026 – Ashakir IV: Street Skewers and Seafood

026 – Ashakir IV: Street Skewers and Seafood

“—Underpinning the flavor depth of Ashakiri cuisine is the city’s ubiquitous, umami-rich fermented fish sauce known as Kiral-Til (essence of herring), commonly referred to as altil. This condiment seems to be a direct analogue to real-world Asian fish sauces or ancient Roman garum, and is manufactured in much the same way. Large quantities of Kiral, Cretaceous saber-toothed herring, are layered with coarse sea salt in large urns and left to ferment for up to two years. During this process, the fishes’ proteins break down into amino acids, creating a golden brown liquid with intense salinity and deep umami that is the backbone of Ashakir’s culinary traditions—”

—Player [Blackbright], in his seminal Culinarian’s Chronicle, dated c. 35 Y.S.

As Ai and Sari came to the foot of the Hill of Ashak and began walking into Ashakir proper, a mesmerizing aroma caught Ai’s attention. Charcoal and spice and something oceanic.

She had been subsisting on dry caravan rations and tough bread for days. Ai’s belly gave a mighty rumble, earning an incredulous look from Sari, though she quickly composed herself. Ai really couldn’t help it, though. She thought back to the Rranga skewers she had from that one vendor back in Outpost Avna, then the Korga’ul potstickers, and finally the Golga roast.

Then she remembered the dry rations she’d had to consume on the way here to Ashakir.

She wanted real food.

“Hold up, Sari,” Ai said, stopping abruptly. Sari nearly tripped, barely avoiding crashing into Ai as she halted her forward momentum. Ai pointed down a narrow side alley from which the glorious smell was emanating. “What’s that?”

Inside the alleyway, dozens of small stalls were crammed shoulder-to-shoulder, each with a charcoal grill sizzling away. Men and women with sweat-sheened faces fanned the coals, turning long skewers of meat and seafood, each stall with its own unique combination of decadent smells and vivid colors seeming to call to Ai.

It wasn’t just the sights and smells. Every grill was abuzz with the crackling of burning charcoal and the sizzling of dripping marinade as it burned.

Sari wrinkled her nose slightly. “That’s a skewer alley, Miss Ayle. It’s just street food. I know a place to eat just a bit further down the street if you’re hungry—”

“I am hungry.” Ai started walking towards the Alley. “Let’s go.”

“If you want skewers there’s other skewer alleys closer to the Guiding Star—” Sari protested, starting to sound desperate not to go into the alley.

“Uh huh. I want to go in this one.” Ai said, amused at her antics.

“But Master Benessel’s waiting for us—” Why was Sari resisting?

“That’s not for hours! C’mon, let’s go!” Ai sauntered into the alley, leaving Sari to scamper after her.

Being inside the alley was even more magical than looking inside from outside had been.

Ai was spoiled for choice, her eyes wandering and her stomach growling. It took a moment, but she made her decision. The first skewer she tried would be meat.

The stall in front of her was selling chunks of firm dark flesh lacquered in a thick, reddish-brown paste that resembled the skewers she had back in Avna. In fact, they looked almost identical. She was hungry, and she wanted something with a powerful, immediately satisfying flavor, and this stall’s food looked both familiar and enticing.

“One of those, please!” She chirped. The vendor, a burly man with a magnificent mustache capped with turquoise and copper jewelry, grinned as he handed it to her.

Ai chomped down on the first piece of meat on the skewer, tearing it away with an animalistic growl. Fiery, sour, deeply savory, and humming with a dozen spices she couldn’t name—but primarily with notes of citrus and pepper.

She was right, this was Rranga! Just spiced a bit differently to the stuff she had in the night market.

“You like Rranga, girlie?” The burly man grinned. Evidently, she’d said it out loud. “My family’s all from out by Telnir, see. Couldn’t help but bring a taste of home with us here to Ashakir. Small beasts. Ranched proper, slaughtered clean. Much better than Golga or all this darned seafood, ain’t it?”

“It’s delicious. Thank you,” Ai replied, remembering herself. “I had Rranga skewers just like this a few days ago, in a place called Avna. The vendor looked a bit like you and—I’m sorry to imply anything, but you speak similarly too. There can’t be any relation could there?”

“Hah! Maybe, I’ve got relatives everywhere!” the vendor chuckled good-naturedly, “Every time we get back together in Telnir, there’s twenty more cousins I gotta learn the names of!”

“I can’t imagine,” Ai replied earnestly, taking another bite of her skewer. She really couldn’t. “Sari, you’ve got the money. Please pay the man.”

“…Sari? I know that name. Miss Sari the Karravar, from Beyal?” The vendor’s bushy eyebrows crinkled in recognition as he gave another belly laugh. “You should’ve said something! Why, the last time you came through Ashakir, you—”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“No! I’m a different Sari. You must be mistaken.” Sari said, pointedly looking away from the man as she handed him the money. He looked up and down at her, very clearly arching his eyebrows at her Aspirant robes.

“…Right, sure. Well, Miss Not-Sari, thank you for your patronage!” He laughed again, taking the coins with a dramatic twirl of his fingers.

Ai wandered over to the neighboring stall, which turned out to be seafood.