TEXT: Temperance
  XIV
  
  Temperance
  XIV
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  2
  Credits
  Authors: R.S. Udell, with Victor Joseph Kinzer
  Additional Material, Recipes, Brain-Trust, and Kitchen Staff: Eva Cruz Andrade, Satyros 
  Phil Brucato, Abie Ekenezar, Nina Galati, Antonios Galatis, Kayla Graves, J.F. High, Rafael 
  Mastromauro, Balogun Ojetade, Sandra Damiana Swan, Chef Wang, Coyote Ashley Ward, 
  Jason Weeks, and Zack Wilson
  Developer: Satyros Phil Brucato
  Creative Director: Richard Thomas
  Editor: Carol Darnell
  Art Direction and Design: Mike Chaney
  Art: Aaron Acevedo, Scott Baxa, Joel Biske, Dan Brereton, Echo Chernik, Robert McNeil, 
  Steve Prescott, Alex Sheikman, Chris Shy, and Joshua Gabriel Timbrook
  Special Thanks to:
  AFK Tavern (1510 41st St Everett, WA 98201, http://www.afktavern.com/), from which 
  Kayla’s inspiration for the Wild Sects in the Working Class drinks originated. 
  © 2017 White Wolf Entertainment. All rights reserved. No part of 
  this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or 
  transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, 
  photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written 
  permission of White Wolf Entertainment Reproduction prohibitions 
  do not apply to the character sheets contained in this book when 
  reproduced for personal use. 
  White Wolf, Vampire and Chronicles of Darkness are registered 
  trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment. All rights reserved. Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, 
  Mage the Awakening, and Storytelling System are trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment All rights reserved. 
  All characters, names, places and text herein are copyrighted by White Wolf Entertainment. 
  The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or 
  copyright concerned. 
  This book uses the supernatural for settings, characters and themes. All mystical and supernatural elements are fiction 
  and intended for entertainment purposes only. This book contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.
  Check out White Wolf online at http://www.white-wolf.com 
  Check out the Onyx Path at http://www.theonyxpath.com 
  For Coyote Ashley Ward
  Love, I wish you could have lived to see this one. Thank you for the many years of 
  magick, wisdom, madness, and love. Oh, yeah – and thank you also for the cannibal stew. It 
  was delicious, though it would have been better if we’d been able to share some in person. 
  Maybe next time around. 
  As you said to me years ago, upon reading an early draft of Mage 20: “Time-up’s over. Time 
  to get back to the war.” 
  
  Table of Contents
  3
  Table of 
  Contents
  Introduction:  
  A Humble Baker’s Son 
  6
  Chapter One: 
  Mystic Meals 
  13
  Many Rooms in My Father’s House 
  13
  Ahl-i-Batin 
  14
  Chicken Nanban, Miso Nas,  
  and Japanese Mayonnaise  
  14
  Chicken Nanban 
  16
  Miso Nas 
  18
  Homemade Japanese Mayonnaise 
  19
  Akashic Brotherhood/Akashayana 
  20
  Fish Amok  
  20
  Amok (Cambodian Fish Curry) 
  22
  Bata’a 
  24
  Ceviche and Mofongo 
  24
  Ceviche 
  26
  Mofongo 
  26
  Celestial Chorus 
  28
  Amaretto and Angel Torte 
  28
  Amaretto 
  30
  Citrus Angel Torte 
  31
  Children of Knowlege/Solificati 
  32
  Wild Sects in the Working Class 
  32
  Simple Syrup 
  34
  Sekahnjebin 
  34
  The Amazon 
  35
  The Big Hoodoo 
  35
  The Choirgirl 
  35
  The Code Monkey 
  36
  The Darkling’s Dare 
  36
  The Dragon Tiger Prince 
  37
  The Flames of Wrath 
  37
  The Keeper of the Great Seal 
  37
  The Kung Fu Kid 
  38
  The Little Good Death 
  39
  The Mad Doctor 
  39
  The Magic Man 
  39
  The Man-Machine  
  40
  The Medicine Talker 
  40
  The Moreau 
  41
  The Night Tide 
  41
  The Nubian Sage 
  42
  The Mr. Spaceman 
  43
  The Reality Cop 
  43
  The Shining Dragon 
  43
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  4
  The Subtle Bastard 
  44
  The Tankard of St. George 
  44
  The Time Tripper 
  45
  The Witchie-Poo 
  45
  Specialty Drinks 
  46
  The Digital Web 
  46
  MECHA Grease 
  46
  The Orphan 
  47
  Porthos’ Revenge 
  47
  The Secret Agent 
  47
  Cult of Ecstasy 
  48
  New England Lobster Bisque,  
  with Crusty Bread 
  48
  Lobster and Mushroom Bisque 
  50
  Crusty Bread 
  52
  Dreamspeakers and  
  the Thunder Society 
  54
  Fry Bread and Wojapi  
  54
  Navajo Fry Bread 
  56
  Wojapi 
  57
  Euthanatos /Madzimbabwe 
  58
  Muamba Nsusu, with Corn Fufu  
  58
  Muamba Nsusu 
  60
  Corn Fufu 
  61
  Hollow Ones 
  62
  Decadent Desserts 
  62
  Chocolate Chiffon Cake 
  64
  Blackberry Creme Patisserie 
  65
  Port Wine Jelly 
  66
  Red and Black Trifle 
  67
  Kopa Loei  
  68
  Tuna and Salmon Poke  
  70
  N’goma 
  72
  Southern-Style Hoppin’ John,  
  Collard Greens, and Gullah Seasonings  72
  Hoppin’ John 
  74
  Gullah Seasoning 
  75
  Collard Greens 
  76
  Order of Hermes  
  78
  Beef Wellingtons, with Spinach,  
  Caramelized Onions,  
  and Blue Stilton Cheese 
  78
  Beef Wellingtons, with Spinach,  
  Caramelized Onions,  
  and Blue Stilton Cheese 
  80
  Orphans 
  84
  Coyote Cannibal Stew  
  84
  Cannibal Stew 
  86
  Sisters of Hippolyta 
  88
  Lahanodolmades  
  88
  Lahanodolmades (Cabbage Rolls) 
  90
  Sons of Ether 
  92
  Battenburg Cake,  
  or Gateau á la Domino  
  92
  Battenburg Cake,  
  or Gateau á la Domino 
  94
  Preparation 
  94
  Assembly and Decoration 
  95
  Taftani 
  98
  Sharbat, Sharbat Sorbet,  
  Rahat Lokum, and Borrage Flower Tea  98
  Sharbat 
  100
  Sharbat Sorbet 
  101
  Rahat Lokum 
  102
  Borrage Flower Tea 
  103
  Verbena 
  104
  Polpetted’estate  
  in Tomato Ragu,  
  with Pizza Bianca 
  104
  Polpetted’estate in Tomato Ragu 
  106
  Pizza Bianca with  
  Carmelized Onions and Provolone Dolce 108
  Virtual Adepts 
  112
  Kuih Lapis 
  112
  Kuih Lapis 
  114
  Wu Lung 
  116
  Hongshao Shizitou  
  (Red Braised Lion’s Head),  
  with Mandarin Fried Rice 
  116
  Hongshao Shizitou 
  118
  Mandarin Fried Rice 
  119
  
  Table of Contents
  5
  Chapter Two:  
  Technocratic Foodstuffs 121
  (Iteration X) 
  122
  Synthetic Cashew Curry Cheese 
  122
  Cashew Curry Cheese,  
  with Homemade Aquafaba 
  124
  Homemade Aquafaba 
  125
  New World Order 
  126
  Pretzel Logic  
  126
  Sunflower Kernel Pretzel Knots 
  128
  Progenitors 
  130
  Eggs Came First 
  130
  Syndicate 
  134
  Seductive Desserts 
  134
  Chocolate Ravioli 
  136
  Void Engineers 
  138
  The Statistically Inevitable  
  Corned Beef Sandwich 
  138
  Statistically Inevitable  
  Corned Beef Sandwich 
  140
  Appendix 
  143
  Coda: Good Home Cookin’ 
  143
  Lamb Stew 
  144
  Soda Bread 
  145
  Colcannon with Bacon, Leek, and Kale 146
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  6
  Life is a combination of magic and pasta.
  – Federico Fellini
  Introduction:  
  A Humble  
  Baker’s Son
  I love food.
  Who doesn’t, right? Growing up as I did on a farm, some of my fondest memories 
  are of the delicious meals that used to emerge out of our kitchen, made from the fresh 
  vegetables harvested from our garden;  the milk, cream, butter, and cheese that came from 
  our cows and goats and that made our living;  the eggs gathered straight from beneath the 
  hens. The only thing we didn’t provide for ourselves was meat, and that we got fresh from 
  down at the butcher’s, just a short bike-ride into town. My father, who had a veritable gift 
  for cheese-making, was also a skilled baker. To this day, my favorite smell in the world is 
  that of bread, fresh out of the oven, ready to be broken and slathered with aged butter. I 
  still keep a jar of his thirty-year-old starter in our refrigerator at the lodge and I’ve taught 
  some of my brothers how to keep it well-fed whilst I’m off on my travels.
  The point I’m coming to is that I grew up in a community where everyone cooked. 
  Men, women, children, everyone. Trips to restaurants where some fancy trained chef 
  prepared the food were exceedingly rare. In point of fact, though my parents appreciated 
  the sentiment when my sisters and I would surprise them with a dinner out, they’d have 
  much rather stayed home and made a special meal themselves. People cooked with joy, with 
  creativity, with fearlessness, even. I know my Uncle Richard was never afraid to experiment, 
  though some of his more daring attempts were received with rather less enthusiasm than 
  he would have liked. But that was expected. It was half the fun! We also ate seasonally, 
  for the most part. I remember hunting for strawberries with my elder sister in the spring. 
  My mother and my aunts used to have huge preserving parties at Mabon, and old Jack 
  Rattigan would invite everyone ‘round for a taste of the new brew at Lughnasadh.
  
  Introduction: A Humble Baker's Son
  7
  As a young Aspirant newly blessed with the Holy Fire, I came to study and train in 
  Dublin. It was rather shocking to discover that out of the twenty or so men and women 
  living at the great lodge there, only a handful of us knew our way around a kitchen and 
  could cook a meal on the stove or in the oven from raw ingredients (as opposed to nuking 
  a pre-packaged meal in the microwave). Still, I figured that maybe my Brothers and Sisters 
  had simply never been taught as I had been. Turns out, the phenomenon was far more 
  pervasive than I’d previously thought, and extended far beyond our community.
  Over the course of my Enlightened life, and by way of my work and adventures, I’ve 
  had the opportunity to travel all over the world, meeting all manner of people. What I’ve 
  discovered is that folk don’t cook the way they used to. They don’t teach their children. 
  Restaurants and chef-made cuisine have become our standard fare. The simple alchemy 
  of cooking has been removed from the hands of ordinary folk and placed in the “expert” 
  care of celebrity chefs who speak of “elevating” food and flavor, and who disparage and 
  even mock the simple, home-style cooking and experimentation that ordinary women and 
  men have done ever since there were people and food and fire. I suspect that this is by 
  design, and research done by friends amongst the Virtual Adepts leads me to believe it is 
  true. That doesn’t make the phenomenon any less sad to me.
  The idea behind this little book of magical cookery was sparked nearly a decade ago 
  when I met Bernadette – or Bernie, as she likes to be called – at a scrappy little co-op in 
  Las Vegas. The individuals who live there, and who move in and out of that place (some 
  of whom have the Fire and some who don’t), are among the most unlikely and diverse 
  folk you’ll ever hope to meet. It is literally as if the place is a magnet, pulling in magi from 
  all Traditions and none and from all walks of life. I came by the place on the invite of a 
  Chorister friend of mine who had told me to skip the local restaurants and come with 
  him to an “underground dinner.” Not really understanding how or why a dinner would 
  be an “underground” event, but intrigued by the prospect, I went. The experience was 
  life-altering, and so very uplifting.
  When you arrive at the large former-warehouse-turned-gallery-living- and-performance-
  space, you’re greeted by a friendly young woman named Chinyere, with rainbow-colored 
  braids, who offers you a drink and explains the rules: you can pay your way with cash, 
  which goes towards keeping the larder well-stocked, or you can do kitchen duty. If you 
  choose kitchen duty, they’ll assign you a job and a dish to prepare. Oh, and there are no 
  recipes. None. It’s absolutely brilliant! And it doesn’t matter if you screw up, because there 
  are other folks cooking in that massive kitchen, too. Plenty of food will be had, whether 
  yours turns out to be edible or not. 
  At the center of all this is Bernie, a whip-smart, sparkling lioness of a woman who 
  – while not yet Awake – seems to sense, understand, and even direct the energy raised 
  by all of the Divinely blessed people in her midst. She glides through the kitchen, telling 
  jokes, giving words of encouragement, answering questions, and making suggestions, all 
  the while helping to coordinate the timing and choreography necessary in an environment 
  such as this. A good two-thirds of the folk cooking and working to bring these dinners 
  to fruition are residents of the co-op, and what I prefer to call Independents (though some 
  disparagingly call them “orphans”). On the night I visited, my colleagues included my friend 
  Esteban, who looks more like a Colombian rock star than an organ-and-choir master;  and 
  a tall, elegant albino woman named Eleanor whose long sleeves were embroidered at the 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  8
  wrists with elaborate Enochian symbols and other protective sigils used by the Houses of 
  Hermes. I’d always heard tell that Hermetics were rather haughty and aloof, but Eleanor 
  was most warm, generous, and accommodating. Nor was she afraid to tie on an apron 
  and get her hands dirty. 
  Shortly after we arrived, we were joined by Arvid and Casper, both practitioners of 
  elder Verbena traditions in Sweden, and Shea, Zenobia, and Katherine, a few of their 
  American sisters from Tempe. The Swedes even brought their own earth-salt as a gift, 
  informing us that it had been blessed by the trolls that stand guardian to their ancestral 
  farmland. In the kitchen when we arrived were a Lakota woman named Alowana, who 
  sang as she worked herbs and spices in a large mortar, and who had the most beautiful 
  and mesmerizing voice I’ve ever heard;  and Kakena, a Ngoma banker from Kenya whose 
  initial aspect was of a stern, wizened, sharp-eyed mogul, but who chopped and chattered 
  and grinned and laughed with all the exuberance of a teenage girl… all while wearing 
  custom-tailored clothes and five-inch Christian Louboutin heels!
  When it was time to dine, Bernie called the gathering together with the following 
  Blessing:
  We are here tonight, some of us strangers, some of us friends, some of us family: 
  Family of Blood, and Family of Entropic Whim. We have labored to make this food 
  together. This meal exists only tonight, and we eat as One, no matter how many we may 
  be when we are away from this table. We eat knowing the only way to experience the 
  beauty of this feast is to destroy it, and resign it to never manifest in this world again. We 
  swear an oath of secrets to keep always the memories we hold of this meal. These flavors 
  will always be ours, and only ours. On this night, we are cabal, and the secrets we hold are 
  the musky breath of the earth we feed so it will feed us, and the salt of our sweat seasoning 
  our bread.
   I couldn’t tell you the exact names of the dishes we ate that night. There were, as I’ve 
  said, no recipes. What I can recall is that the meats were delicious: some roasted, some 
  grilled, some fried. A rainbow of lovely vegetables was served in the simplest presentations, 
  and also with sumptuous, flavorful sauces. There were beans and rice, pasta, and “gravy” 
  – not “sauce,” as Bernadette so informed me;  potatoes prepared at least five different 
  ways;  bread that would have made my own father cry with joy (and that vanished almost as 
  soon as it hit the table);  and gorgeous desserts featuring flavors and spices that originated 
  from all over the world but that tasted exactly like home and friends. Oh, and the drinks! 
  All of us assembled in that place – crowded around a common table, sharing our 
  stories, jokes, thoughts, and cultures – understood that something important, something 
  vital, had happened in that kitchen and at that table. As we finished out the evening on the 
  rooftop, singing, laughing, spinning fire and wondering at the awesomeness of the night 
  sky, I realized that I’d been given a Calling: To carry Bernie’s powerful, terrifying idea of 
  an underground dinner with me, wherever God’s or the Generals’ will directed, to share 
  that experience with all I met, and to encourage people – Anointed and otherwise – to 
  find the courage to cook real food again in defiance of the celebrity chefs and competition 
  cooking shows, to trust their old family recipes, humble though they may be, and to share 
  those experiences and that food with others.
  
  Introduction: A Humble Baker's Son
  9
  As a young recruit and scholar, I learned so much about the things that divide the 
  Awakened: Tradition vs. Technocrat vs. Disparate vs. Others. What my travels and meetings 
  with Enlightened folk around the world (as well as in the strange spaces between and 
  beyond it) have taught me is what ought to be obvious: We all eat;  we all share a love of 
  good food born out of a collection of smells and tastes and techniques that we call culture;  
  and we all enjoy sitting down with friends and even strangers to partake of that food in 
  friendship and peace. What you find collected in this book is the fruit of my labors in this 
  regard. I pray that you will embrace these stories and recipes and work their magick over 
  your own cook-fires and within your own kitchens. Play with them. Experiment. Break the 
  rules. Make them your own. And above all, carry forward the quiet, defiant revolution of 
  home-cooking wherever you are in the world.
  Yours in Service,
  - Brother Oliver Lyon,
  Knight and Soldier of the Temple of God,
  …and a humble baker’s son
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  10
  Metric Measurements
  Speaking as a world-traveler and military man, I realize the metric system is 
  more universal, precise, and efficient than the frankly outdated systems of US and 
  Imperial measurements. Yet, as an American-born farm-boy, I default to those 
  familiar measurements, especially when it comes to food, and many people I know 
  back home still do, too. This cookbook, then, uses both forms of measurement, but 
  features the metric versions in [brackets like these]. I’ve followed this convention 
  even in Chapter Two, where the recipes I received were – as befits their source 
  – given in metric terms only. 
  So as not to overcomplicate the recipe listings, and because these forms of 
  measurements carry over between the US, metric, and Imperial systems, I have 
  used “cups,” teaspoons (tsp),” and “tablespoons (tbsp)” alone, without additional 
  metric conversations. Folk who want a more exact form of measurement can 
  employ the metric ratios given below. 
  Happy cooking, and enjoy your meals! 
  US and Metric Conversions
  (Conversions are rounded, not exact.)
  1 metric tsp = 5 ml
  1 metric tbsp = 15 ml
  1 metric cup = 250 ml
  Oven Temperatures
  ºF
  ºC
  Oven Settings
  200
  90
  Very Cool
  220
  105
  Very Cool
  225
  110
  Cool
  250
  120
  Cool
  275
  135
  Moderate Cool
  300
  150
  Moderate Warm
  325
  160
  Medium
  350
  180
  Medium
  375
  190
  Moderate Hot
  400
  200
  Fairly Hot
  425
  220
  Hot
  450
  230
  Very Hot
  475
  250
  Very Hot
  500
  260
  Very Hot
  
