Wookiee Hut Cuisine presents: Durmstrang Sausage-Fest and Harvest Party by Susu, Dumbledwarf, Hagrid Menu: Adriatic Blood Sausage | French Mustard Tomato Tart With or Without Sausage | Pastry Covered Roasted Lamb, Bulgarian Style | Vaguely Asian Piquant Radish Salad | Potato Filled Dumplings, German Style | Russian Black Bread | Bulgarian Rice Pudding By the time the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament was over, Viktor Krumm knew he needed to talk to Hermione Granger. However, his headmaster Karkaroff did not approve of her, since she was not even a "mudblood" -- she had no wizard blood at all. Despite this, she was bright and one of the best students at Hogwart's, and he quite fancied her! Durmstrang's ship is a "pocket universe," with many more rooms and spaces within it than initially apparent from the outside, much like Mad Eye Mooney's multi-chambered multi-lock trunk, or the never-full trunk of the Weasley's Ford Anglia (which now runs feral in the Forbidden Forest), and the tents pitched to house everyone during the Quidditch World Cup (quite a normal thing in the wizarding world, obviously!). Within was their own cafeteria and their own staff of house elves to cook and clean for them. Karkaroff felt it was a good idea to maintain the festivals and rituals the boys were used to, in order to prevent homesickness and to keep them segregated from the namby-pamby students of Hogwart's and Beauxbatons. One such autumnal festival was a pig slaughter, from which preserved meats, hams and sausages were made for the year. It would coincide with grape picking for wine and vinegar, as well. The students -- recruited to Durmstrang from countries spanning eastern and northern Europe and even the northern reaches of Asia -- would clean out the barrels, crush grapes with their (clean!) feet, help hoist the pigs for processing, fill the sausage casings, look after the boiling vats, etc. Karkaroff was proud of this ritual and invited the older students from the other two schools to observe and participate -- if they dared. He let out a hearty laugh at the thought of the "weak" students swooning at the prospect of the gory, hard work. Hermione Granger had noticed Viktor Krumm, star student and Quiddith seeker, staring at her every time she looked toward the Durmstrang ship on the school lake. She'd made the first move by sending him a basket of food to introduce herself to him. In reply, Viktor sent Hermione a note thanking her profusely, and basically begging her to come to the autumn festival. He'd have no other chance to talk with her otherwise. She had Professor McGonagall's permission to attend (every Hogwart's student needed to have a pass to be on another school's grounds), and asked if Harry and Ron could come with her. (Even though she and Ron were fighting most of the time, she still considered the three of them one unit.) Viktor was overjoyed at receiving her answer, but wondered what to say to the Muggle? He knew Headmaster Karkaroff did not approve of her, but assumed -- correctly -- that even he would not move to prevent Hermione from coming. Now, if only he could figure out how to pronounce her name! Menu: Adriatic Blood Sausage | French Mustard Tomato Tart With or Without Sausage | Pastry Covered Roasted Lamb, Bulgarian Style | Vaguely Asian Piquant Radish Salad | Potato Filled Dumplings, German Style | Russian Black Bread | Bulgarian Rice Pudding Adriatic Blood Sausage Viktor was visibly dismayed that the object of his desire was accompanied by two boys, from whom she was essentially inseparable. He spent considerable effort asking them to do things that would separate her from them. Ron and Harry, being good English boys, did as they were requested, but were aghast at being asked to collect the dripping blood from the slaughtered pigs. When the Hogwart's boys were shown how to stir the blood to thicken it and prevent it from clotting, Draco Malfoy and Gregory Goyle did more than visibly blanche ... Vincent Crabbe ended up having to carry his friends away over his shoulders -- they had fainted! It's a very rough thing to be exposed to for English kids, but this is an authentic recipe, and very popular with the Durmstrang students. The Hogwart's students who hadn't participated in the slaughter enjoyed it, comparing it to the very similar British "blood pudding." 2 quarts/2 litres pork blood 1 pork liver 1 pork lung ½ pig's head 3 lbs/1.5 kg pearl barley (whole grain) 3 lbs/1.5 kg millet 3 onions 1 teaspoon dried marjoram 1 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground 1 teaspoon mint, powdered 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 tablespoon salt about ½ lb./200 g pork crackling (cooked pork skin) pig's intestines fat from the intestines Collect the blood from the pig slaughter and stir it while it cools to prevent it from clotting/drying. Use it immediately. In a very large pot, boil the liver and pig's head in enough salted water to cover the meat. In a separate pot, do the same to the lung (do not cook with the liver and head). Pour off the water from the liver and head (save it!), discard the water in which the lung has cooked, and allow all the meat to cool. When cool enough to handle, chop or mince and mix the meats together. Boil the pearl barley with the millet (use the water from boiling the meat, if you wish). Allow to cool and add to the meat, adding more water or stock if its not "loose" enough. Boil the blood with a lot of stirring, let it cool, then add it and the herbs and salt to the meat mixture. Add the crackling and extra fat, to taste. Mix thoroughly. Soak the