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lsdoiphin · 5 months

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Foods of Vestur

@broncoburro and @chocodile provoked me into doing some illustrated worldbuilding for Forever Gold ( @forevergoldgame ), an endeavor I was happy to undertake. Unbeknownst to me, it would take the better part of a week to draw.

In the process, I conjured about an essay's worth of fantasy food worldbuilding, but I'm going to try and keep things digestible (pardon my pun). Lore under the cut:

The Middle Kingdom

The Middle Kingdom has ample land, and its soil, landscapes, and temperate climate are amenable to growing a variety of crops and raising large quantities of livestock. The Midland palate prefers fresh ingredients with minimal seasoning; if a dish requires a strong taste, a cook is more likely to reach for a sharp cheese than they are to open their spice drawer. Detractors of Middle Kingdom cuisine describe it as bland, but its flavor relies on the quality of its components more than anything.

KEY CROPS: wheat, potatoes, carrots, green beans, apples, pears, and grapes KEY LIVESTOCK: Midland goats, fowl, and hogs

ROAST FOWL: Cheap and easy to raise, fowl is eaten all over Vestur and by all classes. Roasted whole birds are common throughout, but the Middle Kingdom's approach to preparation is notable for their squeamish insistence on removing the head and neck before roasting, even among poorer families. Fowl is usually roasted on a bed of root vegetables and shallots and served alongside gravy and green beans.

GOAT RIBEYE: Vestur does not have cattle – instead it has a widely diversified array of goats, the most prominent being the Middle Kingdom's own Midland goat. The Midland goat is a huge caprid that fills the same niche as cattle, supplying Vestur with meat and dairy products. Chevon from the Midland goat is tender with a texture much like beef, though it retains a gamier, “goat-ier” taste. It is largely eaten by the wealthy, though the tougher and cheaper cuts can be found in the kitchens of the working class. Either way, it is almost always served with gravy. (You may be sensing a pattern already here. Midlanders love their gravy.)

FETTUCCINE WITH CHEESE: Noodles were brought to the Middle Kingdom through trade with the South and gained popularity as a novel alternative to bread. The pasta of Midland Vestur is largely eaten with butter or cream sauce; tomato or pesto sauces are seldom seen.

CHARCUTERIE WITH WINE: Charcuterie is eaten for the joy of flavors rather than to satiate hunger, and therefore it is mainly eaten by the upper class. It is commonly eaten alongside grape wine, a prestigious alcohol uniquely produced by the Middle Kingdom. The flavor of grape wine is said to be more agreeable than the other wines in Vestur, though Southern pineapple wine has its share of defenders.

BREAD WITH JAM AND PRESERVES, TEA SANDWICHES, & ROSETTE CAKE: Breads and pastries are big in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom considers itself the world leader in the art of baking. Compared to its neighbors, the baked goods they make are soft, light, and airy and they are proud of it. Cakes in particular are a point of ego and a minor source of mania among nobility; it is a well-established cultural joke that a Middle Kingdom noble cannot suffer his neighbor serving a bigger, taller cake. The cakes at Middle Kingdom parties can reach nauseatingly wasteful and absurdist heights, and there is no sign of this trend relenting any time soon.

CHOWDER, FARMER'S POT PIE, GRIDDLECAKES, EGGS, CURED MEATS: If you have the means to eat at all in the Middle Kingdom, you are probably eating well. Due to the Midland's agricultural strength, even peasant dishes are dense and filling. Eggs and cured meats are abundant, cheaper, and more shelf stable than fresh cuts and provide reprieve from the unending wheat and dairy in the Midland diet.

STEWED APPLES AND PEARS, JAM AND PRESERVES: The Midland grows a number of different fruits, with apples and pears being the most plentiful. In a good year, there will be more fruit than anyone knows what to do with, and so jams and preserves are widely available. Stewed fruit has also gained popularity, especially since trade with the Southern Kingdom ensures a stable supply of sugar and cinnamon.

NORTHERN KINGDOM - SETTLED

The Northern Kingdom is a harsh and unforgiving land. Historically, its peoples lived a nomadic life, but since the unification of the Tri-Kingdom more and more of the Northern population have opted to live a settled life. The “settled North” leads a hard life trying to make agriculture work on the tundra, but it is possible with the help of green meur. The Northern palate leans heavily on preserved and fermented foods as well as the heat from the native tundra peppers. Outsiders often have a hard time stomaching the salt, tang, and spice of Northern cuisine and it is widely considered “scary.”

