Taash's mom is dead. She's dead. She's dead and gone and it hurts. They're not anyone's little girl anymore.
That was supposed to be a good thing.
So why does saying it hurt so badly?
Chapter One
From my beloved river Permessus I come to you,
Illustrious heroes descended from kings.
You are renowned for your exploits,
But the truth can never be known since it is beyond your reach.
I am Music.
I can calm troubled minds with my sweet sounds.
With noble anger or with love, I can melt the hardest of hearts.
I can charm people with my golden lyre,
So I can prepare their souls to receive the sweet music they will hear in Heaven.
Now I want to tell you about Orpheus.
— Music, L'Orfeo
Read on Archive of Our Own Here!
For Taash, a Recipe from Omri
I have heard this recipe called many things, as many old dwarven traditions are. It is a goulash with a few changes from a plain one. The sweetest name I have heard it called was “Marry Me Goulash,” told to me by Ademamar Cadash. He told me that his mother wooed his father with it before they could even speak a word to each other. I have usually only called it “something to do with all these spare parts.” Follow the instructions carefully, Taash. Or do not! It is wonderfully difficult to ruin. Go with your gut, la mia Trottola.
Ingredients:
- 2 ¾ cups of trottole pasta (the best kind for this) (your favorite)
- Bone broth for boiling pasta in
- 1 pound of ground bronto meat (lean-ish beef works, too)
- Dried marjoram, rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, and sage in equal parts, a few heavy sprinkles
- As much black pepper as wanted
- Several cloves of garlic, minced
- Decent amount of minced onion
- A good few spoonfuls of butter
- A good bit of salt
- A pinch of sugar
- Plenty of smoked paprika
- Whatever kind of hot pepper wanted, however much, chop finely
- 3 or so cups of tomato sauce
- Enough milk to clean the sauce jar and turn the sauce more orange
Steps:
Set the bone broth mixed with water and a little bit of salt on the stove to boil. Put a wooden spoon over the top to keep it from boiling over in case you forget to pay attention. While waiting for that to boil, heat up a pot. You will need the time. Put a spoonful or two of butter in it. Once the butter starts to melt completely, put in your one pound of meat. If bronto, it will take a long time over a very low heat to grow tender. Beef is far more simple, even if it does not taste as rich. While cooking, add in the seasoning. Constantly shift it around to keep from burning and to mix in all of the seasoning evenly. You could do this in a bowl beforehand, but that takes extra time and makes another dish dirty. Do not bother. When the pot is boiling, add in the trottole pasta. The shape means that it can catch plenty of meat in the spirals. It needs to boil for 14 minutes. Stir decently often. Once the meat is browned, add in the cups of sauce. Use milk to clean out the jar it was stored in and not waste anything. The sauce should end up a fine orange. Add in more butter. Keep it on a low heat. Once the pasta is done, use a pasta crawler (spider) to scoop the trottole out of the pot and into the sauce. Add in a bit of pasta water to the sauce. Stir slowly for 10 to 20 minutes until much of the liquid has boiled down. Serve hot.
