23rd day of Spring, 515 AV
Despite Naiya's very basic grasp of the common tongue, Savena had done a wonderful job of explaining the work done in the Creamery. She had even willingly explained a step by step rundown of a generalized cheese making process.
Naiya was trying to run through the steps in her head once more as she walked beside her strider. She did not want to forget anything, and the woman had said a great many things on the topic.
When making cheese, as Savena had explained as they began the tour, the milk was heated until it bubbled, 'boiled' was the word the woman had used. When Naiya asked why, she had been informed that it was for purity of the milk, which was to do with heating the milk until the bad parts were gone. The talk there had mostly gone over her head. The important part was that the milk should be boiled. The vats the Creamery used had been large, hardly imaginable for the Drykas woman. They didn't have that much milk, let alone a reasonable way to travel with such large tools.
When Naiya had explained her fears, the pale woman had reassured her that the process could be scaled down quite easily, and so they had continued on the tour, although Naiya was quite a bit more impressed as they continued.
The next step proved a more difficult task for the Drykas to take on, another new task to keep in mind on a regular basis. She was quickly running out of time in her day for anything, between working and her tasks around the pavilion, she was growing ever more busy.
Perhaps this constant state of doing was what it meant to be a valued member of a pavilion. It certainly seemed a mighty task, although one she found she enjoyed. It led her to making friends among the other Drykas at the Hunter's rest, and to things like her visit to the creamery. She was learning almost constantly. Today was no exception.
The next thing she had learned was that cheese needed things called cultures to help it form, and the shop at the Creamery had cultures for sale. At the conclusion of the tour, Naiya had been reluctant to buy cultures, though, because she would not be able to come back all year to repurchase more. She much preferred to have something that she could use without need of buying it repeatedly. For this, too, Savena had a solution.
So Naiya had bought the at the woman's insistence, and had more instructions for that. New milk was needed, cream spooned off the top, and then the skimmed milk had to be put in a pot that had boiled clean. That was heated in water, and then the culture she bought should added, and then the whole mess stored until it became firm. She had informed Naiya that this was considered a 'mother culture' and needed to be remade every 10 to 12 days. That would be important to remember, because if she missed it even once, she would not have the surety of the cheese coming out edible.
It was kind of the woman to offer her this knowledge, without it Naiya would have been floundering through the process on her own, and according to the woman, she could have even made people sick with the end product of all her work.
She pulled herself out of her mind, for a moment forgoing the remaining steps she had learned in favor of reorienting herself and Wildfire towards their camp. She had to pause and search the grasses, seeking the flattened grass and hoof prints that betrayed their previous trek together. It stretched ahead of her, obvious only by the trampled grass behind her that lead to the Creamery. She knew that they were generally towards the Sanctuary, and she had walked with Wildfire, so she assumed the hoof prints matched by boot prints were the ones to follow.
Reassured of their path, Naiya patted her companion's shoulder and turned her attention back to what she had learned, letting the warmth beneath her fingers serve to keep her on course as she reflected on her lesson in cheese making.
Despite Naiya's very basic grasp of the common tongue, Savena had done a wonderful job of explaining the work done in the Creamery. She had even willingly explained a step by step rundown of a generalized cheese making process.
Naiya was trying to run through the steps in her head once more as she walked beside her strider. She did not want to forget anything, and the woman had said a great many things on the topic.
When making cheese, as Savena had explained as they began the tour, the milk was heated until it bubbled, 'boiled' was the word the woman had used. When Naiya asked why, she had been informed that it was for purity of the milk, which was to do with heating the milk until the bad parts were gone. The talk there had mostly gone over her head. The important part was that the milk should be boiled. The vats the Creamery used had been large, hardly imaginable for the Drykas woman. They didn't have that much milk, let alone a reasonable way to travel with such large tools.
When Naiya had explained her fears, the pale woman had reassured her that the process could be scaled down quite easily, and so they had continued on the tour, although Naiya was quite a bit more impressed as they continued.
The next step proved a more difficult task for the Drykas to take on, another new task to keep in mind on a regular basis. She was quickly running out of time in her day for anything, between working and her tasks around the pavilion, she was growing ever more busy.
Perhaps this constant state of doing was what it meant to be a valued member of a pavilion. It certainly seemed a mighty task, although one she found she enjoyed. It led her to making friends among the other Drykas at the Hunter's rest, and to things like her visit to the creamery. She was learning almost constantly. Today was no exception.
The next thing she had learned was that cheese needed things called cultures to help it form, and the shop at the Creamery had cultures for sale. At the conclusion of the tour, Naiya had been reluctant to buy cultures, though, because she would not be able to come back all year to repurchase more. She much preferred to have something that she could use without need of buying it repeatedly. For this, too, Savena had a solution.
So Naiya had bought the at the woman's insistence, and had more instructions for that. New milk was needed, cream spooned off the top, and then the skimmed milk had to be put in a pot that had boiled clean. That was heated in water, and then the culture she bought should added, and then the whole mess stored until it became firm. She had informed Naiya that this was considered a 'mother culture' and needed to be remade every 10 to 12 days. That would be important to remember, because if she missed it even once, she would not have the surety of the cheese coming out edible.
It was kind of the woman to offer her this knowledge, without it Naiya would have been floundering through the process on her own, and according to the woman, she could have even made people sick with the end product of all her work.
She pulled herself out of her mind, for a moment forgoing the remaining steps she had learned in favor of reorienting herself and Wildfire towards their camp. She had to pause and search the grasses, seeking the flattened grass and hoof prints that betrayed their previous trek together. It stretched ahead of her, obvious only by the trampled grass behind her that lead to the Creamery. She knew that they were generally towards the Sanctuary, and she had walked with Wildfire, so she assumed the hoof prints matched by boot prints were the ones to follow.
Reassured of their path, Naiya patted her companion's shoulder and turned her attention back to what she had learned, letting the warmth beneath her fingers serve to keep her on course as she reflected on her lesson in cheese making.