KEY CROPS: potatoes, beets, carrots, tundra pepper KEY LIVESTOCK: wooly goats, hares*

GOAT POT ROAST: Life up north is hard work and there is much to be done in a day. Thus, slow cooked one-pot meals that simmer throughout the day are quite common.

VENISON WITH PICKLES: Game meat appears in Northern dishes about as much as farmed meat – or sometimes even more, depending on the location. Even “classier” Northern dishes will sometimes choose game meat over domesticated, as is the case with the beloved venison with pickles. Cuts of brined venison are spread over a bed of butter-fried potato slices and potent, spicy pickled peppers and onions. The potatoes are meant to cut some of the saltiness of the dish, but... most foreigners just say it tastes like salt, vinegar, and burning.

MINER STEW: While outsiders often have a hard time distinguishing miner stew from the multitude of beet-tinged stews and pot roasts, the taste difference is unmistakable. Miner's stew is a poverty meal consisting of pickles and salt pork and whatever else is might be edible and available. The end result is a sad bowl of scraps that tastes like salt and reeks of vinegar. The popular myth is that the dish got its name because the Northern poor began putting actual rocks in it to fill out the meal, which... probably never happened, but facts aren't going to stop people from repeating punchy myths.

RYE TOAST WITH ONION JAM: Rye is hardier than wheat, and so rye bread is the most common variety in the North. Compared to Midland bread, Northern bread is dense and gritty. It is less likely to be enjoyed on its own than Midland bread, both because of its composition and because there's less to put on it. Unless you've the money to import fruit spreads from further south, you're stuck with Northern jams such as onion or pepper jam. Both have their appreciators, but bear little resemblance to the fruit and berry preserves available elsewhere in Vestur.

HARE DAIRY: Eating hare meat is prohibited in polite society due to its association with the haretouched and heretical nomadic folk religions, but hare dairy is fair game. Hare cheese ranges from black to plum in color, is strangely odorless, and has a pungent flavor akin to a strong blue cheese. It is the least contentious of hare milk products. Hare milk, on the other hand, is mildly toxic. If one is not acclimated to hare milk, drinking it will likely make them “milk sick” and induce vomiting. It is rarely drunk raw, and is instead fermented into an alcoholic drink similar to kumis.

MAPLE HARES AND NOMAD CANDY: Maple syrup is essentially the only local sweetener available in the North, and so it is the primary flavor of every Northern dessert. Simple maple candies are the most common type of sweet, though candied tundra peppers – known as “nomad candy” – is quite popular as well. (Despite its name, nomad candy is an invention of the settled North and was never made by nomads.)

TUNSUKH: Tunsukh is one of the few traditions from the nomadic era still widely (and openly) practiced among Northern nobility. It is a ceremonial dinner meant as a test of strength and endurance between political leaders: a brutally spiced multi-course meal, with each course being more painful than the last. Whoever finishes the dinner with a stoic, tear-streaked face triumphs; anyone who cries out in pain or reaches for a glass of milk admits defeat. “Dessert” consists of a bowl of plain, boiled potatoes. After the onslaught of tunsukh, it is sweeter than any cake.

NORTHERN KINGDOM – NOMADIC NORTH

Although the Old Ways are in decline, the nomadic clans still live in the far North beyond any land worth settling. They travel on hareback across the frozen wasteland seeking “meur fonts” - paradoxical bursts of meur that erupt from the ice and provide momentary reprieve from the harsh environment. The taste of nomad food is not well documented.

KEY CROPS: N/A KEY LIVESTOCK: hares

PEMMICAN: Nomadic life offers few guarantees. With its caloric density and functionally indefinite “shelf life,” pemmican is about as close as one can get.

SEAL, MOOSE: Meat comprises the vast majority of the nomadic diet and is eaten a variety of ways. Depending on the clan, season, and availability of meur fonts, meat may be cooked, smoked, turned to jerky, or eaten raw. Moose and seal are the most common sources of meat, but each comes with its own challenges. Moose are massive, violent creatures and dangerous to take down even with the aid of hares; seals are slippery to hunt and only live along the coasts.

WANDER FOOD, WANDER STEW: When a green meur font appears, a lush jungle springs forth around it. The heat from red meur fonts may melt ice and create opportunities for fishing where there weren't before. Any food obtained from a font is known as “wander food.” Wander food is both familiar and alien; the nomads have lived by fonts long enough to know what is edible and what is not, but they may not know the common names or preparation methods for the food they find. Fish is simple enough to cook, but produce is less predictable. Meur fonts are temporary, and it's not guaranteed that you'll ever find the same produce twice - there is little room to experiment and learn. As a result, a lot of wander food is simply thrown into a pot and boiled into “wander stew,” an indescribable dish which is different each time.