intestines in water and clean them thoroughly. Cut into 5 to 10 inch pieces. Tie the tube closed on one end around a thin stick, and bunch/scrunch it (like a sock onto a foot) onto the end of a wide-nozzel funnel, then fill the skin with the meat and grain filling mixture. When full, skewer the open end shut (the classical way is to make the sausage U-shaped by tying the loose end around the thin stick securing the other end of the tube). In the stock from boiling the pig head, cook sausages at a simmer. The sausages are done if clear liquid flows from them when they are removed from the water and pierced. Remove all sausages from the stock and rest on a wooden board and allow to cool to room temperature. At this point, the sausages can be saved in a cool place (like a refrigerator) for two days or so. You can freeze them for a longer period of time, also. When ready to eat, roast the sausages in a 350°F/170°C oven, or slice and fry with pork fat or butter. (If the oven is too hot, the skin will crack. to prevent this, you can cut slits into the skin.) Makes about 10 to 20 lbs/5 to 8 kg of sausage. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival French Mustard Tomato Tart Without or With Sausage Ron and Harry happily joined the Durmstrang lower class boys in stomping on grapes to squeeze our their juice. Their feet were cleaned then "sterilized" with sodium metabisulfate, the same substance used to rinse out the bottles and barrels into which the wine would be stored. It stung a bit, but at least they knew that the resulting wine would be clean! They found out that the fermented "must" or solids would not be tossed away, but would be made into mustard in the French style. A favorite treat is a tomato tart with this mustard painted directly onto the crust before baking, featuring some of the bulk sausage from the slaughtered pig. Hermione tried not to declare how barbaric this all was, at least not too often. (Viktor asked Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons to lend him a French house elf, who made this tart especially for Hermione. Alas, Fleur misunderstood Viktor's interest, and thought he was doing it all for HER ...) Pastry 1¼ cups flour ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons ice water Put the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine, then add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With the motor running, slowly add the ice water and process until dough starts coming together. Then remove from processor and pat into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour. pastry, chilled ½ lb/ 150 g gruyère cheese, grated salt, to taste pepper, freshly ground, to taste 5 tomatoes, sliced (do not salt these directly, or they will exude too much juice) 3 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, either smooth or grainy (2 tablespoons if you are using sausage) 1 teaspoon dried thyme 1 teaspoon dried marjoram ½ teaspoon dried oregano ½ teaspoon dried sage Heat the oven to 400°F/185°C. Roll out the pastry and line a 9 inch tart pan or shallow pie pan. Spread the mustard on the bottom. Spread the cheese over the mustard, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese, and sprinkle the herbs over them. Put the pie pan on a baking sheet (in case the filling runs out) and bake for 30 minutes. Let the pie cool slightly before serving. If you are putting sausage meat into the tart: Fry up 1 lb/450g bulk pork sausage and drain the fat. Let it cool to room temperature. (You can do this in a skillet over the stove, or in the oven. If you can't get bulk sausage, get the sausage links and squeeze the meat out.) Use one tomato instead, and dice it instead of slicing. Use cheddar cheese instead of gruyère. Add ½ cup mayonnaise to the ingredient list. To assemble: Once you spread the mustard on the pie shell, bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Lower the heat to 350°F/160°C. Crumble the cooked sausage onto the bottom of the shell, then layer the chopped tomato over that. Sprinkle the herbs over. Mix together the cheddar cheese with the mayonnaise. Spread over the pie. Place the pie back into the oven for 30 minutes. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Pastry Covered Roasted Lamb, Bulgarian Style The Durmstrang boys were also taught to butcher sheep -- the oldest domesticated cattle in the world. The little beasts breed quickly, and also provide wool and leather -- essential for the cold northern climates -- as well as milk for cheese. Different from other styles of roast leg of lamb, Bulgarian style lamb is boned and has a pastry covering. Ron and Harry quickly ran into the galley when Viktor offered them a chance to make the pastry rather than to hang around for the slaughter. Unfortunately for him, Hermione ran inside with them! Pastry 4 cups flour 1 cup butter, cold, cut into cubes (2 sticks) up to 1 cup ice water Rub the butter into the flour till it resembles coarse meal. Add enough ice water to make a soft ball of dough. Knead gently and rapidly, and form into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Roast 3 tablespoons butter, softened ½ teaspoon dried basil ½ teaspoon dried thyme ½ teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram 2 cloves garlic, minced, crushed 3 tablespoons lemon juice 4 lb/2 kg leg of lamb, boned salt, to taste Heat the oven to 375°F/160°C. Cream together the butter, herbs, garlic, and lemon juice. Place the boneless lamb in a roasting pan and tie it with butcher's string to hold it's shape. With a sharp knife, cut a couple of dozen holes in the meat and insert the butter mixture into the holes. When done, season the roast with salt to taste. Place the roast in the oven for about an hour -- it should still be very very rare. Remove the string. Gravy drippings from the roasting pan 4 tablespoons of flour milk or stock, hot salt, to taste pepper, to taste Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan, and heat the pan over heat (if you prefer, scrape the bits and fat into a saucepan). When hot, add the flour and cook with stirring till lightly browned and nutty smelling. Pour in the hot liquid ½ cup at a time with rapid stirring. Let cook for a few minutes, letting the liquid thicken completely, before adding more liquid to thin. Add as much or as liquid as you wish, according to your gravy thickness preferences. