Gathered fruits and Prepared Victuals
Gorro Gum
During the time of the Great Plains Gorro needles were taken and roasted for a tea that was shared at the meeting of two giants. This now is a rare and nearly forgotten treat to the cave dwelling giants but the Gorro bush has not stopped giving. Roots from this resilient plant claw down into the caves and during the rainy season the Giants cut the tip of the roots and let the sugary contents collect in metal buckets. This is then let to sit for a season in which the volatile waters evaporate (unsettled Gorro Gum will explode on contact with fire) and leave only a sweet gum. This is the binding agent for all plains giants’ impressive stuffed rolls and is the key to their addictive sweetness.
Muggy Pail
The Tunnel Seekers are credited with saving the way of life for the Giants by mapping the underground which they have come to call home but no Tunnel Seeker would have ventured far without a Muffy Pail. The sac-like cap of a Muggy Mushroom which when stuffed with fruits, vegetables and nuts will encase the contents with a film to allow the mushroom to slowly leech nutrients from the foods, the Muggy will not eat other mushrooms though so its usual base is a helping of Dommer Grains. For the Giants this lets the foods be preserved by subjecting it to a safe and controlled form of decay. Once a person wishes to eat the food all they must do is cook the Muggy Pail in a fire and the encasing shrivels and burns off, and the Muggy Pail and all it’s contents are ready to be enjoyed with but a slightly earthy taste. While mostly the provender of the travellers of the plains some chefs have taken to curated stuffings and precise timings of fermenting to achieve flavours fit for the gourmet.
Silken Spider Cheese
Cheese from Bison milk has been made on the plains since the giants took to walking on two feet. The traditional preparation was to cure the bison milk in a bison or sheep stomach, aged, and strained with a flaxen matt. When the Bison reached near extinction they were protected and while the milk was still enjoyed in extreme moderation, no stomach could be easily spared for the making of cheese. The Giants were prepared to accept the reality of less cheese in their lives when a miraculous accident occurred. An impotently sealed milk urn was infested by Peddle Spiders (more an ant than actual spider but you would not know from looking), who spat their congealing acid into the milk to bring to their queen. The insect’s acid turned out to be a far superior agent in the making of cheese, giving it a smooth texture, superior melt and far less sour. The cheese is still rationed as a delicacy, usually enjoyed after aging 5 years as an offering in the Festival of Abundant Sacrifice.
Fougoro
Giant baking is as much science as it is art with precise timing and temperatures needed to create their various delicacies. For timing some bakers hold true to the traditional humming of the maker’s lament, but the speed of humming is too inexact to teach to a new baker. Another method is the newer use of the Mosswasp larva for timing. What all bakers can agree on however is the use of Fougoro to check your oven’s temperature, the bread would bake relatively quickly in a properly heated and evenly, telling the baker that they can safely load the rest of their buns and breads without worry.
As a Fougoro is a bread made for a purpose and could be burnt or ruined by a poorly fired oven the bread is often a collection of odds and ends. The most common addition to the standard wheat and goro gum are the collected scraps of snail mushroom at the bottom of the pickling cask, giving the Fougoro a sweet and vinegary taste for a more adult pallatte. It’s also commonly made only with sweetness and given to children as a midday snack, shaped in a fun form such as a bison or harvest scythe.
Zenith Pie
On the cast plains the giants were active in gardening, farming, and numerous activities in the fields under the sun. What is common for all the workers in these areas is that the midday sun is the hottest part of the day and so it’s the time