CENVAVESH: When a haretouched person dies, their hare is gripped with the insatiable compulsion to eat its former companion... therefore, it is only proper to return the favor. Barring injury or illness, a bonded hare will almost always outlive its bonded human, and so the death of one's hare is considered a great tragedy among nomads. The haretouched – and anyone they may invite to join them – sits beside the head of their hare as they consume as much of its rib and organ meat as they can. Meanwhile, the rest of the clan processes the remainder of the hare's carcass so that none of it goes to waste. It is a somber affair that is treated with the same gravity as the passing of a human. Cenvavesh is outlawed as a pagan practice in the settled North.

HARE WINE: While fermented hare's milk is already alcoholic, further fermentation turns it into a vivid hallucinogen. This “hare wine” is used in a number of nomad rituals, most notably during coming of age ceremonies. Allegedly, it bestows its drinker with a hare's intuition and keen sense of direction... of course, truth is difficult to distinguish from fiction when it comes to the Old Ways.

SOUTHERN KINGDOM

The Southern Kingdom is mainly comprised of coast, wetland, and ever-shrinking jungle. While the land is mostly unfit for large-scale agriculture, seafood is plentiful and the hot climate is perfect for exorbitant niche crops. What they can't grow, they obtain easily through trade. Southerners have a reputation for eating anything, as well as stealing dishes from other cultures and “ruining” them with their own interpretations. KEY CROPS: plantains, sweet potato, pineapple, mango, guava, sugarcane KEY LIVESTOCK: fowl, marsh hogs, seals

GLAZED EEL WITH FRIED PLANTAINS: A very common configuration for Southern food is a glazed meat paired with a fried vegetable. It almost doesn't matter which meat and which vegetable it is – they love their fried food and they love their sweet and salty sauces in the South. Eel is a culturally beloved meat, much to the shock and confusion of visiting Midlanders.

NARWHAL STEW: Narwhal stew is the South's “anything goes” stew. It does not actually contain narwhal meat, as they are extinct (though the upper class may include dolphin meat as a protein) – instead, the name comes from its traditional status as a “forever soup,” as narwhals are associated with the passage of time in Southern culture. Even in the present day, Southern monasteries tend massive, ever-boiling pots of perpetual stew in order to feed the monks and sybils who live there. Narwhal stew has a clear kelp-based broth and usually contains shellfish. Beyond that, its ingredients are extremely varied. Noodles are a popular but recent addition.

FORAGE: The dish known as “forage” is likewise not foraged, or at least, it hasn't been forage-based in a good hundred years at least. Forage is a lot like poke; it's a little bit of everything thrown into a bowl. Common ingredients include fish (raw or cooked), seaweed, fried noodles, marinated egg, and small quantities of fruit.

HOT POT: Hot pot is extremely popular, across class barriers, in both the South proper and its enclave territories. This is due to its extreme flexibility - if it can be cooked in a vat of boiling broth, it will be. Crustaceans and shellfish are common choices for hot pot in the proper South, along with squid, octopus, mushrooms, and greens.

FLATBREAD: The Southern Kingdom doesn't do much baking. The vast majority of breads are fried, unleavened flatbreads, which are usually eaten alongside soups or as wraps. Wraps come in both savory and sweet varieties; savory wraps are usually stuffed with shredded pork and greens while sweet wraps – which are much more expensive – are filled with fruit and seal cheese.

GRILLED SKEWERS, ROAST SWEET POTATO: While a novel concept for Midlanders and Northerners, street food has long been a part of Southern Kingdom culture. You would be hard pressed to find a Southern market that didn't have at least three vendors pushing grilled or fried something or other. Skewers are the most common and come in countless configurations, but roast sweet potatoes are a close second.

CUT FRUIT AND SEAL CHEESE: Fresh fruit is popular in the South, both local and imported. While delicious on its own, Southerners famously pair it with seal cheese. Which leads me to an important topic of discussion I don't have room for anywhere else...

