Lîf Elrohir

Lîf cooking some delicious elven cuisine

**Lîf Elrohir** serves as Rutheduk Zuznudal's **Stores Master**.

## Stores Master

Charged with keeping sufficient food and water stores to sustain the community through periods of drought or other disaster, the stores master periodically checks the community’s stores of dried meat and fruit, root vegetables, and grain, as well as the cisterns in which rainwater is stored.

He also checks the stored provisions to ensure that they have not spoiled, been poisoned, or otherwise rendered unusable.

When supplies dip below the levels needed to sustain the entire community for three months, the stores master reports the deficit to the Duinhir, who sends out parties to search for food.

## Elven Cuisine / Diet

Elves diets vary a bit depending by region, particularly among the High Elves and the Wood Elves.

Among the High Elves, cooking is considered an art, and just as in every other artistic pursuit, the elves have extensively studied and practised this art until they have mastered it completely. High Elven chefs reject complexity, preferring a minimalist approach that utilises beauty in its simplicity. Cooking times for most meat, fish and vegetables is very short, compared to that of other races, in order to preserve the natural flavor and texture of the dish. They do not use the strong marinades of the humans or halfling lands, nor do they subject their food to strong sauces like the Dwarves. Instead, they season their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter, lemon juice and vinegar. They do not often use salt.

Traditional High Elf cuisine utilises leafy, green vegetables and fruits, in addition to soft, sweet cheeses. High Elf meals tend to favour pheasant and other cooked birds instead of the livestock used by other races; they consider beef, mutton and pork too coarse for their tongues. The birds are always hunted, instead of farmed, to better bring out that natural, gamy flavor. Soups are also a particular favourite of the elves, always delicate and perfectly seasoned with local spices. High Elven meals are traditionally served in a "Course" structure: one dish is brought out, then another, and so on. This structure is typically in three courses, starting with hors d'œuvre or entrée (the introductory course, something light, often soup), plat principal (the main course), fromage (cheese course) and/or dessert, sometimes with a salad offered before the cheese or dessert. Salads are usually served with a light vinaigrette.

High Elves are also famous for their fluffy, sweet Lembas bread, which is known to be highly nourishing; a single piece can feed a man for a whole day.

While capable of eating anything other elves can, Wood Elves prefer to eat a variety of grains, fruit, nuts, fish and wild meat. Many elves dislike the taste of domesticated livestock and Wood Elves prefer to hunt their own meat. Wood Elven cooking accentuates the gamy taste of meat, and those of other races who partake of traditional wood elf meat dishes often complain that the food seems on the edge of spoiling. Fruits and vegetables are usually stewed raw but with exotic spices and sauces to enliven the taste, favoring tangy flavors. Wood Elven bread is usually flat but nourishing.

Elves of all cultures have a deep love of wine and many elf communities sport a vineyard, especially High Elf villages. Elf wine is a rare thing and many noble houses in human lands will pay a small ransom for even a bottle of sweet elven wines. Elves tend to dislike the bitter taste of beer and ales, and most tend to forego hard liquor altogether in favour of the softer, more subtle tastes of wines and occasionally mead. That's not to say that Elves don't ever drink these beverages, just that they tend not to agree with the elven palate.