> It still works, and Joerg was exaggerating about early cookery.
> Having
> done pre-industrial cookery, I can tell you that the only real trick
> is
> keeping the fire right. A properly-built hearth can boil water as
> fast
> as can a gas range, if the fire is properly-kept. Roasting is just as
>
> fast (and much tastier). The weaknesses of traditional (vs.
> industrial)
> cooking are as follows:
>
> Fuel is very inconvenient. If you don't have a proper hearth, even
> more
> fuel must be used to maintain the proper level of heat.
>
> Minimum skill is higher--it's more than "turn on the gas and let the
> pilot light do the work". You have to know how to build and maintain
> a fire.
>
> Heat is controlled *not* by changing the fire but by changing the
> *distance* from the fire.
>
> Smoke is a serious hassle.
>
> Now, if Joerg has taken 20 hours to make porridge, he needs to work on
>
> his fire-building and maintaining skills. Furthermore, only a fool
> would
> need to start a new fire daily in a sedentary culture. Banking the
> coals
> is an important skill.
I thought I would add a Gloranthan point of view to cooking.
Why not just let the Ernaldan head of the home sort this out? Just sacrafice some magic points to the spirit who lives in your hearth, and it will do all the work for you! It will control the heat, maximise the life of the fuel, ensure that the smoke goes up the chimney and bank the fire down for the evening.
And the cost for this wonderful kitchen helper and central heating unit? How about 1mp per person who lives in the roundhouse, given in a prayer just before the main meal. With the hearth spirit controlling the cooking for you, it allows the ernaldan women to do other important work.
This can be a lot of game fun if the players forget to sacrafice to the hearth spirit or upset it in other ways. The food in the home suddenly becomes diabolical. Either under or over cooked. The winter fuel layed in is used up twice as fast and the family has no heating for the home.
It also goes to explain why moving a clan to a new (uncontested) location is so difficult. You must either find new spirits to enter your new hearth, or you must take the existing hearthstone with you. And hearthstones in large roundhouses might be very big indeed!
Pete
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