THE SOUTH AND CHEESE: Since the South doesn't have much in the way of dairy farming, cheese is somewhat rare in their cuisine – but it is present. And important. Cheese is the domain of the Church. Common goat dairy imported from the Middle Kingdom is turned to cheese by monks in Southern monasteries and sold to the Southern public, yes, but as you have noticed there is another cheese prominent in the Southern Kingdom diet: seal cheese. Seal cheese is unlike anything else that has ever been called cheese; the closest it can be compared to is mascarpone. It is is a soft, creamy cheese with a mild flavor and an indulgent fat content. It is used almost exclusively as a dessert, though it is only ever mildly sweetened if at all. It is extremely costly and held in high regard; the most religious Southerners regard it as holy. Dairy seals are a very rare animal and raised exclusively in a small number of Cetolist-Cerostian monasteries, where they are tended and milked by the monks. Due to their status as a holy animal, eating seal meat is forbidden. Eating their cheese and rendering their tallow into soap is fine though.

(HEARTLAND SOUTH) SOUTH-STYLE GOAT: The Heartland South is a Southern enclave territory in the Middle Kingdom. Visiting Midland dignitaries oft wrongly assume that because the Heartland South is in Middle Kingdom territory, Heartland Southerners eat the same food they do exactly as they do. They are horrified to find that familiar sounding dishes like “goat with potatoes” are completely and utterly unrecognizable, drenched in unfamiliar sauces and spices and served alongside fruit they've never eaten. Meanwhile, Heartland Southerners firmly believe that they have fixed the Middle Kingdom's boring food.

(BOREAL SOUTH) “TUNSUKH”: If Midlanders are afraid of Heartland Southern food, Northerners are absolutely furious about cuisine from the Boreal South - the most legendarily offensive being the Boreal South's idea of “tunsukh.” Southerners are no stranger to spice, so when Southern traders began interacting with the North, they liked tunsukh! It's just... they thought it needed a little Southern help to become a real meal, you know? A side of seal cheese soothed the burn and made the meal enjoyable. And because the meal was enjoyable, the portion sizes increased. And plain boiled potatoes? Well, those are a little too plain – creamy mashed sweet potato feels like more of a dessert, doesn't it? ...For some reason, Northerners didn't agree, but that's okay. The Boreal South knows they're just embarrassed they didn't think of pairing seal cheese with tunsukh sooner.

ARMY RATIONS

The food eaten by the King's Army is about what you would expect for late 1700s military; salt pork or salt chevon, hard tack, and coffee. The biggest divergence they have is also one of Vestur's biggest points of pride: they have the means to supply their troops with frivolous luxuries like small tins of candied fruit from the Midland. A love of candied fruit is essentially a Vesturian military proto-meme; proof that they serve the greatest Tri-Kingdom on the planet. Don't get between a military man and his candied fruit unless you want a fight.

#verse: forever gold #worldbuilding #fantasy worldbuilding #food worldbuilding #fantasy food #food art #animal death//#might have to proofread this later forgive any typos I am tired

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bayporwave · 22 days

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Coastal food!

Delicous lookin

Makin a quick coastal culture page. Thought I'd share their snacks in the meantime.

#Food worldbuilding #Alien food #rakii #art

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moonfeatherblue · 5 months

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It's Worldbuilding Wednesday! So I'm raiding your Ask Box to ask to tell me about my Roman Empire: Food and Culture.

How does Food impact or feature in your work?

Alternatively, you can tell me about your equivalent of the Roman Empire lololol

Thank you so much @amaiguri for this lovely ask ~

I shall do my best to describe the food situation in my main magical series, particularly as it relates to the protagonist.

This superhero fantasy series is called Sh!t Just Got Magical. There's a lot of food mentioned in this series. As in, a LOT of food. Food plays a huge role in this story due to its importance to Kazaio "Kaz" Szuo and his sparkly new career.

Just a bit of background info to help set the delicious foodie scene.

The main setting is the city-state Seszun (Seszun is both the noun and the adjective), located on the Seszun Peninsula. Now a predominantly green city, this near-future urban metropolis spreads across the entire peninsula and is built in and around (the re-vitalized remnants of) natural features, most notably Chaiuin Forest, the Cheosaing Mountains, and the Sousz Salt Flats. Since the global unification movement began, Seszun has been considered the symbolic capital of Earth.

Kaz is a 21 year old boy who was born in Seszun to birth parents of non-Seszun background. He has a large family including his foster mother, foster aunt, three half-siblings and two foster cousins (it's complicated, but I promise it makes sense). His aunt has a very good income (she's a nutritionist, funnily enough), but given the size of the family, money is frequently tight. They'd probably be considered a middle-middle/lower-middle income family because of this. Kaz has historically had difficulty holding down a job. Without his family, would be 100 percent broke.

