{"id":5979,"date":"2019-12-30T13:54:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-30T13:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2021-12-02T10:03:37","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T10:03:37","slug":"from-the-theoretically-forthcoming-cuisines-and-foods-of-the-middle-kingdoms-cracknels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianeduane.com\/outofambit\/2019\/12\/30\/from-the-theoretically-forthcoming-cuisines-and-foods-of-the-middle-kingdoms-cracknels\/","title":{"rendered":"From the (forthcoming) FOOD AND COOKING OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOMS: Cracknels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using the vestigial English term “cracknel” to define this common snack food format of the Middle Kingdoms may at first seem a strange choice, considering the weird peripatetic course the word has charted across this world’s linguistic landscape over the last century or so. Having started out as a 1400s-period descriptor for a twice-baked savory-or-sweet biscuit, it then became gradually attached to all kinds of sweet and savory crunchy things, from pretzels (hard and<\/em> soft) to commercially-produced crackers to (in southern US usage) the little bits of pork crackling left over after rendering lard. Various wafers, candy bars and nut-brittle-type sweets also use the term. (Check out this aggregation of Instagram posts including the hashtag #cracknel.<\/a> Your head will spin at some of the things that turn up.) There’s even a Biblical reference,<\/a> where “cracknel” turns up to render a Hebrew term suggesting biscuits that have been pricked with a fork before baking.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The connection seems, logically enough, to be the concept of crunchy things, which makes sense considering the term’s English etymology. According to the OED, it comes to us from the French craquelin, <\/em>which is derived from croquer<\/em>\/”to crunch”. These days craquelin<\/em> can mean (in general usage) a cracker, or (in more specialized usage) a pastry dough used to produce a crackly finish<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The cracknels that turn up in the earliest-preserved Tudor cookbooks, though, most closely match the Middle Kingdoms approach — a twice-baked biscuit, the first baking being of a long thin roll of seasoned dough, and the second baking of thin bits sliced off that roll. By the late Tudor period on our Earth, the second bake had been dropped out of the process, and the dough was simply rolled out very thin and cut out into rounds (see the recipes here<\/a> reflecting this technique). <\/span>But during the period being covered by the present Middle Kingdoms works, the preferred cracknel style closely matches the Tudor one… and is easily recognizable to a modern this-Earth baker as the normal method for making biscotti.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

The words best used to render “cracknel” in the major languages of the Middle Kingdoms are surprisingly close (Arlene and N. Arlene kechte,<\/em> Darthene chekech,<\/em> Steldene emekch<\/em>, even Ladhain kchhe<\/em>). This, along with the words’ age — all of them are archaic — tempts one to think that they jointly preserve a common root word in what we may as well call the<\/span> “late Medioregnic” dialect: the little-known common language\/lingua franca<\/em> spoken by human beings during the long terrible period when the phenomenon known as the Dark overshadowed the world. During this time much knowledge, even of languages of discourse, was lost in the near-extinction of humanity. So there’s an odd satisfaction in thinking that so small, homely and enjoyable a thing somehow persisted through the long disaster and (along with humanity) made it out the far side, back into the light. <\/span><\/p>\n

The technique for making Middle Kingdoms-style cracknels is simple, and very close to the modern this-Earth biscotti<\/em> method. Make a fairly firm dough with flour, a leavening agent (though some regions forego this), enough eggs to hold it all together, some honey if you like, and whatever herbs and seasonings (or in some cases cheeses) you favor. Roll this dough into “logs” and bake these until they color and firm up. Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to cut them into small thin slices. Then return the sliced pieces to the oven at a lower temperature and bake them again, turning once during the process. The this-universe-Italianate cutting method of slicing on a sharp diagonal is sensible (in that it exposes the maximum amount of surface area to the gentle heat of the second baking) and attractive, but not mandatory. …Though there are regions of the Kingdoms where, if you had no other clue, you could tell where you were within thirty leagues or so by how the locals cut their cracknels.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Flavorings for Kingdoms cracknels are a matter of seasonal availability and the whim and affluence of the baker or cook. Steldenes favor putting chopped fresh or dried whitefruit<\/a> in them (because of course they do: Steldenes are well known to put whitefruit in everything) and numerous other fruits as well, ideally dried; also fruit pickles and syrups, nuts and nut creams, especially almond and chestnut, and metahn\u00eb <\/em>or weeproot, a close analogue to Armoracia rusticana<\/em>, our common horseradish. Mid-latitude Arlenes tend to favor mellower spicery (yellow berry-pepper, capsicums, green onions and garlic, the various wild and tame parsleys) and grated hard cheeses, from the very mild to the very sharp. Western and “upper” Darthenes lean toward warm-country flavors: sweetbark, yellow citron (identical to our Citrus medica<\/em>) and green citron (a local analogue to Citrus ichangensis<\/i>, the Ichang papeda); anise, ginger, caraway, honey-rush (a relative of Saccharum officinarum<\/em>, our sugar cane), and mint-grass. People from cooler, wetter climates (“lower” Darthen and Arlen, upper Steldin) prefer hotter or “darker” spicery in their cracknels: whitefruit again, dark berry-pepper (similar to our Piper nigrum<\/em>), poppyseed, various nuts (walnut, chestnut) and smoked honey. But even inside these general areas of preference there’s endless variation, influenced by whatever local ingredients are felt to suit cracknels particularly well.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

(There are also regional differences in preparation. The most extreme of these would possibly be native to North Arlen, where, as a substitute for the second baking, some people deep-fry their cracknels. Up south in the more conservative parts of mountain country, mentioning this behavior will inevitably start a discussion about the naughtiness and perversity of the decadent North. Brawls have occasionally started over this issue. Let the tourist beware…)<\/span><\/p>\n

In the towns and cities of the Kingdoms, every bakery of any note makes cracknels to their own recipe and seeks to lure customers away from other bakers by unique combinations of flavors or superior baking technique. Competition (both informal and formal) is intense. In both Prydon and Darthis there are annual contests for the best cracknel in the city, and it’s not unknown for judges in these competitions to be bribed. <\/span>In Prydon, for some years since the enthronement of the new King<\/span>\u2014when people started having time or inclination to be thinking about this kind of thing again\u2014there has been a push to require competitors to formally swear in one or another of the Goddess’s City temples that they will not accept gratuities or otherwise seek to influence the contest outcomes. But so far no formal action has been taken… King Freelorn perhaps having wisely decided to keep his (and the Lion’s) nose out of it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately one doesn’t need to have a Middle Kingdoms commercial bakery in the neighborhood to experience cracknels. They’re easy to make at home. Here are two representative recipes. One is in the Steldene style, with Jalape\u00f1o and chipotle chilies standing in for the inevitable whitefruit (and adding not only smoked paprika but Cheddar cheese, which the more hidebound Steldenes might look a bit askance at… but ask me if I care. They won’t be eating them). The other is more northern Darthene in its flavoring, using caraway as an aromatic and substituting lemon for the ubiquitous green or golden citron of the warm North.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Savory Hot-Spiced Cracknels<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n