  Introduction: A Humble Baker's Son
  11
  Volumes
  US Fluid Oz
  US
  Milliliters
  1/8
  1/2 tsp
  2.5
  1/6
  1 tsp
  5
  1/4
  2 tsp
  10
  1/2
  1 tbsp
  15
  1
  2 tbsp
  30
  2
  1/4
  60
  4
  1/2 cup
  125
  5
  150
  6
  3/4
  175
  8
  1 cup
  250
  9
  275
  10
  1 1/4 cups
  300
  12
  1 1/2 cups
  375
  15
  450
  16
  2 cups
  500
  18
  2 1/4 cups
  550
  20
  2 1/2 cups
  600
  24
  3 cups
  750
  Dry Measurements
  Dry Oz
  Pounds
  Grams
  Kilos
  1 
  30
  2
  60
  3
  85
  4
  1/4
  115
  5
  140
  6
  170
  8
  1/2
  225
  9
  255
  1/4
  12
  340
  16
  1
  450
  18
  510
  1/2
  20
  1 1/4
  570
  24 1/2
  1 1/2
  680
  1
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  12
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  13
  Chapter One: 
  Mystic Meals
  Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. 
  – Harriet van Horne
  Many Rooms in My Father’s House
  As its Greco-Persian origins suggest, the word mage represents someone with an intimate 
  connection to the realm between humanity and the Divine. For obvious reasons of faith and 
  history, my Templar order views such people with often-justified suspicion. It’s a sad fact that 
  a person with power tends to abuse that power. Those of us who follow some higher calling 
  wind up defending innocents from people whose appetites and sins make them dangerous 
  to everyone nearby. As a result, we don’t usually feel comfortable breaking bread (literally or 
  figuratively) with people from groups that view us as enemies, and who are seen as enemies in 
  return. It’s comforting, then, to share this collection of recipes from people whose approach 
  to “magic” is… well, not my own but also not the Dark Arts of our Twisted enemies and the 
  Fallen Path they pursue. 
  As our Lord assures us in John 14:2, God’s house has many rooms. I have been fortunate 
  enough to explore a few of them in the company of good friends and worthwhile allies. Like 
  my predecessors in the medieval Crusades, I found common ground with the following mystics 
  in various societies – a fellowship built on shared adversaries, mutual respect, and, of course, 
  lots of really delicious food. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  14
  Chicken Nanban, Miso Nas,  
  and Japanese Mayonnaise 
  One of the first places I visited, following my experience 
  with Bernie, was Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of 
  Kyushu in Japan. Far more rural and sparsely populated 
  than the main island of Honshu, this area boasts 
  excellent farmland, and thus the markets are full of 
  fresh seasonal produce and locally raised meat. Of 
  particular note is the flavorful pork and the Miyazaki 
  beef, which is raised in the same fashion as the famed 
  Kobe variety. My team and I hadn’t intended to spend 
  much time here, but due to events beyond our control, 
  we ended up staying the better part of a year in the 
  city of Miyakonojo.
  Now, I must admit that Japan was the last place 
  I expected to find an enclave of Ahl-i-Batin, but that 
  was the tradition that Yuki Mori claimed. She and her 
  two compatriots worked in tandem with a small band of 
  Akashayana defending the strong nodes of power that 
  converged in that area, and we were often invited to dine at 
  their highly traditional compound in the tiny town of Obi, 
  just to the south. 
  While most of Japan features modern architecture, there 
  are a few historical enclaves like Obi, where the architecture 
  of the samurai era is preserved. The Akashayana lived in 
  what was once the residence of a high-ranking retainer. 
  Passing through the gate in the high wall off the street, I 
  emerged into a beautiful and orderly garden, riotous 
  with colorful flowers and redolent with the fragrance 
  of mango and hyuganatsu trees. To the left, I could 
  see a dojo, the warm wood floor gleaming and 
  spotless. To the right, there was a modest bath 
  house and a well that, to my utter surprise, was 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  15
  still functional. Ahead, beyond the garden, was the vast building that held common rooms, the 
  kitchen, and living quarters. The most amazing thing about traditional Japanese living spaces is 
  how easily they can be converted to accommodate whatever requirements the space must fulfill – 
  often by the deft arrangement or re-arrangement of sliding doors, screens, and partitions. When I 
  was there, it was in the last part of summer, leading into early fall… which meant that, thankfully, 
  the worst of the summer heat had passed. The days were pleasantly warm, and the evenings were 
  balmy and cool.
  Yuki is an incredible cook. When I suggested we have our own underground dinner, she 
  and her Akashic friend Michihiro were eager participants. The Japanese have a phrase to describe 
  the plethora of seasonal foods available at this time of year: yokushokuaki, roughly translated as 
  “good eating in the Autumn.” In addition to a heavenly array of fresh sashimi, Miyazaki beef, 
  fresh vegetables, and handmade soba noodles, Yuki and her friends prepared a couple of local 
  delicacies that stood out from the rest: Chicken Nanban and Miso Nasu.
  Chicken Nanban – which can be roughly translated as either “southern style” or “European 
  style” depending on who you ask – is crispy fried chicken tossed with a slightly sweet vinegar 
  dressing and topped with a fresh and snappy tartar sauce. This dish was so common in Miyazaki 
  that you could get it to go from most grocery stores. The homemade version Yuki made blew 
  the store-bought kind out of the water.
  Nasu is a small Japanese eggplant that is abundant in the late summer and early fall. When 
  cooked and combined with a flavorful miso glaze, this humble vegetable transforms into something 
  remarkably delicious. Once I learned to cook it for myself, it became my go-to side dish for the season. 
  You may not be able to get Japanese eggplant at your market, but Chinese eggplant is similar in flavor 
  and texture and will do as a substitution. Miso paste and some of the other ingredients might take 
  some tracking down, but the dish is worth the effort!
  A final note about mayonnaise: Japanese mayo tastes profoundly different from American 
  mayo. I’m not sure why, but if I could hazard a guess, it would be because the Japanese variety 
  is closer to the flavor of homemade mayonnaise. Because the creamy tartar sauce is a star of 
  this dish, do yourself the favor and make up a batch of homemade mayonnaise. It is super-easy, 
  and the flavor cannot be matched. I have included a simple recipe below.
  The Deeper Mysteries  
  of Deep Frying
  Frying seems easy enough: heat up some oil, drop food in, take it out when crisp, 
  brown, and delicious. Simple, right? Well… not exactly. Oil that’s not hot enough 
  will soak into your food, making it greasy and heavy. Oil that’s too hot will burn 
  your food before it’s cooked through. So, how can you tell if your oil is at the right 
  temperature without running out to buy a specialized thermometer? Well, you 
  can drop a grain of rice into the oil. If it rises immediately and begins to bubble 
  and cook, then the oil is ready. Also, if you have a humble wooden spoon close 
  at hand, dip the end of the handle into the oil. If the oil starts to bubble around it, 
  then you know it’s hot enough for your deep-fried delights!
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  16
  Chicken Nanban
  Ingredients
  boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1-2 lb [454-907 g], depending on your crowd)
  1-2 eggs
  flour
  oil for frying
  For the Nanban Vinegar
  red chili flakes, or thinly sliced red chili pepper 
  small knobs of carrot, ginger, and onion (for seasoning)
  About 1/4 cup of each: 
  soy sauce
  sugar
  rice vinegar
  mirin
  For the Tartar Sauce
  1-2 boiled eggs
  1 onion, chopped
  1 cucumber, chopped and drained
  mayonnaise (see recipe nearby)
  mustard powder
  salt
  pepper
  1 Chinese cabbage, shredded
  1 tomato, sliced or quartered
  Preparation
  • 
  The tartar sauce should be made first. Finely chop your boiled eggs and about 1/4 - 1/2 
  of an onion (more-or-less to taste). 
  • 
  Peel and seed the cucumber, then finely chop the flesh – you’re looking for a rough 
  mince. To keep your sauce from being runny, lightly salt your cucumber, and then 
  wrap it up in a bit of kitchen cheesecloth (or paper towel) and allow the liquid to drain 
  for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once the cucumber has cast off enough liquid, pat it dry, 
  and then mix it together with the chopped egg, onion, and mayonnaise. Season with 
  mustard powder, salt, and pepper, to taste.
  • 
  Next make the vinegar. In a small saucepan, combine about 1/4 cup of soy sauce, 1/4 
  cup sugar, 1/4 cup of rice vinegar, 1/4 cup of mirin, and a few red chili flakes or some 
  thin slices of fresh red chili pepper. Stir until sugar is dissolved, and heat until steaming. 
  • 
  For added flavor, if you have a small knob of carrot, a bit of fresh ginger, and a small 
  chunk of onion on hand, you can add those to the pot while the vinegar is heating. 
  Remove before serving.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  17
  • 
  Prepare the chicken by cutting it into large, bite-sized pieces (about six pieces per thigh). 
  Season liberally with salt and pepper, and then coat the meat in flour. 
  • 
  Heat your oil – either in a deep fryer (if one is available), or in a Dutch oven, or in a 
  frying pan with tall sides. 
  • 
  While the oil is heating, beat the eggs in a small bowl, and set them aside. When the 
  oil is hot, dip the flour-coated meat in the beaten egg, and drop it into the oil to fry.
  • 
  To assemble the dish, make a bed of shredded cabbage on the plate and pour a spoonful 
  of the vinegar over it. 
  • 
  In a bowl, pour in a bit of the vinegar, and lightly toss a serving of the hot fried, chicken 
  in it.
  • 
  Arrange the chicken on the bed of cabbage, garnish with sliced cucumber and tomato, 
  and top with tartar sauce – or serve the tartar sauce in a small dish for dipping.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  18
  Miso Nas
  Ingredients
  2 Japanese or Chinese eggplants
  3 tbsp of white or red miso (or more, to taste)
  1 tbsp mirin
  2 tbsp sake or gin
  2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
  1 tbsp sugar
  chili flakes
  1 tbsp sesame oil
  Optional Ingredients
  4 oz [113 g] of ground pork, chopped
  scallion or green onion
  Preparation
  • 
  Cut the eggplants on the diagonal into pieces of about 1/2 inch [12.7 mm] in thickness. 
  In a frying pan, heat the sesame oil on medium heat. 
  • 
  While the oil is heating, in a small bowl, mix together the miso, mirin, sake, soy sauce, 
  and sugar. Don’t worry if the miso is lumpy; the glaze will smooth out in cooking. 
  • 
  When the oil is hot, add the eggplant and cook until the flesh begins to take on a pale-
  yellow color. If you are adding the ground pork, do that now and allow it to cook until 
  the eggplant turns golden.
  • 
  Add the miso glaze, and stir the mixture, allowing it to coat the meat and the eggplant. 
  Turn the heat up to high, and cook until the eggplant is dark brown and caramelized. 
  Serve over freshly cooked sticky rice, or with pan-fried tofu.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  19
  Homemade Japanese Mayonnaise
  Ingredients
  2 fresh eggs, at room temperature
  2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  1 cup of mildly flavored oil
  fine sea salt
  Preparation
  • 
  If you refrigerate your eggs, take two of them out and allow them to come to room 
  temperature. This will not work with cold eggs! 
  • 
  In the meantime, squeeze a fresh lemon to get about two tablespoons of juice. You will 
  also need about a cup of neutral-flavored oil; grapeseed, sweet almond, and walnut oils 
  all work well, but you could just as easily use light olive oil. Please, for the love of little 
  chickens, don’t use Canola or “vegetable” oil. Those are perfectly fine for frying, not 
  for fresh mayonnaise!
  • 
  Take out a small but deep bowl and a whisk. If you wish to use a food processor or a 
  blender, you can, but I prefer to make mine by hand as I find it easier to monitor and 
  control the consistency. I also find that placing the bowl on a little piece of rubberized 
  drawer liner, or on a damp kitchen towel, makes the entire process easier to manage 
  when you get to the part where you’re using both hands and don’t have a third to hold 
  the bowl steady!
  • 
  Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in the bowl and saving the whites for the next time 
  you make an omelet or a meringue. Add your lemon juice, and whisk to combine with 
  the yolks. 
  • 
  Starting with a few drops at a time, slowly begin to add the oil, whisking briskly and 
  constantly. After you’ve incorporated about a tablespoon or so of oil in there, you 
  can begin to add the rest in a slow, steady stream. If the oil starts to pool, ease off and 
  whisk until smoothly blended. Of course, if you’re using a blender, this process is 
  considerably easier.
  • 
  When all the oil has been incorporated, the mayonnaise should be creamy and your 
  whisk should make “ribbons” through the mixture. If it’s too thick, you can add a bit 
  of water, a teaspoon at a time. If it’s too thin, you can whisk in another egg yolk. When 
  you’re satisfied with the consistency, stir in your sea salt to flavor.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  20
  Fish Amok 
  When I was a child, I happened to encounter a series of glorious pictures of Angkor 
  Wat in an old National Geographic magazine. At the time, I had no idea where in the world 
  Cambodia was;  nor did I have any inkling of the terrible atrocities perpetrated upon her people 
  by Pol Pot and his horrific Khmer Rouge regime. The only 
  thing that concerned my seven-year-old self was the 
  awesome power and mystery of those ruins, and 
  my imagination ran wild with thoughts of the 
  people who had once lived there and the lives 
  they had led. I swore I’d get there someday, 
  though deep down, I didn’t really think I ever 
  would. This was long before the blessing of 
  Divine Fire made a genuine world traveler 
  out of me.
  As it turns out, I have now made 
  seven trips to Angkor Wat and its 
  surrounding temples. Perhaps 
  my young soul recognized what 
  the place was long before I 
  received Enlightenment. I 
  can tell you with certainty 
  that the Fallen know 
  about it all too well. After 
  Cambodian Akashayana 
  wrested control of the place 
  back from the dark forces 
  behind Pol Pot, they vowed 
  that never would a place of such 
  immense sacred power be allowed 
  to fall into Nephandic hands again. 
  In recent years, as globalization has 
  opened up the world in so many ways, the 
  Akashayana have enlisted the aid of the Batini, 
  the Brethren, and others committed to fighting the 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  21
  Twisted Ones wherever they may lurk. This strengthening of forces is necessary, most especially 
  now, as the Fallen grow bolder in their attempts to plunge the world into chaos and death.
  Thankfully, the locals in Siam Riep seem blissfully unaware that their hamlets and villages 
  are at the center of a horrifying spiritual war. Then again, crushing poverty has a way of focusing 
  one’s priorities rather sharply upon basic survival. Thankfully, the tourism industry and Angkor 
  Wat’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site provide direct sources of income for enterprising 
  young men and women (and quite often boys and girls as well). Fishing is a way of life here, and 
  amoung the most delicious and delightful things you can find in the area are the carts selling the 
  distinctive fish curry called amok or hormok, made with a mild, herby curry paste called kroeng, 
  steamed in banana leaves, and served over steamed coconut rice. So popular and beloved is 
  this dish, amongst natives and tourists alike, that village folk have set up cooking classes so that 
  visitors can learn how to make this national dish. 
  I learned about this recipe from a twelve-year-old boy living in a town just outside the west 
  gate of Angkor Thom. He spoke almost flawless Middle-American English, and invited me and 
  my companions back to his mother’s house, where together we cooked and ate our curry as he 
  translated for his parents and siblings, who were curious and eager to learn all they could about 
  me. I am quite sure that I was the first Black man they’d ever seen. For dessert, the boy’s mother 
  made an amazing dish of a small steamed pumpkin filled with sweet custard. My companions 
  and I agreed that it was one of the best things we’d ever tasted. To reward their hospitality, 
  I made sure to recommend the young man to the chef of a nearby restaurant that catered to 
  wealthy tourists. Last I heard, he’d been hired as a line cook… and with the money he’s earned, 
  all five of his siblings can now afford to go to school in the city.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  22
  Amok (Cambodian Fish Curry)
  Ingredients
  For the Curry Paste
  1 stem of lemongrass (with the outer layer removed), the bottom 3 inches finely sliced
  1 1-inch [25.4 mm] piece of galangal, sliced
  4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced, with the center stem removed
  2 long, red Asian chilies, sliced and deseeded
  4 cloves of garlic, sliced
  3 shallots, sliced
  3 tbsp of fresh turmeric, or 2 tbsp of turmeric powder
  2 tsp of shrimp paste
  For the Amok
  1 lb [454 g] of cod cheeks (or other white fish), cut into chunks
  2 tbsp of coconut oil
  1 cup of full-fat coconut milk (the thick cream part from the can)
  1 tbsp of palm or brown sugar (plus more, to taste)
  1 tbsp of fish sauce
  1 large egg
  banana leaves (or foil)
  3 kaffir lime leaves, sliced with center stems removed
  1 red chili
  lime wedges
  steamed rice, or coconut rice
  Preparation
  • 
  Place the sliced lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, red chilies, garlic, and shallots 
  into the bowl of a mortar and pestle, then pound them until they’re well-combined. 
  • 
  Add the turmeric and shrimp paste, and then pound again until you have a smooth paste.
  • 
  Heat the coconut oil in a wok (or pan), over low heat. 
  • 
  Add the curry paste, and stir until the fragrance permeates the kitchen. 
  • 
  Stir in the coconut milk, sugar, and fish sauce, then simmer for 5 minutes. 
  • 
  Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then add more sugar or fish sauce to 
  taste; it should be deliciously sweet with a rich coconut flavor. 
  • 
  When cooled, stir the egg in thoroughly, then fold in the fish.
  • 
  Lay two banana leaves on top of one another, so that the dull sides are together and the 
  glossy sides face out. Fold the banana leaves so you have a cup-shape that will hold the 
  curry, fixing the edges together with toothpicks. (You can also use staples.) 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  23
  • 
  Spoon the curry into the leaf cup. Repeat until all the curry is used, then place leaf cups 
  in a steamer and steam for 20 minutes, or until the fish is opaque. If you are using foil 
  for this step, fold a doubled piece of foil into a boat shape and fill with curry.
  • 
  When the curry is done, shred the lime leaves and chili, and sprinkle them over the 
  top of the curry.
  • 
  Serve over steamed rice or coconut rice, and squeeze a bit of lime juice over the top.
  Banana Leaves?
  Don’t panic if you think you will never be able to find these items. Many Asian 
  food markets sell them. If all else fails, Amazon.com sells packages of frozen 
  banana leaves that are already cut into rounds. 
  The day before using them, simply thaw the leaves in the refrigerator and then – 
  on the day you plan to make the dish – take the package out of the refrigerator, 
  and allow the leaves to come to room temperature.
  If the idea of folding banana rounds into cups terrifies you, fear not. The internet is 
  your friend! You can find several lovely tutorials that will show you how to transform 
  those flat rounds into lovely little curry cups that will astound everyone at your table. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  24
  Ceviche and Mofongo
  Miami is a captivating place. It has this marvelous mix of cultures – not just Cubano, which most 
  people associate with the city, but also Venezuelan, Salvadoran, Colombian, Dominican, and Haitian. 
  Up until a few years ago, it was also a city with one of the highest murder rates in the country. Thanks 
  to the efforts of a strong Bata’a community, the city’s murder rates have plummeted significantly. It 
  helps that they’ve spent the past three decades slowly taking control of the police force and working 
  their way into elected civic offices. Now, typically, Bata’a practitioners don’t tend to get on well with 
  the likes of me and mine, so I had every intention of laying low, keeping my head down, and not 
  getting into any trouble. After all, I was on vacation. (Even Knights go on vacation once in a while.) 
  Following a lovely day at the beach, I headed out to sample the nightlife. I love salsa dancing, so I 
  was eager to find a dance club where I could test out my moves and maybe meet some new people. Miami 
  did not disappoint! After two glorious hours of dancing, most of it with a lovely Afro-Dominican woman 
  named Isela, I offered to see her home, as her friends had already hooked up for the evening and left. 
  Moving through darkened streets, I suddenly got that feeling of wrongness that only comes when one 
  of the Fallen is in close proximity, accompanied by the tell-tale itch and hum of dark energy building. 
  I haven’t yet mentioned the specific nature of my work, because this duty is far too sensitive and 
  complex to explain in depth. The short version is that my Brothers and I have a mission to locate 
  objects imbued with Holy Fire, and to help those individuals and communities who own such items 
  keep them secure. If there are no obvious owners, then we strive to prevent them from falling into the 
  hands of Darkness. That hum I felt came the distinct Resonance of a Holy object… and something, 
  or someone, foul was in the process of using it for a purpose that could only be nefarious. 
  I turned to tell Isela that I’d have to call her a cab, and she was lit up like a beacon. It would 
  be just like me to dance with a girl half the night and never notice that she was Enlightened. With 
  a laugh and a “Keep up, Irish boy,” she slipped out of her heels and took off running, barefooted, 
  towards the danger.
  We rounded a corner, and were nearly knocked off our feet by a shockwave of energy emanating 
  from the center of a deserted parking lot. Isela suddenly clutched her head and fell backwards into 
  me at the same time I felt something akin to a small sandstorm envelop and pass over us, temporarily 
  blinding my directional sight. Years of training kicked in automatically, and I fought to re-orient myself 
  and prepare for the next attack. But it never came. Instead, all I saw was a solitary figure lying dead 
  on the ground about 40 feet in front of us, and another figure running for the shadows of a nearby 
  alley. Without thinking, I set off in pursuit, trying to get a measure of the murderer’s dimensions, 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  25
  energies, and capabilities. Every line I cast out to latch on to him slipped off until eventually I’d lost 
  him to the night.
  Retracing my steps, I found Isela standing over the dead man, speaking heatedly into her cell 
  phone in a rapid Creole, her face grim. Beside the body lay a colorful casino chip that gave off the 
  telltale static of a recently-used artifact. She looked up at my approach and gestured for me to keep 
  a healthy distance from both the body and the object. 
  “Police are on the way,” she said, ending her conversation. 
  “Surely not!” I pointed to the colorful plastic round: “Do you know what that is?”
  Isela placed a reassuring hand on my arm. “I get the feeling you do. 
  Don’t worry,” she said. “These officers are Awake. They’ll know what to 
  do. We’re going to need a statement from you, though.”
  Not more than two minutes later, I heard a siren in the distance 
  growing closer, until the blue flashing lights of a police cruiser came into 
  view at the end of the street. Fifteen minutes later, Isela and I sat in the 
  office of Detective Fernan Acevedo, giving witness statements. It requires 
  a massive amount of power to destroy an Enlightened soul, and the relic 
  that we found beside the body of that unknown magus would have 
  provided a deadly focus for such an atrocity. I felt it was my duty to 
  cooperate with my companion and her associates, but I also knew 
  that one of the Fallen with that level of power could not be allowed 
  to run free. By the time we were finished at the police station, it was 
  nearly dawn, and the sun was just rising as Isela and I made it back 
  to my hotel room. 
  On television, this would have been the moment when the 
  brave, young hero beds the gorgeous young woman he’s just been 
  through hell with. In reality, all we both really wanted was a shower 
  and sleep, so Isela said goodnight and promised to come back in 
  the morning with “some real food. Not that touristy ‘gourmet’ 
  crap they serve here.” I slept for most of the following day, and 
  when I woke, there was a note on my nightstand that read: Call 
  me when you’re ready to eat. Within the half hour, Isela arrived with 
  a 
  glorious meal of ceviche and mofongo served up with fresh 
  guacamole and handmade corn 
  tortillas. While this might 
  not have been the dramatic 
  sexual escapade so dearly 
  beloved by our Hollywood 
  establishment, it was a fine 
  interlude in a larger adventure 
  that, again, I am not 
  at liberty to freely 
  discuss. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  26
  Ceviche
  Make this on the same day you buy the freshest fish possible.
  Ingredients
  2 lbs [907 g] of fresh, firm-fleshed fish fillets (snapper, tilapia, grouper), completely 
       deboned and cut into ½-inch pieces
  1/2 cup of fresh-squeezed lime juice
  1/2 cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
  1/2 red onion, finely diced
  1 cup of chopped, fresh-seeded tomatoes
  1 Serrano chili, seeded and finely diced
  2 tsp of salt
  dash of ground oregano
  pinch of cayenne pepper
  cilantro
  avocado
  tortillas or tortilla chips
  Preparation
  • 
  Combine the fish, onion, tomato, chili, salt, oregano, and cayenne in a large glass 
  casserole dish. Pour the lime and lemon juice over the fish mixture, covering as much 
  of it as possible. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for one hour. Stir, ensuring that 
  any fish that was previously uncovered is introduced to the lime and lemon juice. Allow 
  to marinate for another hour or two, until the fish is opaque and no longer translucent.
  • 
  Serve in a transparent glass dish. Garnish with chopped cilantro and slices of avocado, 
  and serve on fresh tortillas or with tortilla chips.
  Mofongo
  Ingredients
  For the Broth
  2 tbsp olive oil
  1 lb [454 g] beef bones (any type would do)
  2 cloves garlic, mashed
  1 onion, halved
  4 cups water
  1 sprig cilantro
  1 sprig of cilantro (optional)
  1/4 tsp oregano
  3/4 tsp salt (or more, to taste)
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  27
  Preparation
  • 
  In a deep pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the bones, taking care that they 
  do not burn. Add the garlic and onion, and stir. 
  • 
  Pour in water, and add cilantro and oregano. 
  • 
  Simmer for an hour over low heat, topping off the water occasionally to maintain the 
  same level.
  • 
  Season with salt, to taste. Sieve, and remove the solids.
  Ingredients
  For the Mofongo
  1 lb [454 g] crisp fried pork rinds (also known as chicharrón)
  4-5 green plantains
  2 cups olive oil
  kosher salt (to taste)
  6 garlic cloves
  2 tbsp extra- virgin olive oil
  2 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked
  1 cup beef stock
  Preparation
  • 
  Peel the plantains and cut into one-inch slices.
  • 
  In a large saucepan or deep fryer, heat 2 cups of oil to º350 F [º178 C]. Add the plantain 
  slices in two batches, and fry for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, until they’re light-golden 
  all over, but not browned. Drain on paper towels.
  • 
  In a large mortar, crush garlic cloves with a pestle, and sprinkle with salt. 
  • 
  Add olive oil to the mixture, and keep pounding until it’s well-incorporated. 
  • 
  Transfer to a small bowl.
  • 
  In the same mortar or bowl, crush half of the fried plantain slices with half of the pork 
  rinds, 1 slice of cooked bacon, and half the garlic aioli. Pound it all together. 
  • 
  Add up to 1/2 cup stock as needed, to make it moist.
  • 
  Spoon the mixture, and shape into two-inch balls. Repeat with remaining ingredients, 
  and keep in warm oven until ready to serve. 
  • 
  Garnish with a spoonful of broth, and top with more crushed chicharrón, or cilantro, 
  if you wish.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  28
  Amaretto and Angel Torte
  When you attend services at the humble Church of the 
  Epiphany in the sleepy Appalachian town of Henleysburg, 
  the first thing you notice is the simple, artisanal beauty of 
  the traditional Anglican architecture. The second thing 
  you notice is the clear, strong voice of the Reverend 
  Bettina Lockheart leading her parishioners in the 
  singing of hymns. With her small congregation of 
  blessed associates, this steadfast member of the 
  Celestial Chorus single-handedly protects her 
  community (and a major nexus point for sacred 
  energies) from the assaults of Mad, Fallen, and 
  Technocratic rivals who have been lured in 
  by its considerable power.
  At the time of my visit, Bettina was 
  already engaged in providing something 
  akin to underground dinners in her 
  community. Because her parish is small, 
  church members of all ages prepare the weekly 
  Wednesday night dinners in the parish hall 
  kitchen. In addition to these regular meals, 
  her church staff – all of them Enlightened 
  Choristers – funds much of their ministry 
  with a small-batch distillery, producing 
  Scotch whiskey and French brandy. That 
  brandy is used to create a delicious home-
  made Amaretto cordial, which Bettina 
  likes to serve with a light and delicious 
  angel food torte. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  29
  Regardless of common misconceptions, neither Choristers nor my Brethren are 
  forbidden from enjoying the blessings of a good alcoholic drink. We must be careful, 
  of course, not to overindulge, or to let a good thing become a curse. Such pleasures in 
  moderation, however, are a sign of God’s favor. As Scripture tells us, the Lord Himself 
  was no stranger to a good drink;  in fact, He Himself claimed that his enemies called 
  him a glutton and a drunkard. Although we have been known (to put it mildly) to hold 
  disagreements of interpretation and implementation, Templars and Choristers can agree, 
  if nothing else, on the joys of tasty food and delicious liquors! Perhaps it will be such 
  shared pleasures that allow us to put the often-acrimonious differences of our sects aside 
  for good and all. May God will it so, and soon! 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  30
  Amaretto
  Ingredients
  Brandy / Vodka Mixture
  2 cups vodka
  2 cups high-quality brandy
  1 fresh vanilla bean, cut in fourths and split lengthwise
  6 tsp almond extract (real, not artificial)
  Preparation
  • 
  Combine vodka, brandy, vanilla beans, and almond extract in a jar. Cover tightly, and 
  let steep in a cool, dark place for at least 4 weeks. Strain and filter. (A coffee filter in a 
  funnel works well.)
  Sugar Syrup 
  1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  1/4 cup dark brown sugar
  3/4 cup water
  Preparation
  • 
  Combine sugars and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat; 
  reduce heat and simmer until sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat, and 
  let cool to room temperature.
  • 
  Combine sugar syrup with filtered brandy /vodka mixture. Pour into bottles, and cap 
  tightly. Let age at least 4 weeks before serving.
  Note: Expensive vodka is not necessary but, in general, higher-quality ingredients will 
  improve the quality of your liqueur significantly. Also, the longer you age your liqueur, the 
  smoother and richer the flavor will be. Amaretto that has aged a full year or longer is exquisite!
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  31
  Citrus Angel Torte
  Ingredients
  General Ingredients
  angel food cake (either 1 tube or 2 loaf pans) 
  assorted fresh fruit (kiwi, raspberries, etc.), sliced thin or smashed 
  3-4 cups whipped cream, or whipped topping 
  Filling
  1 1/2 cups sugar 
  4 tbsp corn starch 
  dash of salt 
  1 1/2 cups cold water (or tangerine juice, if preferred)
  4 beaten egg yolks 
  2 tsp citrus zest (orange, lemon, lime) 
  3 tbsp lemon juice 
  2 tbsp orange juice concentrate, or 2 tbsp mango juice
  1 tbsp key lime juice 
  2 tbsp margarine or butter 
  Preparation
  • 
  Combine all ingredients except for margarine /butter in a small saucepan. 
  • 
  Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until bubbly, then cook 1 minute more. 
  • 
  Stir in margarine or butter. Cover surface with waxed paper; cool. 
  • 
  Mix 1/2 of cooled filling with whipped topping. Slice angel food cake horizontally 
  into 4 layers.
  • 
  Spread 1/2 of remaining filling on first layer, add bits of fresh fruit to taste, then cover 
  with second layer. 
  • 
  Spread whipped topping mixture on second layer, add more fruit, and then cover with 
  third layer.
  • 
  Spread remaining filling on third layer, add fruit, and cover with fourth layer. 
  • 
  Frost entire cake with remaining whipped topping mixture, and decorate with remaining 
  fruit. Chill until ready to serve.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  32
  Wild Sects in  
  the Working Class
  Edinburgh, Scotland, has two colors: 
  stone gray, and mist gray. The pervasive chill 
  and gloomy skies suit perfectly the heavy 
  stone architecture and rolling streets that 
  curl around the hills and valleys of this 
  modern medieval town. Despite 
  the gloom, though, the heavy 
  surroundings feel very much 
  like home, especially for a 
  Knight of my order. The 
  people, however, tend to 
  be more cheerful than one 
  would expect, even if an 
  American like me needs a phrasebook 
  just to understand what half of them say 
  to you. I was attending a meeting in a loud 
  nightclub, literally underground, when I met 
  Kayla and T.J. – a pair of alchemists from the 
  sect sometimes called “the Children of Knowledge” 
  even though the title they prefer is an older, much-
  disputed one: Solificati. 
  All three of us were strangers of a sort in Scotland, 
  Kayla being an American of German / Scottish descent, 
  T.J. being of Scandinavian extraction, and me being… 
  well, me. This club, however, was Kayla’s territory: a 
  venture she pursued when the political situation in 
  both England and the United States no longer suited 
  her. As my hosts and I spoke with several associates 
  who had gathered around a scarred oak table, our 
  conversation captured inside a bubble of focused 
  sound that would scramble our words to outside 
  ears but leave them perfectly audible to us, Kayla 
  shared a collection of drinks she had whipped 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  33
  up for what she called “her special customers”: people who understand the shadowy war 
  waged underneath the perceptions of the Sleeping world.
  The names given to these drinks display Kayla’s sardonic commentary on groups (and 
  people) who perhaps take ourselves way too seriously. She also mentioned that she hoped 
  I might understand her tribute to some ‘80s band that I confess I’d never heard of until 
  she explained the story behind what she called her “wild sects in the working class” series 
  of concoctions… a series she considers to be an ongoing project in whatever passes for her 
  not-at-all-spare time. Although there’s nothing “magical” about the drinks themselves, I 
  can say from personal experience that they taste delicious… or, well, most of them do, to 
  be honest. I suspect that in several cases the taste of the drink may have taken a back seat 
  to the commentary involved. Kayla would neither confirm nor deny that suspicion. When 
  I asked, she just laughed and finished her drink.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  34
  Simple Syrup
  An important ingredient in certain drinks, alcoholic and otherwise. 
  Ingredients
  2 cups sugar
  2 cups water
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour water into a saucepan. Dissolve sugar into water, while stirring the mixture over 
  medium heat. 
  • 
  Once is has warmed up but not boiled, remove the saucepan from heat and allow the 
  mixture to cool. 
  • 
  Store the syrup in a tightly sealed container (preferably glass) in the refrigerator, for up 
  to one month. Use as needed. 
  Sekahnjebin
  A refreshing Persian hospitality drink. For those who can’t or don’t drink alcoholic 
  concoctions, substitute this recipe for the other drinks in this entry. 
  Ingredients
  2 cups sugar
  3/4 cup water
  1 bouquet of fresh mint
  sprigs of fresh mint 
  2-3 tbsp of grated cucumber for each drink
  Preparation
  • 
  Put the water and sugar into a 2-quart [2 l] steel pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over 
  medium-high heat. 
  • 
  Remove pot from stove, and drop the bouquet of mint into the hot syrup. Cover the 
  pot, and allow the syrup to cool completely. 
  • 
  When mixture is cool, remove the mint plants, discard them, and pour the syrup into 
  a glass or ceramic jar. This syrup will keep fresh for a long time without refrigeration, 
  so long as it is kept out of direct sunlight. 
  • 
  To serve, pour roughly 3-4 oz [89-118 ml] of syrup into a glass, top it off with cool water 
  (and perhaps ice, if desired). Add 2-3 tablespoons of grated cucumber to each drink, 
  and garnish with sprigs of fresh mint. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  35
  The Amazon
  “Stand tall, and take no nonsense.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: 3 shot glasses
  3 oz [90 ml] Sambuca
  3 oz [90 ml] Kahlua
  3 oz [90 ml] raki or ouzo
  Preparation
  • 
  Divide liquor between the three shot glasses, and enjoy with friends. War-cries and 
  man-bashing not required, but often fun. 
  The Big Hoodoo
  “Let it take you over.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: 3 shot glasses, 1 water glass
  1 shot VooDoo Hemp Rum 
  1 shot Captain Morgan’s Cherry Spiced Rum
  1 shot amaretto syrup
  Preparation
  • 
  Measure out three shots, and then pour them, in order, into the water glass. 
  • 
  Best enjoyed with a good cigar. 
  The Choirgirl
  “Classic and lyrical without the frills.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: 1 pitcher
  1 bottle of white wine (as preferred, sweet not dry)
  1 cup of sliced oranges
  1/2 cup of grapes
  1 cup of strawberries
  1/2 cup of raspberries
  4 oz [118 ml] triple sec
  2 oz [60 ml] brandy
  Preparations
  • 
  Mix all together into pitcher. Put pitcher in refrigerator for an hour or more. 
  • 
  Pour into wine glasses. Drink. Simple and good.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  36
  The Code Monkey
  “Try to hide it with class, but you’re still a Mt. Dew-swilling hacker.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: Collins glass
  1/3 oz [10 ml] Dude Vodka
  1/3 oz [10 ml] Gold Tequila
  1/3 oz [10 ml] silver rum
  1/3 oz [10 ml] Midori
  1 can of Mt. Dew
  Preparation
  • 
  In the Collins glass, add Dude Vodka, Gold Tequila, silver rum, and Midori. 
  • 
  Fill the remainder of the glass with Mt. Dew.
  • 
  Garnish with a cherry, and perhaps a small computer cable.
  The Darkling’s Dare
  “Head like a hole / Black as your soul…”
  Ingredients
  Glass: hurricane glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Kapali
  1/3 oz [10 ml] whipped vodka
  1/3 oz [10 ml] raspberry liqueur
  iced black coffee
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  37
  Preparation
  • 
  In a hurricane glass filled with ice, layer Kapali, raspberry liqueur, and whipped vodka. 
  • 
  Fill with iced coffee, and then sweeten it to your liking.
  The Dragon Tiger Prince
  “All is perfect under heaven.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: Irish coffee glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Dragonberry Rum
  1 bag of Dragon Well tea
  1 oz [30 ml] simple syrup
  hot water
  Preparation
  • 
  In an Irish coffee glass, add Dragonberry Rum to the simple syrup. 
  • 
  Add hot water, and let the tea steep in that mixture, to your liking.
  The Flames of Wrath
  “Cast Fireball...”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: Irish coffee glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Dansk Mjod mead
  1 oz [30 ml] Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey 
  1 hot cider packet
  hot water
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix the mead, Fireball, and hot cider mix into the Irish coffee glass. Add hot water 
  slowly as you stir. Simple, yet effective! 
  The Keeper of the Great Seal
  “What is your wish, my master?” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: coffee mug
  2 oz [60 ml] vanilla vodka
  1/2 oz [15 ml] simple syrup 
  1/2 oz [15 ml] Jagermeister (optional)
  Black Turkish coffee
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  38
  Preparation
  • 
  Add vodka and simple syrup into the coffee mug. 
  • 
  Top off with hot coffee, and float in some Jagermeister if desired.
  The Kung Fu Kid
  “Mystical, mind-clearing, and it packs a punch.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: 14 oz glass [414 ml] (with ice)
  1 oz [30 ml] Oolong tea simple syrup 
  1 1/2 oz [45 ml] vodka
  1-2 orange slices
  mint sprigs
  soda water
  Preparation
  • 
  After making simple syrup, steep 1-3 tea bags of your favorite Oolong tea in the hot 
  syrup. Allow to cool before making drink.
  • 
  In the glass, place orange slices and mint in the bottom of the glass, and then muddle 
  them together. 
  • 
  Fill the glass with ice. Pour in vodka, follow with the Oolong tea syrup, and fill with 
  soda water.
  • 
  Garnish with mint sprigs.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  39
  The Little Good Death
  “Life and Death in one glass.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: martini shell, chilled
  1 1/2 oz [45 ml] Death’s Door gin
  1 oz [30 ml] live probiotic kimchi brine
  1/2 oz [15 ml] raki or dry vermouth
  Preparation
  • 
  In metal tumbler with ice, pour in Death’s Door gin, kimchi brine, and dry vermouth 
  or Greek raki. 
  • 
  Stir until the outside of the metal tumbler is frosty.
  The Mad Doctor
  “Just Victorian enough to still be modern.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: stemless white-wine glass, chilled
  1 1/2 oz [45 ml] sweet sherry
  1 1/2 oz [45 ml] Malfy gin
  2 lemon wedges
  1 oz [30 ml] sweetened pomegranate syrup
  1 orange wedge garnish
  Preparation
  • 
  In metal tumbler, muddle lemon wedges, and then add ice. 
  • 
  Pour in sweet sherry and Malfy gin. 
  • 
  Stir until frost forms on the outside of the tumbler. 
  • 
  Strain liquid into the white-wine glass.
  • 
  Carefully pour the pomegranate syrup down the inside wall of the white-wine glass. 
  • 
  Add orange wedge for garnish.
  The Magic Man
  “Cool and dry”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: chilled stemmed martini glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Ketel One Vodka
  1 oz [30 ml] Hendrick’s Gin
  1/3 oz [9 ml] dry vermouth
  cocktail onion garnish
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  40
  Preparation
  • 
  Shake vodka and gin in metal tumbler until ice forms on the outside. 
  • 
  Pour dry vermouth into the chilled Martini glass, and swirl it around, making sure it 
  covers the entire glass. Then pour it out.
  • 
  Strain the contents of the shaker into the martini glass, and garnish with a cocktail onion.
  The Man-Machine 
  “Modified to graft the best parts of a Texas Tea and a Mai Tai into one monster of a drink.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: pounder
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Tarantula Tequila
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Svedka Clementine Vodka
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Don Q’s Coconut Rum
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Malfy Con Lemon Gin
  1/2 oz [15 ml] amaretto
  1/3 oz [9 ml] grenadine
  pineapple juice
  orange juice
  sweet-and-sour mix
  Preparation
  • 
  In a pounder, add in grenadine, then add light ice over the top. 
  • 
  Add in Tarantula Tequila, Svedka Clementine Vodka, Don Q’s Coconut rum, and the 
  Malfy Con Lemon Gin. 
  • 
  Then float the amaretto on top, and layer in the sweet-and-sour mix, and pineapple juice. 
  • 
  Top off with orange juice.
  The Medicine Talker
  “Time to give back what you have taken.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: hurricane glass (with a little bit of ice)
  1 oz [30 ml] Kapalli (or favorite coffee liquor)
  1 oz [30 ml] grain vodka
  1 pinch of powdered cardamom
  1 tsp of honey
  ginger beer
  1 lime wedge (for garnish)
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  41
  Preparation
  • 
  Fill Hurricane glass halfway with ice. In a mixing cup, using a toothpick, mix the 
  cardamom, honey, and a very small amount of the vodka. When finished, pour over 
  the ice inside the glass.
  • 
  Add Kapalli and vodka, and then fill with Ginger beer. 
  • 
  Garnish with a lime.
  The Moreau
  “Altered to the point of perfection.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: pint glass
  green tomato mixer (see below)
  2 oz [60 ml] potato vodka
  1 skinned carrot
  lemon pepper seasoning
  kosher salt
  For the Green Tomato Mixer
  2 cups tomatillo juice (or green tomato juice)
  1/2 of a peeled yellow onion
  2 celery stalks
  2 oz [60 ml] lime juice
  2 cloves of garlic
  1 tsp celery salt
  1 tsp black pepper
  2 dashes of Green Tabasco Sauce
  Preparations
  • 
  Combine all green tomato mixer ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. 
  Let chill before using.
  • 
  Combine mixer into a glass with the remaining ingredients. Serve cold. 
  The Night Tide
  “Cool as moonlight on wet black sands.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: Collins glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Spiritopia ginger
  1 oz [30 ml] Okolehao (or moonshine)
  1 oz [30 ml] simple syrup
  coconut milk
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  42
  Preparation
  • 
  In a metal tumbler filled with ice mix, all ingredients, and then stir until ice frost forms 
  on the tumbler. 
  • 
  Strain into Collins glass, and top with chilled coconut milk.
  The Nubian Sage
  “What’s a Nubian?” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: bucket glass
  1/2 oz [15 ml] hibiscus liqueur
  1 oz [30 ml] honey
  1 1/2 oz [45 ml] vodka
  soda water
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix all of the ingredients in the bucket glass, with ice. 
  • 
  Stir well before drinking.
  • 
  If necessary, substitute sekahnjebin (as per that entry) for the liqueur and vodka, using 
  soda water instead of pure water in the final drink. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  43
  The Mr. Spaceman
  “Like being plunged into the dark before being devoured whole.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: pounder and a shot glass.
  1 oz [30 ml] Blackmaker Liquor
  1/2 oz [15 ml] Jagermeister
  Ball’s Geek Beer
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour around 5 oz [148 ml] of the Ball’s Geek Beer into the pounder. 
  • 
  In the shot glass, add both Blackmaker and Jagermeister. 
  • 
  Serve this drink as a bomb /drop shot.
  The Reality Cop
  “You will forget.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: bucket glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Kapali (coffee liqueur)
  1 oz [30 ml] whipped vodka
  1 oz [30 ml] clear creme de cacao
  soda water
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour Kapalli, whipped vodka, and creme de cacao into the bucket glass. 
  • 
  Add ice, and top off with soda water. 
  • 
  Use a zombie straw to drink this mixture quickly, like a mind-eraser.
  The Shining Dragon
  “Let the faerie wear the crown.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: martini shell
  1 oz [30 ml] creme de cacao
  1 oz [30 ml] absinthe
  1 oz [30 ml] cream
  Preparation
  • 
  In a metal tumbler filled with ice, mix the creme de cacao, absinthe, and cream. 
  • 
  Shake until ice forms on the outside of the tumbler. 
  • 
  Pour into martini shell. Garnish with a mint sprig.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  44
  The Subtle Bastard
  “A little bit of everything from everywhere.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: pint glass
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Cachaça
  1/3 oz [9 ml] moonshine
  1/3 oz [9 ml] Genever
  1/3 oz [9 ml] triple sec
  1/3 oz [9 ml] honey
  cranberry juice
  Preparation
  • 
  Rim the pint glass with honey. 
  • 
  Add ice inside the glass, and then pour in the Cachaça, moonshine, and Genever. 
  • 
  Add triple sec. Top with cranberry juice.
  • 
  For guests who do not drink fermented alcohol, substitute the alcohol with sekahnjebin. 
  The Tankard of St. George
  “God wills it.”
  (I confess, I chuckled at that name, though I really shouldn’t have.)
  Ingredients
  Glassware: 14 oz [414 ml] metal mug
  1 oz [30 ml] whiskey
  1 oz [30 ml] amaretto
  4 oz [118 ml] mead
  Coca-Cola
  Preparation
  • 
  In a metal mug filled with crushed ice, mix the mead and all liquor. 
  • 
  Top off with some Coke.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  45
  The Time Tripper
  “One look and you’ll want one too!”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: hurricane glass, with ice
  1/2 oz [15 ml] amaretto
  1/2 oz [15 ml] silver rum
  1/2 oz [15 ml] grenadine
  1/2 oz [15 ml] blue curacao (topping it off)
  fill 1/2 of remaining glass with pineapple juice
  fill 1/2 with orange soda (topping it off)
  Preparation
  • 
  In the hurricane glass, pour in the grenadine, and then add ice. 
  • 
  Layer in blue curacao, amaretto, pineapple juice, then amaretto, top off with orange 
  soda, and then float the silver rum on the very top layer.
  The Witchie-Poo
  “And your little dog, too!”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: pint glass
  2 oz [60 ml] Rouge GYO Single Malt Whiskey
  Montreal seasoning
  Bloody Mary mixer (below)
  1 celery stalk
  1 piece of bacon
  For the Bloody Mary Mix
  2 cups tomato juice
  1/2 of a peeled white onion
  2 celery stalks
  2 oz [60 ml] lemon juice
  1 red pepper
  1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  1 tsp celery salt
  1/2 tsp horseradish
  1 tsp black pepper
  2 dashes of Tabasco sauce
  1 sweet pepper
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  46
  Preparation
  • 
  Combine all Bloody Mary mix ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth. Let 
  chill before using. 
  • 
  In metal tumbler with ice, add whiskey, and then shake until frost forms on the metal. 
  • 
  Rim pint glass in Montreal seasoning. 
  • 
  Pour whiskey and Bloody Mary mix into the pint glass, and then garnish with the bacon 
  and celery stalk.
  Specialty Drinks
  Generally given “on the house,” only to the right people. 
  The Digital Web
  “Almost like real life, and yet not quite.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: rocks glass
  1 oz [30 ml] Peach Schnapps
  1 oz [30 ml] Midori
  1 oz [30 ml] Blue Curacao
  1 oz [30 ml] Irish Cream
  grenadine
  Preparation
  • 
  Layer Peach Schnapps, Blue Curacao, and Midori. 
  • 
  Float the Irish cream on top, and then carefully drip the grenadine into the center of the glass.
  • 
  Best enjoyed while surfing online. 
  MECHA Grease
  “It gets between your gears.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: beer stein and shot glass
  Irish Death (or your choice of dark beer)
  1/2 oz [15 ml] Rogue Dead Guy Whiskey
  1/2 oz [15 ml] honey whiskey
  Preparation
  • 
  Fill the beer stein 3/4 full of Irish Death. 
  • 
  Add Honey Whiskey and Rogue Whiskey to shot glass. 
  • 
  To drink, drop the shot glass into the beer stein, and then down the drink in one go.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  47
  The Orphan
  “Surely I don’t need to explain this one.” 
  Ingredients
  Glassware: water glass
  cold water
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour water into glass.
  • 
  Add alcohol as desired. 
  • 
  Drink alone. 
  Porthos’ Revenge
  “Hot and fiery, as in spicy, and rum as in… well, rum.”
  Ingredients
  Glassware: Collins glass
  1 1/2 oz [15 ml] Silver Rum
  1 oz [30 ml] simple syrup
  soda water
  1 jalapeno pepper
  3 lime wedges
  sprigs of mint
  Preparation
  • 
  Muddle mint, jalapeno, and 2 lime wedges in bottom of glass. 
  • 
  Fill glass with ice, and then add in rum and simple syrup. 
  • 
  Fill with soda water, and garnish with lime.
  The Secret Agent
  “So arcane even HE doesn’t know who he is.”
  Ingredients
  Glass: Pounder
  John Courage Pale Ale
  Founder’s Rubaeus
  Preparation
  • 
  Fill half the pounder with John Courage Pale Ale. 
  • 
  Using a spoon or beer turtle, layer the Rubeus over the top.
  • 
  Don’t let anyone else see you drinking it. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  48
  New England  
  Lobster Bisque,  
  with Crusty Bread
  While traveling to conduct a training exercise 
  for some brethren in coastal Maine, I happened to 
  pass through the tiny hamlet of Tupper’s Landing. 
  Here, I discovered a surprisingly robust art- and-
  music collective made up of a handful of Ecstatics, 
  a few other Awakened ones of undisclosed tradition, 
  and a motley collection of those people the Sahajiya 
  call “sleepwalkers.” This delightfully intense and odd 
  bunch took what was once a dying fishing village, and 
  transformed it into a vibrant experiment in Enlightened 
  communal living. I couldn’t stay long upon my first 
  encounter, but on the return trip, I made a point to stay 
  for a few days and really take a look around.
  The place looks like a picture postcard, exactly 
  what I always imagined a coastal town in Maine would 
  look like. But behind those traditional facades awaits 
  an explosion of delights to stimulate the mind and 
  the senses. From my conversations with residents 
  and frequent visitors, it’s clear that all who wish to 
  do so are welcome to grow, create, experience, and 
  contribute to the community, which draws a steady 
  stream of visitors and tourists seeking farm-to-table 
  and sea-to-table dining;  peaceful bed-and-breakfasts;  
  edgy experimental theatre;  vibrant, original music;  
  and wildly original art. In addition, those people 
  (Awakened and otherwise) who enjoy the application 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  49
  of consciousness-expanding drugs can also find quite a variety of substances and experiences 
  to satisfy and delight.
  The owner of Cricket’s Place, the bed-and-breakfast where I stayed, goes by the name of 
  Radha. She embraced the idea of a communal underground dinner with open heart and arms, 
  though we didn’t quite follow the original rules. We decided to give the participants a day or so 
  to think about what they wanted to prepare and to gather their ingredients. Together with her 
  partner Brianna, Radha cooked up the most decadent pot of lobster bisque I have ever put in 
  my mouth and served it up with a simple, crispy, crusty bread that required very little work at all. 
  They started their bisque with a seasoned roux, and then built the rest on a gorgeous seafood 
  stock that they had on hand. If you really want to go all-in on this one, I recommend making 
  your own stock. If that’s not possible, you can substitute store-bought chicken stock. Likewise, 
  we were able to hunt for fresh mushrooms, since they were in season, and came back with a 
  remarkable gathering of oysters and chanterelles. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do 
  that, so if you can’t find the fancy mushrooms, portabellas, or even humble white mushrooms 
  will still do just fine. I warn you, though: this recipe is not for those who are watching their 
  waistlines or are otherwise afraid to indulge!
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  50
  Lobster and Mushroom Bisque
  Ingredients
  4-5 lobster tails and claws
  1-3 lumps of crab meat
  1/2 lb [227 g] shrimp, peeled and deveined
  butter (1 stick, or more if needed)
  2 cups of mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
  fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  3 or 4 shallots, chopped
  3 cloves garlic, minced
  1/4 cup flour
  2 cups of stock (see below), or dry white wine
  4 cups half-and-half
  cream sherry
  sprigs of fresh thyme
  salt
  paprika or cayenne pepper
  Preparation
  Preparing Your Own Stock
  • 
  Clean the meat from the claws and tails of the lobster, and peel and devein the shrimp, 
  reserving all of the shells. 
  • 
  In a stockpot, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot, and turn on the heat 
  to medium-high. 
  • 
  Once the oil is warm but not yet hot, add in about half of a large onion, sliced; 3-4 cloves 
  of garlic, peeled and smashed; a bay leaf, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and a sprinkling 
  of red pepper flakes, along with the shells. 
  • 
  Sauté until the onions soften and the whole mixture smells fragrant. 
  • 
  Add about two cups of white wine, and then allow this mixture to come to a low boil 
  again. Then add enough cold water to just cover the shells, and bring the mix to a low 
  boil once more. 
  • 
  Turn the heat down, and allow to simmer for about 40 -45 minutes. 
  • 
  Remove from heat, season to taste, and allow to cool slightly before pouring broth 
  through a strainer.
  Preparing the Meal
  • 
  In a large pan, melt half a stick of butter (about 1/4 cup) over medium heat, and allow 
  it to get golden brown and bubbly. 
  • 
  Throw in shallots, garlic, and mushrooms, and cook until the shallots and mushrooms 
  are browned. Set aside.
  • 
  In a large pot, melt the other half of the stick of butter until it’s golden and bubbly. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  51
  • 
  Whisk in about 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour, or enough to make a roux. Stir until the 
  flour is a dark golden brown, then pour in two cups of the broth (or white wine, if you 
  choose not to use broth). Whisk together to incorporate and smooth out the roux. 
  • 
  When the mixture begins to thicken, add one cup of the half-and-half. Stir until the 
  mixture thickens, then add the next cup of half-and-half. Repeat this process until all 
  the half-and-half is incorporated and you have a thick and creamy soup base.
  • 
  Add in the fresh thyme, chopped parsley, shrimp, crab meat, and lobster, and then allow 
  it all to cook until the shrimp are opaque and coral-colored. 
  • 
  Turn off the heat and add in the reserved mushroom mixture. 
  • 
  Season with salt, pepper, and a few tablespoons of cream sherry, to taste. Let the bisque 
  sit, covered for about 2-3 minutes, to allow the flavors to marry, then serve with a sprinkle 
  of paprika or cayenne pepper.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  52
  Crusty Bread
  Don’t be afraid to bake your own bread! I will never understand the cult of prestige that has 
  built itself up around this idea of “artisanal” bread… as if ordinary people haven’t been mixing 
  flour, water, and yeast together and baking it for thousands of years. There’s no great mystery to 
  great bread (though there is quite a bit of science – more about that later!). It carries the name, 
  “the staff of life,” and remains one of the most uncomplicated foods on the planet for a reason. If 
  you want a good, easy recipe to get you started on the bread-baking path, this is a great one.
  Ingredients
  1 package active, dry yeast (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
  1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
  6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour (plus enough for the board)
  cornmeal
  silicone baking mat (or pizza peel and parchment paper)
  baking stone, or inverted cookie sheet
  broiler pan
  Preparation
  Two-to-Four Hours Ahead of Baking 
  • 
  Mix yeast and salt with three cups of warm water (about º100 F [º38 C]) in a large bowl. 
  • 
  Stir in the flour to make a loose, sticky dough. (Radha used a stand mixer with the 
  paddle attachment to mix everything, and then used a spatula to work with the dough 
  after that. Kitchen gloves help, too.) 
  • 
  Cover the bowl with a warm, damp kitchen towel, and let the dough rise at room 
  temperature (about º72 F [º22 C]) for at least two hours, but no more than five hours.
  Shaping the Dough
  • 
  Sprinkle a bit of flour on the dough and, with a serrated knife, cut off a chunk of dough 
  about the size of a large grapefruit. 
  • 
  Rub a little bit of olive oil on your hands – not dripping with it, but enough to form a 
  barrier between your skin and the sticky dough. 
  • 
  Turning the dough in your hands, gently stretch the outer edge of the piece to the 
  bottom, leaving a smooth, rounded top, and a somewhat lumpy bottom. 
  • 
  Ideally, a pizza peel is a handy tool to have for this next step; if you don’t have one, you 
  can use a silicone baking mat or a rimless cookie sheet and some parchment paper. 
  Lay out your baking mat, dust liberally with cornmeal, and place your rounded piece 
  of dough on the baking mat. Repeat shaping with the rest of the dough, or you can 
  cover and refrigerate the remainder for up to two weeks. Allow your shaped dough to 
  rest for 40 minutes.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  53
  Prepare Your Oven
  • 
  Arrange your oven racks so that one is at the very bottom of the oven and one is in the 
  middle of the oven. Place a broiler pan on the bottom rack, and place a baking stone 
  on the middle one. If you do not have a baking stone, you can invert a cookie sheet 
  with a shallow rim as a substitute.
  • 
  Preheat the oven to º450 F [º230 C]. Once that temperature is achieved, allow your 
  baking stone to heat at that temperature for about 20 minutes.
  Baking Your Bread
  • 
  Lightly dust the rested dough with a bit of flour, then take a very sharp knife and make 
  two or three slashes across the top. 
  • 
  Slide your baking mat onto the baking stone (or use your rimless cookie sheet to slide 
  the parchment paper onto the baking surface), then quickly pour a cup of water into 
  the hot broiler pan, shutting the door quickly to trap the steam. 
  • 
  Bake for 30 minutes, or until the bread is deeply browned.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  54
  Fry Bread and Wojapi 
  In the wake of the Standing Rock gatherings – a 
  prolonged act of defiance against the United States 
  government and its “corporate citizens,” which involved 
  plenty of metaphysical involvement on all 
  sides of the dispute – the long-fractured 
  “tribal” society of Indigenous people from 
  across the world began a powerful act of 
  collective healing. Part of this healing process 
  involved members of the “Dreamspeaker” 
  Tradition (an essentially forced collective 
  of… dare I say it… disparate shamanic and 
  medicine traditions) joining hands with the 
  Thunder Society: a group of Native American 
  medicine people who have chosen to forge their 
  own alliances within the Enlightened world, rather 
  than to define their company within the 
  confines of the Dreamspeaker Tradition. 
  Claiming allegiance to a variety of tribes 
  and nations, some of which I had never 
  heard of before in my life, the goal of this 
  collaboration involves advocacy, education, 
  group healing, and collective protection;  that is, 
  the celebration of Native peoples, the sharing 
  of their perspectives on history, the reclaiming 
  of cultures and languages that teeter on the 
  brink of extinction, and the resistance against 
  the enemies which have so long divided 
  both their people and my own… resistance 
  by force, if need be. 
  This reconciliation between longtime 
  rivals speaks volumes about the changing 
  nature of these times we live in. Recently, I had 
  the pleasure of meeting with several members 
  of what may become a new Enlightened 
  society in its own right. 
  Among this new-flowering fellowship, 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  55
  a young friend of mine named Anna Se-se-pui-che (who couldn’t have been older than nineteen) 
  displays a prodigious talent for manipulating the delicate threads of time within the realms of 
  spirit. After a long period of meditation and preparation – wherein I noticed that she constructs 
  an invisible, protective cocoon of energy around her – Anna sends her spirit forth down the 
  paths of history to witness the ancestors first-hand, before the arrival of white invaders. She 
  learns language, stories, dances, rituals, and then returns to recount them to her comrades. 
  This learning process takes several weeks… at the end of which, another member of the group 
  places her into a deep, restorative slumber for at least three days. Then, the lot of them piles 
  into a giant SUV to visit Native enclaves all across the Americas, sharing their newly learned 
  wisdom. Last I heard, they had plans to arrange a Native cruise of the Caribbean, where the 
  lost languages of the Taino and Carib peoples will be taught along with the true and authentic 
  methods for making barbacoa: The food most of us around the world call barbecue.
  I was delighted to discover that pie is universal, particularly fruit pie, which in North America 
  is something of a beloved national dessert;  “as American as apple pie,” or so the saying goes, 
  but I suspect that a vast many Americans would be shocked to learn exactly how much truth 
  is in that statement. Apples weren’t indigenous to North America, of course, but the Native 
  peoples had plenty of other wild fruits and berries to choose from when making the sweet fruit 
  sauce used to fill their pockets of fried bread. Today, this tradition continues in the form of fry 
  bread and wojapi, which is made with Bing cherries, blueberries, and other more-modern fruits 
  instead of the wild choke cherries that were originally used. 
  Fry bread itself has a rather interesting history. During the awful and terrifying period of 
  forced removal of Native peoples that included the Trail of Tears and the Long Walk, a group 
  of Apache and Navajo people being held at Bosque Redondo, near Fort Sumner, had to find 
  some way to survive on the rations of flour, lard, sugar, salt, powdered milk, yeast, and baking 
  powder provided by the U.S. government. Thus was fry bread born out of severe adversity, 
  to become one of the most ubiquitous staple foods among modern Native American people. 
  When I traveled with Anna and her companions, we ate this for breakfast nearly every morning.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  56
  Navajo Fry Bread
  Ingredients
  4 cups all-purpose white flour
  2 tbsp baking powder
  1 tsp salt
  2 cups warm water
  about 2 1/2 cups vegetable oil or shortening (for frying)
  Preparation
  • 
  In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir in the 
  water, until a soft, workable dough forms that does not stick to the bowl.
  • 
  Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for five minutes. Then return the dough 
  to the bowl, cover with a clean towel, and allow it to rest and rise for 30 minutes.
  • 
  Shape the dough into about 12 or 16 evenly-shaped balls. You may pat the dough from 
  hand to hand (like pizza dough) to shape it; or you may use a rolling pin to roll it out 
  to 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured board. For crispier bread, roll the dough to 
  1/4-inch thickness. When done, the dough should have stretched to a circular shape 
  that is about 10-12 inches in diameter. Poke a small hole in the center of the round. 
  • 
  Repeat this process with the rest of the dough.
  • 
  Pour about 1 1/2 inches [38 mm] of oil into a large, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or 
  frying pan, and then heat over medium heat until the oil shimmers: hot, but not smoking.
  • 
  Carefully slip a round of dough into the hot oil, and cook until the dough turns golden 
  brown and puffs up (about 1 to 2 minutes). 
  • 
  Turn over with a fork, and cook until both sides are golden brown.
  • 
  Remove and drain on paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Repeat the process with 
  each piece of dough. Keep the bread warm between two clean kitchen towels in an oven 
  set on low or warm.
  • 
  Serve at once, either plain, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or topped with wojapi.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  57
  Wojapi
  Ingredients
  6 cups of fresh cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries
  1 cup of water
  honey or sugar*
  1 tbsp of cornstarch for thickness*
  * Traditional wojapi did not make use of sweetener or cornstarch. It was made with fresh, 
  ripe, and naturally sweet berries, and the mixture was reduced over the course of hours until it 
  had a thick, concentrated consistency. Given the scarcity of places in which to pick fresh berries, 
  and the woeful state of fresh fruit in the supermarkets these days, you may need to sweeten your 
  berries. Likewise, you may wish for your wojapi to have a more pudding-like consistency. In that 
  case, cornstarch is a convenient and easy way to achieve this.
  Preparation
  • 
  Clean the berries and place them in a large bowl. 
  • 
  Using a potato masher, crush the berries well. 
  • 
  Add the fruit, water, and sugar /honey to a large saucepan, and bring to a boil over 
  medium heat.
  • 
  Stir often, being careful not to burn the berries. 
  • 
  Reduce the heat, and simmer on low heat for one hour, stirring constantly. Watch your 
  pot carefully, because if the berries burn, the scorched taste will permeate the entire 
  mixture and you’ll have to throw it out and start again. 
  • 
  As the fruit reduces, taste occasionally to see if you need to add more sugar or honey.
  • 
  At this point, continue to simmer and reduce the berry mix to the desired thickness. If 
  you wish to have a more pudding-like consistency, place one tablespoon of cornstarch 
  into a cup, and add just enough cold water to make a pourable slurry. Stir well to ensure 
  that there are no lumps.
  • 
  Then slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the hot fruit, and stir until you have achieved 
  the desired thickness.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  58
  Muamba Nsusu, with Corn Fufu 
  The conflict between Muslims and Christians in the Central African Republic has been going on for 
  roughly a decade now, though you’d never know about it for all that the Western news media chooses to 
  ignore the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the bloody carnage. The vast majority 
  of those refugees are young women and children under the age of 18, forced to leave their homes for fear 
  of being raped, murdered, or both. Both my Brethren and the Ngoma, along with other non-affiliated 
  Enlightened folk in the area, have taken it upon ourselves to strengthen and support human-rights efforts 
  to aid these refugees as they flood into neighboring Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
  Unlike the situation in Syria, there are few official refugee camps waiting across the Ubangi 
  River, the terrain there being mostly uninhabited and undeveloped due to its proximity to a number 
  of wildlife preserves. What exists in that region are tiny villages and hamlets;  communities that have 
  selflessly welcomed these unfortunate people into their walls, and have shared their shelter, food, 
  and water with them. Along with UNICEF and other international aid agencies, the Enlightened 
  work tirelessly to ease the burden on these small towns and provide as much support as possible by 
  opening and operating free impromptu grammar schools, as well as by funneling vital supplies like 
  food and medicine to the refugees. Further complicating the situation, the DRC is itself suffering 
  under the strain of armed conflict;  her people starve while international investors siphon billions 
  from them through the sale of gold, diamonds, and other conflict minerals. Given its vast natural 
  resources, it’s quite possible that the DRC could be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. 
  Sadly, however, the exploitation of Africa continues, even in these supposedly modern times.
  As much as I detest the so-called “Thanatoic” sects in many regards, I have witnessed first-
  hand the compassionate nature of these so-called “death mages.” Beyond their fearsome – some 
  would say murderous – reputation… a reputation that, as I can attest, is well-deserved in certain 
  regards… I have also witnessed members of the Euthanatos Tradition aiding refugees from this 
  horrific conflict, healing memories and bodies that have been scarred by torture and abuse, 
  and when necessary (as it all too often is) purging unsalvageable offenders from this world. As 
  a Christian, I cannot square my own faith with the reincarnationist beliefs of these ferocious 
  magi. And yet, as a Warrior of Christ and a member of God’s own crusade against the Fallen 
  Ones, I cannot honestly begrudge these “surgeons of reality” their more militant tendencies. I 
  can dispute their beliefs (which I do), debate their methods (which I have), and attempt to steer 
  them to a cleaner path of Enlightenment than the one I find so morally reprehensible. In this 
  fallen (perhaps literally Fallen) world of ours, however, even I must admit that harsh methods 
  and deadly justice are necessities more often than we would often wish they were. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  59
  Given the Tradition’s rather inexplicable Greek name (one that tends to be used incorrectly, even 
  by the mages themselves), it’s easy to forget the sect’s origins in Classical India, Arabia, and Africa. One 
  oft-neglected group among them, the secretive Madzimbabwe, even hails from Central and Southern 
  Africa. Existing between the shadows of the Islamicized world, these Thanatoic holdovers – as with 
  their rivals and occasional allies, the Ngoma – retain an intimate understanding of the role of death 
  in the midst of life. Heretics and witch-doctors in the eyes of many outsiders, these people inhabit an 
  especially dangerous world where the slightest misstep can bring devilish tortures and a very messy 
  death. As much as I dislike and disagree with the precepts of these fearsome souls, I continue to pray 
  for their salvation, respect their courage, and occasionally even call a few of them friends. 
  One of my dearest friends in this world, Mutoto Tambwe, is a tall, lean man with bright 
  eyes, a strong handshake, and a ready smile that he gives freely 
  to all who meet him. Looking at him, you’d 
  never guess that he’s a wealthy and brilliant 
  lawyer specializing in economic policy and 
  spearheading a great many of the anti-
  corruption efforts underway in his home 
  country. When he’s not buried in research, 
  or fighting the good fight in courtrooms 
  and boardrooms across the world, Mutoto 
  can be found in that no-man’s land between 
  the CAR and the DRC, teaching children 
  how to read and count, making sure that 
  everyone has what they need to make the 
  best of the worst-possible situation, and 
  occasionally “removing” parties who have 
  inflicted unforgiveable crimes upon the 
  innocent. A contingent of the Brethren, 
  headed by the indomitable Sara Goodwin, 
  operates in tandem with him, ensuring 
  that the displaced people there can 
  find a small oasis of peace – an eye in 
  the storm of war. When I last visited 
  their headquarters, Mutoto and Sara 
  prepared a magnificent feast, the star of 
  which was a rich peanut-butter stew called 
  muamba nsusu. This meal was served with 
  skewers of vegetables and the traditional 
  fufu: a light dough made from corn flour 
  and water that is a staple food in the diets of 
  many people across Central Africa. This being 
  Mutoto, the two of them made enough food 
  to feed the surrounding five villages, so the 
  feast was a loud and lively event, full of the 
  laughter of children and thankfully absent of 
  the all-too-frequent presence of death.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  60
  Muamba Nsusu
  Ingredients
  For the Soup
  3 lbs [1.36 kg] of dark-meat chicken on the bone (drumsticks or thighs)
  3 tbsp of palm oil (or coconut oil)
  1 large yellow onion
  1 hot chili pepper, diced (or 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper)
  1 large carrot
  4 large tomatoes, diced, (or one 14 oz can of diced tomatoes)
  4 oz [113 g] tomato paste
  1 cup of peanut butter
  1 tsp sugar
  1 tsp cumin
  salt, to taste*
  grated zest of one lemon
  1/4 cup of crushed peanuts
  1/4 cup of chopped green onions
  * Avoid the temptation to add too much salt to this soup, as it can overpower the subtle 
  sweetness of the peanut butter and the onions. Likewise, the chili may be omitted if you prefer a 
  milder-flavored soup.
  Preparation
  • 
  Chop the carrot into 3 or 4 large pieces, and place them with the chicken parts in a 
  large stockpot. Add enough water to cover the carrots and chicken, and bring to a boil 
  over medium heat.
  • 
  While the chicken is cooking, finely dice the onion and chili pepper (if you are using a 
  fresh chili). Heat the palm oil in a pan, and sauté the onion and chili until the onion 
  is lightly carmelized. Set this aside.
  • 
  When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot. Reserve 1 cup of the 
  stock and set aside, leaving the remainder in the pot. When the chicken is cool enough 
  to handle, remove the bones and pull it into shreds. Set aside.
  • 
  In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter over low heat. Add 3-4 ladles of stock, 
  stirring often until the mixture is a smooth, creamy consistency.
  • 
  Add the peanut butter mixture back into the reserved stock in the stock pot. 
  • 
  Add the rest of the ingredients into the soup and simmer until it is thickened to your 
  liking.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  61
  Corn Fufu
  Ingredients
  2 cups chicken stock (see above)
  2 cups water
  1/2 tsp of salt
  3/4 cup of corn flour
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour the stock and the water into a saucepan with the salt, and then bring it to a boil 
  over medium heat.
  • 
  Slowly stir or whisk in about half of the corn flour. Stir continuously for about 1 to 2 
  minutes, and then slowly add in half of the remaining corn flour.
  • 
  Continue to stir until the mixture begins to thicken and the lumpiness begins to smooth 
  out. Add in enough corn flour to achieve a consistency like stiff mashed potatoes.
  • 
  Form the fufu into dumpling-sized balls, and place them into soup bowls. Ladle the 
  muamba nsusu over the fufu, and garnish with crushed peanuts and green onions.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  62
  Decadent Desserts
  The Brethren of my order prize restraint, 
  modesty, and moderation (if not Spartanism) 
  in all things. Some people, though, find wisdom 
  in decadence… or, at least, in the superficial 
  decadence of comfortable indulgences if not 
  the outright selfishness of dedicated hedonism. 
  While meeting with some contacts in Luxembourg 
  City, I cast an admittedly wary eye over the club 
  (a covert hangout named after an infamous but 
  obscure French story from the Decadent school 
  of literature) while enjoying a delectable dessert 
  courtesy of our meeting’s host, who goes by the name 
  Marcus Aurelius, and his lovely wife, Isabelle. Decked out 
  in lush black finery with a rakishly romantic air, Isabelle and 
  Marcus presented a deceptively blasé façade while exposing a 
  traitor in their group – and they did it so skillfully that he didn’t 
  even realize the import of what they had said until the noose, 
  so to speak, was tight around his neck. They did this, by the 
  way, in the middle of a nightclub, surrounded by unaware 
  innocents who never realized what was going on. People who 
  underestimate the “Goth kids” that take their name from 
  T.S. Eliot’s poem do so at extreme peril. 
  As with so many things they do, the Hollow Ones 
  (or, as many of them prefer to be called, the Darklings) 
  have made an art of luxury while managing… in typically 
  artistic fashion… to underscore luxury’s illusions. 
  They put on a great show to disguise how much 
  they really care. I have seen Marcus and Isabelle 
  comfort homeless children in the streets of Paris, 
  calm a madman in a Berlin gutter, talk down a 
  panicked girl who had combined hallucinogens 
  and alcohol in a mob full of strangers, and 
  free a clutch of Russian girls from a basement 
  slave-market beneath the apparently tranquil 
  streets of Marseille. And so, while I can’t 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  63
  pretend to understand or share their extravagant aesthetics, I appreciate their courage and 
  enjoy their taste in food. 
  This “red and black trifle,” according to Isabelle, comes from the salons of fin de siécle Paris, 
  and was supposedly a favorite treat of Jean Genet. Its layer of Port Wine jelly gives the dessert 
  an air of excess and luxury. Meanwhile, the sweetest, syrupiest Ruby Port on the shelf reminds 
  one what a mirage “luxury” really is. Cocoa – alkalized past anything even vaguely resembling 
  nuance – somehow elevates everything else in the dish, while the combination of flavors drives 
  home the fleeting illusion of glorious excess. As Vincent (Marcus’ favorite chef) remarked that 
  night, there’s nothing more Hollow than that.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  64
  Chocolate Chiffon Cake
  Ingredients 
  3/4 cups granulated sugar
  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  1 1/2 oz [45 grams] double-Dutched black cocoa
  1 tsp baking powder
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  1 pinch salt
  2 eggs, separated
  1 egg white
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  1/4 cup water
  1 tsp vanilla extract, or vanilla paste
  Preparation
  • 
  Sift together 1/2 cup of sugar, the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt 
  for the chiffon cake. Set aside.
  • 
  With a hand mixer, beat egg yolks for the chiffon cake, until they’re slightly pale. Turn 
  the speed down to low, and drizzle in the oil, water, and vanilla for the chiffon cake. 
  Gradually add the sifted ingredients, and mix on medium speed until they’re just barely 
  combined.
  • 
  In another clean large bowl, whip the 3 egg whites with a hand mixer, until soft peaks 
  form. Start on medium speed, and raise speed as peaks begin to form. Gradually pour 
  in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, and whip until the whites are shiny and firm, but 
  not stiff.
  • 
  With a rubber spatula, fold l/4 of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then scrape the 
  chocolate mixture back into the whites, quickly folding until completely incorporated.
  • 
  Pour the mixture into a greased and floured number “9” shape in your cake pan, and 
  bake at º375 F (º190 C) for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle 
  of the cake comes out clean. 
  • 
  Set the cakes aside to cool, and remove them from the pan as soon as the edges pull 
  away from the sides. If you let the cakes completely cool in the pan, they will be more 
  difficult to take out.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  65
  Blackberry Creme Patisserie
  Ingredients 
  8 egg yolks 
  12 oz [340 g] blackberries
  1/4 cup Ruby Port Wine
  1/2 cup granulated sugar
  1 cup heavy cream
  Preparation
  • 
  While the cake is baking, add the blackberries, sugar, and Ruby Port for the Creme 
  Patisserie to a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil while smashing the berries 
  with a potato masher or a large fork. Stir regularly.
  • 
  Boil down until the mixture reduces into a lumpy syrup and becomes thick and glossy. 
  • 
  Force the mixture through a fine sieve, in order to separate the syrup from the skin and 
  seeds. Push until the pulp mixture in the sieve becomes fairly tacky and dry.
  • 
  Add heavy cream for the Creme Patisserie to the sieved blackberry mixture, and stir 
  thoroughly. Allow this to cool for a few minutes, and then add the egg yolks to the 
  mixture and mix thoroughly. 
  • 
  Return the mixture to the stove over medium heat. Heat, stirring constantly, until 
  there’s light steam on the top of the mixture. Continue to cook at this temperature 
  for 3 minutes while stirring the mixture. The mixture should thickly coat the back of 
  a spoon or spatula.
  • 
  Push the custard through a fine sieve, but be sure not to push any solidified bits through 
  the sieve. 
  • 
  Push plastic wrap down onto the surface of the custard, and put it in the refrigerator 
  to cool.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  66
  Port Wine Jelly
  Ingredients
  3 cups Ruby Port
  9 sheets of gelatin, or 3 packets of gelatin powder
  0-4 tbsp of sugar (to taste, depending on the Port Wine and desired tartness)
  Preparation
  • 
  Soak your gelatin sheets in water until soft. Squeeze the excess water out.
  • 
  Add the gelatin to the Port Wine for the jelly. If you’re using powdered gelatin, sprinkle 
  it on top of the port wine in a saucepan, evenly, and allow to sit until the powder is 
  completely moist and blossomed. 
  • 
  Bring the mixture to a simmer, until the gelatin has completely dissolved. If you used 
  powdered gelatin, pour it through a fine mesh sieve.
  • 
  Pour the mixture into two 9-inch [230 mm] round silicone cake pans. Put into the 
  refrigerator for roughly one hour, until it sets up.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  67
  Red and Black Trifle
  Ingredients
  1 batch of Port Wine Jelly
  1 chocolate chiffon cake
  1 batch of blackberry Creme Patisserie
  1 lb [454 g] of strawberries
  1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  3 tbsp sugar
  scrapings from 1 vanilla bean
  Preparations
  • 
  Slice the strawberries into half-inch slices.
  • 
  Once everything is cooled, cut your cake into half-inch strips.
  • 
  Add the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla for the whipped cream into a bowl. Whip the 
  mixture until peaks form.
  • 
  Fill your trifle dish with the components above, in the following order:
  ◊	
  1/2 of the cake slices layered in the bottom of your trifle dish. 
  ◊	
  1/2 of the Creme Patisserie.
  ◊	
  1 of the sheets of jelly. (If you’re very good, and can get the jelly layers in a single 
  piece, that’s great, but breaking the jelly up to create a layer in pieces doesn’t 
  impact the final dish).
  ◊	
  1/2 of the sliced strawberries.
  ◊	
  1/2 of the whipped cream. 
  • 
  Repeat for a second set of layers. 
  • 
  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, to allow the flavors to mingle and the texture to set. 
  • 
  Serve, preferably with a fine wine, or (if you’re truly decadent!) a glass or two of absinthe.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  68
  Tuna and Salmon Poke
  The Kopa Loei are not known for their friendliness to outsiders, particularly given the 
  horrible things that haoles like me have done to them in the past. Still, the phrase, “the enemy of 
  my enemy is my friend,” is universal, and while I doubt that the Brethren will ever be welcomed 
  into the most sacred places in the Pacific islands, some of the Kopa Loei – such as Kai Kalawai’a 
  and his brother Makanui – are at least willing to embrace the idea of strategic alliances. Perhaps 
  my darker skin, which still marks me a haole, but at least not a white one, had something to do 
  with their friendlier attitude. In my case, what began as a tentative and even somewhat hostile 
  relationship with people who didn’t want me there, and who resented having to ask for my help, 
  has developed over the course of years into a strong partnership and even a budding friendship. 
  Food, as ever, played a critical role in this evolution.
  All things die so that something else may eat, and there is a magnificent power in eating 
  something that you’ve caught, hunted, or harvested yourself. Some of my Brethren understand 
  this, having grown up on farms or in hunting communities themselves, but the overwhelming 
  majority of people I’ve met in my life truly have no idea that this connection between life, 
  death, and food even exists. The Kalawai’ans and their community, by contrast, try to source 
  as much of the stuff of their lives from the sea and the land as possible;  while I worked with 
  them, then, I was just as responsible as the others for bringing in the catch of yellowtail and 
  tuna that would feed us all. Kai and Makanui taught me how to gut and clean those fish. When 
  that rather messy task was done, my hosts mixed up a brilliant marinade, tossed the cubed and 
  sliced fish in along with some sweet onion and other things, and served the lot over freshly 
  steamed rice and salad greens.
  Poke, as this distinctively Hawai’ian dish is called, seems to be everywhere you look these 
  days. More health-conscious diners create demand for simple, healthy, and delicious food such 
  as this. That’s fine, I suppose – but, as I’ve mentioned before, the temptation to “elevate” or 
  “chef up” food means that the simplicity of the poke made in a little beachside shack on Maui 
  gets lost beneath spicy aioli sauces, crunchy tempura toppings, and bright pink pickled ginger. 
  Ultimately, if you can’t get to Hawai’i, then the best poke is really to be had in your own 
  kitchen with uncomplicated and fresh ingredients. In this recipe, yellowtail (which is a tough 
  ingredient to source outside of the Northern Pacific) has been substituted with salmon, which 
  is considerably more accessible.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  69
  Recipe Notes
  The most important ingredient in this recipe is the fish. Your best bet is to purchase 
  sashimi-grade fish for this, but you could also purchase frozen fish and use that. 
  It is critical, however, that your tuna have as few white streaks as possible. This is 
  connective tissue that can make your fish tough and chewy.
  Traditional ‘alaea salt has a red color and an earthier flavor than ordinary salt. In 
  addition to its culinary uses, ‘alaea is also used in traditional Hawai’ian ceremonies 
  like ritual cleansings or healing. If you can’t find it, coarse Hawai’ian sea salt is the 
  next best thing. If you don’t have either, coarse kosher salt is perfectly acceptable.
  Some people enjoy adding other ingredients to their poke. Experiment with a 
  little avocado, jalapeno, spicy aioli, fish roe, or wasabi; however, when adding 
  ingredients, do so one at a time, and in small quantities, tasting after each addition. 
  The fish is the star of the show here. You don’t want to upstage it!
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  70
  Tuna and Salmon Poke 
  Ingredients
  1/2 lb [226 g] tuna steaks; and /or...
  1/2 lb [226 g] salmon fillets
  1/4 cup sweet onion, thinly sliced
  1/4 cup scallions, sliced thinly on the bias
  2 cloves garlic, minced
  2 tsp toasted black sesame seeds (white seeds will also work)
  2 tsp roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts (chopped and toasted)
  3 tbsp soy sauce
  2 tbsp sesame oil
  1/4 to 1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt (or, if you can get it, Hawaiian ‘alaea)
  1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  Preparation
  • 
  Slice the tuna (and /or salmon): Using a sharp knife, cut the fish into 1-inch cubes. 
  Place in a large bowl. 
  • 
  Combine all ingredients. Add the onions, garlic, sesame seeds, macadamia nuts, soy 
  sauce, sesame oil, salt, and red-pepper flakes. Gently mix until thoroughly combined.
  • 
  Cover and refrigerate: Cover the poke with plastic wrap and refrigerate, for a minimum 
  of 2 hours, or up to 2 days.
  • 
  Serve over warm – but not hot – steamed white rice. You may wish to add some salad 
  greens to the bowl, or serve over chilled glass noodles.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  71
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  72
  Southern-Style Hoppin’ John,  
  Collard Greens, and Gullah Seasonings 
  One of the things I love most about the Enlightened is how amazingly diverse we are. There 
  is literally no place on Earth that does not have people who have been Awakened. While the 
  miserable and brutal events that ripped native West Africans from freedom and transported 
  them to slavery in the Americas served to nearly destroy the ancient magickal traditions of 
  the Ngoma, one of the happy results of that awful time has been the emergence of diaspora 
  communities that have adapted and carried these traditions forward into the new world and 
  now into a new century.
  Dawanda Hopewell is a storyteller and Geechee Gullah Ring Shouter who hails from a 
  tiny town called Hog Hammock, on Sapelo Island in coastal Georgia. The Gullah and Geechee 
  peoples are responsible for creating and developing the foundation of what most folk now 
  know as American Southern, Low-Country cuisine. This culture is remarkably rich, and the 
  centerpiece of that culture is rice. The Africans who were abducted and forced into labor in the 
  coastal Southeast were highly valued as cultivars of rice in their native lands. Along with the 
  “holy trinity” of onion, bell pepper, and celery, plus a dizzying array of spices and seasonings, 
  the Gullah-Geechee managed to transform a simple food staple into an art form.
  Dawanda and I were thrown together by circumstance in Savannah, when my brothers and I 
  happened to be investigating a human-trafficking ring run by Fallen agents operating in the area. 
  Dawanda and her American Ngoma community provided us with no small amount of support 
  and intelligence. As our partnership deepened into friendship, we had several opportunities to 
  create magick in the kitchen. She introduced me to the famous Gullah dish Hoppin’ John: not 
  the mushy, bland concoction of canned black-eyed peas and rice that some folk in America eat 
  on New Year’s Day, but a ridiculously simple but amazingly flavorful pilaf featuring old-fashioned 
  smoked bacon, Carolina Gold rice, and heirloom red cowpeas cooked together in one pot “until 
  the rice takes on the purple color of the peas, and each grain stands apart.” Dawanda added pork 
  sausage to hers along with her own Gullah Seasoning, which I’ve also documented here. Because 
  this dish is traditionally served with collard greens, I’ve included her recipe for those as well.
  Oh, and if you don’t know what a Ring Shouter is, look them up. Better yet, go to a concert 
  if you have the opportunity. You will not be disappointed!
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  73
  Get the Good Stuff! 
  Quality ingredients are central to this recipe. Thankfully, in this digital age, finding 
  these ingredients is not as difficult as it used to be. 
  Anson Mills (www.ansonmills.com) is responsible for fully resurrecting the once-
  assumed-lost Carolina Gold variety of rice. Seriously. Read about it on their 
  website, as this is a remarkable piece of agricultural preservation and research. 
  Because this is the rice that the originators of this recipe used, it’s worth your while 
  to seek it out. This rice is, quite literally, magical as it cooks differently depending 
  upon the method used. A 14 oz package sells for about $7.00 US. Anson Mills 
  also sells an heirloom variety of Sea Island red peas. A 14 oz package sells for 
  about $6.00 US.
  Let’s talk about bacon. The smoked pork belly that our ancestors ate was rich, 
  incredibly flavorful, and well-layered with fat: a far cry, flavor-wise, from what is 
  sold in most grocery stores, particularly in the US; if you can, take the time to seek 
  out bacon and pork belly produced in the old-fashioned way (just smoke and salt) 
  in your area. Farmer Girl Meats (www.farmergirlmeats.com) sells a Heritage Pork 
  Bacon that is salt-cured and hickory smoked. It sells for about $13.00 US per pound. 
  Beware the “Struggle Greens”
  Some cooks, inexplicably, choose to add all kinds of things to greens that either 
  overpower the flavor, or alter the texture, of these wonderful vegetables. Don’t 
  get on the struggle-bus with your greens! Resist the temptation to do the following 
  things:
  •  Add water. Greens will release their own liquid as they cook. If you start 
  with a concentrated stock that fills your pot about 1/3 to 1/2 full, and you 
  have your heat low enough, you will have plenty of liquid and should end 
  up with delicious concentrated pot liquor.
  •  Add onions or garlic. Collards don’t need the flavor-help from these two 
  agents. Plus, when you add them, they tend to make the greens taste bitter, 
  which is why people…
  •  Add sugar or vinegar. Folks do this, even when they haven’t used onions or 
  garlic, to “help” the flavor of summer collards, which tend to be tougher and 
  not as flavorful as those grown and picked in cooler weather. Unfortunately, 
  if you add sugar while the greens are cooking, it tends to burn, lending that 
  burnt flavor to your whole pot. Furthermore, adding vinegar produces exactly 
  the opposite of the desired effect, making the greens gummy or rubbery… 
  not to mention overwhelming the flavor of the greens themselves.
  Trust in the simplicity of your concentrated stock and the greens themselves to 
  give your collards a delicious flavor… though if you want to crumble some crispy 
  bacon over top of ‘em, I won’t be the one to stop you!
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  74
  Hoppin’ John
  Ingredients
  1 lb [454 g] slab-smoked and salted pork belly or bacon (cut into cubes)
  1 lb [454 g] smoked sausage (sliced or chopped)
  2 1/2 cups dry, Sea Island red peas (cow peas or pigeon peas may be substituted)
  2 1/2 cups Carolina gold rice
  1 cup of chopped Vidalia onion
  1 cup of chopped celery 
  1/2 cup each of chopped red and green bell peppers 
  3 quarts [3 l] of chicken or pork stock 
  garlic (about 3-4 cloves, chopped)
  Gullah Seasoning (see below)
  minced green parsley and chopped scallions for garnish
  Preparation
  The Night Before
  • 
  Wash and sort the dry peas, and then soak them in cold water in the refrigerator overnight.
  The Day of Preparation
  • 
  Chop the bacon into cubes, and brown in a large Dutch oven or stock pot over medium-
  high heat. Remove the solid bits, and then reserve them for later. 
  • 
  Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to the rendered fat, and allow to 
  sweat until the onion is translucent. Add a healthy pinch or two of Gullah Seasoning 
  and a bay leaf, and stir until the seasonings become very fragrant. Pour in the stock, 
  and allow it to come to a steaming simmer.
  • 
  Meanwhile, drain and rinse the peas. Add them to the hot stock, cover, and allow it all to cook at a 
  very low boil until about half-done. Test after about 20 minutes, then again in 10-minute increments. 
  • 
  While the peas are cooking, rinse and drain the rice. When the peas are about half-done, 
  re-introduce the browned bacon and the smoked sausage. Allow to cook together until the 
  peas are almost done. Test the flavor of the stock, and add salt and seasoning to taste. 
  • 
  Incorporate the rice, and allow it to boil with the peas, bacon, and sausage for about 
  half an hour.
  At this point, you can do one of two things: 
  ◊	
  You can either turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting, cover the pot, and 
  let the mixture steam until the rice grains stand separate and apart from each other… 
  ◊	
  Or you can preheat the oven to º175 or º200 F [º80 - º95 C], and when the rice has 
  cooked for half an hour, place a lid on the pot and transfer it to the oven where 
  the mixture can steam. I prefer the second method, as the heat is low and even 
  around the pot, preventing the bottom from scorching. 
  Patience is the key to producing a Hoppin’ John that is light, fluffy, and flavorful instead 
  of mushy and unappealing.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  75
  Gullah Seasoning
  Ingredients
  About 3 tbsp each of:
  onion powder
  garlic powder
  ground celery seed
  ground black pepper
  paprika
  About 2 tsp each of:
  ground ginger
  ground bay leaf
  About 1 tsp each of:
  allspice
  cinnamon
  mustard powder
  salt
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix together well, and store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. This mixture 
  will also keep in the freezer for up to a year. Feel free to tweak the amounts based on 
  the flavors you enjoy. Gullah cooking is not usually done by measurement, but by 
  flavor and “feel.”
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  76
  Collard Greens
  Ingredients
  1-2 large bunches collard greens
  1 bunch kale or chard
  1 bunch turnip or mustard greens
  1 package smoked pork neck bones
  2 cups chicken stock
  water
  salt
  pepper
  bacon fat
  hot sauce (optional)
  Preparation
  • 
  Place the neck bones in a large pot with just enough cold water to cover them. Bring the 
  pot to a simmer /low boil over medium heat, and cook until the meat is just about done.
  • 
  While the pork stock is cooking, wash and de-stem your greens. (Some people enjoy 
  the stems, but depending on the season, those stems can be bitter and woody. If you 
  choose to use the stems, chop them in a 1/4-inch dice [6.4 mm].) Then cut the leaves 
  into about 2-inch wide [50 mm] diagonal strips.
  • 
  Add a generous amount of salt (about two teaspoons) and pepper (about 1 1/2 teaspoons). 
  Slowly add your greens until they are all in the pot. Next, pour in your two cups of chicken 
  stock, and spoon in a generous amount of bacon fat. If you don’t have bacon fat close 
  at hand, you can cube up a stick of butter and toss that in.
  • 
  Cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally for about one hour, until greens are tender. 
  • 
  When transferring the greens to a serving dish, be sure to gather up some of the meat 
  from the neckbones. Put a bottle of hot sauce or pepper vinegar on the table for folks 
  who like a bit of a kick with their greens!
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  77
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  78
  Beef Wellingtons, with Spinach,  
  Caramelized Onions, and Blue Stilton Cheese
  A few years ago, near Yuletide, I received an invitation from Lord William Fourtnoy, a 
  Hermetic acquaintance living in York, to attend a Christmas dinner with him, his students, 
  and a few other friends. It is a rare invitation, indeed, to enter the exclusive and secretive inner 
  circle of the storied Order of Alchemy and Magick in this ancient Northern-English city, and it 
  is doubly exciting when that invitation comes during the Solstice season. I was given instructions 
  as to where I would be met by my guide and at what time. I was even given a phrase by which 
  I would be able to recognize said guide, as well as a phrase to say in return! While I recognize 
  that such secrecy is steeped in tradition and developed out of necessity, I have to say that the 
  idea of the whole cloak-and-dagger process was loads of fun.
  At the appointed time and place, I was met by a stone-faced young man who asked me 
  my name. When I told him, he asked, “How were you brought in?” I replied as I had been 
  instructed to do. At my response, the young man’s demeanor softened considerably: “Then be 
  ye welcome, Brother of the Art.” He smiled and bade me accompany him, apologizing politely 
  for the necessity of the blindfold. 
  Now, the Gifts bestowed upon me by the Divine Fire grant that I am rarely, if ever, 
  misdirected or lost. That said, my journey with Liam was the most disorienting journey I’ve 
  taken in all my days. No matter how I tried, as we walked down darkened streets and turned 
  corner after corner, I could not, for the life of me, orient myself to any cardinal direction or 
  form a connection between Liam and our destination. I suspect that this is because Liam was 
  taking us on a careful path between the worlds, and I am almost certain that this is where Lord 
  Fourtnoy hides his sanctum from the prying eyes of the mundane world.
  Upon arrival, and with the removal of the blindfold, the feeling of disorientation lifted and 
  I found myself in a lovely, warm, and elegant entry hallway. Liam showed me into the library 
  where Lord Fourtnoy, guests, and students were gathered: some around the bright, roaring fire 
  in the fireplace, others chatting quietly by the bookcases or seated in comfortable conversation 
  chairs dotted around the room. On this occasion, I was not at all privy to witnessing the actual 
  cooking, being a guest and all. After about half an hour, during which a few more individuals and 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  79
  their guides joined us in the library, a 
  tall, somber butler gravely announced 
  that dinner was served. We adjourned to 
  the dining room, where the scene looked 
  like something straight out of Downton 
  Abbey: tuxedoed footmen, glittering crystal 
  chandeliers, gleaming silverware, fine china, 
  and all! A full seven-course meal was served, “soup 
  to nuts,” but the stars of the table were the individual 
  beef wellingtons served to each guest, browned and 
  deftly decorated with pastry holly leaves. They were so 
  delicious and delightful that I begged Lord Fortnoy to 
  have his cook write down his recipe and method. He 
  was most happy to do so, and although it features the 
  Order’s requisite complexity, I have recorded it here. This 
  particular dish is a production and definitely something 
  to serve for an extra-special occasion!
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  80
  Beef Wellingtons, with Spinach,  
  Caramelized Onions, and Blue Stilton Cheese
  Prepare the components of the Wellingtons the day before, or the morning, before you intend 
  to assemble them. Once assembled, freeze them for at least six to eight hours (ideally overnight) 
  and up to a week. Make sure you have plenty of room in your freezer before starting. 
  Ingredients
  For the Pastry 
  3 1-lb [454 g] packages of frozen puff pastry (6 sheets, total)
  10-inch [254 mm] round pizza pan or cake pan (as a template)
  flour (for rolling) 
  For the Mushrooms 
  2 large portabella mushrooms, with stems removed 
  olive oil
  2 cloves of garlic, minced
  1/2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, lightly chopped 
  1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, lightly chopped
  coarse salt and black pepper 
  For the Onions 
  1/2 of a stick of butter 
  3 medium onions, thinly sliced 
  1/2 cup medium-dry sherry
  coarse salt and black pepper 
  For the Spinach and Cheese
  1 large package fresh baby spinach (14-16 oz [397-454 g])
  1/4 of a stick of butter 
  6 oz [170 g] Stilton cheese
  For the Filets
  6 center-cut beef tenderloin portions, 5 to 6 oz [141-170 g] each
  coarse salt and black pepper 
  3/4 cup olive oil
  For Assembly
  egg wash made from 2 eggs, whisked together lightly with 1 tsp water 
  flour 
  parchment paper, ruler, and pencil
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  81
  Preparation
  Step 1. Prepare the Pastry
  • 
  Roll out each pastry sheet to about 1/4 inch [6.4 mm] thick and, placing the cake pan 
  or pizza pan over the pastry as a template, cut out a 10-inch [254 mm] round using a 
  very sharp knife. 
  • 
  From the scraps, cut out holly leaves or other decorative shapes. 
  • 
  Layer the pastry rounds (and the decorations) between pieces of parchment paper, wrap 
  the entire bundle in plastic wrap, or place inside a very large, zippered freezer bag, and 
  freeze again. 
  Step 2. Cook the Mushrooms
  • 
  In a small bowl, toss the portabellas with about 1/4 cup of olive oil, garlic, thyme, and 
  rosemary.
  • 
  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for two hours. 
  • 
  After that time, the mushrooms will have soaked up most of the marinade. 
  • 
  Season with salt and pepper. 
  • 
  Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom 
  of the pan, and sear the mushrooms on both sides until they’ve softened and browned. 
  • 
  Place on paper towels, turning once to drain both sides. When the mushrooms are cool, cut 
  them in half, and then cut the halves into strips about 1/2 an inch [13 mm] thick.
  Step 3. Caramelize the Onions
  • 
  Melt the butter in a heavy sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions, reduce the 
  heat to medium low, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very 
  brown, soft, and sweet. 
  • 
  Add the sherry and cook until the pan is dry. Season with salt and pepper, then set 
  aside to cool.
  • 
  Once cooled, place the onions in a colander, and then set the colander in a bowl to 
  catch any offset liquid. Cover and refrigerate. 
  Step 4. Prepare the Spinach
  • 
  If you purchased loose spinach (not pre-washed and packaged), then wash the spinach 
  until there is no longer any sand or silt at the bottom of the sink. Remove any stems. 
  • 
  Before you start cooking, fill a large bowl with ice and cold, fresh water. Next, heat a 
  large pan over medium high heat, and add a tiny amount of water, half of the butter, 
  and a pinch of salt. When the pan is hot, add half the spinach, and toss just until wilted. 
  • 
  Immediately put the spinach in the water bath to shock the color and stop the cooking. 
  Scoop it from the ice water, and put it in a colander to drain. Squeeze the spinach, a 
  small handful at a time, as much as you can and set it aside on paper towels to continue 
  draining. Repeat with the remaining spinach. 
  While spinach is draining, move on to Step 5.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  82
  Step 5. Prepare the Cheese and Finish the Spinach
  • 
  Using a kitchen scale, divide the cheese into six 1-oz [28 g] portions. Try slicing the whole 
  piece into six slices. If it crumbles, just evenly divide the cheese. Cover and refrigerate. 
  • 
  Return to the drained spinach. Squeeze and squeeze again, until the spinach is as dry 
  as it can be. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate.
  Step 6. Prepare the Fillets
  • 
  Generously season each portion of meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Rub the 
  seasoning into the meat to keep it in place. 
  • 
  Pour enough olive oil into a heavy pan to fully cover the bottom, and heat it until it 
  begins to smoke. 
  • 
  Working in batches, sear the filets over high heat for two minutes on each side, until 
  they’re brown and crisp on the outside. This works best when your pan is very hot;  that 
  way, you sear the meat rather than overcook it. Likewise, don’t crowd the pan, or the 
  meat will steam rather than sear. As you cook, check the sides to be sure the filets are 
  still red in the middle. You want a nice crust but a red center. 
  • 
  Once they are wrapped in the pastry and baked, they will cook to medium-rare. 
  • 
  Refrigerate the fillets until chilled, but no more than 24 hours. 
  Assembly
  Step7. Divide Your Fillings into Portions
  • 
  Take the mushrooms, onions, spinach, cheese, and filets out of the refrigerator and 
  arrange them on your counter. 
  • 
  Divide the portabella strips into six portions. Make sure the caramelized onions are well 
  drained, and divide them into six portions too. Squeeze the spinach again, divide it into 
  six portions as well, and leave it on paper towels for any further draining. 
  Step 8. Shape Your Pastry
  • 
  Cover a large rimmed baking sheet (that fits in your freezer) with parchment paper. 
  Have a ruler, a small sharp knife, and a pastry brush on hand. 
  • 
  Prepare your egg wash. Lightly flour one area of your counter. 
  • 
  Pull a pastry round and a few decorative pieces from the freezer and set them on the 
  floured surface. Work quickly to maintain the integrity of the pastry. 
  • 
  Lightly	score	a	4	x	3-inch	[101	x	76	mm]	rectangle	in	the	center	of	the	round;	don’t	cut	
  through the pastry. Extend the lines of the rectangle and cut out the corners of the 
  round created by the line extensions, leaving a cross of pastry with a 4 x 3-inch [101 x 
  76 mm] center. Save the scraps to cut out extra decorations, if needed. 
  Step 9. Assemble Your Wellingtons
  • 
  Give a spinach portion one last squeeze, and spread half of it over the rectangle of 
  pastry. Follow with a portion of blue cheese, a portion of onions, a filet, a portion of 
  portabellas in one layer, and the rest of the spinach portion. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  83
  • 
  Spread each layer as evenly as possible. 
  • 
  Brush a light coating of the egg wash on each of the four panels of dough. 
  • 
  Check to be sure that the pastry is now pliable enough to fold without breaking;  wait 
  a minute or two, if necessary.
  • 
   Fold each side panel onto the top, stretching the dough a bit if necessary to make the 
  ends meet, or slightly overlapping if necessary. Follow suit with the top and bottom 
  panels. Seal the panels together by pressing in the top panel where it meets the bottom 
  panel, and by pinching each of the four sides together where the panels meet. 
  • 
  Don’t worry if the package doesn’t look pretty; it is far more important that it is well-sealed 
  so the juices don’t leak out. Hold the package upright in your hands, securing all the seals 
  and smoothing the rough spots to make the package into a neat, rounded block. 
  • 
  Set it seam-side down, and gently press the top and sides to make them as even all the 
  way around as possible. 
  • 
  Brush the top and all sides with egg wash. Put the decorations on top, and brush again 
  with egg wash. (When the pastries are baked, but before serving them, you will be cutting 
  the package in half, so place the decorations with this eventuality in mind.) 
  • 
  Set the Wellington on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Put the pan in the freezer to 
  set and chill the pastry. Repeat with the five remaining Wellingtons, adding each one 
  to the pan in the freezer as you go. 
  • 
  After they chill for an hour, wrap each one tightly in plastic, and return them to the freezer. 
  Baking and Serving
  • 
  Heat the oven to º400 F [º204 C]. Make another egg wash. Remove the Wellingtons 
  from the freezer (do not thaw), and brush them with a fresh coat of egg wash. 
  • 
  Put them on a lightly greased, rimmed heavy baking sheet, and cook for 20 minutes. 
  • 
  Reduce the heat to º350 F [º177 C], and cook until the internal temperature is º110 F 
  [º43 C] (be sure the tip of the thermometer is inserted in the center of the package), 
  about another 35 to 40 minutes. 
  • 
  Set them aside to rest for no longer than 10 minutes;  any longer, and the beef will 
  overcook. 
  • 
  Cut each Wellington in half, arrange on warm plates, and serve immediately.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  84
  Coyote Cannibal Stew 
  Traveling the world as I do, one encounters many… shall we say, unexpected moral dimensions. 
  For most of us, the idea of cannibalism – the eating of one’s one kind for sustenance – is 
  abhorrent. I share this view, of course. And yet, the eating of meat is a common feature in almost 
  every sort of traditional human cuisine. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this book, all forms 
  of life exist at the expense of other forms of life. We humans, omnivores by nature and design, 
  hunt, raise, and kill other animals for our meat. Not all cultures, however, have restricted their 
  choice of meat “animals” to non-human species. Either for reasons of starvation and necessity, 
  ritual practices, warlike traditions in which the enemy becomes literal prey for the warriors, 
  or even in certain near-taboo forms of ancestral communion, human beings do sometimes 
  eat our own kind. The idea is repugnant to me, obviously, and yet certain people (and certain 
  mages) do not agree with a more “civilized” impression of where the line between “edible” and 
  forbidden meats is drawn. 
  I encountered Ashpaw Ten Sticks during an especially wild gathering, of the sort I don’t 
  usually attend. Brethren business, though, leads us to unusual alliances, especially in these 
  strange days, and so I met Ashpaw and her “tribe” during one of the many “burn”-style events 
  that prosper in the wake of Nevada’s notorious Burning Man festival. It’s not my cup of tea, 
  of course, but I like to think I’ve retained a fairly open mind without succumbing to the many 
  pitfalls of our Enlightened world. I kept reminding myself to focus my attentions several inches 
  above Ashpaw’s bare chest throughout the festival, remembering that many of my own ancestors 
  held different standards of “modesty” than the ones I learned on my family’s farm back home. 
  As we talked, she shared with me a rather delicious, hearty meal that she had been cooking as 
  I spoke to Ashpaw and her companions. “What is this?” I asked her. 
  Ashpaw laughed. “Cannibal stew.” 
  It did not, thank all that’s holy, contain human meat. That sort of “communion” would 
  have had an unfortunate effect on our meeting that night. Still, once I had ascertained that we 
  were not consuming the remains of some unfortunate hitchhiker, the ensuing debate around that 
  campsite left me with a deeper appreciation for – if not agreement with – the ethical questions 
  involved in eating meat, and the sources from which that might come. 
  As I mentioned in this book’s Introduction, my family sourced our meat from the local 
  butcher. He was a family friend of ours, though, and everyone I knew back then understood, 
  whether or not they slaughtered their own animals, that the adorable calf you had raised by 
  hand might wind up on your dinner table within a year or two… and probably would, more often 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  85
  than not. Much as we loved our dogs, cats, and horses (often retaining a certain fondness for the 
  other animals as well), the fact that certain animals were meant to be eaten – and would be eaten, 
  eventually, by someone else if not by us – was an inescapable part of life on 
  a farm. Most families we knew hunted their own venison and rabbit, and 
  the messy business of a butcher’s trade was common knowledge, if not 
  daily experience, for all of us. 
  We would, of course, draw the line at 
  eating people. 
  Not everyone does that, though. Or 
  maybe they just draw that line differently. 
  In Ashpaw’s words: “Everything is a person. 
  And everything is eatable. When we eat 
  people, we must honor them;  each vegetable, 
  each grain, each plant, each fruit, each meat. This 
  is true when working in them with ways other than 
  eating them as well, but since eating is what we’re 
  talking about right now, that’s what I’m focusing on.” 
  The word cannibal comes from a name given to the 
  Carib people of the region named for them. Spanish chroniclers 
  insisted that the Caribs ate human meat, and while the truth behind 
  that claim remains debatable (the Spanish, of course, conquered, 
  enslaved, and massacred those people… and did the same to my 
  people too, for that matter), the name has, as the saying goes, 
  stuck since then. 
  Let’s be clear: I am not advocating eating people. 
  For me, speaking as a Christian, the ethos against 
  eating other human beings is clearly established in 
  the Bible, as well as by what we typically consider 
  common decency. Ashpaw and her companions, 
  however, raised troubling questions about the ethics involved 
  in eating other animals to which we have attributed human-
  like qualities. Modern science and ancient tradition both hold 
  that non-human animals still have conscious awareness, a sense 
  of self, the ability to reason in some abstract fashion, and the 
  undeniable social connections that we think of as friends and family. Is it 
  then, Ashpaw argued, somehow more “moral” to consider such beings our 
  food, and yet to hold ourselves above that standard too? Other animals eat 
  us when they can, she insisted, and so what is it that makes us more ethically 
  superior to those animals when we raise, stalk, and slaughter them? Despite 
  my assertion that it is the soul God has given each of us that makes us 
  different, history and culture do not always offer such clear answers. 
  It’s not my place, in this cookbook, to present a detailed history 
  of cannibalism, or to argue its pros and cons from an objective 
  perspective. I must admit, though, that the meal Ashpaw referred to 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  86
  as “Coyote cannibal stew” (named for her relationship with an especially dubious trickster spirit 
  from certain Native American traditions, as well as for its literally “catch as catch can” composition) 
  was both delicious to eat and intriguing to consider after eating it. What is it that makes us find the 
  idea of eating cows and pigs acceptable, and yet the idea of eating dogs or monkeys (traditionally 
  common in many parts of the world even now), much less human beings, so appalling? Once 
  raised while we were eating the meat of various dead animals, that question did not seem nearly 
  as simple as it might seem otherwise. 
  Meat, obviously, is the essential ingredient in Coyote cannibal stew. The meal we shared that 
  night featured copious amounts of venison, beef, rabbit, a bit of bison meat, and mostly pork. 
  Ashpaw informed me that “pork recipes should be easily converted to human meat, provided 
  you’re paying attention to whether it’s a white- or dark-meat pork recipe and which cut of a human 
  you have.” I would prefer to think that she was kidding, but given some of the magi I’ve met in my 
  travels, I am not entirely certain she was. Ashpaw is no Nephandus;  believe me, I used my own 
  gifts to make sure of that! Still, there are many sinister corners of the Enlightened world that have 
  nothing to do with the Fallen, and many traditions of human cuisine that are… well, “distasteful” 
  really is the right word for it… to a modern sensibility. Obviously, I cannot in any sort of conscience 
  recommend eating human meat to my readers. That said, the multitude of non-human meats in 
  this stew makes for a tasty combination. As for whether or not it is somehow more “moral” to eat 
  non-human animals but not human ones, I side with the idea that it is immoral (not to mention 
  impractical) to cannibalize our fellow human beings, though to be honest the question troubles me 
  more than I had expected it to do.
  Cannibal Stew
  Ingredients 
  3 lbs [1.36 kg] bones and connective tissue
  1 1/2 lbs [680 g] pigs’ feet
  1 or 2 beef heart(s)
  1 1/2 lbs [680 g] pork loin, bison, rabbit, and /or venison
  2 lbs [907 g] dark-meat pork (with skin attached)
  1 sweet onion
  1 white onion
  1/2 purple /red onion
  1/2 yellow onion
  3 red potatoes
  3 gold or yellow potatoes
  3 small white potatoes
  olive oil
  salt (to taste)
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  87
  Preparation
  • 
  Preheat oven to º500 F [º260 C]. Lay the bones and pigs’ feet into roasting pan(s). Thank 
  them for their sacrifice, and mean it. Salt the meat liberally.
  • 
  Roast at º500 [º260] for 45 minutes. Drop oven temperature to º300 F [º150 C], and 
  cook the meat for 2 more hours. If drippings in the pan look like they might burn, add 
  1/2 cup water to the bottom of the roasting pan(s).
  • 
  Thank the onions. Chop the onions. Cover the bottom of your favorite soup pot with 
  olive oil, and then stir in onions and salt. Let them begin to soften on the lowest setting 
  of your stove.
  • 
  Pick one of each kind of potato;  clean, thank, and chop. Add to onions. Stir occasionally, 
  and let the vegetables sweat.
  • 
  When the vegetables have released their juices, add bones, connective tissue, and feet. 
  Let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Avoid burning.
  • 
  Add water to fill the pot. Bring to a boil, and then lower to a slow simmer. Keep an eye 
  on things, and add water if the stew is in danger of burning.
  • 
  Place pork loin, dark-meat pork with skin, and beef hearts in roasting pan(s). Salt liberally. 
  Thank them. Ask the people who were the hearts for strength. Roast at º500 [º260] for 
  40 minutes. Drop to º300 [º150] for 2 hours. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool 
  until you can handle them without burning yourself. Let them rest for at least 20 minutes.
  • 
  If you wish, remove the bones from the soup. Ashpaw prefers to leave them in.
  • 
  Chop up the roasted meat, and add to simmering pot of broth.
  • 
  Clean, thank, and chop the remaining potatoes, and add them to the pot. Add salt and 
  other seasonings if you want them. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. Add water 
  as needed.
  
