Hearthroot

Hearthroot is the foundation of the Taurus tribe's food security on Tauria. Beneath the leafy crown that gathers sunlight above the soil grows a thick, dense root — pale-skinned, deeply ribbed, tapering to a point. When harvested, Hearthroot provides a rich, nutty, sustaining food that can be roasted whole in coals, boiled into thick stew, or dried and ground to flour for travel rations.

Enki established the first Hearthroot beds within a week of landing. By the time of the Festival of Roots, the tribe had their first small harvest. The Hearthroot harvest has since become the turning point of Alcyone's agricultural year — the moment when winter provision is assured and the tribe breathes out.

Giliad's Field Note

Roasted Hearthroot at the Festival was the first meal that tasted like something other than survival. The skin must not be removed before roasting or the interior becomes dry. Left whole in the coals for two hours, the skin chars and the interior becomes almost liquid — sweet, mineral, with a warmth that persists. — G.