Madame Zorina

Dearest Traveler,

If you're reading these words, you've found your way to my humble collection of recipes and stories. Whether by fate, fortune, or the whims of the mists, I welcome you to The Forge Bakery, where the ancient culinary traditions of Barovia come alive through each carefully preserved recipe.

I was born under a blood moon in a Vistani camp near the Tser Pool, where the stars themselves seemed to dance in celebration of my arrival. My mother, a renowned fortune teller among our people, saw in the cards that I would "bring warmth to the coldest hearts through the magic of the oven." At the time, she thought it was merely a metaphor. How little did we know that the cards would speak so literally of my destiny.

My earliest memories are filled with the scent of my grandmother's "Tarokka Prophecy Cookies" baking in the campfire's embers. Each cookie contained a fortune, and each fortune contained a truth. I learned early that in Barovia, the line between baking and magic is as thin as a spider's web in the morning mist. My grandmother would say, "The ingredients we use are not just food, child. They are memories, dreams, and the very essence of our people."

As I grew, I traveled from village to village, castle to castle, learning the secrets of Barovian cuisine. I've kneaded dough in the kitchens of Castle Ravenloft (though I had to leave in a hurry when Strahd caught me adding garlic to his bread - he's quite particular about that), brewed tea with Madam Eva (who taught me that the best fortunes are baked, not told), and even learned the art of werewolf-proof pastries from the bakers of Krezk.

My most memorable adventure? The time I spent three months in the Abbey of Saint Markovia, trying to teach the Abbot's mongrelfolk how to bake. Let me tell you, getting a werewolf to stop eating the raw dough is harder than teaching a vampire to enjoy garlic bread! But through patience and persistence, we managed to create a recipe book that even the most feral of them could follow.

The recipes I've collected over the decades are more than just instructions for creating food. They are stories, each one carrying the weight of history and the magic of our land. Some were passed down through generations, whispered from mother to daughter in the dead of night. Others I discovered in ancient cookbooks bound in human skin (not my favorite binding material, but the recipes are worth it), and a few I created through trial and error (mostly error, if we're being honest).

Take, for instance, the "Mists of Memory" tea. Its recipe was given to me by a ghost who had been a tea master in life. He appeared to me one night in the ruins of Berez, where the mists are thickest, and taught me the precise timing needed to capture the essence of memory in each cup. Or the "Strahd's Regret" cake, which I created after the Count himself complained that no dessert could match the sweetness of revenge. I took that as a challenge, and now it's one of our most popular recipes.

My current mission is to preserve these culinary traditions before they're lost to the mists. You see, in a land where death is just a temporary inconvenience, recipes become more than just instructions - they're a way to keep the past alive, to remember those we've lost, and to bring a little warmth to the eternal night.

I've faced many challenges in my quest: angry werewolves who didn't appreciate my "Full Moon Pie" recipe, vampires who complained about the lack of blood in my "Blood Moon Velvet Cake," and one particularly grumpy lich who was upset that I used his philosopher's stone to make cookies instead of achieving immortality. But through it all, I've kept baking, kept collecting stories, and kept sharing the warmth of the oven with anyone brave enough to try my recipes.

The Forge Bakery is more than just a collection of recipes - it's a living testament to the resilience of our people. Each dish tells a story of survival, of adaptation, and of the magic that flows through our land. From the hearty meals of the common folk to the elaborate feasts of Castle Ravenloft, every recipe is a piece of our history, carefully preserved and passed down through generations.

So, dear reader, whether you're a brave adventurer looking for a taste of home, a curious scholar studying Barovian culture, or just someone who likes their cookies with a side of existential dread, welcome to my collection. May your ovens be warm, your ingredients fresh, and your fortune cookies not predict your imminent doom (though in Barovia, that's always a possibility).

Remember, in Barovia, every meal is an opportunity to experience the magic of our land. Every ingredient holds a secret, every recipe tells a story, and every bite brings you closer to understanding the true nature of this mysterious realm.

With love and a pinch of wolfsbane,

Madame Zorina
The Baker of Barovia

P.S. If you see Strahd, tell him I'm still working on that garlic-free bread recipe he requested. It's coming along... slowly.