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  88
  Lahanodolmades 
  There’s a special sort of wonder in the streets of Greece. Maybe it’s simply because I’m 
  an American, but the experience of walking among buildings that are thousands of years old, 
  surrounded on all sides by ghosts and legends at the heart of Western civilization, never fails to 
  humble me. The people of Greece (or, as they know it, Hellas) are impressive, too: passionate, 
  generous, charismatic, and so beautiful it almost hurts to look at them. My host during a 
  “business trip” in Piraeus (the port district of Athens) was named Nina, a so-called “wolf-sister” 
  among the often-secretive Amazons known to some people as Sisters gathered under the name 
  of their legendary queen, Hippolyta. 
  Greece’s fortunes, like those of so many other nations, have fallen drastically in the last few 
  years. Political and economic chaos left the nation’s finances in ruins, and riots have become 
  a weekly – sometimes even daily – event in the streets of Hellas. Naturally, this makes Greece a 
  haven for the Fallen Ones and their pawns. And so, Nina and I – in the uneasy company of her 
  Sisters of Hippolyta, who have a long, uneasy relationship with my Brethren – hunted them from 
  the hot stone streets of the Plaka, in the shadow of the Acropolis, to the smoke-filled nightclubs 
  of maze-like Athens, the jagged cliffs beside the Temple of Poseidon, and the eerie “forest of 
  the satyrs” near Cithaeron. Fire, swords, guns, and magic drove them from their hiding places 
  among right-wing political factions and anarchist cells, corrupted temples and graffiti-scarred 
  mansions. In between those hunts, we shared vehement debates about belief and language and 
  one’s relationship with what these pagan women regard as their gods. Obviously, we had to – 
  as the saying goes – “agree to disagree” about our respective paths to Divinity. That said, these 
  Sisters of Hippolyta have as much courage and integrity as any man I’ve met, and far more than 
  most. And Greek food, as Nina demonstrated during our campaign, is a glorious thing to share 
  among kindred spirits, whether or not one calls them “family.” 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  89
  As Fresh as Fresh Can Be
  During my stay in Athens, Nina and I shopped in the street markets ubiquitous in 
  many Greek cities and towns. Sure, Greek people buy food in the supermarkets 
  just like Americans do; whenever possible, though, that food is best purchased in 
  a reputable street market, often from the people who grew it themselves. Freshness 
  really does make a huge difference in the taste and quality of food! 
  The experience of buying fresh produce from farmers and their families had me 
  feeling oddly homesick. Despite our differences of language (spoken Greek, by 
  the way, sounds nothing like what we Americans think it sounds like), faith, and 
  temperament, my grocery-shopping trips with Nina and her Sisters felt very much 
  like home.
  