Now, onto the food!

Kaz is now a magical boy, hired by an intergalactic Alliance to defend the universes from an evil alien warlord and his "Liberation Force". Being a magical boy presents a few interesting challenges when it comes to diet, the main one being Kaz has to significantly increase his food intake. This is not only to support his intensive training and resultant increased muscle mass. When Kaz transforms he becomes immortal (this does not mean he cannot die; he's just much harder to kill). This immortal form has an incredibly high metabolism rate. If Kaz does not eat appropriately before transforming (and he may be called on to transform at any time), his immortal form can obliterate all his mortal reserves. As such, particularly after strenuous battles, de-transforming can be dangerous - becoming mortal again when his body has been all but stripped of nutrients. Under more usual circumstances, de-transforming gives Kaz a serious case of the hero munchies.

To avoid malnourishment and fainting spells (or worse) after battles, his support team are currently developing an easy-to-digest nutrient cake that Kaz can eat post-transformation. They haven't yet found a recipe that won't turn his fragile human guts inside-out, but they're working on it. Until then, Kaz guzzles calorie boost bars and Re-Hydrate Plus (an electrolyte drink) post-transformation, then hunts down the fastest, biggest, healthiest meal he can - or his space cat mentor does, anyway. Kaz would prefer battered squid sticks.

This might go without saying, but given his magical job and all the training involved, Kaz also has to improve his semi-sub-standard diet. He'll get right on that…

Although Kaz has a sizeable income now, he's used to buying food on a budget and generally sticks to that (he is both a creature of habit and a lover of bargains). This means lots of convenience stores, vending machines, and fast food restaurants, as well as his mom's cooking. Even when he starts trying to eat healthy, he doesn't often venture beyond these options - unless food trucks or street food carts are involved.

One more point: Kaz actually likes to cook and he's not half bad. We'll see him cook for his family quite a few times throughout the series ~

Here's a bunch of food Kaz has eaten so far. This gives a bit of an idea what an everyday person on a budget (who makes slightly unhealthy food choices) in Seszun eats.

Cracklebombs (popping candy chocolate; bought at a drug store)

Crunchables (dried seafood snacks; bought at a drug store)

Sticky butter rice cake skewers (bought from a street vendor)

Rice

Beer (predominantly rice lager)

Kelp soup (Mom and Kaz both cook this)

Chilled tea (fruit flavored, black, and golden)

Battered squid sticks (bought at a convenience store)

Battered fried shrimp "shell stack" (a hybrid of sandwiches and wraps) with rice, spicy coleslaw, and gloppy specialty summer sauce (bought at a convenience store)

A curry cup (bought at a convenience store)

Frozen air-fried mollusks (from his freezer)

Oyster bake (Mom's cooking)

Breakfast steamed buns with dipping sauce (from a family restaurant)

Oyster and potato stew (from a convenience store)

Fried scallop burger (from a fast food restaurant)

Barbequed pork intestines with sticky citrus sauce (from a hole-in-the-wall restaurant)

Oyster stew (Kaz's cooking)

Rice salad with mix-and-eat toppings and garlic dressing (from a fast food restaurant)

Seared tentacles and omelet balls (from a fast food restaurant)

Deep fried breaded shrimp (Mom's cooking)

Noodles in sweet nut crab sauce (from a café)

Extra spicy soup sack (a giant soup dumpling) with scallops and quail eggs (from a food truck)

Gently spiced crab legs (from a food truck)

Sticky fried chicken with pickles (from a fast food restaurant)

Crispy potato skins drizzled in tangy-sweet curry sauce (from a canal vendor)

Seszun-style fried rice (Kaz's cooking)

Instant nutty-lime egg noodles (from a vending machine)

Milk stew (leftovers at a friend's place - not Seszun-style food)

Traditional sweets - jellified rice and iced fruit topped with crystallized honey (from his fridge)

Boiled custard buns and skewered jelly cakes (from a street food cart)

Wow that's a long list. And that's not even everything!

Kaz eats a lot…

Okay, just for fun, let's get a bit more technical - badly-written-half-copied-from-the-textbook-high-school-social-science-paper style! Kaz wrote it, I swear…

Seszun cuisine is predominantly influenced by Wauian cuisine; the majority of people who identify as Seszun today are descendants of settlers from Wauia who colonized the peninsula a thousand years ago. Wauian cooking methods were adapted to consider locally available ingredients, producing a cuisine more unique to the peninsula. Over time, this was also influenced by the cooking methods of the local Indigenous people, the Nauje, creating what is now considered traditional Seszun cuisine. The Nauje maintain to this day an ancient food culture that is similar to, yet distinct from that of Seszun.

