A stained and splattered cookbook with singed edges and what appears to be a mustard thumbprint on the cover. The binding is held together with twine and optimism.
FOREWORD
Food is sorcery.
This is not metaphor. This is not poetry. This is literal truth, and if you don’t understand that, please put this book down and go eat something boring.
The Guild of the Wandering Flame exists because some of us looked at a perfectly good fireball spell and thought, “Yes, but could it caramelize onions?” We are chefs who dabble in magic, mages who dabble in cuisine, and alchemists who got tired of potions that taste like feet. We believe that the intersection of elemental power and flavor is the most unexplored frontier in the arcane arts.
Our critics call us “sauce-wizards” and “potion-gluttons.” One particularly unimaginative noble referred to us as “that pie cult.” We consider these compliments.
CHAPTER ONE: THE PHILOSOPHY OF FLAME
Every element has culinary potential, but fire is paramount. Fire transforms. Fire reveals. Fire takes raw ingredients and makes them into something greater than the sum of their parts. (Fire also occasionally explodes in your face if you’re not careful, but that’s true of most worthwhile pursuits.)
The key to magical cooking is understanding that heat is merely one expression of elemental fire. A true Flamebinder learns to channel transformation itself. When you sear a steak with mundane fire, you brown the surface. When you sear a steak with focused elemental intention, you can brown the surface while keeping the interior precisely rare, infuse it with smoky notes it never touched, or give the diner a momentary vision of a sunset over mountains.
Yes, that last one takes practice. No, we will not explain the technique in this introductory text. Earn it.
CHAPTER TWO: RECIPES FOR BEGINNERS
Everlight Bread A simple loaf that glows faintly when broken, providing dim light for up to an hour. Useful for midnight snacks, romantic dinners, or navigating dungeons when your torch runs out.
Ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, water, and a single drop of oil blessed at any Temple of Elandria.
Method: Standard bread preparation, but while kneading, you must hum a continuous note in the key of C. The pitch focuses the divine essence. Don’t ask why. Accept it.
Cinnamon Courage Rolls Sweet rolls with a hidden center of spiced cream that grants the eater confidence for approximately ten minutes. Useful before difficult conversations, public speaking, or asking someone to dance.
Warning: The confidence effect does not grant actual competence. Do not eat before attempting tasks you genuinely cannot perform.
Bixby’s Bubbling Surprise Named after our esteemed colleague, the Civic Mixologist of Southaven. A carbonated beverage that tastes different to each person who drinks it—always their favorite flavor, even if they didn’t know they had one.
Method: [REDACTED - Guild members only]
CHAPTER THREE: A WARNING
Not everyone who adds magic to food understands what they’re doing. Amateur experiments have resulted in bread that screams when cut, soup that reveals embarrassing secrets, and at least one cake that achieved sentience (we don’t talk about the cake).
If you encounter magical food prepared by someone outside the Guild, exercise caution. If you are considering preparing magical food without proper training, exercise even more caution. If you somehow manage to create sentient bread, contact us immediately.
We’ll know what to do.
Probably.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Food is communion. Food is memory. Food is transformation made tangible and consumed. Every meal is a small magic, and every magic should nourish something.
Cook boldly. Season fearlessly. And if your soufflé catches fire, remember: that’s just the elemental essence expressing itself.
Embrace the flame.
—Published by the Guild of the Wandering Flame, available wherever interesting ingredients are sold