Tritae Treats (Grape Skewers) | Spera Comics

(#FoodinComics! Originally posted Jan. 2018 on Instagram @fictionfood.)

“...I found some things for us to eat.”
“What kind is that one?”
“Ah, that’s a tritae. It tastes sort of like a praying mantis.”

—Spera Vol. 1, Ch. 1, written by Josh Tierney, illustrated by Kyla Vanderklugt

          Towards the beginning of the year I read the first three volumes of the Spera series written by Josh Tierney and illustrated by many different artists. It’s kind of like a comics anthology, but focuses on one story and set of characters and is written by one person. It’s total fantasy and follows the trials and daily life of two princesses who escaped from warring kingdoms. One princess is wild and great with a sword and the other is more protected and refined. Accompanying them is a fox-ish-dog-sometimes-man-fire-spirit, a chubby warrior tabby cat, and a few other friends along the way.

          I found these at my local library in the youth graphic novel section and I’m so glad I did! I appreciated being introduced to different artists through this style of book—though there are some styles that really didn’t resonate with me and instead pulled me out of the story—but overall I enjoyed the experience and am invested in the story and characters, so much so that I gobbled them up in one day. :)

          The Spera series is written by Josh Tierney, with covers by Afu Chan, and is published through Archaia, an imprint of Boom! Studios. You can find out more about Spera at spera-comic.com, including tons of online comics and collaborations.

(Illustrations by Kyla Vanderklugt.)

          I wanted to celebrate these stories in some way, and for some reason these iggly arthropods were what stood out to me (or squirmed out to me?). It's like a running joke that these two princesses eat bugs et all with no qualms, embracing their adventurer/exile life the way they see it (they do have "normal food" occasionally, but I thought these would be more fun!). ;)

Spera Tritae Treats

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Ingredients:
Seedless Red Grapes
Pulled-apart Cherry Twizzlers Pull’n’Peel (separate the "strings")
Whole Cloves

Also Needed:
Small Wooden Skewers

Directions:
Each tritae will need 7-9 grapes.
Pierce each grape with a skewer & move the skewer around a bit to make a decent hole, being careful not to break the grape. Basically you’re making it so that the grapes will be like beads.

Gently push the candy string through the grapes (7-9 grapes for 1 treat), leaving about 1/2” of the string poking out one end. This end will be the head.

Use the skewer to make holes on either side of the string coming out of the "head", not going all the way through, & press short pieces of candy string in (see photos for reference).

Push the skewer horizontally through the 2nd & 3rd grapes down from the head, careful not to push through the string in the center—aim for just above it—& slide segments of candy string through to create the legs.

Line the string of grapes up like an “S” & carefully press the skewer through as shown (the skewer needs to go through 3 grapes, with 2 grapes between to make the bends).

Push two whole cloves into the "head" grape to make the eyes.
Now you're done. Happy cronching!

“Why do you girls keep eating everything you find on the ground? You said you were princesses!”
“And now we are adventurers.”

—Spera Vol. 3, Ch. 1, written by Josh Tierney, illustrated by Michael Dialynas

(Illustration by Michael Dialynas.)