Baker Hall

MasterBaker Lowell

Colors: Apple green and white.
Emblem: Green Apple on white background.

Main Crafthall Location: Seminole Hold.

The BakerCraft Hall gathers a multitude of recipes from around Pern to teach its Apprentices and Journeymen. Here, Apprentices learn what herbs to enhance, what spice to add and how to prepare food in a dozen different ways. The BakerCraft manages all the kitchens on Pern, and they are responsible for day-to-day needs as well as feasts for special occasions. There are a number of specialties within the BakerCraft: Pastry Chef, Bread Chef, Salad and Vegetable Chef, Hearth Chef and the discipline of nutrition.

On SouCon, the BakerCraft is based in the Unified Crafthall and is under the direct auspice of the Craft Wizard. To become an Apprentice, Journeyman or Master please read through NEWS CRAFT JOINING. Characters may also request a posting to any open Hold or Weyr.

During the Ninth Interval a Crafthall for the Bakers was built in the Northern Continent, and during the Tenth Interval they established a Southern Crafthall at Seminole Hold, taking advantage of the Hold's ability to grow a variety of crops. Even so, baking is considered to be a Hold Caft.

The BakerCraft Hall has rapidly become a center of excellence, gathering a multitude of recipes from around Pern to teach its Apprentices and Journeymen. Here, as in every Craft, there are secrets -- what herbs to enhance, what spice to add, how to prepare food in a dozen different ways -- and as in all Crafts they are zealously guarded.

Apprentices begin by stirring stews, watching pans and washing dishes. Journeymen watch the Masters, learning, adding to their own repertoire and never exactly 'Journey' as other Crafts do, generally being placed in a Hall, Hold or Weyr as a Head Cook or Chef. The BakerCraft manages the kitchens, preparing feasts for special occasions, as well as the day-to-day needs of common and specialty dishes of the local areas.

There are a number of specialties within the BakerCraft. One of those is producing decorative sugars and icings for pastries, desserts, fancy filled entrees and other sweet items. Another is that of Bread Chef. These Journeymen or Masters take care of all the breads and rolls on a daily basis, assisted on occasion by the Pastry Chef, whose duties are fairly light except on special occasions. Pastry Chefs are known to use jade for rolling pins, bowls, and cutting boards, which can be chilled to keep delicate dough cool.

The Chef in charge of salad and vegetables often employs old Aunties, candidates and residents to clean and chop greens and peel roots for the pot. The Hearth Chef sear roasts and whole fowl on the spit hearths evident in every kitchen. There is also a discipline within the Craft that focuses on nutrition -- ensuring that the infirm and others with special requirements get the correct dietary supplements.

SubCrafts

Bread:	This SubCraft concentrates on the recipes and techniques surrounding bread making. Different grain types, mixtures and loaves are the focus of this specialty, including decorative braided loaves, kneading techniques, flatbread recipes and how to handle the bread paddle.

Hearth:	This SubCraft concentrates on the main entrees presented at any meal, from the smoked fish, pates, roasts, steaks, filets, and their accompanying stuffings and sauces. Also included in this specialty are meatrolls of all varieties.

Kitchen Administration:	This SubCraft specializes in all the skills Head Cooks would be required to learn: logistics of food supply, menu creation and final presentation of meals. This specialty is limited to someone who has reached Journeyman in another SubCraft (i.e. Journeyman in desserts). A RL equivalent of the Journeyman Kitchen Administrator would be the Sous Chef and the Master would be the Head Chef.

Nutrition:	For those with special dietary needs, Nutritionists prepare their meals. Whether the diet calls for soft foods, less salt, or more meat, these Bakers have trained specially to provide them with the right meals. Their work is always in tandem with Healers.

Pastry:	Bakers with Dessert specialty are particularly trained to create desserts, from the ubiquitous Bubblies, which can be found at every location throughout Pern, to elaborately decorated cakes for the weddings of Lord Holders. Flaky crusts filled with cream, tortes, pies, cakes, puddings, and cookies are all the domain of this SubCraft. Also included are after dinner ices, refreshing mint candies, and fruit served with cheeses and delicate sauces.

Salad and Vegetables:	There's more to vegetables than boiling or steaming, and these Bakers are the ones to prove it. The delicate seasonings and delicious dressings are their crafts, including stuffed mushrooms and twice-baked tubers. Vegetable sauces, salsas, and dips are also a part of their training, and often, the first two courses in a formal meal are prepared by these specialists.

CrossCrafts

In this post-Nemar's era, Bakers cannot always count on the availability of ingredients they once took for granted. More and more Bakers are hence choosing to CrossCraft as Farmers, to better learn how to grow the produce and herbs their recipes require. Most of these practice their additional Craft in small kitchen gardens, or herb plots. Those Bakers in the Hearth SubCraft can also be found turning their hand to the Fisher and HerderCrafts and those in Nutrition might find themselves CrossCrafting to the Healers to better serve their patients.

MasterBaker Lowell:

Lowell was the protege of the previous Master Baker, elevated to his current position after the plague took his master and his Craftsecond. Having been groomed for the position since being hand-selected by the old Master, Marek, as an Apprentice, Lowell was technically a Journeyman before being handed his Master Baker's knot, even though he was scheduled to walk the tables not three sevendays later. Although not the perfectionist Marek was, and much more prone to experimentation, Lowell is eager to establish himself as a good Craftmaster by following tradition and form. In his early thirties, Lowell is one of the youngest to ever hold his position, and generally looks now to guidance from more established Craftmasters. He also holds any Baker with a Master's knot in high esteem and is loathe to move against their opinions. However, as he gains experience, he will find his stride and move more authoritatively. On some days, his clear tenor ringing through the hall even reminds those who knew him of his father, also named Lowell, who died before the boy was born in a shipwreck.

Relevant Links:

All the Plants of Pern

Common Foods

Medieval and Renaissance food from the SCA

PernMUSH Baker Page