“There are at least as many ways of cooking as there are different people in this world.” - Saying attributed to Sujesh Alvani, famous wandering half-elven bard and chef, circa 402 FP.

“Interesting approach,” commented Eilonwy as she twirled another bunch of noodles around the tines of her fork. The three of them happened to be dining at an Alcidean eatery opened by a local who worked often with Alcideans. They pride themselves on their ‘authentic’ Alcidean cuisine, as the owner directly employed an Alcidean to do the cooking, with most of the ingredients imported from the northern continent as well. “Surprised that they could make something taste so good with such a simple way of cooking.”

The dish that Eilonwy was having was a specialty from a region to the south-western side of the Clangeddin Empire. The region in question used to be rather poor in the past, as its hot, humid climate made it unsuited for growing most of the more commonly farmed crops in the Empire. All that changed when trade with Elmaiya began to reach the Empire and the locals realized one thing.

Namely that the prized peppercorns imported from Elmaiya grew well in their land.

Since then, they turned their once undesirable land into a prosperous one within the span of a generation, and in the present day served as the largest producer of the spice in Alcidea proper. Export of said pepper – once processed – made for the majority of the region’s income.

Even with their newfound prosperity, however, they never really gave up on the character that the region had developed during its poorer days. As such, the viewpoint of favoring simplicity and making the most out of the least resources remained prevalent to the present day. That viewpoint was similarly espoused in the cuisine of the region, which the establishment’s chef happened to specialize in, being a native from there himself.

The dish Eilonwy was eating was typical of the style of cuisine which espoused simplicity. It was simply a dish of wheat flour noodles – cooked to that perfect doneness where it was yielding yet still had that bit of bite to it – simply flavored with fine shavings of a hard cheese – imported directly from Alcidea – and a sprinkling of finely ground black pepper.

It looked like an overly simple dish at first, but the combination of perfectly cooked and still-chewy noodles with the rich and savory shavings of cheese, punctuated by the intense sting from the black pepper combined together to create a pleasant balance of flavors, one that made people wish to keep eating. It was a fine example of making the most out of only a few ingredients.

“It’s really good for how simple it looks,” noted Kino, who had a similar dish before her that she also enjoyed greatly. The main difference between her dish and Eilonwy’s was that Kino’s used wider, flatter noodles and they were cooked with eggs, cheese shavings, and pieces of smoked meat together until the noodles were wreathed in a thick, creamy sauce that was both rich and savory.

The style of cooking was pretty much the polar opposite of what they were used to, as the Lichdom favored using a large variety of spices in their cooking. At the same time, Even they would agree that the simple, more rustic style had its own charms and good qualities as well. Both methods of cooking were valid, and as they resulted in excellent meals, there was no reason to disparage either.

“Their style is definitely easier to adapt for when you’re traveling,” noted Aideen. She herself always brought a good selection of preserved, dried, or powdered spices with her on her travels, but that was a luxury not every traveler out there could afford. For most, simpler dishes like what the restaurant had polished to a pinnacle would be a far more approachable dish to imitate.

Aideen herself was enjoying a similarly simple dish, one that consisted of small packets of dough folded around a filling of fresh cheese and spinach, then served with shavings of hard cheese over it. The simple flavors meshed together well to accentuate the richness of the fresh cheese and the spinach’s vegetal bitterness, cut by the salty, savory tinge of the hard cheese.

They were cleverly put together dishes, simply yet made while keeping the various flavors involved in mind so that it all came together into a harmonious whole. That approach of relying on the natural flavors of the ingredients was not unlike what Aideen herself had seen in use amongst some other cultures, like with the Orcs of the north, but was more rarely found amongst those who prided themselves more on being “civilized”, so to speak.

Instead, most such cultures often pursued more complex methods of preparations that often used a greater multitude of ingredients. Sometimes it went well, like in the Lichdom which had a culture of using the large varieties of spices grown locally to flavor their dishes, yet at other times, something went astray and the end product often resulted in something worse than what one would have expected with the effort and ingredients that went into it.

She had seen some people lose their purpose in the pursuit of vanity and ended up with food that looked great but tasted disappointing, whereas in other places, people didn’t care one whit about what their food looked like as long as it tasted good. Perhaps the former was an example of losing sight of the goal in its pursuit, as some people were wont to fall into.

The refined simplicity of the meals she had at the restaurant, on the other hand, she could truly appreciate. It was a good example of mastery of one’s craft that did not lose sight of the goal. It was truly impressive to manage to do so much with so little, an artform that few ever managed to truly master in the world at large.

One she would freely give her praise to.