Workshop Meat

Dwarven: Mazar Hasas

History

Mazar hasas, or workshop meat, is a chunk of meat that has been seasoned, cooked, and then is eaten throughout the week. When working in the mines, or the workshops, dwarves often don't have the ability to find a kitchen or even have time to go cook a full on meal before returning to work. As a result, mazar hasas is more an institution as opposed to a specific recipe in of itself. At the top of the week, a large chunk of meat is seasoned and then cooked and then utilized throughout the week to provide lunches. Because of the utility behind this food, it's often determined that the food being cooked should handle 3-5 days worth of mid-day meals, and should ideally be able to be eaten in different ways to help spice up the meal to keep from getting bored. Be it working the mines, working at a bench in the guild halls, or even out travelling, mazar hasas has it's place in every dwarf's beard.

Real World

Simply put, this is a large hunk of meat that you season and cook for a long time that you can eat over the next few days. For an example of the utility and spirit of mazar hasas, you spent the Thursday before an event cooking it, wrap it up, and take it with you to the event with proper cold storage. On Friday, you slice some hunks off of it, warm it over the fire, slap a little bit of a sauce of choice on it and have yourself a sandwich for lunch. On Saturday, you feel a need for additional protein and dice some of the meat up and toss it in with morning eggs and then for lunch you warm some more meat up and make a taco/quesadilla from it. Before you step off on Sunday, you dice the last of the meat up cold and toss it in a salad.

The goal is to create a simple, flavorful meat that you can use in different ways without needing specialized tools beyond a heating source. This way you don't have to run out to Burger King to go get something for lunch, but you can have everything you need back at camp.

Recipe

This is a very basic smoked mazar hasas, and the recipe provided is more to point to something that can work with the spirit of mazar hasas, and is not the only way to do it. Anything that you can cook for awhile and repurpose in multiple ways can create mazar hasas.

Ingredients

2lb bottom round beef (better meat is advised, but this is cheap)
1/3c Forge Watcher's Seasoning or enough to coat the meat
1T Worcestershire sauce
Hickory wood for smoking

1. 4 hours or more prior to cooking, rub the meat with the Worcestershire sauce and Forge Watcher's Seasoning. Really get it in there. Swear at it for additional flavor
2. Let sit in the fridge, covered, until 30 minutes before cooking.
3. 30 minutes before cooking, pull the meat out and let it come to room temperature.
4. Prepare your grill for smoking. If you only have a charcoal grill, use the snake method.
5. Place the meat on the grill for roughly 1.5 hours, checking at 1 hour for your desired final temperature.
6. When cooked, let rest 10-20 minutes before slicing
7. Slice the meat and place in a food safe container that you'll be taking with you to the event
8. Be sure to take a slice now to test it!
9. Store in a food safe manner, either in a fridge or cooler and keep it at a safe temperature during the event!

Uses for the Presented Recipe

1. Put some of the meat on a bun. Either put your choice condiments on it, or some BBQ sauce. Maybe a little bit of coleslaw if you do BBQ.
2. Dice the meat up, toss in a sloppy joe mix and serve on a bun.
3. Dice the meat up to use in a salad.
4. Tacos/Quesadillas
5. Add to ramen for additional protein
6. Dice some up to cook with your eggs
7. Use some of the fat from some slices as cooking grease if you have a pan.

Secondary Recipe for a Mazar Hasas

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
Salt and Pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a stock pot.
2. Cook until the meat shreds easily; on medium for 4-8 hours OR high for 2-4 hours. Changes based on size of birds you are cooking.
3. Drain the chicken.
4. Shred the chicken.
5. Store the chicken in a food safe container and in a food safe way. You should have a sizeable amount.
6. Refer to the above list for suggested uses

Final Thoughts

The primary goal behind mazar hasas is to make it so you can use a cheap cut of meat, cook it once and serve it several different ways throughout an event. This allows for your camp mates to have a cheap and easy lunch without having to leave the campsite, and is hopefully healthier than whatever fast food you can find nearby. The only limitation for this is your imagination and what you have available to you.

For those who do this, think of this as a form of meal prep that you take along with you.

Dwarven translation provided through the Dwarrow Scholar's translator.