With the holidays upon us, we all may be looking around for a good tip-yip recipe and the Mandalorian Chef Society would be a great place to start looking.
Draluram (The Mandalorian Chef Society) was begun four years ago by Kara Kelborn of the Vok’Chi Clan. She was given the opportunity to talk with Mandalore the Uniter about food and recipes during his trip to London’s Star Wars Celebration. At the time, Mandalore was working on a cookbook and she said that she was inspired to start the society so that others could share their cooking and recipes, as well.
What makes Mandalorian cuisine different from food in other parts of the galaxy? According to Kara there are four essentials to Mandalorian Cooking, and the first of these is “Draluram,” a mando’a word that literally translates to “bright mouth.” As Kara told me, Draluram “indicates a strong, distinct, vivid flavor, so I used it in the club’s name.”
Additionally, Mandalorian food should be spicy, characterized by heturam or “mouth burn,” which is exactly what it sounds like. A state of intense burning in the mouth. Also, the food should have hetikryc or “nose burn” which sounds entirely uncomfortable, but apparently this is something that Mandalorians really look for in their food.
Third, it should be nourishing in that it is full of calories. For example, the Uj Cake, a flat dense cake made from nuts and fruit.
Finally, Mandalorian food should be able to last a long time without refrigeration and be portable. Something that, as Kara told me “is very important for busy fighters on the move.”
How does one go about joining Draluram? Well that’s the fun part. Kara told me that to join their ranks you just need to find their thread on the forums and “post a picture of you in mando armor making food or write a recipe which could suit mandalorians, and you are in!”
When asked about her favorite recipe, she gave me one that we all may be interested in, given they are a favorite of that adorable little green child that we all love so much.
Space cookies or Nevarroan cookies
Ingredients
1-3/4 cups powdered sugar (210 g)
1 cup almond flour (100 g), finely ground
1 teaspoon salt, divided
3 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 drops blue gel food coloring
Preparation of cookies.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, almond flour, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and process on low speed, until extra fine. Sift the almond flour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl.
In a separate large bowl, beat the egg whites and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the granulated sugar until fully incorporated. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out).
Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the food coloring and beat until just combined.
Add about 1/3 of the sifted almond flour mixture at a time to the beaten egg whites and use a spatula to gently fold until combined. After the last addition of almond flour, continue to fold slowly until the batter falls into ribbons and you can make a figure 8 while holding the spatula up.
Transfer the cookie batter into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
Place 4 dots of the batter in each corner of a rimmed baking sheet, and place a piece of parchment paper over it, using the batter to help adhere the parchment to the baking sheet.
Pipe the cookies onto the parchment paper in 1-1/2 inch (3-cm) circles, spacing at least 1-inch (2-cm) apart.
Tap the baking sheet on a flat surface 5 times to release any air bubbles.
Let the cookies sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until dry to the touch.
Preheat the oven to 300˚F (150˚C).
Bake the cookies for 17 minutes, until the feet are well-risen and the cookies don’t stick to the parchment paper.
Transfer the space cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before wrapping into foil paper
(recipe adopted using recipe from https://tasty.co/recipe/macarons)
