Sugar Withdrawals and the Golden Succor
Warning: Ezio suffering ahead (Don't worry, it's gets better)
Ezio never thought that one of the things that he would miss the most in his life would have been sugar. It had been a couple days after he had arrived in Monteriggioni and started training under his uncle. At first it wasn't bad not having sugar, however it also hadn't really been great either as most of the meals he ate barely had any of the rich meats and veggies of his childhood. It was mostly grain, because his uncle turned out to be merda at managing an villa and never put a single thought into boosting the local farms so that mercenaries could be fed along with the people. Which often left him feeling hungry after every meal due to how little he was eating. Where he felt sluggish waking up the past few days, along with his head throbbing in terrible pain and needing to drink something.
Making his current situation worse, he was in the training ring as the sun was high and he was fighting against Uncle Mario. The sword he felt in his hand was heavier than normal as his eyes could barely stay on Uncle Mario. His uncle swung a sword at him but his steps felt heavy as he parried the sword away. Trying to keep the growing vomit that clawed at his throat like a vicious wolf.
"Keep your eyes on me, nipote," Mario said.
He was trying to but the hunger and the growing nausea made it hard to keep his vision steady. His vision started to dance around as he was having a hard time trying to keep himself up. Ezio didn't know how he ended up on the floor of the ring, but he could hardly pick himself up. His mind couldn't make sense of the noise around him as his eyes felt heavy. Eventually everything went black.
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Claudia being pissed at her uncle would be the understatement of the century. She was absolutely furious at him. Considering that she was in the middle of starting to work on the villa when an assassin came to her telling her that her older brother passed out in the middle of the training ring and was being seen by a doctor. Currently they were in a spare room of the villa as Ezio had been dressed down to make himself comfortable as the doctor examined him.
"Dottore, is my brother going to be okay?" Claudia asked.
"He will be. It seems that his body is dealing with adverse effects from a drastic lifestyle change. Mainly related to the amount of food he is eating," the doctor explained. "Tell me Claudia, what did you and your brother often ate before arriving to Monteriggioni?"
"We often used to eat several dishes of meat that was both sweet and salty. While Ezio often snuck treats to Petruccio's room even though he shouldn't," Claudia recalled. "I would say 10-12 dishes often lined the tables."
"I see. What are you eating now?" the doctor inquired.
"Mostly barely and oats, but not much of it. I haven't had a lemon bar in a while," Claudia explained.
"Ah, I see. The change in diet was too much in such a short amount of time that it caused Signore Auditore here to get sick from hunger and malnutrition," the doctor diagnosed. "I suggest that both of you start eating more. Meaning that if you plan to keep your niece, Nephew and sister in law here, that you need to start prioritizing on having a stable amount of food."
Though the doctor was wearing a plague mask, she could tell that he was staring uncle Mario down.
"Alright, I'll start putting money into the farms," Mario sighed.
"Good, we don't want anyone dead. Give Signore Auditore some beef broth to recover his water levels along with you too Signora Claudia. Eventually start reintroducing solid foods into your meals," The doctor ordered, as he handed over a set of intructions to her, "And eventually we can start talking about sugar reintroduction."
"Grazie Dottore, I will make sure my brother recovers," Claudia was thankful that at least doctors were available.
So over the next few days, Claudia had to take care of her older brother along with her mother. Learning how to make the broth, carefully put the bowl on a tray and make sure not to spill it as she got to where Ezio rested.
"It's time to eat," Claudia announced.
She entered into the room as her brother laid in the bed, he sat himself up as she sat the tray on the table beside it. Claudia looked at her brother to see that he was recovering well, eventually she will be able to introduce solids again.
"How are you feeling?" Claudia asked.
"Meglio," Ezio replied. "How's mother?"
"She's going to be okay health wise but...." Claudia paused.
"Still silent and not responsive," Ezio remarked.
Claudia nodded her head. "The doctor wasn't sure what was wrong with her. He suggested that the problem wasn't physical but instead involved with her mental state."
"I see, so mother will need some time to recover," Ezio noted, "At least she is eating."
"That's the important thing. Well, since you seem to be recovering, I'll soon be able to put some lean meat and porridge into your meals here soon," Claudia noted.
"Finally, as much as your bone broth is amazing, it gets tiring after a while," Ezio said.
"Fair, I think mother tires of it too," Claudia replied. "Now, here you are."
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Ezio was feeling better now thanks to Claudia's efforts over the past few weeks. As now he was able to move around the Villa and into the town itself. However, he still couldn't train until he was fully declared healthy again. However, there was one problem that he ran into. With all the salty food he ate, he started to crave for something sweet.
He didn't know how to explain it, as before the death of his father and brothers, he hardly ever ate a lot of sweets as he often stole some for Petruccio once in a while. But now, the desire to eat something sweet was strong as his eyes glanced upon to some bread that was being sold in the village. He went over to the baker and picked out a loaf that looked promising.
"Here," Ezio gave the florins to the baker.
"Grazie, signore," the baker said.
Ezio walked away and took a bite of the bread. It was fluffy multi-grain bread that had a slight sweetness to it but it wasn't satisfying the craving he had.
I thought that would work. Yet it didn't. Ezio thought, as he pouted slightly. What will work then?
