Conchigliere, Conchiglette al Nero di Seppia

Flavor profile: Salty, Umami

Specialization: Offense, Thrust, Status

Conchigliere stands just shy of a foot tall, within the average range of most Gourmon. It has a primarily black body, styled like a tuxedo. On its chest is a small tomato, pinned to the side like a lapel flower. 

It’s face is a pale yellow, like egg-based pasta. It has pair of small black marks on its face like a pencil mustache, and tired, skeptical eyes. 

Atop its head is a large conchiglie shell dyed black, positioned like a pompadour. Ink drips down the sides of its head like like sideburns.

Conchigliere generally has a reserved personality, which it uses to great effectiveness in combat. It’s primary specialty is cloak-and-dagger and ambush combat. In situations where it doesn’t have the stealth initiative, it can use its ink to blind its enemies and regain the upper hand.

When designing this character, I knew I wanted to represent several kinds of pasta dishes, but setting them apart from one another would take some effort. Nero di Seppia is typically served with Spaghetti pasta, but I couldn’t waste the opportunity to have the shell-shaped pasta and the squid ink sauce paired together. The concept of the Consigliere was the last thing to tie together the aquatic themed ingredients with the loose reference to the “sleeping with the fishes” line associated with mafia and mob characters in media. 

Nero di Seppia gets its name from a genus of cuttlefish, but squid ink is often used as well. The ingredient is often used in the regions around the Mediterranean Sea and the Iberian peninsula. It is more often used for its deep black color to dye pasta, but is sometimes used to color and flavor sauces. 

There may be a recipe added in the future, further research is needed.