Caribou Hash
Ahh we arrive to another staple of life in Suranth from my youth. Caribou, for those without understanding, think of something between deer and moose meat perhaps. It is not so fatty as a moose, but is a very rich meat with distinct flavor all its own. It is also the staple game in the Tundra Realms and furthermore they can and have been domesticated similarly in some ways as how cattle have been in other places. Cattle do not do well this far north, so instead of beef we had caribou.
Caribou Hash was and is a staple meal in near every household of Suranth, I would wager my credentials as a Grandmaster Chef on that fact. Caribou meat, though a game meat, takes surprisingly well to almost any mix of seasoning and flavors, and is a very versatile protein. This dish in particular does not use any fine cuts like flanks or any of the steak or roast cuts, but the other bits, the stuff you might grind up for patties or some such, though you simply use the ground up chuck. My own grandmother would also utilize some of the bone marrow for this dish, melting it down to grease the cookware, and this is a practice I highly recommend. This unique dish requires some explanation as to its role and why its a staple in Suranthi society however, so read on and allow me to introduce you to the wonders of what was perhaps the dinners I remember most fondly from my childhood!
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Caribou Hash is all about family teamwork, and also helps remind those in the family of the importance of the matron, the mother or grandmother whom insures they all eat well daily, as they follow her guidance and seek her approval for ingredients to be added. Some even make a game out of it, telling their young ones a riddle or spinning them a yarn or some other such clues, and setting em loose in the pantry and cabinets or out into the small gardens in warmer weather, though that last one is always under supervision so they don't destroy the plants or pick all the various edible bits off wildly without intending to use them. They'll seek ingredients, and come back to the slowly simmering and flame smoking meat, so seek approval to cut, slice, dice or otherwise what they think to add, and if its a child, often the man of the house will 'help' them do that, handling the knife for them, before letting them add the ingredient into the Hash. This meal normally takes 3-4 hours to cook, normally left for endweek, when the whole family will be together, so most commonly Sundance. Often times a batch of Hash will feed the family that night and one or two other nights of the week, though that depends how much is made and how many mouths your feeding, as well as if there is any other food to go with it.
History
Caribou Hash as it is known, is in description simple. Ground caribou meat, the sort of stuff one might call chuck, or lower grade as it were, pan fried and seared over open flame with heavy smoke, using fir and cedar logs preferably. Where it is elevated however is what you did during the cooking process. The term Hash comes from the Dwarven word Hashrimik though in dwarven it is pronounced 'A-sh-re-mm-e-k-a'. This word simply means more or less 'big mix' or 'many mix' and it is this root that explains where the dish really shines.
Caribou chuck is extremely affordable and whilst it is nutritionally sound, it is a bit fatty and by itself wouldn't necessarily taste the best, not compared to a properly dressed roast or a good flank steak. Yet this is the favorite dinner of many from their youth. The reason is exactly as the name might suggest. Caribou Hash is a family affair and is often made as indeed a grab bag. As it cooks, you go through your house. Any produce, berries, herbs or the like you have that perhaps are close to beginning to go off? Into the dish. Perhaps some sort of cheese you wish to finish? sliced and diced and into the dish to melt into the meat. Have an open cask of ale or bottle of wine you need to finish before it starts to lose its flavors? Into the dish.
Now naturally you do not do this blindly. Historically the matron of the household, such as my own grandmother, would be the one in control and with final say as to what goes into it. This is to insure you come out the other end of the process with at least some sort of cohesive flavor profile. However no two times making Caribou Hash will ever be the same, such is the nature of the dish.
Now due to the nature of the dish, no real historical record or recipes exist that one could trace and as such origin stories vary wildly, and seem to differ by region. I myself could not even remember which I grew up with if you asked me, so many I've heard and read.
Caribou chuck is extremely affordable and whilst it is nutritionally sound, it is a bit fatty and by itself wouldn't necessarily taste the best, not compared to a properly dressed roast or a good flank steak. Yet this is the favorite dinner of many from their youth. The reason is exactly as the name might suggest. Caribou Hash is a family affair and is often made as indeed a grab bag. As it cooks, you go through your house. Any produce, berries, herbs or the like you have that perhaps are close to beginning to go off? Into the dish. Perhaps some sort of cheese you wish to finish? sliced and diced and into the dish to melt into the meat. Have an open cask of ale or bottle of wine you need to finish before it starts to lose its flavors? Into the dish.
Now naturally you do not do this blindly. Historically the matron of the household, such as my own grandmother, would be the one in control and with final say as to what goes into it. This is to insure you come out the other end of the process with at least some sort of cohesive flavor profile. However no two times making Caribou Hash will ever be the same, such is the nature of the dish.
Now due to the nature of the dish, no real historical record or recipes exist that one could trace and as such origin stories vary wildly, and seem to differ by region. I myself could not even remember which I grew up with if you asked me, so many I've heard and read.
Significance
This dish also, interestingly enough, has a second notable use. Due to the adding very likely of a lot of seasonings and spices, the fried hash oft can stay safe to eat for many days after being cooked. In this it is also a way to prolong the life of meat that perhaps is beginning to show signs of going off, and this definitely played a role in my own clan-home as I'm sure it does in many households around Suranth to this day.
