Welcome back, Geeky Gluttons, to another episode of Munchies & Minis!
For those just joining us, Munchies & Minis is a live Twitch cooking show where I make a tabletop or Dungeons & Dragons-inspired snack and then paint a miniature. To kick the first season off, I decided to start @RaineRysa‘s #52WeeksofDnD fanart challenge. Far too long ago, we made some tropical-style stuffed mushrooms for the challenge word “Dwarf.” The next challenge word was “Urban Adventures.”
And look, that means we are on the next page of our 52-week challenge!
The term “urban adventures” refers to D&D modules that take place in cities rather than in dungeons or tombs. Cities pose unique risks and rewards that may not fit into the standard dungeon in the middle of nowhere. Adventurers may find themselves in catacombs and sewers — risking trouble with thieves guilds and city guards. They also must earn, purchase, or steal resources regularly foraged from local forests.
So with these considerations, I chose the coastal city of Waterdeep from the Forgotten Realms campaign as my inspiration for this dish.
Each year Waterdeep celebrates the festival of Fleetswake. This festival, thrown to appease the evil sea goddess Umberlee so that she would not destroy the trade fleets, is marked by feasting on copious amounts of seafood. With that, I wondered what sort of dishes the local taverns would serve.
Being a city in a medieval European fantasy setting, Waterdeep would have fewer natural resources than a farming village. Generally, fresh fruits and vegetables are too expensive to serve in taverns unless they are root vegetables that last long in larders. Likewise, fresh meat usually only graces the tables of the nobility. Cows produce milk and require pastures to feed, so slaughtering them is out of the question. Being egg-layers Chickens are more profitable when alive.
Oysters and clams, however, were free to anyone with the patience to dig in the mud along the shoreline. And pigs eat everything, live in cramped spaces, and yield large litters of offspring.
Since the festival of Fleetswake would be a bustling affair, I figured that a pasty would fare better than a stew for the hungry adventurer with things to do. That’s why I made hot-water crust pies filled with smoked oysters, clams, bacon, onion, and potatoes.
Keep in mind that this crust recipe’s historical function is that of a cooking vessel, so it will require the accompanying white wine sauce to counteract its blandness. It shapes beautifully, though. Feel free to mold this dough into fish, or symbols of Umberlee.
Want to learn how to make some Fleetswake Pasties for your adventuring party? Watch the video or find out how to get the recipe card below!
Fleetswake Pasties
Get the Recipe!
This video will always be around to cook along with. But I also have the printable PDF recipe card available for my Ko-Fi and Patreon supporters.
This week both my blog post and Munchies & Minis recipe cards are available in exchange for a $2 donation on my Ko-fi page.
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If you join my Patreon community at the “Kitchen Twitch” ($5/month) level or higher, you will not only get access to ALL of my Munchies & Minis recipe cards. You’ll also get blog-post Spotify-playlists, community-polls, random digital and physical-swag surprises, AND a welcome gift of my Lord of the Rings recipe cards and playlists.
I hope that this episode inspired you to start a culinary campaign of your own. Next week, I’ll be tackling the #52WeeksOfDnD challenge word “Charisma.”
Make sure to join me live Wednesday on Twitch from 7 pm – 9 pm EST. OR you can catch the archived episode on YouTube.
