#slightly undermined by constantly smelling like window dried herbs and fresh bread

[verdemoun]

ARTHUR AND FOOD THANK YOU FOR ASKING

arthur was picked up at roughly 14 and did not commit his first significant robbery until 1887 approx 10 years later i will go to my death bed arguing that as an older teen one of his responsibilities was helping miss grimshaw with cooking and she taught him the seasoning skills he would use in campfires but the fact he remembers those skills like i want to believe in my heart he enjoys cooking

absolutely mr blames himself for every bad thing that has ever happened in human history would consider it his responsibility to make sure everyone else is fed first and rather live off crackers if it meant knowing everyone else got something first

the whole gang in timewarp has to go through a whole thing about food like learning to eat multiple times a day. that food storage and prep is a lot safer now than it was in 1899. can you imagine most of the gang having milk in coffee for the first time after permanently burnt black coffee in camp? the concept of a refrigerator? the sheer availability of food comparing a display case of salted meat in a grocery store in 1899 to an aisle of fresh packaged pre-cut steaks?

bread is the single biggest deal. beginning of everything. arthur morgan waking up to buttered toast because 'hey let's not throw in the sheer number of condiments available yet' and still needing to be physically shown by the effervescent inhumanly patient bessie matthews that no one is going to go without if you eat a slice of toast we have two more loaves of bread already pls eat something.

catching arthur just staring in the pantry a few times because like feeding 6 adults is a lot of food they have almost as much as the chuckwagon did and it's just for the 6 of them it takes so long to even comprehend having that much food available. needing to be served food because otherwise he just won't dish himself up anything because a) forgot and/or b) convinced himself others needed it more.

years later having his own place he is an absolute fiend in the kitchen like first thing he did was put in a wood stove because he is kinda old fashioned in a 'this was cutting edge technology back in my day' way but loves cooking and is damned good at it. people slow down to smell the air if he's cooking. obsessed with bread (thanks bessie), like cultivates his own yeast levels can scientifically break down how to make the perfect sourdough obsessed. makes the most incredible mouthwatering make your turkish nonna cry bread.

needs supervision at farmer's markets because he will buy enough to open his own restaurant. the dopamine hit he gets from seeing home grown local fresh produce is unrivalled.

makes his own jams and pickled vegetables and people constantly offer to pay for them but he genuinely does not understand how good he is at cooking. when he has too much he either gives it away or will accept traded goods only to return days later with half of whatever he made with said ingredients as a thank you.

can't even pronounce the names of some of the spices in his kitchen but can tell you exactly what to cook and pair it with and your tastebuds will find god he knows what he is doing. his kitchen looks like a homesteader's wet dream there's mystery jars of homemade relish and sauces everywhere deli-style slicer next to the toaster and a dry ager with self-sourced wild boar salami just a few days away from being perfect to cut into.

he is nourished and charles is nourished and they are happy and in love eating garlic confit focaccia in their open plan house that is 70% kitchen.

OMG WAIT SO UR AU HAS CHUBBY MACGUIRE

let the whole gang have their soft well fed happy era where they don't need to worry about where food is coming from no more treating beer like a necessary source of nutrition. don't care how long they've been warped they don't understand nor care for body standards or modern era aesthetics as long as they're happy and physically able to do the things they enjoy. dad bods and mom bods everywhere.