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  90
  Lahanodolmades (Cabbage Rolls)
  Ingredients
  1 big cabbage
  1 lb [454 g] beef mince
  1 onion, chopped
  dill, finely chopped
  2 cups olive oil
  1 cup white rice
  juice of 2 lemons
  2 egg whites
  2 cups water
  4-5 tbsp white flour
  salt (to taste)
  pepper (to taste)
  Preparations
  • 
  Bring a large pot of water (about 2/3 filled) to a boil, and add some salt. 
  • 
  Core the cabbage by using a small knife to cut around the stem and then popping the 
  core out with the tip of the knife. This will create a hole in the cabbage, which will allow 
  the leaves to come out easily during parboiling. 
  • 
  Put the cabbage in the water until the leaves are tender. Make sure to not boil the 
  cabbage, only parboil it. 
  • 
  After allowing it to cool down somewhat (so as not to burn your hands), carefully peel 
  the cabbage, layer by layer, reserving the leaves and placing them in a strainer. Let the 
  leaves cool down. 
  • 
  Put the beef mince in a large bowl. Pour one of the two cups of olive oil in a deep skillet, 
  and sauté the onion. After it has cooled down, combine it with the mince, along with 
  salt, pepper, and dill. Mix well, add the uncooked rice, and mix again.
  • 
  Lay a cabbage leaf flat on your working surface, and place about a tablespoon of the 
  mixture at the bottom. Wrap once, fold the sides inwards to secure the mixture, and 
  roll upwards to create your cabbage roll.
  • 
  Place the rolls inside a wide saucepan, in a circular pattern. If necessary, start a new 
  layer. Add 2 cups of water, some salt and the remaining olive oil. 
  • 
  Place a large, flat dish on top of the cabbage rolls (this will keep them from unfolding 
  during cooking), and cover the saucepan.
  • 
  Cook over low heat for about 45-60 minutes. Make sure both the cabbage and stuffing 
  are cooked. Remove the broth, and reserve it in a bowl. 
  • 
  In a different saucepan, combine the flour and 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium 
  heat, mixing well with an egg beater. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  91
  • 
  After 2-3 minutes, add the remaining broth (and water, if need be) until the consistency 
  of the mixture turns creamy. 
  • 
  Beat the lemon juice and egg whites, until they have all thoroughly combined. Pour the 
  mix into the saucepan, season to taste, and stir. 
  • 
  Take the saucepan off the heat, and pour the egg-and-lemon mixture over the cabbage rolls. 
  
