cont unstand me?"

Mesh'la Runi wrote:

ForestRaptor wrote:

Plus if you put one inside each cheek and talk it'll make some one facepalm and another chuckle XD

"Whuzza mu'ur, oo cont unstand me?"

I chuckled real hard there XD

See it's working already... lol

Tracyn

It is my belief that we are forgetting that even as awesome as mandos are they're not going to cook something in a battlefield. So mando food must be able to keep for some time and still be good, as in taste is still good, there is no fungus growing, its not spoiled in any way. not to mention that it needs to do these things without being refrigerated.

So the food needs to have a strong flavor, be spicy, be nutrient dense, and keep for a while without refrigeration.

I opted out of the feeling of fullness because nutrient dense foods usually are filling.

Quote :

It is my belief that we are forgetting that even as awesome as mandos are they're not going to cook something in a battlefield. So mando food must be able to keep for some time and still be good, as in taste is still good, there is no fungus growing, its not spoiled in any way. not to mention that it needs to do these things without being refrigerated.

So the food needs to have a strong flavor, be spicy, be nutrient dense, and keep for a while without refrigeration.

I opted out of the feeling of fullness because nutrient dense foods usually are filling.

Aren't there alot of spices that are used to preserve food? The whole tradition of spicy food could have evolved from the fact that the spices would be needed to keep the food fresh.

If we go by tying in things that can be due to distinct similarities...spicy would be the same as keeping for a while, nutrient dense would be the same as filling, the flavor would need to be strong...and now we need one more essential again.

I'd say the last essential is fatty. A warrior needs fat, and fat is very heavy and filling. If you're always moving, you will burn it off but keep it in the places where you need it.