Meats


Bosk

"The bosk, without which the Wagon Peoples could not live, is an ox like creature. It is a huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair. Not only does the flesh of the bosk and the milk of its cows furnish the Wagon Peoples with food and drink, but its hides cover the domelike wagons in which they dwell; its tanned and sewn skin cover their bodies" Nomads of Gor (pgs 4-5)

"I smelled roast bosk cooking, and fried vulo..." Hunters of Gor (pg 34)

"Though similar in build to the Yak of earth the Bosk bears the heavier form of the buffalo of earth and like him, provides, food, leather and many of the needs of the people of Gor. The meat may be roasted or broiled, dried,stewed or served in a myriad of ways." Nomadss of Gor (pg 4)

Bosk are rather large, oxlike creatures, raised primarily by the Wagon Peoples. Bosk meat, and bosk veal meat may be prepared in almost any familiar form. Steaks and roasts may be cut from the meat, it may be cut into stews, sauces, casseroles, ground into patties and loaves, baked, broiled, grilled, braised, fried, steamed...let your imagination run wild.


Cosian Wingfish

"'Now this,' Saphrar the merchant was telling me, 'is the braised liver of the blue four-spired Cosian wingfish.' This fish is a tiny, delicate fish, blue, about the size of a tarn disk when curled in one's hand; it has three or four slender spines in its dorsal fin, which are poisonous; it is capable of hurling itself from the water and, for brief distances, on its stiff pectoral fins, gliding through the air, usually to evade the smaller sea-tharlarions, which seem to be immune to the poison of the spines. This fish is also sometimes referred to as the songfish because, as a portion of its courtship rituals, the males and females thrust their heads from the water and utter a sort of whistling sound. The blue, four-spired wingfish is found only in the waters of Cos. Larger varieties are found farther out to sea. The small blue fish is regarded as a great delicacy, and its liver as the delicacy of delicacies." Nomads of Gor (pgs 84-85)

Cosian wingfish is an incredible delicacy. Called wingfish due to its ability to fly above the waters of Cos for short distances, it may be served in any manner that is suitable for small, individual fish. Pan frying the small fish, heads removed but otherwise intact, is a special treat, as it's livers are considered an extreme delicacy. Caution MUST be used when cleaning the fish, as the spines on the dorsal are poisionous and can cause quite a nasty localized reaction if one is pricked with them.


Eels

"Clitus, too, had brought two bottles of Ka-la-na wine, a string of eels, cheese of the Verr and a sack of red olives from the groves of Tyros." Raiders of Gor (pg 114)

Eel is very good fried or broiled, preferably with a citrus butter or tospit and butter sauce to cut the very oily taste of the fish.


Eggs of the White Grunt

"In the hall was a open circle of small tables, at which a handful of guests, on cushions and mats, reclined. There were four men and two women at these tables, other than the Lady Florence, the hostess, and her guest of the past several days, the Lady Metpomene. The tables were covered with cloths of glistening white and a service of gold. Before each guest there were tiny slices of tospit and larma, small pastries, and in a tiny golden cup, with a small golden spoon, the clustered, black, tiny eggs of the white grunt. The first wine, a light white wine, was being deferentially served by Pamela and Bonnie." Fighting Slave of Gor (pgs 275-276)

The eggs described are served like caviar, in small bowls over ice, with a tiny spoon for each bowl. Additionally, slices of tospit or lemon and small triangles of toasted sa-tarna bread, as well as grated onion and chopped hard-boiled vulo egg should be available when serving this delicacy.


White Grunt

"Three other men of the Forkbeard attended to fishing, two with a net, sweeping it along the side of the serpent, for parsit fish, and the third, near the stem, with a hook and line, baited with vulo liver, for the white-bellied grunt, a large game fish which haunts the plankton banks to feed on parsit fish." Marauders of Gor (pg 59)

White Grunt is a large, meaty fish, and can be served poached, filleted, baked or fried.


Marsh Gant

"...poles of fish, plucked gants, slaughtered tarsks,..." Raiders of Gor (pg 41)

"I heard a bird some forty or fifty yards to my right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and broad-winged. Marsh girls, the daughters of Rence growers, sometimes hunt them with throwing sticks." Raiders of Gor (pg 4)

The Marsh Gant is an aquatic fowl apparently akin to duck. It is small, web-footed and horned. It is hunted by Marsh girls and/or Rencers for food, and it is unclear whether it is exported outside of the marshes. However, with the proximity to Port Kar and the trade plyed through the marshes it is likely that this meat is available through some portion of Gor on occasion. If the opportunity presents to serve it, think about roasting it on a spit, where the skin can crisp well and the layer of fat beneath the skin is able to drain away a bit. Basting with ramberry or peach jelly makes a wonderful glaze.


Marsh Shark

The meat of this shark is transported from the marshes and it may be served in steaks or fillets.


Oysters

"Other girls had prepared the repast, which for a the war camp, was sumptuous indeed, containing even oysters from the delta of the Vosk," Captive of Gor (pg 301)

Oysters can be fried, steamed, baked with or without stuffing, or used as a stuffing for other fish.


