#minotext

[syspheane]

And the Mandrapotato’s buds and leaves being poisonous is also a parallel to real life, and it’s due to the toxin known as solanine.

Solanine is an alkaloid found inherently within the genus Solanum, of which potatoes fall under (Solanum tuberosum). Aside from the buds/leaves, solanine is also formed when potato flesh turns green (correlation with chlorophyll growth), which is something you do not want to have in your kitchen. Ingestion of this chemical will confer neurological and gastrointestinal disorders. The toxic dose is around 20 - 25 mg according to a study by the FDA, and > 2 mg/kg body weight (let’s say 124 mg), according to Wikepedia’s cited archived study. Quite the deviation. The reported fatal dose is 5 - 50 mg/kg body weight (let’s say 310 - 3100 mg for an average body weight of 62 kg), according to a peer reviewed study.

The second cited source states that solanine-causing potatoes tend to have around anywhere between 50 mg solanine per 100 g potato weight. Depending on potato size (140 g - 340 g, new potatoes excluded), solanine content can range from 74 mg to 170 mg per potato.

Approved toxicologist and statistician I am not, so please take the numbers calculated/averaged from this post with a grain of salt. That aside, if your potatoes start to turn green, either discard, or peel away until the viridity is no more.

[syspheane]

History repeats itself; I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of pancake art. Maybe I should find a squeeze bottle with a smaller nozzle.

[syspheane]

It’s been raining a lot, these past few days. Thought this shot of the pond outside of the R&D lab was a nice one.

[syspheane]

Traveler’s Stew is going to be a perplexing dish to make, mostly because there’s so many directions that can be taken. Stew itself is also an ambiguous term that is oft interchanged with soup, so there’s that. Potatoes and milk are the two ingredients that must be present, so as much as possible, I’d like to keep it veg-friendly.

Potage aux pomme de terre, or thick potato soup, is what I really want to make. It’ll be the perfect balance of palatability and cleanliness. In other news, I just learned new French words. Spinach, peas and broccoli blitzed would turn it to a vibrant green.

Potage aux vitelotte, however, would be a step up. Vitelottes are purple tubers, more so related to potatoes rather than taro or ube. The latter two sees more sweet options (taro mochi, ube jam, taro milk tea, ube frosting). If I can somehow procure vitelottes in Sydney, this will automatically make it, due to the stratum where you first obtain this recipe. I’ve bought vitelottes in Indo before, but I’d much prefer to cook Traveler’s Stew back in Sydney, since I’ve more access to ingredients there.

As a stew, it’d most likely be one with lamb or venison (haha) in it. Definitely with mushrooms and carrots over a tomato base. Simply substitute out the meat with more meatier shrooms for a veg take. I can either go the French route with red wine, or Hungarian, with paprika. Since milk is a key ingredient, I’d be leaning more towards Hungarian. Either way, a beautiful shade of burgundy or crimson is what I’ll get.

The last option is to make every idea listed in this mini-ramble.

[syspheane]

Egg-in-the-Basket: A Ramus original, made for adventurers. Not only nutritious, but also delicious. Replenishes 15 HP and 11 TP. Perfect for a picnic in the Tutelary Forest.

Ayy, runny yolk. I got to use the board more as well. Served with both store-bought and homemade chips, pickles, wholegrain mustard, chèvre, Charging Boar sausage, lemon thyme and oregano. And coffee as well; an explorer’s pick-me-up.

This was mainly an excuse to use up yesterday’s lemon thyme, which pairs well. I really do wanna recreate more of Ramus’ recipes once the game comes out. No more EO-themed dishes for a while, though. More commentary, below.

Ramus appreciation post complete. My favourite reasonable authority figure in EO so far, and half of that’s due to his enjoyment of cooking. The Council Hall’s theme is so beautiful. I can imagine myself falling asleep on a busy night, listening to it.

So far, the EO-themed dishes I’ve made are maple ice cream, venison steak, Brouni brownies and egg-in-the-basket/hole. There’s so much more to make though, and I can’t wait for Ramus to share more recipes with our guilds. Regina’s menu is also something I should consider to complete, but...where am I gonna get a giant spider or scorpion?

Vietnamese Iced Coffee. You should use black coffee since it’s 30% ~ 50% condensed milk by volume...but my sweet tooth wants to use white coffee instead. Drinking it with yesterday’s brownies, it’s a wonderful combination. Probably not a thing you should drink everyday, though.

[syspheane]

There is a pun to be made. There’s also been a trend in the EO discord about naming Brounies after sweets/desserts, which I love.

Lemon thyme, candied lemon peel, toasted almonds, strawberries and caramel shards. And of course, a liberal dusting of confectioner’s sugar. I initially plated it on the wooden board and used condensed milk, but that made it really messy, so the board got minimal action. More commentary below.

Lemon was the suggestion I got, and it was actually very fitting for the Botanist, with lemon thyme being an actual thing. I’ve been suggested coriander/cilantro + chili as well, which should make for a wonderful experiment. The aromatics of rosemary may work, as well. Many thanks, Isaac & Fate.

Slightly better luck with plating the ice cream, compared to the maple-syrup ice cream with Rosa a long while back. It’s store-bought ice cream, this time around, though, since it’s already on-hand. I should really invest in a good ice cream scooper...

Anyways, EOV, in less than a month! A bit more for the physical copy, but that’s okay. It’ll be worth the wait. I’m not using this portrait for my Botanist; bespectacled pumpkin Botanist’s colours are too pretty.

It’s also my Mid-Sem break right now, so fingers crossed I can cook a bit more. There’s also a HACCP plan assessment to get through, and the anime cafe work as well. It’ll be busy, but still a restful break.

[syspheane]

Sweet treats, and a bit of food science. This next recreation of Ramus’ recipes should be pretty fun, and hopefully not too expensive if I play my cards right. Though they all get eaten up, so it’s all good. Some recipes I’ve made before, but it’s the crafts and decoration that’s always exciting.

[syspheane]

I feel as if this is the closest I can get to letting the main character look like Fencer.