Char

Whenever you smell something delectable there’s a good chance that a char is behind it. Chars are somewhere between chef and survivalist, with a dash of healer and vintner thrown in for good measure.

Many chars lack formal training, instead putting in years of trial and error until they come up with a set of flavour combinations that suit their unique tastes. A precious few do manage to study under one of the old culinary masters, spreading their unique recipes across the sea.

The Value of Preparation

Some would argue that the wildsea provides enough edible material, and in enough variety, that a skilled chef would be little more than an afterthought when a ship takes on crew. Not so - apart from the obvious benefits to taste and presentation that a char brings, their most basic techniques and seasoning blends work to counteract the low levels of crezzerin found in most wildsea meat and produce. This leads to better health, better sleep, happier crews and more productive ships.

Food Without Flame

Cookfires are, as you might expect, a rarity on the rustling waves… But meat needs to fry and tea needs to brew, so chars have found various ways around this limitation. Some eschew heat altogether, focusing on salts and pickling, spice-rubs and sun- drying. Others treat the engine room as an extension of the galley, using engine heat and pressure in place of actual flame. The most adventurous experiment with trained glowbugs, chemical hot-plates and distilled sunlight.

Questions to Consider

When you incorporate elements of the char into your character, consider the following questions…

Alternate Presentations

There are a lot of paths a char might walk that diverge significantly from ‘ship’s cook’. A char might be a obsessive gourmet, a travelling butcher or chop-station worker or even some sort of wildsea confectioner, focusing more on the taste and presentation than the utility of their creations.