In the vein of a household making it a game, one I remembers distinctly, me grandmother were making up a big pan of hash for the whole clan. It were her and me grandfather's anniversary you see, their third century, a momentous occasion. We'd dressed the hash with plentiful ingredients, and the smell was smokey, yet herbal, with a deep rich finish. The taste, I remember was divine and yet me grandmother winked at me, and rapped our knuckles as we went for the pan trying to get our spoons in to start scooping out plates. "Nary any o' t'at ye rascals, this nae be a barn, ye eats when I tells ye it be done! We nae finished yet!"
Powerful woman me grandmother, she didn't yell or scream that, though she raised her voice a touch over the crackling fire. She didn't need to. Her tone said enough. Still playful, but promising sore and welted knuckles to the next one fool enough to make a go at the food without her explicit blessing with their spoons. But quick as a whip, before we could start feeling sad, or the younger of us start tearing up from the deserved thwack of the iron ladle she winked and spoke louder, letting her voice control us, imparting her own joy for the process into us as excitement. "So ya wee rascals, shall I gives ya yer last clue?!?"
Naturally we were a clamorous and eager bunch her own kids, me aunt and two uncles and me father laughing, clearly enjoying the memories, as she controlled this crowd o' 14 grandkids. I was the oldest, truthfully a young man o' a dwarf, schooling an' employed in a diner across town, rentin' me own flat an' all. 'Owever I had yet ta be married and still only just tickling a century old, so in their eyes I was still one o' the grandbabies. How I cherished t'at. Anyway she raised her ladle an' with a remarkable powers only a matron or patron, an elder o' a family a clan can manage, she had our silence and immediate attention. "Whomever finds what I ask for first and correctly will get to have a slice of both the blueberry and cranberry pies we have for dessert. Or ye can all work together and insure you all get two slices, the choice be yours. Just nary tell your parents." she said with a 'stage whisper.' The older kin among us knew our parents could hear, but we played along for the joy o' our younger cousins and siblings. "Very well. Our caribou is almost ready yet the smoke is a bit cloying, it stays to strong on the tongue. We need to smooth it out, perhaps round the edges. I'm thinking something light, but sweet, perhaps a bit floral. Nae fruits or honey, but something liquid, so it can cover the meat as we finish the cook, stirring around the pan and simmer out. Sweet but floral, txist glass and coral. That be yer clue. Nae go me scoundrels and best o' luck!"
The next ten or so minutes were hectic as we all ran off to look, ideas of working together lost. But in the end, twas myself whom put it together, when out of desperation I walked by the cabinets where me grandmother kept the spirits. I had to do a quick double take, but I remembered well the story. Sitting there in glass bottle with a coral cork, a bottle of soft light pink wine of elven make depicting two flowers on the parchment label. A rose and a spring o' lavender. A gift from two of me grandmother's clients three years ago for helpin' em plan their wedding, a young elven couple.
I rushed back, was given my prize in the form of compliments and congratulations first, and getting to add three cups o' the wine to the pan to simmer as me grandmother then closed it up, leaving it to me grandfather as she went about making the potato and onion mash we were ta have alongside. Only but an hour later we were sitting outside in the tundra breeze, autumn teasing ta make its appearance soon, but the last rays o' summer keeping us warm enough ta enjoy it. The meat was divine, she was right o' course, it rounded it out perfectly, took the smoke from cloying to just the right amount of strong and added a slight hint of flower like sweetness 'round the barest edge o' the taste. Tis perhaps me fondest memory o' many in regards ta me grandmother's cookin'
Oh and o' course I got me two pieces o' pie, by the Ascended ye never turn down extra dessert
Item type
Consumable, Food / Drink
Creation Date
Unknown, though there are many origin stories.
Owning Organization
Raw materials & Components
Truly there is no good point to trying to list a recipe. The only thing that is the same between any two Caribou Hash dishes is the obvious part, and even that isn't standardized and comes down to how much you have ground up, or are willing to grind up if you have the means to. Most whom hunt or farm these animals regularly do keep the necessary kit to grind some meat themselves. The only other important question is how many mouths you are feeding. After that it comes down to the process and choices you make, the ingredients your clan-home happens to have on hand and the directions of the cook at hand in charge of the dish.
Tools
A pan or skillet of appropriate size, perhaps even an open pit tray meant for large fireplaces, which was what our household used, however as noted above me grandmother was feeding a lot of mouths. Along with this, to cook it in true Suranthi fashion you need time. Traditionally the household game of it all starts perhaps two hours after mid-day meal and whomever is in charge of the cook, depending if they had to grind up the meat themselves, might have started more or less right after eating their lunch. Spoon, ladle, some such implement. My grandmother preferred her hefty iron ladle, I myself am partial to tongs or hefty spoon of sorts ta keep moving everything around.
So, Caribou Hash … is it more like a goulash or finer, like a ragout? It does sound delicious.
Yeah more or less. I mean it can end up crispier and some might do it in a fashion for like wraps or sandwiches. The idea is your using that meat and it starts off over heat simmering, and you just....improvise. However yeah that's the most common sorts of finish by the end.
and thank you :)