“The importance of hospitality varies from culture to culture. In some, it is considered some of the most sacred of their tenets, while others might not care about it much if at all. Once things come to hard times, however, cultures that greatly value hospitality often hold themselves together better than the others.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
“Please, please, this is the least I could offer as the host here,” said Sudaksina as he invited Aideen and the girls to sit down and enjoy themselves.
He had invited them to stay at his place rather than an inn, and introduced the three to his wife and four children, the youngest of which has yet to reach ten years of age. Sudaksina’s family welcomed them warmly, their house showing much of the same restrained look he used in his office, and they adjourned to a waiting room afterwards.
The low table in the room was already set with a kettle of tea – still steaming hot – and a plate of snacks by the time they adjourned there, probably prepared by Sudaksina’s household servants while they talked with the family. They sat cross-legged on comfortable cushions set on top of the plush rugs as was the norm in the region, and made some further small talk with the master of the house.
“Do try some of these too,” he said with a gesture towards the snacks on the table after he poured tea to fill everyone’s cups in person. “These are a local specialty, sadly a declining art, unfortunately. I blame the wars for that.”
Curious, Aideen picked one of the rectangular confections up along with the girls. The confectionary was a dense one, roughly as thick as her thumb was wide, around the right size to constitute a mouthful. It smelled of honey and nuts, and she popped it whole in her mouth after looking at it for a moment. Kino and Eilonwy did the same.
The first thing that hit her tongue was a strong, shocking sweetness that threatened to overwhelm, but somehow kept itself from going overboard, and as the confection practically unraveled and dissolved slowly on her tongue, the earthy flavor of nuts joined the sweetness and turned it into a more pleasant flavor.
Just as her palate was getting used to the nutty sweetness, another layer of flavor bloomed as the confection dissolved further, as a familiar flavor of spices meshed with the earthy nuttiness and the honeyed sweetness, the ensemble of flavors turning into a different one altogether. It was still a very pleasant flavor, just different.
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Then a hit of herbal flavors followed behind, with a strong refreshing hit that cooled the mouth as part of the blend of flavors. The surprising coolness was unexpected, but made for a blend of flavors that turned the whole confection’s taste into a refreshingly pleasant one, before it dissolved further and a second hit of spice hit Aideen’s tongue, followed by more nuts and honey.
Apparently whoever made the confection had not only contained its flavors in a mesh of fine threads of fragile dough that dissolved in the mouth, but also layered them in such a way so what whoever ate it – the shape of the confection practically ensured that people would eat them with the wide parts facing up and down as it would be inconvenient to eat otherwise – would experience the layers of flavor one after another in a pleasant and ingenious way.
“This is good,” praised Kino as she ran her tongue over her lips, clearly missing the flavor already. “How come something this good ends up as a declining art, Master?” she then asked as Sudaksina offered her another piece from the plate, which she gratefully – and politely – accepted with a nod of thanks.
“The war caused many of the artisans who mastered the art of making these confections to lose their heirs, loved ones, and friends, and as a result many of them withdrew from public life or fled elsewhere in dismay,” explained Sudaksina with a wistful shake of his head. “I managed to gather a few and persuaded them to take on new apprentices to continue passing down the craft, but only a few, and not many of those apprentices were able to master the art so far.”
“I can kind of see why that might be the case,” noted Aideen after she finished off a second piece from the proffered plate. “It must be difficult to make something this fine. Calling them artisans couldn’t be more appropriate I feel, for their creations are a work of art,” she added. The second piece she ate had different flavors, with a core of spiced, dried fruits encompassed by a lighter sweetness. “I imagine that is where their difficulties lay?”
“Indeed so, Milady. It takes an experienced and skilled hand to be able to knead and pull the dough they used to create these to such fine threads without breaking them. Few of the youngsters could master the art, which naturally frustrates the masters,” he replied regretfully. “Many of the masters are of an advanced age to boot, which made me worry about the future.”
“To make things worse, they have fallen rather out of favor with the nobility and royalty as well. Those short-sighted fools favor drowning themselves with new things while shunning the old, practically throwing away the things their ancestors had treasured and enjoyed for many generations,” he added spitefully. “Fools, one and all, I say. May a pox snatch them from their bejeweled cradles.”
“But that’s enough ranting from me, Miladies. Is there anything I can help you with? Perhaps with your plans towards your next destination?” Sudaksina asked in the end.
“Well, we were thinking of heading to the Caliphate next, since we heard that the fighting in the south made it inadvisable to travel that way,” said Eilonwy in answer to the question.
“Ah, yes, the war has made the south less… safe a place to be in,” said the man with a shake of his head. “As for the Caliphate, from here you would need to pass through the elven groves, which would trouble most. I have some… acquaintances there, though, so if Miladies would deign to wait a few days, I am certain that a passage can be arranged.”