Parsit Fish

"The men of Torvaldsland are skilled with their hands. Trade to the south, of course is largely in furs acquired from Torvaldsland, and in barrels of smoked, dried parsit fish." Marauders of Gor (pg 28)

"The men who had fished with the net had now cleaned the catch of parsit fish, and chopped the cleaned, boned, silverish bodies into pieces, a quarter inch in width. Another of the bond-maids was then freed to mix the bond-maid gruel, mixing fresh water with Sa-Tarna meal, and then stirring in the raw fish." Marauders of Gor (pgs 63-64)

Parsit fish is somewhat like the smelt or herring of Earth. They are a slender silver fish with brown stripes, served often (at least one meal a day, it seemed) in Torvoldsland, and put into the slave gruel (bond-maid) gruel. It does not transport well fresh, but is smoked and exported to the south. Since it is so similar to smelt or herring, the best preparations would probably be frying, pickling, serving in cream sauce, or serving smoked with fruit, cheese and bread.


Salt Thassa Fish

Coming from the Thassa, the meat of this small fish can be broiled or baked.


Snails

Once the Forkbeard went to her and taught her to check the scoop, with her left hand, for snails, that they not be thrown overboard.Returning to Me, He held one of the snails, whose shell He crushed between His fingers, and sucked out the animal, chewing and swallowing it. He then threw the shell fragments overboard."They are edible," He said, "and We use them for fish bait." Marauders of Gor (pg 62)

Snails..like on Earth..are small slug-like creatures...residing within shells. They their flesh is quite "rubbery" and very chewy usually and must be picked or sucked out of the shell. Snails can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, or used as an accent flavor in casseroles.


Tabuk

"Gripped in the talons of the tarn was the dead body of an antelope, one of the one-horned, yellow antelopes called tabuks that frequent the bright Ka-la-na thickets of Gor." Tarnsman of Gor (pg 145)

"They were northern tabuk, massive, tawny and swift; many of them ten hands at the shoulder, a quite different animal from the small, yellow-pelted antelope-like quadruped of the south. On the other hand, they too were distinguished by the single horn of the tabuk. On these animals, however, that object, in swirling ivory, was often, at its base, some two and one half inches in diameter, and better than a yard in length. A charging tabuk, because of the swiftness of its reflexes, is quite a dangerous animal." Beasts of Gor (pg 152)

There are two different types of tabuk on Gor, depending on where one lives. Southern tabuk is small, with a pale yellow short pelt. The meat is lean and somewhat gamey. The Northern tabuk, on the other hand, is much larger, with a shaggy, light coat. The meat of the northern tabuk is leaner than bosk, but much richer in fats than the southern version. It is therefore more suitable to grilling than the southern tabuk, which, unless fresh, should be roasted or stewed. Northern tabuk makes a rich stew or soup stock, and can be smoked to make a good jerky. The fat rendered from beneath the skin of the Northern tabuk is rich enough that when combined with chopped tabuk meat, sa-tarna, dried ramberries and the rendered fat, travel cakes may be made that will keep indefinately and provide valuable nutrients in the cold environs of the North. *Hint: These are excellent to pack in tins for a girl's Owner, if He owns Merchant or Serpent ships.*


Tarsk

"if I were lucky, a slice of roast tarsk, the formidable six tusked wild boar of Gor’s temperate forests." Assassin of Gor (pg 87)

"Before the feast I had helped the women, cleaning fish and dressing marsh gants, and then, later, turning spits for the roasted tarsks, roasted over rence-root fires, kept on metal pans, elevated above the rence of the islands by metal racks, themselves resting on larger pans." Raiders of Gor (pg 44)

I thought of the yellow Gorean bread, baked in the shape of round, flat loaves, fresh and hot; my mouth watered for a tabuk steak or, perhaps, if I were lucky, a slice of roast tarsk, the formidable six tusked wild boar of Gor's temperate forests. Outlaw of Gor (pg 76)

Tarsk is most often served roasted. Leftover roasted meat may be served in a casserole. Ground tarsk may be seasoned and served in patties.


Tumits

"I gathered that the best time to hunt tumits, the large flightless, carnivourous birds of the southern plains, was at hand..." Nomads of Gor (pg 331)

A large flightless carnivorous bird, about the size of an ostrich, having an 18'-long hooked beak. It is often eaten by the Nomads of Gor. Nomads of Gor (pg 2)

Tumits are hunted only among the Wagon Peoples, and are not exported as the Hunt is a test of bravery, and not commercially feasible.


Verr

"The smell of fruit and vegetables, and verr milk, was strong." Savages of Gor (pg 60)

"In the cafes, I had feasted well.I had had verr meat, cut in chunks and threaded on a metal rod" Tribesmen of Gor (pg 48)

Verr is like goat. It is very strong tasting when prepared as a meat, with a high, strongly flavored oil content. It is best served with relishes or strong salty cheeses, with olives, or with vegetables, and well seasoned with mint, rosemary, garlic and/or tarragon.


Vosk Carp

Being much like the type of fish called carp on Earth, this fish that swims in the Vosk river is served baked, broiled, or fried.


Vosk Sorp

This is a shellfish found in the waters of the Vosk. It is similar to oysters of Earth as it manufactures pearls within its shell. Use this to make soups or add it to a sa-tarna stuffing.


Vulo

"vulo stew with raisins, nuts, onions and honey" Tribesmen of Gor (pg 48)

"I shot the spiced vulo brain into my mouth" Nomads of Gor (pg 84)

"Soon, I smelled the frying of vulo eggs in a large, flat pan" Slave Girl of Gor (pg 73)

"I smelled roast bosk cooking, and fried vulo...I held the leg of the fried vulo toward one of the girls..." Hunters of Gor (pg 34)

There is some inconsistency about vulo...some passages making it seem 'like chicken' and others describing it as much smaller...like cornish hen. In any case, vulo can be fried, baked, broiled, and prepared as soups, stews and kabobs. Delicacies like the spiced vulo brain are, of course, optional preparations.