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  92
  Battenburg Cake,  
  or Gateau á la Domino 
  The London headquarters of the Society of Ether is 
  truly a magnificent place to visit, evoking the posh, smoky 
  warmth and exclusivity of a Victorian gentlemen’s club 
  without too many of the racist and sexist undertones. 
  Furthermore, the blend between historical romanticism and 
  wild, bleeding-edge science and technology can be more than 
  a little bit terrifying if one is not expecting it. The “servants” may 
  easily be mistaken for actual humans, so lifelike are these AI-driven 
  androids! Nevertheless, Etherite Society members are a friendly, 
  gregarious bunch, and while the vast majority of today’s generation 
  choose not to revel in the resurgence of the late Victorian-fashion 
  aesthetic favored by their predecessors, a small few have 
  been known to don a top hat, a bustled over-skirt, or a pair 
  of antique, lace-up boots. Thomas Church and Madeline 
  Mason – the two Peers who met me at my hotel – exhibited this 
  divergence of tastes when they arrived, Thomas wearing a gray morning 
  coat with waistcoat-and-cravat over a pair of blue jeans with what my sister 
  would call “curb-stomping boots,” and Madeline looking sleek in a smart 
  Victoria Beckham ensemble, Hermes Birkin handbag, and Prada pumps.
  Part of what makes a visit to the Society headquarters so lovely is the 
  daily tea service, which features a beautiful array of tea cakes and sandwiches, 
  as well as the requisite beverage. On my visit, Thomas introduced me to 
  the magnificent piece of alchemical equipment that is the Continental 
  balancing tea siphon. (I have since been informed that one can use it to 
  render coffee as well, but... well… why?) 
  On one side of the cherry wood base is the brewing vessel, which 
  rather resembles a parfait glass topped with a silver lid. Into the 
  brewing vessel extends the siphon, which connects to the vacuum 
  flask, itself situated to hover above a spirit lamp. A counterweight 
  sits on two metal arms which wrap around the brewing vessel and 
  attach to the vacuum flask. These arms pivot on a central metal 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  93
  column. A cloth filter is placed on the siphon filter head, and then tea leaves are spooned into 
  the brewing vessel while water is poured into the vacuum flask. Once the flask has been sealed, 
  the cap of the spirit lamp is lifted to reveal the wick. When the wick is lit, the water in the 
  vacuum flask is heated and passes through the siphon to the brewing vessel, which receives the 
  water. As the flask gets lighter, the counterbalance falls until another small mechanism causes 
  the cap of the spirit lamp to flip shut, extinguishing the flame. The cooling of the vacuum flask 
  causes the water in the brewing vessel to be drawn back up into the flask. When the process is 
  done, the tea is served by way of a small tap jutting off from the flask.
  You may well ask, Why all this process when a tea bag will suffice? The answer is in the flavor 
  of the resulting beverage. It is smooth and nuanced, without the bitterness that comes of water 
  that was too hot and thus burned the leaves. Again, I am told that the same is true of coffee 
  brewed in this fashion, but I cannot, myself, attest to that since I’m not a coffee drinker. Either 
  way, using a balancing siphon is loads of fun, and my experience with one at the Society tea left 
  an indelible, positive impression upon me. 
  Included on the menu that day was one of my all-time favorite indulgences: Battenburg cake.
  There is no shortage of mythology surrounding the origins of this iconic, parti-colored 
  sponge cake held together with apricot jam and wrapped in marzipan. The most pervasive story 
  is that the cake was commissioned to celebrate the nuptials of Princess Victoria and Prince 
  Louis of Battenburg in 1884. However, when Madeline and I discussed it with the chef, he 
  pointed us to a recipe created nearly 14 years later by Mrs. Agnes Marshall and published in her 
  popular Victorian magazine, The Table. She called this confection a Domino cake, and while 
  the standard Battenburg features four alternating blocks, hers called for six. Honestly, none 
  of that matters to me. What matters is that this cake is colorful, delicious, and well worth the 
  time and effort it takes to make it. 
  Mrs. Marshall’s gateau is actually a pound cake, and the chef modified the recipe so that 
  the cake itself is moist and delicious, with a delicate orange and cardamom flavor that marries 
  nicely with the apricot jam and the marzipan.
  The Balancing Siphon
  This is actually a thing that exists in the mundane world, and it’s a magnificent 
  piece of equipment to have if you love coffee and tea. Unfortunately, balancing 
  siphons are not cheap; they run anywhere from $120 to $190 US for the average 
  model. The Royal Coffee Co. sells completely hand-crafted and bespoke models 
  that range between $11 K and $20 K! 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  94
  Battenburg Cake, or Gateau á la Domino
  This is a two-day process, so plan accordingly
  Ingredients
  For the Cake
  1 1/2 cup butter (do not substitute)
  8 oz [227 g] organic cream cheese**
  3 cups granulated sugar
  6 large eggs
  1 tsp orange liqueur
  1/2 tsp vanilla
  1 tbsp orange zest (optional)
  3 cups all-purpose or cake flour
  1/2 tsp cardamom
  1 tsp salt
  red food coloring paste
  ** Testing of this recipe has shown that using regular cream cheese leads to strange dense streaks 
  within the finished cake. For some reason, organic cream cheese does not produce this result.
  Utensils
  2 8 x 8 x 3-inch square [200 x 200 x 76 mm] baking pans
  baking parchment
  cake tester/long toothpick
  sifter
  Preparation
  Several hours before baking, place butter, cream cheese, and eggs on the counter, and allow 
  them to come to room temperature. As much as possible, all these ingredients should be the 
  same temperature before you work with them. Resist the temptation to soften the butter in the 
  microwave;  this will make it too hot, and it will not properly behave and incorporate into the cake.
  • 
  Arrange the rest of your ingredients in place: 
  • 
  For the flour: dip out 3 cups into the sifter, and add cardamom and salt. 
  • 
  Sift into a large bowl to remove lumps. Once all flour has been sifted, measure out 3 
  cups of the flour mixture as follows: fluff with a fork, spoon flour into measuring cup, 
  then level with a knife. You do not want to pack down the flour. A light touch is best.
  • 
  Preheat the oven to º325 F [º160 C], and liberally butter two 8 x 8 x 3-inch [200 x 200 x 
  76 mm] loaf pans. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with baking parchment. There 
  are a variety of methods for doing this;  just be sure that your parchment fits snugly 
  into the corners of your pan. Once the parchment is in the pan, liberally butter the 
  parchment. You should have butter on both sides of the parchment.
  • 
  Using a food scale, measure the weight of your mixing bowl, and write it down. This will 
  be needed later when it comes time to divide the batter equally between the cake pans.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  95
  • 
  In that same large mixing bowl, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese 
  until smooth. Add in the sugar, and beat for 5-7 minutes, until the mixture is light and 
  fluffy and almost white in color. This is a vital step, so be sure to let your butter and 
  sugar cream together for at least 5 minutes.
  • 
  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. A good practice is to crack each 
  egg into a small cup or dish first, then transfer the egg into the batter. This ensures that 
  you don’t get any stray egg shells in your cake! 
  • 
  Blend in orange and vanilla flavorings, and the orange zest.
  • 
  With the mixer on low, stir in flour, about 1 cup at a time. Do not over-beat!
  • 
  Place your bowl back on the food scale, and write down the measurement. Subtract the 
  weight of the empty bowl that you recorded earlier. What remains is the weight of the 
  batter. Divide this number in half, and then add back the weight of the empty bowl to 
  the result;  this measurement will let you know when you’ve poured half of your batter.
  • 
  Pour half of the batter into one of the prepared pans (or enough to fill the pan 2/3 of 
  the way full). If you have any extra batter, set it aside. 
  • 
  Add enough red food coloring paste to the remaining batter to give it a rich pink color. 
  Pour the pink batter into the other prepared loaf pan. Tap pans on the counter to 
  eliminate any air bubbles in the batter. 
  • 
  Arrange the pans in the center of the oven and bake for 25 minutes to half-an-hour, or 
  until the smell of the cake begins to permeate the kitchen. 
  • 
  Take a cake tester or a long toothpick – anything that will extend into the center of the 
  cake – and test for doneness. When the tester comes out clean (that is, no raw cake 
  batter sticks to it), the cake is done. If your cake needs to bake a bit longer, set your 
  timer for 5-minute intervals and re-test until the cake is done.
  • 
  Allow the cake to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes. Then turn the cakes out onto 
  a wire rack and cool completely. When cool, wrap cakes in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
  Assembly and Decoration
  Additional Ingredients
  1 jar smooth apricot jam
  1 1/2 lbs [680 g] marzipan or almond paste
  powdered sugar
  pastry brush rolling pin
  Final Preparation
  • 
  With a sharp knife (and while cake is still cold), trim tops of each color cake so that 
  they are of equal size and shape. Cut each cake into four equal pieces lengthwise. You 
  should have four long rectangles of each color. Each rectangle should be as close in 
  shape and size to the others as possible.
  • 
  In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the apricot jam until it resembles syrup. 
  • 
  While the jam is heating, lightly dust rolling board and rolling pin with powdered sugar. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  96
  • 
  Roll out half of the marzipan, about 1/4-inch thick [6.4 mm], and shape it into a large 
  rectangle the length of the cake and wide enough to wrap around both sides.
  • 
  Using a pastry brush, liberally paint some apricot jam along the center of the sheet 
  of marzipan, about the width of two rectangles of cake. Paint one long edge of a plan 
  rectangle of cake and then join it to the long edge of a pink rectangle of cake. Place the 
  “glued” pieces onto the marzipan where you brushed it with jam. Brush the top of the 
  cake with jam and then place two more rectangles of cake together on top to create a 
  checkerboard effect. 
  • 
  Brush the top of the cake with jam. Next, spread jam on the sides of the marzipan, 
  leaving about 1 1/2-inch [38 mm] at the edge.
  • 
  Wrap the marzipan tightly over the sides and top of the cake, pressing to mold the 
  marzipan in place. Overlap the unpainted marzipan edges and press together to form a 
  seam. Turn the cake over so that the seam is on the bottom. “Hug” the cake with your 
  hands to ensure that the marzipan is well bonded to all sides of the cake. 
  • 
  Trim each open edge so that it is neat. If you wish, with a fork or with a fondant decorating 
  tool, score a quilted pattern on the top and sides of the cake.
  • 
  Repeat these steps with the remaining cake, jam, and marzipan. This recipe yields two 
  8 x 4 x 4-inch cakes [200 x 100 x 100 mm].
  • 
  Slice, and serve with tea.
  Variations on a Theme
  While this particular version of Battenburg cake is a traditional one, there is no 
  limit to the color-and-flavor choices you can make. I have seen chocolate and 
  coffee-flavored Battenburgs with raspberry jam, blue-and-white vanilla flavored- 
  Battenburgs with blueberry or blackberry jam. Some people like to make a flavored 
  buttercream icing and spread that on the inside of the marzipan to help it stick to 
  the cake better. Experiment, and see what flavor and color combinations tickle 
  your tastebuds best.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  97
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  98
  Sharbat, Sharbat Sorbet, Rahat Lokum,  
  and Borrage Flower Tea 
  While the modern Knights are best known for our prowess in the arts of war, many amongst 
  us are more inclined to the loving work of peace. The bloody conflicts in Syria and Iraq have made 
  refugees out of so many people, Enlightened included, 
  which means that on occasion, even we Hawks 
  are called upon to join the Doves in finding 
  food, shelter, clothing, and medical care 
  for the thousands of people who’ve been 
  displaced from their homes and lands. 
  One would think that such work 
  might be bloody miserable… and 
  it can be. Where the Weavers 
  are involved, however, joy and 
  wonder seem to permeate even 
  the most horrible scenes and 
  situations.
  I met Aydin and Fatimah 
  in a refugee center in Kilis, 
  Turkey, arguably one of the most 
  strained and overwhelmed centers 
  along the Turkish-Syrian border. 
  Aydin is a giant, barrel-chested man with 
  lush black hair and a full, luxurious 
  beard that gleams with scented 
  pomade. When he appears, it’s often 
  in a swirl of exuberant chatter. He 
  heartily greets the men he meets as 
  brothers, and seems to always produce 
  exactly what this one or that one might 
  need, out of a colorful cloth bag he carries 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  99
  slung across his back. All the children call Fatimah “Auntie,” and her presence is announced by 
  squeals, laughter, and cries of “Again! Again!” as she performs sleight-of-hand tricks to their great 
  delight. Fatimah stands tall and lean, with a lovely smile and a collection of riotously-colored 
  headscarves woven with sigils and designs that would give a Batini or a Hermetic pause. Once the 
  children are satisfied, she moves amongst the women of the camp and – as Aydin does – manages 
  to produce miracles out of a small, dusty rucksack.
  In addition to this generosity – and in spite of the magnitude of the crisis and the near 
  non-existence of anything but the bare necessities – Aydin and Fatimah somehow manage to 
  create traditional Arab and Persian desserts out of thin air, and serve them to as many people as 
  possible until they run out. My rational and Enlightened mind knows that they must be pulling 
  upon resources from a distance, but the small child in me glories in the magic and mystery of 
  watching someone produce a bit of sweetness where it is least expected. While I was in their 
  company, they made a lovely sharbat, and served it up with a light and creamy almond sorbet. 
  A few nights later, they brought around homemade raha, or rahatlokum. Though we in the West 
  know of this confection as Turkish Delight, it is popular across the Arab world, and throughout 
  the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. Fun fact: this is the precursor to the modern jelly bean, 
  though the fancier varieties feature dates and pistachios nestled in the colorful-flavored bites. 
  Thankfully, Aydin and Fatimah were kind enough to share their recipes with me, and to allow 
  me to share them with you as well.
  
