Characters
urAmaj the Cook
The closest together among the urRu were urAmaj the Cook and urNol the Herbalist. They attended to the greater and lesser balances of the bodies and spirits of their companions. Over much time urAmaj would blend the flavors and textures of fruit and root and grain and spice, sour and sweet, salt and aromatic, smooth and granular and fibrous, till the dish had the desired properties to soothe the urRu. urNol's herbs were taken for adjustment in the time between meals; he also made use of birds' feathers, and in particular of the mosses and lichens that grew on the Standing Stones, where he had his favorite gardens.
To eat of the food of the urRu is to undergo a long journey. Their herbs were always chosen to reconcile the souls of the urRu to the changes of the seasons; the true refreshment, they said, lies as much in the waiting between meals as in the feeding. They could wait long, but at times they made great cauldrons of simmering gruel which they devoured with ceremony, without haste but without ceasing the steady movement of their ladels.
Brian Froud, The World of the Dark Crystal [ISBN: 1 86205 624 2]
Henson Organization Publishing / Harry N. Abrams, New York 2003
Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1982
