Delectas ex Jerbiton
Hermetic Name: Delectas ex Jerbiton
Roman Tribunal
Reputation: Food-obsessed chef and author 3 (Hermetic), Unparalleled chef and host 5 (Naples)
Preferred Topics: Creo, Muto, Rego
Delectas of House Jerbiton, born as Ronaldo, son of a baker, was Gently Gifted and a popular young lad. He was a great help to his family's business, as his subtly manifested talent created unique and interesting flavors. A Redcap located him and informed the local covenants, and he was easily claimed by a nearby Jerbiton. His master used his interest and skill in baking to entice his focus on his studies, and by the time he had been Gauntleted, Delectas was quite obsessed over food.
Many a Jerbiton who wanted to host a social gathering had pulled him in to help, and he was delighted to do so. Delectas developed a talent for teaching as he found himself beset by larger requests and he refused to back down from a culinary challenge. His Mercere wife, his younger brothers, his children, the grandchildren.... Delectas had gathered to himself a personally trained gastronomic army, utilizing all different manner of magical tricks to enhance food.
As well, Delectas became an incredibly large man, as a Twilight warping experience had left him always hungry, and aways growing larger. Not mere fat, by the time Delectas died, he was eleven feet tall and five feet across, rotund and healthy. He never became a proper author, but when he finally died of old age, one of his grandchildren began selling copies of his library to a few Redcap cousins.
At the storyguide's option, readers with no culinary skill may receive a -2 Source Quality to reading Delectas's work. These books may also be used as Tractati for Profession: Chef (or Craft: Baking) of Source Quality 8.
Subtle Uses of Spice and Flavour by Delectas ex Jerbiton, Muto Tractatus in Latin, Quality 11
This book discusses using specific mixes of spices to create certain flavor profiles in prepared food, including an exhaustive study of spice blends common in different cultures around the Mediterranean Sea. Less focused on magic, it still provides much insight on transformation of species and materials by uses of toasting and blending spices together before use.
Transformation of Meats to Aether and Aroma by Delectas ex Jerbiton, Muto Tractatus in Latin, Quality 11
A magically-focused culinary opus, this spell talks about using temporary Muto transformations to assist in unique and interesting food options. It spends a number of chapters discussing turning meats and hearty foods into liquids to be mixed or cooked into other foods to impart their flavor profiles - both temporary changes to be released later in preparation, as well as longer term spells to keep the transformation active until well after consumption. It also discusses other other magical manipulations, and includes a laboratory text to trap the aroma of cooking food as a liquid to be mixed into draughts, such as Delectas's famous Braised Beef Burgandy wine.
Creativity and Experimentation in Creation of Recipe and Meals by Delectas ex Jerbiton, Creo Tractatus in Latin, Quality 11
Delectas's focus on properly preparing food often ran into a problem of scale. Thus, he developed a number of Creo rituals to create entire feasts utilizing a single perfect serving as a base. The culinary magus preferred to create food using a sample as a base, thus taking away any guesswork or finesse in its creation, and minimizing the effects of a magus's sigil in creation. This tractatus contains a laboratory text for a ritual spell that perfectly duplicates a singular circlular platter off food into four hundred servings.
Limitations of Magical Preparation in Masterful Meals by Delectas ex Jerbiton, Rego Tractatus in Latin, Quality 11
This is a brief and surprisingly insightful study into what parts of feast preparation can be done with Rego spells, not merely in craft magic, but in efficiency. Levitating cooking implements to ease space, magical pots to preserve spices, enchanted mortars to grind ingredients to fine or coarse mixes. It also describes a pair of matched tables for dining and preparation, that instantly transported any food placed on one table to be served at another, allowing for meals to be served at perfect temperature with no spillage.
Utilizing Magical Aids in Culinary Mastery by Delectas ex Jerbiton, Finesse Tractatus in Latin, Quality 9
This partially-finished opus is a study on utilizing Rego craft magic as part of a cooking or craft rather than for whole meals. It describes techniques to quicken and enhance ingredient preparation rather than using magic to just make the final product; Craft magic can easily create perfectly even cuts of meat for later cooking, incredibly fine spice-grinding in a moment, even aging or drying components, all with the goal of delivering a chef the most perfect ingredients. A skilled chef with sufficient communication and Finesse could proofread and edit this work up to its full Quality 11 potential.