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot. Assembly 1 egg, beaten with a tablespoon of cold water On a well-floured surface, roll out the pastry till it's big enough to wrap around the roast completely, with some overlap. Wrap up the roast; seal the edges with eggwash. Trim off any excess dough. Place the whole thing in a clean roasting pan. With the extra dough, make decorative shapes (leaves are most popular) and paste them on with eggwash. Brush the whole surface with eggwash and roast for about 30 to 45 minutes, till done as desired. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes before carving. Serve hot, sliced thin, with gravy or other sauce. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Vaguely Asian Piquant Radish Salad Radishes grow quickly in the hot summers of northern Europe -- though the season is short, the days are very long, with some locations in eternal daylight for nearly the whole summer. When the long nights return in the autumn, the Durmstrang students eat as much fresh produce as they can, before all the plants die and they resort to preserved foods. Huge vats of this fresh, crisp salad are eaten with gusto. The sesame oil gives the dish a rather exotic flavoring, which Hermione described as "vaguely Asian." The Hogwart's and Beauxbatons students were pleasantly surprised at how good this spicy, crunchy salad was. Hermione ate seconds when Ron told him that his brothers reckoned they all had red hair from eating radishes -- she always secretly wanted red hair! (Viktor noted this down; women from his hometown dyed their hair red, and he wanted to get the spell for her.) ¼ cup vinegar 1 tablespoon honey 2 teaspoons sesame oil 2½ cups thinly sliced and/or grated radishes (red; Japanese horseradish -- also called daikon; white; icicle; black, etc., or choose just one sort) 2 teaspoons dried or 2 tablespoons fresh basil salt, to taste To make the dressing, get a cleaned, lidded jar and pour in the vinegar, honey and sesame oil. Shake well and set aside. When you are ready for it, pour the dressing over the mixed radishes and garnish with basil. Salt to taste over each serving. Serve with a slotted spoon, as the radishes will exude liquid. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Potato Filled Dumplings, German Style Hermione and her friends volunteered to peel potatoes -- it seemed to be less gross than handling the meat grinding or butchering. Viktor hated that job, but he joined her, simply to be in her company. Ron -- a big Quidditch fan -- greatly admired Viktor and wanted to impress him. He loudly declared that Harry was the best seeker ever, reckoning that Harry would win in a head to head contest against the Bulgarian national champion. Greatly embarassed, Harry tossed potatoes at Ron to shut him up, Ron chased Harry, there was a scuffle, and Ron fell into the salt water vat that was prepared for pickling fatty pieces of pig meat to be made into salt pork. There was a lot of laughter as he was pulled out and then had to be hosed down so that the salt didn't affect his skin too badly. While everyone's attention was on Ron, Viktor leaned forward and pressed his lips to Hermione's ... They finished peeling potatoes without further incident, and Viktor didn't have trouble keeping her with him for the rest of the evening! Dough 4 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon salt 4 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) 1 cup milk 2 eggs Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Rub in the butter and cold schmaltz (or use a whole stick of butter instead of butter + schmaltz). In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and milk and stir into the dry mixture. Wrap up and chill in the refrigerator for an hour. When ready to fill, roll out the chilled pastry to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 6 inch wide circles. Filling 4 tablespoons butter 1 medium sized onion, chopped about 2 lbs potatoes, peeled, cooked, mashed (about 3 cups or so, leftovers are fine) 1 shallot, grated ¼ cup sour cream 1 egg ½ cup flour ½ cup salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground Sauté the onion in butter till softened and translucent. Set aside to cool. Mix together the mashed potatoes with grated shallot, sour cream, egg, flour, salt and pepper. You may want to use your hands to knead the dough -- it's a bit like soft bread dough. Assembly dough circles sautéed onions potato mixture Heat the oven to 375°F/175°C. Pull the dough a bit to make it a little bigger, then place a scant teaspoon of onion in the center. Top with a ball of potato, about ¼ cup. Wrap the dough around the filling, stretching and pinching to seal. Place sealed side down on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes or so till well browned and a bit crispy. Makes about a dozen. (You can vary the sizes, of course. At full size, these are belly-fillers and a good simple meal on it's own.) Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Russian Black Bread In the colder climate around the Durmstrang school, wheat doesn't grow so well, but barley and rye do. However, these grains don't contain gluten, so the dough cannot rise like wheat flour does. Thus the local everyday bread is not only black in color (rather than milled wheat's pure white color), but very heavy, dense and extremely chewy. The boys of Durmstrang are used to it, and even prefer the stronger flavor and tougher texture. Viktor sliced the bread thinly and loaded on sweet (unsalted) butter for Hermione to taste. She enjoyed the sweeter flavor and asked for the recipe. Upon hearing it, she decided she'd rather visit Viktor when she wanted more. An unexpected result, but he was very happy! ½ cup water 2 tablespoons vinegar (any type will do, the Durmstrang elves use wine vinegar) 2 tablespoons molasses 1 tablespoon cocoa powder 2 cups wheat flour (white) 1 cup rye flour ½ cup All-Bran cereal, crushed 2 teaspoons caraway or dill seeds ½ teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon instant coffee powder ½ teaspoon onion powder 3 tablespoons margarine, melted 1 package dry active yeast (0.25 oz. packet), dissolved in ½ cup warm (not hot!) water ½ teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in ¼ cup cold water In a pot, heat together water, vinegar, molasses and cocoa until boiling, then let it cool to room temperature. Set aside. In the bowl of a food processor, combine white flour, rye flour, bran cereal, caraway seeds, honey, salt, instant coffee and onion powder. Add the melted margarine and pulse till it's all combined. With the food processor running, slowly add the dissolved yeast mixture to the dough, then follow that with the vinegar, molasses, cocoa mixture. Keep processing till the mixture forms a pretty solid ball. Flour a surface and knead the dough with your hands till the surface is smooth. It won't be as elastic as white bread dough. Oil the surface of the dough and place in a bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place till the volume doubles. This will take about 2 hours. Punch down the dough and knead it again. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a greased 8-inch round cake pan. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for about an hour, till it doubles again. Heat the oven to 350°F/ 160°C and bake for 40 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking time, boil the cornstarch and water in a small pot. Stir for a minute while cooking, so the mixture thickens. Brush this over the crust of the bread, then bake for about 5 minutes till the glaze is set and shiny. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Bulgarian Rice Pudding Rice pudding is a boarding school staple -- an easy dessert making use of leftover rice and milk. As far as institutional fare goes, it's fairly reliable, usually much better than some other desserts (though of course, at Hogwart's the food was better than most places). The Bulgarians have a version that shows their Turkish heritage -- it's fragrant, tender and really a beautiful and romantic looking dish. Viktor, being the Durmstrang star, made sure that Hermione (and her friends -- he realized he couldn't ignore Harry or Ron if he was to win Hermione) got a nicely plated serving, strewn with pistachios and rose petals. She offered her serving to Harry because she didn't like pabulum-like rice pudding. Viktor panicked and claimed he had made the delicate creamy dish, and the least she could do was try it! Impressed, she did try it and liked it ... she couldn't stop telling him how much she admired that a big, buff athelete like him could make such a delicate and wonderful dessert. He'd have to figure out how to handle that lie later, but in the meantime he glowed in her attention! 2 tablespoons butter 3½ cups milk 1 teaspoons sugar 1 stick cinnamon or ½ teaspoon powdered cinnamon (but the flecks aren't as nice looking here) 1 large piece lemon or orange zest, about an inch wide by 3 inches long (no pith!) ½ cup short-grain or risotto rice ½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks ½ cup shelled pistachios edible, clean rose petals, for garnish In a saucepan, cook together the milk, butter, sugar, cinnamon, zest and rice. Simmer, covered with occasional stirring. Cook very slowly, this takes about an hour or so, till creamy and soft. When done, remove the cinnamon stick and zest. Allow to cool to room temperature or refrigerate, covered. Just before serving, fold in the whipped cream. Place onto serving dishes (or a large bowl or plate) and garnish with pistachios and rose petals. Back to the Menu: Durmstrang Sausage and Wine Festival Disclaimer: All content is made up, and no profit or lucre is expected, solicited, advocated or paid. This is all just for fun. Any comments, please e-mail the author or WOOKIEEhut directly. Flames will be ignored. Characters and situations are based on those which are the property of Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Publishing, and their respective original owners and developers. The rest is this story's author's own fault. This story may not be posted anywhere without the author's knowledge, consent, and permission. These recipes are provided "as is," and neither Wookieehut nor any person associated with the website is responsible for any success or failure of the recipes, nor any implied effects. If there are questions, please email the author. This page is presented by Wookieehut.