This led to him to figure out how to satisfy that craving he had. Since it was still before Christmas, there was no way any bakers would be making biriquocoli. Which he remember that Father's friend, Lorenzo often ate around that season. So he tried multiple different foods, tortas over the course of several days which didn't really work all that well, golden morsels that helped a little bit but not much. Clearly his sugar craving was more specific. As with the money they had now, there was no possible way that they can afford the sugar that father used to get often from the east.
He sat down at dinner that night as he looked down at his plate. It was a bowl of stew that tasted fairly good but didn't satisfy the craving he was having. There was even a cherry pottage but it honestly didn't taste that great as the cherries were bitter and a bit too salty.
"Uncle Mario, did you add salt to the cherry pottage?" Claudia asked, as she was helping their mother to eat.
"I did. Something wrong with it, nipote?" Mario asked.
"It tastes like merda. It's too bitter and hardly sweet," Claudia admonished, "Cherry pottage is supposed to be a nice sweet dessert. I'll go into the kitchen. Ezio, help madre."
Claudia quickly got up as Ezio went over to his mother. He picked the spoon up and put it in front of her. Maria took the bite, as Claudia returned with some cake. Ezio saw the dense cakes and noticed they were covered with something shining, a golden liquid that made the cake shine like amber.
"Since we can't get sugar, I've been learning from the baker on how to use honey and been making desserts. Everyone dig in," Claudia explained.
Everyone took a slice of the honeyed cake. Ezio took a small bite from his fork and his eyes widened. The cake was rich and moist. As the chopped almonds on top of it were the perfect balance to the sweetness of the cake. While the honey melted on his tongue, it was silky on his mouth as he got a aftertaste of a citrusy tang as his nose picked up a floral aroma from it. Ezio basked in the taste of the honey on his tongue as the craving he had was being appeased.
"Claudia, this cake is squisito!" Ezio praised.
"Glad you love it brother, I worked hard on it," Claudia beamed.
"Eh, could cut back on the honey," Mario replied, as he hardly took a bite.
"That's because all you eat is salted meat. Not everyone here likes purely salty foods," Claudia snapped back at him.
Ezio was just glad that he now had a way to solve his sugar craving. As he continued eating while Claudia and Mario argued with each other.
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Several days had passed since he figured out the solution to his sugar craving problem. However, the problem now was that the honey desserts weren't often enough to appease his sweet tooth. As most of the meals often had meat and veggies but most of the desserts were made by Uncle Mario. Which lead to him often missing out on the dessert as they were too salty to his taste. While Claudia was still learning how to bake from the local baker.
Ezio sat down on the rock wall that surrounded the training ring as he had finished his morning training with Uncle Mario. His eyes focused on the two men fighting as his lower lip protruded over the upper. His eyes were downcast as his eyebrows furrowed. As he craved for another bite of the golden sweetness that melted on his tongue.
"Ah, Signore Auditore you seem healthier than ever," a voice came up to him.
He looked behind him and recognized that it was the local doctor, "Ah Dottore, it's been a long while. What brings you here?"
"I only wanted to check in on you since you were declared healthy to start training again. Any headaches or signs of dizziness?" the doctor asked.
"No, nothing like that. Though I do have a problem," Ezio started.
"And that would be?" the doctor inquired.
"I have been having intense cravings for miele," Ezio admitted. "Before then, I was craving zucchero and I tried to solve it with desserts but none of them worked. That was until one night, Claudia presented some cake made with honey and covered in it. Which appeased the craving but now..."
"With the infrequency of the honeyed desserts, you are dealing with intense cravings for honey. I understand," the doctor said. "Luckily I have just the thing to prescribe."
The doctor put his bag down and opened it. He pulled out a jar that contained several golden honeycombs. Ezio's eyes widened at it as he looked at the golden deliciousness right in front of him. The doctor grabbed a tiny bit out and handed it over to the young assassin.
"Grazie, Dottore," Ezio thanked.
"No problem. The combs in that jar are unusable for my traditional tonics but a great solution to sugar withdrawals. I am happy to give them away as it would be a waste of the hard work of the bees who made it," the doctor replied. "If you ever have the need for honey, come see me as I would be happy to supply you."
The doctor packed his bag up and headed back. Ezio looked at the waxy comb that held the golden nectar that he craved. Taking a bite out of it. His tongue was met with a delicate vanilla sweetness compared to the citrus tang of the cake he had before. Yet it didn't matter as the golden liquid melted on his tongue. Little did he know that this craving would stay with him for a very long time.
la fine (The End)
------------------------------------------------ Italian words-
Nipote- Niece, Nephew, Granddaughter, grandson (context specific)
Merda- shit
Dottore- Doctor
Signore/Signora- Mr/Mrs, but here it can also be lord or lady
Meglio- Better
Zucchero- Sugar
Miele- Honey
Grazie- thank you
squisito- exquisite or delicious
Tortas- Cakes
Fun Food facts-
Biriquocoli is an older term for Cavallucci, which is a chewy pastry that would be similar to a cookie or a biscuit. This dessert is traced back to the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Nowadays it's an Italian christmas pastry. it's origins for the name is unknown but it's likely related to horses in some manner.
Cherry Pottage is another Italian dish I researched about. It is basically a thick cherry pudding-like dessert made from stewed cherries that was common in Florence in that time. It was often made with stewed cherries, wine, breadcrumbs, butter and sugar or honey. however uncle Mario's version basically replaced the sugar with salt.