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  100
  Sharbat
  Ingredients
  1 lb [454 g] of stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cherries)
  1/2 lb [227 g] strawberries
  1 1/2 cups almonds
  1 cup borrage flower tea, cooled
  4 mint leaves
  zest of 1 lemon (cut into strips that can be strained out)
  2-4 tbsp honey to taste based on the ripeness of your fruit
  1 tsp rose water
  Preparation
  • 
  Thoroughly rinse the almonds, then roughly chop them.
  • 
  Next, rinse and mash the strawberries with a potato masher. Push the mashed strawberries 
  through a fine mesh strainer, until the pulp is dried out and you have a somewhat thick 
  gelatinous strawberry “juice.” Rinse the stone fruit, cut into slices, and put them into 
  a non-reactive bowl.
  • 
  Now add the rose water, borrage tea, strawberry juice, honey, mint, and almonds to the 
  bowl with the fruit. Cover the liquid, and leave it to macerate for 8 hours (or overnight) 
  in the refrigerator.
  • 
  Strain the liquid, and pour it into a wide baking dish. Place the baking dish into the 
  freezer for 45 minutes. Remove the dish from the freezer, and scrape a fork along the 
  surface of the liquid to break up any ice crystals. Place the dish back in the freezer, 
  and take it back out every 15 minutes to scrape the crystals apart, until the mixture is 
  completely dry. 
  • 
  If you have access to an ice shaver, you can alternatively put the syrup over shaved ice. 
  This preparation is more traditional, and is the one that Aydin used at the camp.
  Strawberries aren’t  
  very Middle-Eastern...
  Traditionally, sharbat is made with pomegranate, with blue-lotus powder as a 
  thickening agent. However, finding said blue lotus powder outside the Middle 
  East is not easy, and can be prohibitively expensive. The mashed strawberry in 
  this recipe has the same flavor profile, and is much easier to acquire.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  101
  Sharbat Sorbet
  Ingredients
  fruit pulp from the sharbat solid
  almonds from the strained sharbat solids
  3 cups of borrage flower tea
  6 dates
  1/3 cup honey
  1/3 cup of granulated sugar
  Preparation
  • 
  Separate out the almonds from the remainder of the strained sharbat solids. Add the 
  almonds, the dates, and the remaining 3 cups of borrage tea to your blender, and blend 
  until it’s completely smooth.
  • 
  Put the mixture in a nut bag (or strain through several layers of cheese cloth), and push 
  out the almond milk until no more liquid is coming out. Discard the almond pulp.
  • 
  Rinse out the blender, and put the almond milk back into the blender with the stone 
  fruit from the sharbat solids, the honey, and sugar. Blend for a minute, or until the 
  mixture is completely smooth. Push the mixture through a mesh strainer with a rubber 
  spatula to remove the larger pieces of stone-fruit skin.
  • 
  Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for an hour, and then freeze in an ice cream-maker, 
  as per the manufacturer’s instructions. Serve with a scoop of the sharbat to balance the 
  sharp fruit flavor of the sharbat with the creaminess of the almond sorbet.
  
