IN EVERY PROFESSIONAL’S LIFE, THERE comes a point where they must choose between correctness and accommodation. Prosatio Silban heaved a deep sigh, one of many such that morning. The primary concern of every cook is to make the customers happy,…
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Prosatio Silban and the Good Death
“SO ANSWER ME THIS QUESTION: what exactly is a ‘good death?’” That compelling query hung in the smoky air inside Pelvhi’s Chopping-House while the conversationalists – Prosatio Silban; Primea Ultar, private chef to a wealthy Pormaris wine-merchant; the famed waiter…
Prosatio Silban and the Speedy Feasts
IN THE WRONG HANDS, EVEN a small dose of thwarted authority could grow into a voracious lust for revenge. Our tale begins one night at Pelvhi’s Chopping-House, where everyone who was anyone in the Pormaris hospitality-world repaired after-hours for commiseration…
Prosatio Silban and the Integrated Pests
(Story idea, with thanks, by Ann Clark.) SOME TROUBLES ARE ONLY small – if not in importance, then at least of stature. Whistling a tuneless melody, Prosatio Silban bustled about inside his galleywagon in anticipation of a healthy Pormaris breakfast-crowd.…
Prosatio Silban and the Recipe Thief
SOME SECRETS ARE NOT MEANT to be shared – at least, not without consequences. Prosatio Silban closed his eyes and inhaled the clean salt air of cosmopolitan Soharis-on-the-Rimless-Sea. I never tire of this city, he thought. Its ridiculously fresh seafood,…
Prosatio Silban and the Road Taken
ONE GOOD TURN LEADS TO another – and also, sometimes, to unforeseen ends. Prosatio Silban was sick. So sick, in fact, that he couldn’t sit upright on the wide driver’s bench as his galleywagon swayed along the tamped-earth road near…
Prosatio Silban and the Weekly Vacation
LIKE ALL PEOPLE ACROSS THE Uulian Commonwell, the Cook For Any Price always looked forward with eager anticipation to Sixth. For the first five of the Uulian week’s six days, everyone (including beggars and outlanders) tended to their trades, professions,…
Prosatio Silban and the Dire Straits
FROM WHERE DO YOU DRINK when your once-abundant spring dries up? Prosatio Silban sighed, and – for the dozenth or so time – regarded his empty pantry, coldbox, and coin jar. I don’t imagine repeated examination is going to fill…
Prosatio Silban and the Artful Dodge
HERE’S A SIMPLE QUESTION: WHAT is the essence and meaning of “art?” I have never seen such beautiful food, Prosatio Silban thought. The village of Pastisi had made a name for itself by crafting the most picturesque baked goods in…
Prosatio Silban and the Dueling Perfumers
THE SENSE OF SMELL IS an important component for that of taste. But can it stand alone? “I shall be brief,” said the woman in the jewel-bedecked caftan, smoothing a tailored crease upon one crossed knee. “My enterprise, ‘Sobor’s Scents,’…
Prosatio Silban and the Tainted Wind
NOT ALL AWAKENINGS ARE RUDE – but some may as well be. Prosatio Silban stretched, yawned, sat up, and contemplated the interior of the curtained sleeping-berth tucked into his galleywagon’s rear. Something is amiss, he thought. But what? His inquisitive…
Prosatio Silban and the Boundary Crossers
PROSATIO SILBAN HAD TO LOOK twice before he realized what he was seeing. Why is this Xao woman, he asked himself, dressed as an Uulian? It was a fair question. The Xao were almost the oldest original residents of the…