- "Nectrose crystals might look like teensy gemstones, but they have a totally unexpected kind of value—pure flavor."
- ―Strono Tuggs, The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook
Nectrose crystals were a type of crystal used as a flavor-enhancer, infusing water they were dissolved into with a sweet and fruity flavor. As an impoverished child, the human Everi Chalis was given a packet of nectrose crystals out of sympathy by a Trade Federation vessel captain. Tasting the crystals was the most enjoyable experience she had known and made her realize the poverty of her homeworld. In 34 ABY, the Artiodac chef Strono Tuggs included a recipe for nectrose crystals in his work The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook.
Description[]
- "Nectrose—you're supposed to sprinkle it in water—it makes things sweet and fruity, but I didn't know that."
- ―Everi Chalis
Nectrose crystals were a type of crystal that could be quickly dissolved in water to act as a flavor-enhancer. Resembling shiny gemstones, the crystals could be green, red, or yellow in color and infused water[1] with a sweet and fruity essence.[2] Some individuals used nectrose crystals to enhance the flavor of water that was not fresh, while others used the crystals to experience a boost in energy.[1]
History[]
Chalis's treat[]
- "I didn't have fresh water. I'd stick my fingers in the crystals and lick them off. I rationed them, gave myself a treat once a week for months. I broke out in hives every time. It was the most wonderful thing I'd ever encountered."
- ―Everi Chalis describes having the nectrose crystals
![EveriChalis-WotG](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/9/96/EveriChalis-WotG.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/220?cb=20240605005237)
Everi Chalis was gifted a packet of nectrose crystals by a Trade Federation captain when she was a child.
Prior to the Galactic Empire's reign,[2] which begun in 19 BBY,[3] the impoverished mother of the human Everi Chalis[2] attempted to sell her daughter to the captain[4] of a Trade Federation exploratory vessel; however, at only six years old, Chalis was too small to be of use. Out of sympathy, the captain gave the child a packet of nectrose crystals.[2]
Chalis did not know that the crystals were supposed to be dissolved in water, so she would stick her fingers into the crystals and then lick them, breaking out in hives every time she tried them. She rationed herself to eating nectrose crystals only once a week, with the packet of crystals ultimately lasting for months. Believing the crystals were the most wonderful thing she had encountered in her life so far, Chalis developed a new perspective on how poverty-ridden her homeworld was, with off-worlders being able to afford throwing items such as nectrose crystals to children as charity.[2]
Later uses[]
- "I've seen 'em crushed up and used to line the rims of fancy cocktail glasses, and I've also heard stories of soldiers on the battlefront poppin' these rocks straight into their mouths for an extra boost of energy."
- ―Strono Tuggs, The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook
![Strono Tuggs VD](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/3/3f/Strono_Tuggs_VD.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/190?cb=20241217032420)
Strono Tuggs' (pictured) recipe for Nectrose Freeze used nectrose crystals.
In 5 ABY,[5] a boy in the Children of the Empty Sun, a cult operating on the planet Catadra, ate raw nectrose crystals despite sweets being discouraged by the cult. The child then confessed his actions to other members of the Children of the Empty Sun during a disquisition their members had in groups three times a week.[6]
In 34 ABY,[7] the Artiodac chef Strono Tuggs included a recipe for nectrose crystals in his work The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, in which he also used the crystals as toppings for the desserts Mimbanese Mudslide and Nectrose Freeze. Tuggs claimed to have seen the crystals crushed and used to line the rims of ornamental cocktail glasses, and he wrote that he had also heard of soldiers eating the rocks undissolved on the battlefield for a boost of energy.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
- "One of the recipes most exclaimed over during the photo shoot, and one of my personal favorites, was the Nectrose Freeze ice cream with nectrose crystals on top. It's super fun and easy to make, but you get this unusual no-churn ice cream out of it, flavored by the toppings. After we got the shots we needed, the whole team pulled up some spoons and dug into the bowl with much happy murmuring. It was a great moment."
- ―Chelsea Monroe-Cassel
![Battlefront Twilight Company cover](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/9/91/Battlefront_Twilight_Company_cover.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/200?cb=20150828172004)
Nectrose crystals were first introduced in Battlefront: Twilight Company.
Nectrose crystals were first mentioned in Battlefront: Twilight Company, a novel written by Alexander Freed and published in 2015.[2] Nectrose crystals were later pictured when they received a recipe in the 2019 cookbook Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook, which was written by Marc Sumerak and Chelsea Monroe-Cassel. The out-of-universe recipe combines sugar, honey, water, rock salt, baking soda, and citric acid with one of three different flavor combinations that each produce a different color of crystal.[1]
The red combination uses vanilla extract, a dash of banana extract, and red food coloring; the yellow requires balsamic vinegar, strawberry extract, and yellow food coloring; and the green combines ground cardamom, orange extract, and green food coloring.[1] In an interview, Cassel noted that the Nectrose Freeze was one of her favorite dishes in the cookbook, mentioning the nectrose crystals and other toppings as giving flavor. During the book's production, she and the photography team enjoyed eating the dish after acquiring the shots they needed for the cookbook.[8]
Appearances[]
- Battlefront: Twilight Company (and audiobook) (First mentioned)
- Shadow Fall (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook (First pictured)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Battlefront: Twilight Company
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy
- ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Shadow Fall: An Alphabet Squadron Novel to 5 ABY.
- ↑ Shadow Fall
- ↑ Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook establishes that the in-universe book was published at the same time as when the First Order was searching for the Resistance base on Batuu, which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 34 ABY.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Black Spire Outpost Cookbook Author Interview with Chelsea Monroe-Cassel! - That Hashtag Show by Lyle Russell on That Hashtag Show (September 10, 2019) (archived from the original on September 28, 2023)