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  102
  Rahat Lokum
  Ingredients
  4 cups sugar
  1 cup cornstarch
  1 tbsp lemon juice
  1 tbsp rose water
  1 tsp cream of tartar (do not leave this out!)
  water
  food coloring
  Preparation
  • 
  Kitchen tools needed include a candy thermometer, and possibly a hand-held mixer 
  or immersion blender.
  • 
  In a heavy saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of water with the sugar and lemon juice, 
  and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Keep stirring constantly, until the sugar 
  mixture reaches º240 F [º115 C] on the candy thermometer. Immediately remove from 
  the heat, and allow the mixture to cool while you proceed to the next step.
  • 
  In another saucepan, combine 2 cups of water, the cream of tartar, and the cornstarch. 
  Whisk the mixture until it becomes smooth. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture 
  to a boil. Whisk and cook, until the mixture is the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. 
  Remove from the heat.
  • 
  A little at a time (about 1/4 to 1/2 of a cup), add the sugar mixture to the cornstarch 
  mix, and whisk to combine. Do this until you have incorporated all of the sugar syrup, 
  and the mixture is thick and smooth. Return the pan to the heat, and bring the mixture 
  to a boil once again. 
  • 
  Turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and allow the mixture to simmer for an hour, 
  stirring frequently. It will turn a lovely light-amber color.
  • 
  Remove from the heat, and add in the rose water plus a bit of food coloring.
  • 
  Lightly coat a square pan with non-stick spray, cover the bottom and sides with parchment 
  paper, and then use the non-stick spray to coat the parchment. 
  • 
  Pour in the flavored jelly, cover lightly with a kitchen towel (or another piece of oiled 
  parchment), and allow to cool completely. The jelly will be slightly sticky to the touch.
  • 
  Combine 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar with about 1/4 cup of corn starch. Liberally 
  dust your working surface with the powdered sugar, and turn out the jelly onto the 
  surface. Carefully remove the parchment (go slowly!), and dust the sticky surface with 
  powdered sugar.
  • 
  With a sharp, lightly oiled knife, cut the jelly into bite-sized pieces. 
  • 
  Drop the pieces, a few at a time, into the powdered sugar-and corn starch-mix, and toss 
  lightly to coat. Continue until all the jelly is in the sugar mix, and has been generously 
  coated.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  103
  • 
  Arrange pieces on a decorative tray to serve, or place them in an air-tight container along 
  with the remaining powdered sugar /corn starch mix. Note: Do not store this in the 
  refrigerator, as that will cause the jelly to “sweat.” It will keep quite nicely in an airtight 
  container at room temperature.
  Flavoring your Rahat Lokum
  While rose water provides the most traditional flavoring for this confection, other 
  options are just as delicious:
  orange water
  lime juice
  bergamot
  chopped dates and pistachios, with cinnamon
  Experiment with your own flavor choices. As mentioned above, rahat lokum is an 
  ancestor of the jelly bean, so any fruit flavor would more than likely taste delicious!
  Borrage Flower Tea
  Ingredients
  .10 oz [2 grams] of dried borrage blossoms
  4 cups of strained water
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour boiling water over the borrage flowers in a 4-cup teapot, and allow the mixture to 
  steep for five minutes. Strain the tea, and allow it to cool to room temperature.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  104
  Polpetted’estate  
  in Tomato Ragu,  
  with Pizza Bianca
  Growing up, I was not taught – as others of the 
  Faith so often are – that witches were wicked, evil 
  people intent on gobbling up little children or selling 
  them to the faeries. Then again, any witches who may 
  have been so kept themselves well-hidden in our little 
  village, though I’m sure they were there. When one 
  receives the Divine Fire, one’s eyes are opened to a great 
  many things. Alas, my fellow Brethren do not often seek 
  out the help and friendship of the 
  Verbena;  to be completely fair, the 
  Verbena rarely make themselves 
  seen or available to us, given the 
  bad blood that has long existed 
  between the Church and the old 
  magickal traditions it has relentlessly 
  persecuted. Nevertheless, I somehow 
  managed to convince a Stregheria by 
  the name of Giullietta D’Agosto to not 
  only talk to me on multiple occasions, 
  but also to become an ally and a friend, 
  in spite of my “unfortunate” affiliations.
  Nonna Giulla, as her friends and 
  family call her, lives with her nephew 
  Cosmo in a rambling Queen Anne 
  Victorian home in San Francisco with 
  a round tower pointing up to the sky 
  and wide bay-windows shaded by lush, 
  green trees. Inside, the interior and 
  furnishings are just what one would 
  expect in an historical home such as 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  105
  this, but a careful inspection of the carved wood and ornamental glass in the transoms over 
  the doors reveals hidden figures and symbols that reflect the rich traditions of Italian wise-craft. 
  The kitchen is warm and inviting, featuring a wood-fired stove in addition to a state-of-the-art 
  gas stove and double convection oven. Nonna Giulla explains that for some things, the old ways 
  are best, but that doesn’t mean she’s unwilling to keep up with the times! Just off the kitchen, 
  there is a good-sized solarium and workshop where a veritable jungle of herbs, flowers, and 
  other plants grow and thrive. At the center is Nonna’s worn, wooden work table, brought with 
  her great-grandmother from the Old Country and installed when the house was built. Her 
  knowledge of herb-craft and the creation of life-sustaining teas and tinctures is a prized and 
  carefully guarded family tradition. 
  Luckily, Nonna’s recipe for meatballs and sauce isn’t a guarded secret;  upon hearing 
  about my project, she was more than willing to share it with me. Cosmo thought the idea of an 
  underground dinner was intriguing, especially given the number of great cooks Nonna counted 
  amongst her friends. We set up a dinner party for ten. Another stand-out dish from that dinner 
  was a white pizza drizzled with herb-infused olive oil and topped with carmelized onions and 
  mild provolone cheese.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  106
  Polpetted’estate in Tomato Ragu
  Ingredients
  For the Ragu
  1/4 lb [113 g] pancetta or slab bacon, ground or finely chopped
  6 oz [177 ml] tomato paste
  1 28 oz [830 ml] can peeled, whole San Marzano tomatoes
  1 cup dry, drinkable red wine 
  olive oil and butter
  1 onion, diced
  2 cloves garlic, minced
  1 carrot, finely diced
  1 stalk celery, finely diced
  dried basil, marjoram, thyme, and oregano
  salt and pepper
  For the Polpette
  1/3 lb [150 g] ground pork
  1/3 lb [150 g] ground veal
  1 cup crumbled, day-old, Italian bread or bread crumbs
  1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  1/2 onion, minced
  1 clove garlic, minced
  1/2 cup fresh basil, minced
  1/2 cup fresh mint, minced
  1 egg
  ragu sauce (see above)
  salt and pepper
  Preparation
  Start with the Ragu 
  • 
  Heat a knob of butter, plus enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a tall sauce pot, over 
  medium-high heat. When the butter is bubbly, add in the onions, carrot, celery, and 
  garlic, and let them sweat until the onions are clear.
  • 
  Turn up the heat a little, and add in the pancetta, stirring the contents of the pot near-
  constantly. When the onions and pancetta begin to brown, add in the tomato paste, 
  and allow it to brown a bit. It will not turn very brown, but it will lose its brightness 
  and turn a richer, darker red.
  • 
  Pour in the can of tomatoes with the liquid and add the red wine. Stir the contents of 
  the pot to mix well. 
  • 
  Add in the dried herbs as follows: Enough dried basil to fit in the hollow of your hand, 
  three pinches (what you can pick up with your thumb and first two fingers) each of 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  107
  the marjoram, thyme, and oregano. Massage or “work” the herbs a bit before adding 
  them to the pot.
  • 
  Lower heat to the lowest setting, and allow the sauce to simmer for two hours, stirring 
  occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching.
  Meatballs
  While the ragu is cooking, begin work on the meatballs. 
  • 
  The texture of the meatballs will be different depending upon your use of day-old Italian 
  bread or commercially-produced bread crumbs. If you choose to use the day-old bread, 
  rip the bread into very small pieces, and then lightly toast them on a cookie sheet to 
  dry them out a bit more. 
  • 
  Add all the ingredients for the meatballs except the ragu sauce into a large bowl. With 
  your hands, blend the meat and other ingredients together as uniformly as possible. 
  Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the cooking sauce into a small bowl or dish, and then 
  allow it to cool down before adding it to the meatballs. 
  • 
  Blend again, then shape the mixture into balls about two inches in diameter, and lay 
  them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. It is okay if the sides touch. Wrap 
  the baking sheet in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to marry.
  • 
  In a heavy frying pan, pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and heat 
  until the oil just begins to smoke. 
  • 
  Add meatballs into the pan a few at a time, until the pan is full but not crowded. 
  • 
  When the bottoms are brown, turn each meatball over and allow it to brown on the 
  other side. They will not cook completely through!
  • 
  As the meatballs finish browning on both sides, transfer them to the pot of hot, simmering 
  sauce. Gently fold them in, being careful not to break them apart. The meatballs will 
  finish cooking in the sauce.
  • 
  Serve in a bowl with a generous amount of shaved parmesan cheese, a drizzle of fine 
  olive oil, and a sprinkling of pepper flakes if you like a little kick. These can also be 
  served over pasta if you so desire.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  108
  Pizza Bianca with Carmelized Onions  
  and Provolone Dolce
  Nonna Giulla often laments that what most Americans think of as “pizza” is actually a far 
  cry from what she grew up with and learned to make from her relatives. The key to an excellent 
  pizza is a well-hydrated, flavorful dough, and a light and simple combination of toppings that 
  allow the flavor and texture of the crust to shine along with them. She uses a traditional, wood-
  fired oven to make her pizza. For the rest of us, here’s how to re-create that crunchy, chewy 
  crust in a standard oven.
  Ingredients
  For the Dough
  3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  1 2/3 cups water at room temperature
  1 1/4 tsp salt
  1 1/2 tsp rapid-rise yeast
  1 1/4 tsp sugar
  about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  8 oz [227 g] shredded mild provolone cheese
  2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, minced
  For the Onions
  1 tbsp butter
  1 tbsp olive oil
  1/2 tsp salt
  1 tsp light brown sugar
  4 medium onions, sliced into 1/4-inch [6.4 mm] thick rounds
  1 tbsp water
  ground black pepper
  Utensils
  stand mixer, with dough hook attachment
  rubber spatula
  pizza stone 
  1-2 rimmed, 18 x 13-inch [457 x 330 mm] baking sheets (one can be used in place of a 
  pizza stone)
  Preparations
  Make the Dough
  • 
  Place a damp towel, or a rubber shelf-liner, underneath a stand mixer in order to keep it 
  from “walking.” In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough-hook attachment, mix flour, 
  water, and salt on low speed for about 4 minutes, or until there are no dry patches of 
  flour. You may need to occasionally scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with 
  a spatula. Turn off the mixer, and let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  109
  • 
  Sprinkle the yeast and the sugar over the dough, and knead on low speed for about 2 
  minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Increase the 
  speed to high, and knead for 6-10 minutes until the dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls 
  away from the sides of the bowl. Be aware: Once you turn the mixer off, the dough will 
  fall back to the sides.
  • 
  Coat a large bowl with one tablespoon of the olive oil. Use your fingers for this. Rub 
  the excess from your fingers onto the blade of a rubber spatula. Use that oiled spatula 
  to transfer the dough to the oiled bowl, and then pour another tablespoon of oil over 
  the top. 
  • 
  Again, using your oiled spatula, flip the dough over so that it is well-coated with oil. 
  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise at room temperature 
  until it has tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed. This should take about 
  2 to 2 1/2 hours.
  Prepare the Onions
  • 
  Heat the butter and the oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat, and allow the 
  bubbling of the butter to subside a bit before adding in the salt and sugar. Introduce 
  the onions, and stir well to coat them. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, 
  until the onions start to soften. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the onions 
  are a deep, rich brown and are slightly sticky. This will take about 30 to 40 minutes. 
  Note: Stir frequently, and be mindful of your heat. If your onions are scorching, reduce 
  the heat. If they haven’t browned after 15 to 20 minutes, raise the heat.
  • 
  Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the water. Season with pepper (to taste), then 
  transfer to a wide, shallow bowl to cool to room temperature.
  Prepare Your Oven
  • 
  About an hour before baking, move your oven rack to the middle position and place a 
  pizza stone on the rack. If you do not have a pizza stone, you can substitute an inverted 
  baking sheet with a low rim. Turn the oven on to º450 F [º230 C].
  Bake the Pizza
  • 
  With your fingers, coat a rimmed baking sheet with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. 
  Re-oil your spatula if necessary. 
  • 
  Using your spatula, turn the risen dough out onto the baking sheet with any excess oil 
  that remains in the bowl. Press the dough out towards the edges of the pan. Use your 
  fingertips, and be careful not to tear the dough. Don’t panic if the dough doesn’t fit 
  snugly into the corners of the pan. 
  • 
  Let the dough rest for about 10 minutes, until it is slightly bubbly. Poke the surface of 
  the dough with a fork all over (about 40 times), and sprinkle with salt.
  • 
  Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the surface is just beginning to brown in spots. 
  • 
  Remove the pizza from the oven, spread the onions evenly over the surface, and sprinkle 
  with the Provolone and the thyme. 
  • 
  Put the pizza back in the oven, and bake until the cheese becomes bubbly and starts 
  to brown in spots.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  110
  Final Notes
  This is a very well-hydrated dough, so you must handle it with slightly oiled hands and 
  utensils;  otherwise it will stick to everything. Standard procedure in bread-making involves 
  flouring your hands and surfaces. Don’t do that with this dough – you will regret it! 
  Once the pizza dough has been placed in the oiled bowl, it can be refrigerated for up to 
  24 hours. I actually recommend this, because a dough that has been allowed slow, cold rise will 
  develop all kinds of delicious flavor. 
  If you choose this option, be sure to set your dough out on the counter at room temperature 
  for a good 2 to 3 hours before attempting to shape it;  otherwise it will not relax enough to 
  spread out into the pan. If you find that it threatens to tear, even after you’ve brought it up to 
  room temperature, press it out as far as you can, and then allow it to sit in the pan for a few 
  minutes before trying again.
  A pizza stone is a great piece of equipment to have, but if you don’t have one, you might 
  want to make a few adjustments to get the kind of crispness desired in this pizza. If your crust 
  doesn’t get crispy enough when baking in the center of the oven, try placing your rack and 
  inverted pan at the lowest possible position, and increase the oven temperature to º500 F [º260 C].
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  111
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  112
  Kuih Lapis
  Sometimes food is a cathartic celebration, particularly if you’ve been through hell and 
  have come out the other side alive and at least somewhat mentally and physically intact. In my 
  experience, the vast majority of the Enlightened still believe that the Fallen and their minions 
  gather around stone altars dripping with the blood of children, summoning demons, and 
  chanting monsters into existence in cursed languages. That’s complete and utter shite. The 
  reality is that the Fallen look all too ordinary, like the doctor who readily over-prescribes deadly 
  opiate cocktails to her patients, or the owner of a for-profit prison who entices elected officials 
  to invest in his enterprise while looking the other way at the horrific abuses perpetrated behind 
  those barbed-wire fences and thick cinderblock walls. 
  Worst of all, perhaps, are those wealthy, upstanding families who put forth their beautiful, 
  educated daughters and sons as online brides and grooms, promising a life of prosperity in 
  the cities to naive, rural folk who are desperate to help their families and improve their lot 
  in life. These people, many of whom are college-educated men who come from dirt-poor, 
  opportunity- starved villages all across Southeast Asia, enter into these arranged marriages with 
  the understanding that when they arrive in Hong Kong, Jakarta, or Singapore, their in-laws will 
  provide work for them until such time as the new couple can establish themselves and make 
  networking connections. At that point, so the in-laws promise, the young person can move on 
  to even better, more white-collar opportunities.
  Of course, this is a lie. 
  A young man arrives, and almost immediately, his passport is taken from him by his wife 
  or her family – forcibly, if necessary. Then he is required to work backbreaking hours during 
  the day in construction or some other form of manual labor, only to be forced into servitude for 
  the family at home at night. Any money he makes is directly paid to that family (not his own), 
  and his meager allowance is monitored to ensure that he’s not trying to secretly build himself 
  an avenue of escape. He’s trapped as a slave until either he dies or he runs away… and, in the 
  latter case, with no passport, he becomes invisible.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  113
  Thank the Lord above for the alliance of the Blessed: a 
  wildly varied hodgepodge of Tradition mages, Technocrats, 
  and unaffiliated magi who have begun to fight this particular 
  flavor of evil head-on, seeking to root out the twisted forces 
  at the heart of this most heinous form of human trafficking. 
  Mary Pei, a Virtual Adept I know in Singapore, thought 
  that perhaps a clutch of the Fallen within her city 
  were using a relic to strengthen the persuasive 
  power of their trap. My fellow Brethren and I 
  engaged in the fight, not only to recover the 
  artifact, but to save at least seven men and 
  women who had been tricked and enslaved. 
  The story of that fight is not important 
  right now;  the thing that sticks with me, 
  to this day, is the meal that we all shared 
  with those newly liberated people. 
  The food in question wasn’t particularly 
  special: a platter of satay, hand-pulled noodles, 
  some kind of savory steamed dumplings, a 
  tureen of seafood broth, and little steamed layer 
  cakes called kuih lapis, which we ate for dessert with 
  some tea. But I tell you that I have never seen people so 
  grateful to eat their fill – to ask for second and even third 
  helpings, to experience the pleasure of those little cakes – that 
  they could barely eat for weeping. The overwhelming freedom of 
  that moment was something I will never forget.
  Where do I Find This Stuff? 
  Pandan leaves are what give this dessert its distinctive flavor. While they are readily 
  available in Southeast Asia, they can be rather difficult to source in other parts of 
  the world. If you have access to a Thai or Vietnamese farmer’s market, you might 
  be able to find fresh pandan leaves there; if not, there may be online sources that 
  sell fresh and frozen ones that will work just as well. 
  As a last resort, you can reconstitute dried pandan leaves, but the flavor will be 
  much weaker. Avoid many of the extracts or pastes you might see online. These 
  are largely food coloring, and the artificial flavor is not really appetizing. If all 
  else fails, you can substitute any sort of floral aromatic flavoring like rose, jasmine, 
  or orange blossom.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  114
  Kuih Lapis
  Ingredients 
  3 cups tapioca flour 
  2/3 cup rice flour 
  2 cups water 
  2 cups granulated sugar
  4 pandan leaves 
  2 cups full-fat canned coconut milk
  food coloring
  Preparation
  • 
  In a heavy saucepan, combine the water, sugar and pandan leaves, then boil until the 
  sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, discard the pandan leaves, and stir in the 
  coconut milk. Set this mixture aside to cool. 
  • 
  In a separate bowl, mix the tapioca flour and rice flour together with a fork. When the 
  coconut liquid has cooled to room temperature, gradually whisk both liquid and flour 
  together. Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps. 
  • 
  Divide the batter in two (or more) equal portions, and then color each portion as 
  you desire, keeping one portion white. (Traditional kuih are often pink-and-white, or 
  green-and-white.) 
  • 
  Using coconut oil or ghee, grease a square or round cake pan, and place it in the basket 
  of a steamer for few minutes over boiling water.
  • 
  Pour about 1/2 cup of white batter into the heated pan, and steam at high heat for about 
  4 minutes or until the batter is cooked. Then add 1/2 cup of colored liquid onto it, and 
  steam for another 4 minutes. You can reduce the amount of batter for thinner layers.
  • 
  Repeat this process, alternating white and colored liquids until all the batter is used up. 
  Be sure to stir the batter every time before pouring out the liquid into the cake pan. 
  • 
  After the final layer is steamed, remove the cake pan from the steamer, and leave the 
  cake in the pan to cool completely. 
  • 
  When the cake has cooled, grease a knife, and run it along the sides of the cake pan, 
  then invert the pan over a cutting board or a plate to remove the cake. 
  • 
  Grease your knife again with coconut oil before cutting the cake into small, bite sized 
  pieces. 
  • 
  As a finish, you may also wish to brush some melted coconut oil onto the surface for 
  a pretty gloss.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  115
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  116
  Hongshao Shizitou  
  (Red Braised Lion’s 
  Head), with Mandarin 
  Fried Rice
  Like many non-Asian Americans, I was deeply ignorant 
  about Chinese food. As a child, my introduction to Asian cuisine 
  came by way of the soggy canned garbage sold under the name 
  Chung King. Occasionally, my food-loving family would go 
  grab some goodies at the Peking Dragon – a far cry from “the 
  good stuff,” but several steps up from tinny Chung King. Not 
  until I worked with a friend I’ll call Zhang Hungzhen during a 
  London operation, though, did I understand the gulf between 
  middle-American “Chinese food” and the real thing. I’m not 
  certain my family knows the difference even now. 
  Thanks to Britain’s unfortunate history throughout Asia, 
  London plays host to some of the best (and some of the worst) 
  Chinese and Indian restaurants on earth. To celebrate a major 
  breakthrough in our fight against the Fallen Ones of London, 
  Hung (Zhang is a family name, which I have used first in honor 
  of the Chinese tradition even though it’s not his true family name 
  to begin with) took me to a restaurant whose name and location I 
  must, for obvious reasons, keep secret. After a magnificent dim sum, 
  zesty hot sour soup, and a startling dish that featured a cooked, 
  defeathered pigeon cut into bits arranged in the shape of a bird 
  on the plate, we enjoyed the main course: hongshao shizitou, or 
  red braised lion heads. 
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  117
  Named because it resembles lion heads (complete with cabbage “manes”), hongshao shizitou 
  is a common dish in North and South China, but one rarely found in restaurants outside Asia. 
  The variation I learned from Zhang Hungzhen involves the “red-cooked” (hongshao) style of 
  poaching food in a mixture of chicken stock and soy sauces. A different version can be cooked 
  without the soy sauces, simply by substituting a similar amount of chicken broth instead. Like 
  many Dragon Wizards (which, as Hung explained, is a terrible translation of the group’s real 
  name to begin with), Hung favors the traditional meals of the Chinese Imperial Courts over 
  what he called “the mongrel peasant foods” generally found on American plates. Even so, we 
  also enjoyed large helpings of Mandarin fried rice with that meal, which is a food more common 
  among merchant and artisan classes than among the upper nobility of Imperial dynasties, but 
  a tasty dish regardless. And so, I have included that recipe here, along with the one I secured 
  (through copious flattery) for braised lion heads. 
  By the way, I recommend using fresh water chestnuts rather than the canned, sliced, and 
  brined water chestnuts commonly used in American cooking. Shelling the nuts can be kind of 
  a hassle, but the resulting taste and texture are worth the effort. Also, speaking as one who now 
  knows better: Do yourself a favor, and don’t eat that Chung King junk. Ever. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  118
  Hongshao Shizitou
  Ingredients
  For the Meat Balls
  1 wok, oiled (you really need a wok to prepare this dish correctly)
  1 1/2 lbs [680 g] ground pork
  20 oz [567 g] Napa cabbage (root ends trimmed, leaves separated)
  1 1/4 cup chicken stock (home-made is best) 
  8 water chestnuts 
  3 scallions (minced) 
  3 tsp ginger (minced)
  2 tsp sesame oil
  1/2 tsp kosher salt
  2 tsp brown sugar
  2-3 tbsp cornstarch 
  3-4 tbsp peanut oil
  2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  2 tbsp light soy sauce
  For the Potato Flour Slurry
  1 tsp potato flour 
  1 tsp water 
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix the pork meat with 4 teaspoons of water. Mix the meat in one direction only, 
  and mix it for a few minutes until the texture is somewhat fluffy. Drop in the minced 
  scallion, ginger, and chestnuts, along with the salt and sesame oil. Mix well, and then 
  form the meat into 5 or 6 large meat balls. 
  • 
  Dust the meat balls with the cornstarch, and set them aside. 
  • 
  Grease your wok with the peanut oil, and heat it over medium heat. Once the oil has 
  just barely begun to smoke, add your meat balls – one at a time – and fry them. Roll and 
  turn the meat around in the wok, gently yet constantly (wok-frying is an art of constant 
  motion), until each ball has browned. Remove and set aside. 
  • 
  Clean wok (not with soap!), heat it again, and add 6 teaspoons of water. Drop in the 
  cabbage leaves, cover the wok, and steam the leaves for roughly 5 minutes, until the 
  leaves are flexible. Remove from heat, and set aside. 
  • 
  Once the cabbage leaves have cooled down enough to handle, line a small casserole dish 
  with roughly 2/3 of those leaves. Place the meat balls on the leaves, and then pour in 
  the chicken stock, soy sauces, and sugar. Lay the remaining leaves over the meat balls, 
  cover, and braise the meal for roughly 1 1/2 hours on the top of your stove. 
  • 
  Make a small batch of potato flour slurry by mixing the potato flour and water together. 
  Set aside, but make sure it does not lose its liquid consistency.
  
  Chapter One: Mystic Meals
  119
  • 
  When the meat balls and cabbage have cooked, remove the meat. Arrange the cabbage 
  leaves on the serving plate, arrange the meat balls in the center, on top of the leaves. 
  • 
  Combine the potato flour slurry with the remaining liquid from the casserole dish. Mix 
  it together until it coats the stirring utensil thickly, yet still retains its liquid consistency. 
  Pour this liquid over the “lions’ heads,” and garnish the meal with minced carrots or 
  green onions. 
  Mandarin Fried Rice
  Ingredients
  5 cups cold cooked (not raw) rice 
  2 eggs 
  1 lachang (Chinese dried-pork sausage, finely minced)
  4 cloves garlic
  1/2 cup sliced scallions
  2 tsp fresh ginger (finely chopped) 
  3 tbsp canola oil
  1 tsp sesame oil
  2 tbsp soy sauce
  1/2 tsp white pepper
  kosher salt 
  Preparation
  • 
  Pour 2 tablespoons of canola oil, plus 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, into your wok. Heat 
  the wok over medium-to-high heat;  when the oil shimmers, break the eggs (which will 
  puff up almost immediately) into the wok. 
  • 
  Allow the eggs a few seconds to set up, and then (using a spatula or other tool, not your 
  hand!) push the sides of the egg-mass toward the center of the wok so that the uncooked 
  egg can fully cook as well. Flip the cooked egg-mass over for 5 seconds or so, and then 
  pour the mass off onto a plate. As they cool, break the egg-mass into small bits, again 
  using a spatula or similar instrument. Set aside. 
  • 
  Add the remaining oil to the wok. Swirl it around to coat the inside of the wok;  again, 
  heat the oil until it shimmers, and then add the ginger and garlic into the wok;  stir-fry 
  for roughly 2 minutes, until the ingredients grow soft. 
  • 
  Add in the scallions, sausage, and rice. Stir-fry the food with constant motion. 
  • 
  Add the pepper, soy sauce, and eggs. Toss and blend all ingredients together. 
  • 
  Season to taste, and serve immediately. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  120
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  121
  The science which feeds men is worth at least as much 
  as the one which teaches how to kill them.
  – Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
  Chapter Two: 
  Technocratic 
  Foodstuffs
  For obvious reasons, my opportunities to interact with members of the Technocratic Union 
  are limited. Even though the Templar Knights were once a part of the Order of Reason, the 
  wholesale betrayal and slaughter of our forerunning Brethren at the hands of their supposed 
  allies and compatriots, as well as the slow and pervasive rot of Nephandic corruption that 
  has permeated their ranks, has made saving them impossible and working with them when 
  our aims overlap an unadvisable prospect. However, after sharing dinner with a Virtual 
  Adept named Qu33n3L$A in St. Petersburg, both of us were curious about our adversaries’ 
  relationships with food, and had us wondering whether they had the same interest as we did 
  with regards to working with food.
  A month or so after our conversation, I received an encrypted communication from 
  Nataliya:
  Lion-Man,
  I did some poking around, not expecting to find anything, but – SURPRISE! You were 
  right! They DO eat! More than that, I think that the Syndicate communications I intercepted 
  provide proof that what you’ve observed amongst the “Muggles” is a deliberate initiative on their 
  part. Anyway, enjoy these notes. Some are rather funny, and others are a bit disturbing, quite 
  honestly.
   Hope our paths will cross again, Soldier.
  Qu33n3L$A
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  122
  Synthetic Cashew Curry Cheese
  INTER AMALGAM RESOURCE LOG 3.3.17.S0WIA52X
  ItX seeded the idea of aquafaba a year ago, not only reinforcing the 
  importance of industrial processing in the Consensus, but also encouraging 
  more comprehensive use of appliances in the home. It was a roaring success. 
  Most of my Convention-mates won’t admit this, but the spark of brilliance 
  that was using aquafaba to make vegan cheese belongs to one of the first 
  ordinary citizens who started working with the bean juice. 
  I’ve tried the faux-Mozzarella made with aquafaba, and it’s not bad. 
  Why, however, would you spend all your time trying to reproduce something 
  that already exists, instead of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible? I 
  started tinkering around with it, and decided to take the cheese approach 
  and see how far in the other direction I could go without having the whole 
  thing fall apart due to statistically-inevitable failure. When I was done, I had 
  Indian cashew curry cheese.
  The newest member of our amalgam comes from the Kerala School of 
  Astronomy and Mathematics, and she said her mother would probably gut 
  me and leave me in the streets for the strays to ravage if she knew what I’d 
  done with cashew curry. She also ate more of it than anyone else, so I don’t 
  really know if that’s an endorsement or not.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  123
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  124
  Cashew Curry Cheese, with Homemade Aquafaba
  Ingredients
  1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for 8 hours
  1/4 cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of garbanzo beans)
  2 tbsp tapioca starch
  2 tsp kappa carrageenan
  1 tsp lactic acid or lemon juice
  1 tsp nutritional yeast
  3/4 tsp salt (leave out if you use canned aquafaba with salt)
  1/2 cup coconut cream (the solids from the top of a can of coconut milk)
  1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  1/2 tsp mustard seed
  1 tsp coriander seed
  1/2 tsp chili flakes
  1/2 tsp saffron threads
  1-inch [25 mm] ginger root, finely minced
  2 garlic cloves, finely minced
  2 tbsp minced onion
  1 tsp coconut (or other neutral oil) for sautéing
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix the saffron and aquafaba, and leave them to soak while you complete the next step. 
  • 
  Add the cumin, mustard seed, coriander, chili flakes, and oil to a small sauté pan over 
  medium heat. As soon as the seeds begin to pop and brown a bit, add the onion, garlic, 
  and ginger, and then sauté until lightly browned.
  • 
  Strain the cashews from their liquid, and add them to a blender with the aqufaba. Blend 
  them with the sautéed spices until completely smooth.
  • 
  Push the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer with a rubber spatula, to remove the 
  pulp and any bits of cashew that aren’t completely smooth.
  • 
  Add the mixture back to the blender, then add the tapioca starch, kappa carageenan, 
  acid, nutritional yeast, and salt. Puree again until completely smooth.
  • 
  Add the coconut cream, and pulse a few times until smooth. Blend as little as possible 
  during this step.
  • 
  Add the mixture to a saucepan, and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens 
  completely. When an instant-read thermometer reads º170 F [º77 C], the cooking process 
  is finished. Be careful not to heat too quickly during this stage.
  • 
  Add the mixture to a medium covered bowl, and put in the refrigerator until the 
  mixture has set.
  • 
  Serve the cheese in slices, or shred. It will melt if heated.
  • 
  Suggested serving applications: Sliced on papadum, melted over flatbread, shredded 
  over cauliflower and roasted.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  125
  Homemade Aquafaba
  Author’s Note
  I must admit that I was wholly intrigued by the cashew curry vegan cheese, but I never use canned 
  garbanzos. Therefore, I’m including the recipe I used to make my own homemade aquafaba.
  Ingredients
  1 cup dried beans
  4 cups of water 
  Preparation
  • 
  Rinse the garbanzo beans, and then add them to a saucepan with the water, and simmer 
  that combination on a stove with the lid on. The simmering time with vary, depending 
  on the beans, but will range between 1 and 2 hours. 
  • 
  Set the beans aside for use in another recipe. Reduce the remaining liquid until it 
  has reached roughly 3/4 of a cup for weak aquafaba (which can be used in simple 
  applications, such as meringue or cheese), or to 1/3 cup for strong aquafaba (for use 
  in applications where the meringue will have to support heavier ingredients, such as 
  macarons or chiffon cake). 
  • 
  If the aquafaba seems too weak at these volumes, leave them in the liquid for anywhere 
  from a few hours to overnight (once the beans are done cooking) before reducing the 
  liquid. This will allow you to get more protein out of the beans without overcooking them.
  • 
  Aquafaba from a can of chickpeas should be considered weak. It can be whipped 
  immediately for meringues, but needs to be reduced to make macarons. 
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  126
  Pretzel Logic 
  INTER AMALGAM RESOURCE LOG 2.12.17.Z7K2PS9M
  In the interest of maximizing performance efficiency per research submitted 
  by Progenitor agent Joshua Maxwell, I have prepared the following recipe and 
  procedural log.
  The number of NWO sleeper agents, both Enlightened and Extraordinary, has 
  increased considerably in the past year. To minimize conditioning regression in the 
  growing ranks, a food-related identifier has been built into the standard sleeper 
  agent conditioning regimen.
  All sleeper agents consume sunflower seeds as a consistent part of their snacking 
  habits. This consumption pattern will emerge from a cursory review of their offices, 
  vehicles, or itemized expense reports. If this pattern is absent during agent review, 
  immediately refer the suspected personnel for potential reconditioning.
  Sleeper-agent partners have reported difficulties related to this conditioning 
  during extended stakeouts. The following recipe expands food options that will ensure 
  that the agent-monitoring protocol is undisturbed, and optimal work-stress ratios 
  are maintained for individuals assigned to agent-monitoring.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  127
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  128
  Sunflower Kernel Pretzel Knots
  Ingredients
  1 1/2 cup warm water
  1 tbsp sugar
  2 tsp kosher salt
  1 package (or 1 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
  4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus perhaps a bit extra to dust your hands and work-area)
  4 tbsp melted butter
  1 egg yolk beater with a splash of water
  1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
  8 cups water
  1/2 cup baking soda
  For Topping
  1 tsp cumin
  2 tsp chili powder
  1 tsp garlic powder
  several fresh grinds of pepper
  1 tsp kosher salt
  1/4 cup shelled sunflower kernels
  Preparation
  • 
  Mix the warm water with the sugar, salt, and yeast. Allow to sit in a warm place for 5 
  minutes, or until bubbly.
  • 
  While the yeast is activating, mix together the spices and salt for the pretzel-knot topping.
  • 
  Mix the flour and butter into the yeast mixture, and then stir together until fully 
  incorporated. Either turn the dough out onto a counter and knead until the dough 
  tightens up, or knead with the dough hook in a stand-mixer until the dough pulls away 
  from the mixer bowl and is completely smooth.
  • 
  Form dough into a ball, and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until the dough 
  has doubled in size.
  • 
  When the dough is almost fully risen, add the baking soda to your 8 cups of water in a 4 
  quart [4 l] saucepan, and then bring to a low boil. Preheat your oven to º450 F [º230 C].
  • 
  Separate your dough into 16 equal pieces by cutting the dough in half, then halving 
  those pieces, and repeating this process 2 more times. 
  • 
  Roll each piece of dough into a 1/2-inch wide [13 mm] rope of dough, and then loosely 
  form a knot.
  • 
  Put the knots in the boiling alkalized water 2 at a time, and allow them to boil for 15 
  seconds. 
  • 
  Flip the knots, and allow them to boil for 15 more seconds. 
  • 
  Move the knots to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, or to silicone baking sheets.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  129
  • 
  Coat each pretzel knot generously with the egg-and-water mixture, and then sprinkle 
  with the spice mixture and sunflower kernels. Lightly press the sunflower kernels into 
  the knots with your fingers.
  • 
  Bake the pretzel knots for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they have become dark-brown 
  and crusty.
  Vegan Option
  • 
  To make these pretzels vegan, replace the egg wash with aquafaba, and the melted butter 
  with sunflower oil.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  130
  Eggs Came First
  INTER AMALGAM RESOURCE LOG 1.12.17.D8W6351Q
  Good day, all! Since the Mirrorshades finally processed Performance 
  Efficiencies of Allowing Agents on Long-Term Assignments to use Intranet 
  Systems for Inter-personal Content, I’m starting up a sub-forum on the 
  new site for recipes.
  I’ve been assigned to deep-sea lab duty for the last two years, and 
  while the nutrition-synthesis team has improved the flavor-profile of the 
  soy slurry considerably in that time, you occasionally want a flavor you 
  grew up with.
  One of the bench-workers had the shockingly enlightened idea to 
  buy some sous vide bags and get some extra use out of the incubation 
  tanks. So I figured I’d kick things off with some of the fillings I put in 
  my omelettes. I mean I’m using Dulce instead of bacon, and you’re 
  probably happier not asking what counts as an “egg” around here, but 
  our breakfasts are still pretty epic.
  Other sous vide recipes are appreciated. We have the incubation 
  tanks and one standalone burner to cook for the whole lab. The last time 
  someone tried to requisition more cooking equipment, we were reminded 
  just how much effort the nutrition-synthesis team puts into our rations. 
  It’s clear we’re never getting a second burner.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  131
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  132
  Sous Vide Omelette Fillings
  Ingredients
  12 Eggs
  For Bacon Filling
  1 package thick-cut bacon
  1 8 oz [227 g] package of baby spinach
  8 oz [227 g] shredded cheddar
  For Shrimp Filling
  12 oz [340 g] medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
  2-4 cloves of garlic, depending on preference
  2 tbsp olive oil
  1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  For Mushroom Filling
  1 8 oz [227 g] package button or crimini Mushrooms
  1 tsp chopped rosemary
  2 cloves minced garlic
  3 tbsp red wine
  1/4 cup sour cream
  1 dry parmesan cheese rind
  salt and pepper, to taste
  Preparation
  • 
  To prepare ingredients for the sous vide via the water-submersion method, put all 
  ingredients in a large zip-lock bag. 
  • 
  With the bag open, put the bottom of the bag into a large bowl of water. Do not submerge 
  to the point where the open top will allow water in. The pressure from the water will 
  force the bag closed. Push as much of the bag underwater as you can without letting 
  water flow over the top, then close the zip-lock bag. 
  • 
  When you prep a bag this way, you can use wet marinades, which you cannot do with 
  a vacuum sealer. There may be a little air left, so you might need a light weight – like a 
  small ramekin – to keep your food submerged during cooking.
  For the Bacon
  • 
  Turn your sous vide onto º145 F [º63 C], and allow the water to come up to temperature. 
  Then submerge your bacon in its original vacuum packaging into the water bath. If 
  you purchased your bacon in bulk, bag it using the water method above, or using a 
  vacuum sealer. 
  • 
  Allow to cook for a minimum of 8 hours, but up to 48 hours.
  • 
  Take the bacon out of the sous vide, and sear it hard on one side, and then for a few 
  seconds on the other side to remove the pale color. The bacon will be crisp on the 
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  133
  outside, but tender overall. If you prefer completely crispy bacon, then cook until it is 
  evenly, but lightly, browned on both sides. It will be crisp, but more tender than bacon 
  that is not pre-cooked.
  • 
  Pour all but 1 tsp of bacon grease out of the pan. Sauté your spinach until it begins to 
  wilt, and then remove it from the pan and put it in a bowl. 
  For the Shrimp
  • 
  Turn on your sous vide to º135 F [º57 C], and allow the water to come to the set 
  temperature.
  • 
  Add your shrimp, olive oil, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes to a zip-top bag. Mix 
  then around in the bag until the oil and spices have covered the shrimp fairly evenly. 
  Then seal the bag using the water-submersion method described above, and cook in your 
  sous vide for 15 minutes. When it comes out, it is ready to add to omelettes.
  For the Mushrooms
  • 
  Turn on your sous vide to º185 F [º85 C], and allow the water to come to the set 
  temperature.
  • 
  Add your mushrooms, herbs, wine, garlic, and parmesan rind to a sous vide bag, and 
  then seal the bag using the water-method described above. Cook in the sous vide for 
  1 hour. You may need to weigh this down to keep it under water with a light weight, 
  as described above.
  • 
  Empty the bag into a small bowl. Remove the parmesan rind and discard. Mix in the 
  sour cream. The mixture is ready to add to omelettes.
  Omelette Preparation
  • 
  Preheat a 10-inch stainless steel skillet, and add 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the pan. The 
  butter should quickly froth, but should not immediately brown or burn. If it browns 
  slightly, then the temperature is fine; if it burns and smokes, the pan is too hot.
  • 
  Put 2 beaten eggs in the pan, and let them cook for several seconds while tilting the 
  pan to make sure the entire bottom is covered in egg. 
  • 
  Very lightly ease the edges of the cooking egg up with a rubber spatula, allowing the 
  egg to cook for a few more seconds so that the bottom sets. Flip the pan a few times to 
  gather the eggs at the far edge of the pan. 
  • 
  While the eggs are still wet on top, add your fillings. Allow the egg to cook to the desired 
  consistency, and then pour out onto your plate and fold over with a spatula. The insides 
  should ideally be thick and custardy, but not entirely set.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  134
  Seductive Desserts
  INTER AMALGAM RESOURCE LOG 1.26.17.63BS2IQ0
  A note to Syndicate agents in the field managing inter-Convention amalgams. 
  Don’t be seduced by the flash of the procedures used in the Conventions we fund. 
  We seduce, and our tools are subtle.
  Any good chef (the best of whom, of course, share our Convention), will tell 
  you it is their job to elevate food beyond its roots while evoking the emotion and 
  nostalgia buried deep in the primal energy of their work. This isn’t just pretentious 
  self-aggrandizement. It’s quite true. 
  The greatest dishes are themselves instruments of our work, as this recipe 
  shows. No element of these ravioli is quite what you would expect it to be, and yet 
  these foodstuffs are steeped in experiences embedded deeply in cultural identity. 
  The burst of gelatinized raspberry is familiar, but in no way Italian. The zabaglione is 
  intentionally changed so the flavor is unexpected, but (unlike the technique used for 
  the raspberry) remains entirely grounded in Italian products.
  I finish every new negotiation with this dessert. I insist all meaningful decisions 
  wait until the ritual of breaking bread is complete. By the end of the first bite, I 
  carefully observe my opponent. Do they lose themselves in the flavor, forgetting 
  the careful game of chess they are playing? Do they recognize what the dish is 
  designed to accomplish, and raise their guard, or do they smile with knowing 
  respect, recognizing the excellence of not only the dessert’s craft, but the elegance 
  of its place in our negotiations?
  By the third bite, I know everything I need to know about the nature of my opponent, 
  and by the end of dessert the negotiations that follow are a passing formality.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  135
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  136
  Chocolate Ravioli
  Ingredients
  fresh berries for garnish
  Raspberry Jellies
  12 oz [340 g] frozen raspberries
  1/4 cup sugar
  1/4 oz [7 g] powdered gelatin
  1 tbsp water
  Chocolate Ganache
  12 oz [340 g] semi-sweet chocolate chips
  3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  1 tbsp butter
  Zabaglione Sauce
  6 egg yolks
  1/4 cups sugar
  1/2 cups Prosecco (or a similar white wine)
  2 tbsp orange liqueur
  pinch of salt
  Chocolate Pasta
  1 1/2 cups flour
  1/2 cup cocoa powder
  3 large eggs
  Preparations
  • 
  Mix the gelatin with the 2 tablespoons of water, and let sit to soften while you prepare 
  the raspberry sauce.
  • 
  Add the raspberries and sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, mashing occasionally 
  with a spatula or fork. 
  • 
  When the sugar has completely broken up, push the mixture through a wire sieve with 
  a spoon or spatula, until the mixture left in the sieve has dried but the seeds have not 
  burst through the sieve. Occasionally wipe the sauce from the bottom of the sieve during 
  this process to make sure no seeds have pushed through.
  • 
  Mix the softened gelatin with the raspberry mixture until it is dissolved, and then pour 
  it into a pan and evenly spread across the bottom of the pan. 
  • 
  Put this into a refrigerator, to set.
  • 
  Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, and then remove from the heat.
  • 
  Add the chocolate chips and butter, and mix until it is smooth. It will look like it won’t 
  come together and first, but the chocolate will melt. Put this in the refrigerator, to set.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  137
  • 
  To make the pasta, mix the flour and cocoa together in a bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup of 
  the mixture.
  • 
  Make a well in the middle of the pasta, and then crack the eggs into the well. Whisk 
  them together, and slowly incorporate the flour mixture. 
  • 
  When it is mixed together, pour the mixture out onto a clean counter, and then knead 
  the dough until it comes together. This will take several minutes of kneading. 
  • 
  Cut the dough into 4 equal parts, and cover to let rest for 15 minutes.
  • 
  Run one of the 4 pieces of dough through a pasta maker on the widest setting several 
  times, folding it over before each rotation. When the dough begins to become smooth, 
  and stays together when going through the machine, begin to move to thinner settings, 
  repeating the folding and turning procedure a few times at each thickness until you 
  reach the setting your pasta maker’s manual recommends for ravioli.
  • 
  Cut the raspberry jelly into small cubes. To make the ravioli, cut out circles of pasta 
  with a biscuit cutter. 
  • 
  On a circle of pasta, put a teaspoon of ganache and a few cubes of jelly. Coat the outside 
  of the pasta circle with water or egg wash, and then put another circle on top. 
  • 
  Seal tightly with your fingers, making sure not to leave any air in the dumpling. 
  • 
  Repeat pasta rolling and ravioli filling until you are out of pasta. If you cut out all your 
  circles at once, keep them well-covered to prevent them from drying out.
  • 
  Mix the yolks and sugar of the zabaglione sauce, and then mix until the yolks are slightly 
  frothy. Add the wine, liqueur, and salt.
  • 
  Whisk continuously over a double boiler, until the custard thickens.
  • 
  Boil the ravioli for 5 minutes, and serve over several spoonfuls of the custard with a 
  garnish of fresh berries.
  • 
  You will have some leftover ganache. Enjoy this excess on absolutely everything.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  138
  The Statistically Inevitable Corned Beef Sandwich
  INTER AMALGAM RESOURCE LOG 2.3.17.N29A10S4
  Most people don’t think much of the VA corp’s culinary sensibilities. 
  They think we’re limited to dehydrated ice cream, and borscht from a tube. 
  We aren’t always off-world, though, and sometimes we’re downright cheeky 
  about our food choices.
  In the early days, when we were first integrating the idea of space-food into 
  the Consensus, an Extraordinary Citizen almost crashed the whole program. In 
  March of 1965, he snuck a corned beef sandwich onto the Gemini 3 mission 
  inside his space suit. It was one of the first trips where we were actually taking 
  the new freeze-dried food packs off the mudball.
  Now the public story was it was a cute prank, and some crumbs started 
  floating around the cabin in the microgravity. Congress threw a little fit because 
  they thought we were mocking their space-food program. They threatened to 
  cut funding, and eventually everyone had a good laugh, cast the sandwich 
  in resin, and we moved on with our lives.
  Don’t believe a word of it. We were listening to ship techs grumble about 
  our flagrant disregard for cascading statistical inevitability a decade later. 
  The old ‘Nauts still make jokes about how statistically inevitable their lunch 
  choices are when they can catch an ItX or forgiving NWO agent in earshot. 
  Let it never be said we don’t have a wicked sense of humor. We’ve also 
  learned how to make a mean corned beef.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  139
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  140
  Statistically Inevitable Corned Beef Sandwich
  Ingredients
  For Russian Dressing
  2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  1/2 cup mayonnaise
  2 tbsp chili sauce
  2 tsp grated horseradish
  1 tsp hot sauce (or to taste)
  1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  1/4 tsp sweet paprika
  1/4 tsp salt
  For Sandwich
  8 slices of rye sandwich bread
  1 lb [454 g] sliced corned beef
  8 oz [227 g] Jarlsberg cheese
  softened butter (for sautéing and browning the sandwiches)
  Preparation 
  •
  Mix all the ingredients of the Russian dressing in a small bowl.
  •
  Shred the Jarlsberg cheese, and cut the corned beef into thin strips.
  •
  Pre-heat a griddle and a sauté pan to medium heat.
  •
  Spread a thin layer of butter on 1 side of each piece of bread.
  •
  Put a pat of butter in the sauté pan, and put the bread on the griddle, dry-side down.
  If the bread won’t all fit on your griddle, then repeat the sandwich construction steps
  enough times to make all 4 sandwiches.
  •
  Sauté the corned beef until about a quarter of the surface is somewhat browned but
  most of the meat is still soft and moist. Turn off the heat under the sauté pan.
  •
  Repeat this step for each sandwich. Flip the bread so the buttered side is on the heat,
  and coat the lightly toasted sides with Russian dressing, to taste. Pile a quarter of the
  cheese on one piece of bread, and then pile one-quarter of the sautéed corned beef on
  top of the cheese. Put the other piece of bread on top of the corned beef to complete
  the sandwich, and press slightly to bind the sandwich together.
  •
  Cook the sandwich until the bottom is golden brown, then flip the sandwich and cook
  until the other side is golden brown as well.
  •
  Serve the sandwiches with the side-dish of your choice.
  
  Chapter Two: Technocratic Foodstuffs
  141
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  142
  
  Appendix
  143
  Coda: Good Home Cookin’
  For all that I spend a great deal of my life trekking the globe, there is nothing finer than 
  allowing my feet to guide me back home to the roads and lanes that I ambled down as a boy. 
  As I mentioned at the start of this book, I grew up in a town where everyone cooked, so when 
  I think of home, I think of the kind of food that my mother, my neighbors, and my aunts and 
  uncles used to make on a daily basis. To this day, if ever I’m feeling low and poorly, or if it’s a 
  cold, wet day and the darkness is doing its damnedest to drag me down into the pit of sorrow 
  and despair, I try my best to make a meal that reminds me of home, of my father’s bakery, 
  of my mother’s kitchen, of my sister’s warm smile, and the many joyful times that we shared 
  together. Nothing does that better than lamb stew; a rich, buttery colcannon; and fresh soda 
  bread baked in a deep, cast-iron skillet. I’ve shared so many recipes from everywhere else. So 
  here are a few of my own from my home. 
  I wish you peace, safety, and many good meals to come! 
  Appendix
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  144
  Lamb Stew
  Ingredients
  2 lb [907 g] of potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
  1 lb [454 g] of boneless mutton or lamb cutlets, cut into 2-inch [50 mm] chunks
  2 tbsp of all-purpose flour
  2 tbsp of olive oil
  1 cup of roughly chopped onion
  1 cup of leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced (white parts only)
  1 cup of carrots, roughly chopped
  3 cups of dark beef stock
  2 to 3 cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
  salt and pepper
  Preparation
  Please note that this stew is best made a day before serving, to allow the flavors to marry 
  and develop.
  • 
  Preheat the oven to º350 F [º177 C].
  • 
  In a large frying pan, heat half the oil until it is shimmering but not smoking. Add half 
  of the lamb chunks, and allow them to brown all over. Use tongs to place the meat in 
  a large casserole dish, and cover it with a half of the quartered potatoes, onions, leeks, 
  and carrots. Repeat with the remaining oil, lamb, and vegetables.
  • 
  Make a roux by adding the flour to the frying pan, and then stirring constantly to 
  absorb the fat and juices from the meat. Cook on a low heat for 3 minutes, and then 
  add the beef stock in, one ladle at a time and whisking constantly, until you have thick 
  gravy that’s smooth, silky, and free of lumps. Pour this over the lamb and vegetables.
  • 
  Add the remaining stock to the casserole, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and bake in the 
  oven for 1 hour. Add the cabbage, replace the lid, and cook for another hour. 
  • 
  Check from time to time to make sure the stock isn’t reducing too much. If it is, add a 
  small amount of boiling water to ensure that the meat and vegetables are always covered 
  by liquid. If the gravy is too thin at the end of the cooking time, remove the lid, and cook 
  a bit longer until the desired consistency is achieved. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  
  Appendix
  145
  Soda Bread
  Ingredients
  4 cups of all-purpose flour*
  1 1/8 tsp baking soda
  1 tsp salt
  14 oz [414 ml] (about 2 cups) of full-fat, cultured buttermilk
  *Note: In the US, you may also wish to use “soft” wheat flour, sometimes called “cake” 
  flour. Just be sure that it is not self-rising flour.
  Preparation
  • 
  Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat to º425 F [º220 C]. Roughly 
  cover the bottom of a deep 10-inch cast iron or enameled Dutch oven with a sheet of 
  parchment paper; no need to trim.
  • 
  In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • 
  Use a large spatula or wooden spoon to gradually fold in the buttermilk, until the dough 
  is fully moistened, sticky, and no pockets of flour remain. Stop folding as soon as the 
  dough comes together. 
  • 
  Scrape the dough into the prepared Dutch oven, and smooth it into a rounded, dome-
  like shape. With a sharp knife or a kitchen razor, deeply score a cross into the top. 
  • 
  Cover and bake the bread for 30 minutes, or until it is golden and well-risen. Remove 
  the lid, and bake 15 minutes longer. The bread is done once it gives a hollow sound 
  when the bottom is tapped. 
  • 
  Invert the loaf onto a wire rack, remove and discard the parchment, and turn it right-
  side up. Cover the bread in a tea towel, and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep 
  the bread moist.
  
  The Mage Cookbook
  146
  Colcannon with Bacon, Leek, and Kale
  Ingredients
  2 lb [907 g] of red or golden potatoes, cut into large chunks
  3/4 cup of whole milk
  3/4 tsp of salt
  1 cup of leeks, well-washed and chopped (white parts only)
  6 cups of finely shredded kale (green cabbage may also be used)
  4 or 5 strips of thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
  1 cup of shredded Dubliner cheese
  salted Irish butter, melted
  freshly ground pepper, to taste
  Preparation
  • 
  Boil the potatoes for about 20 to 30 minutes (or until very tender). Drain well, and 
  mash them with the skins on, adding the milk and the salt. 
  • 
  While the potatoes are cooking, fry the bacon, and then set it aside until it’s cool 
  enough to crumble. 
  • 
  In a large skillet, melt about 6 tablespoons of the butter. Add the leeks, and cook them 
  in the butter, stirring occasionally, until they’re very soft and translucent. Add the kale, 
  and cook, stirring constantly until the kale is quite wilted and soft. 
  • 
  Stir the kale-and-leek mixture, the crumbled bacon, and the shredded cheese into the 
  hot potatoes, and then season them with pepper. 
  • 
  Transfer the potatoes into a large serving bowl, making a deep well in the center. 
  • 
  Pour melted, browned butter into the well, and serve.
  Nothing would be more tiresome than eating  
  and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure  
  as well as a necessity. 
  — Voltaire 
  Irish Cheese and Butter
  The Kerrygold brand sells a lovely and flavorful Irish butter, which truly does 
  make a difference in this dish where butter is rather the star. Likewise, a good 
  Irish cheese can easily be found at most supermarkets. Do yourself the favor 
  and splurge on these quality ingredients. They are well worth the extra cost. 
  
  Food is Life
  We are what we eat. As mages throughout history have realized, the foods that sustain 
  our bodies sustain enlightenment as well. Such foods become extensions of the people and 
  cultures that create them. Now Brother Oliver Lyon, Knight Templar and a humble baker’s 
  son, travels around the world hunting the Fallen and gathering fine recipes along the way.  
  Enchanting Recipes
  From Mandarin lion’s heads to alchemical booze, Brother Oliver’s collection of 
  delicious recipes spans the cultural realms of Mage’s human world. Among these many 
  culinary concoctions, you’ll find…
  Lobster Bisque
  Angel Torte
  Chicken Nanban
  Corn Fufu
  Beef Wellingtons
  Battenburg Cake
  Cannibal Stew, and so much more
  Feed Your Body
  Feed Your Soul 
  The Mage Cookbook is a non-canon but tasty culinary  
  perspective on the world of Mage: The Ascension
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Storyteller [multi]/World of Darkness (WoD) [multi]/Vampire/Vampire (oWoD)/World of Darkness (WoD)/oWoD/Mage (c)/Mage 20th Anniversary/M20 - The Mage Cookbook.pdf