The majority of traditional Seszun cuisine consists of short-grained brown and white rice (frequently mixed together); noodles; sea vegetables such as kelp; crustaceans such as shrimp and crab; mollusks such as squid, mussels, and clams, with scallops being perhaps the most popular and most commonly consumed; fish such as tuna and mackerel; quail eggs; soy beans; root vegetables such as onions, radishes, carrots, and local varieties of potatoes; cabbages; and fruit, predominantly citrus fruits (cold-tolerant varieties), although seasonal melons, berries, and pome fruits are also available. Tea (of black and golden varieties) is the traditional drink of choice. Traditional seasonings include citrus, soy, sesame, garlic, ginger, honey, coriander, and chilli. Most traditional Seszun dishes are simple, fresh, and fragrant with an emphasis on presentation. Early Seszun literature describes as follows: Peninsula folk eat first with their eyes; if their eyes are not satisfied, their mouths do not eat (this refers only to the aristocrats of the time, the Seszun Circle). The most common cooking methods are boiling and searing, with light soups, stir fries, and curries being common dishes. Most traditional desserts are rice and fruit based.

The most stereotypical traditional Seszun meal, no matter the time of day, includes a bowl of rice (sprinkled with desired seasoning), kelp soup, seared scallops (either fresh or marinated), and potentially a fresh salad with radish, carrot, cabbage, and coriander.

More modern Seszun cuisine incorporates ingredients and influences from all over the world. Seafood remains the most popular choice of protein, however, chicken is now readily available and is a staple of modern Seszun cuisine. Pork and beef is now more common, although beef is very expensive and generally only consumed by the wealthy. Pork offal is a cheap, widespread alternative meat. Perhaps the most notable difference between modern and traditional Seszun cuisine is the introduction of deep frying and, more recently, air frying almost anything that can be breaded or dipped in batter. Although many authentic international cuisines are available in Seszun, more commonly global dishes are given a "Seszun spin" with the new invention regularly becoming synonymous with modern Seszun cuisine. Bread and cakes have also become incredibly popular, the Seszun varieties made predominantly with rice flour. "Shells" are a rice-flour flat bread baked in molds that produce its namesake's shape. Developed around 150 years ago (so considered by some more modern than traditional), two domed shells are used to cup (or sandwich) anything from salads to curry, producing a cheap, filling, easily transportable meal. "Shell stacks" were and remain a popular and usually more healthy food choice for those on a budget.

More important features of modern Seszun cuisine include convenience, with the advent of frozen food, convenience stores, and vending machines, and also self-service; gourmet instant noodle eateries and other do-it-yourself eating experiences have become very popular since the global unification movement began. Also, as with most of the world, Seszun now runs on caffeine. While tea is still drunk more than water, Seszun now imports more coffee than any other location on Earth.

Food of every variety, but particularly traditional sweets, are offered to Seszun's many deities, both on their feast days and when praying for a deity "take interest".

And… that'll do for now! I honestly haven't thought too much yet about food in relation to Seszun's culture, history, and religion - I'll be thinking more about that as the series goes on! Eventually I'll have to start thinking more about various alien cuisines as well. I won't mention what the Liberation Force eats... trust me, you're fine not knowing. And, at this early point in the story, we usually just see Kaz's space cat mentor eating nutrient cakes, or else snacking on whatever Kaz is eating.

Please remember that this series is still in its infancy - names may change, locally available ingredients may shift. Perhaps in the future I'll re-visit this scrumptious world-building subject. I might even achieve something resembling succinct next time! But I doubt it.

This is why I haven't made many posts along these lines… whenever I try, it takes all day…

Thanks so much again @amaiguri. This has been a wonderfully helpful exercise, hunting through the story and old notes to pull together everything food-related. I shall be referring back to this on a regular basis.

On another note, I haven't had Kaz nearly hungry and faint enough after all his battles. That's something I must amend on the next editing pass ~

Sorry, Kaz…

#writing #worldbuilding #urban fantasy #writeblr #writers of tumblr #writerscommunity #writers on tumblr #creative writing #indie vtuber #vtubers of tumblr #envtuber #english vtuber #blue mooney #moonfeatherblue #blue mooney worldbuilding #moonfeatherblue worldbuilding #food #food worldbuilding

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siamesephoenixrandomideatank · 1 year

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Boiling Isles Cuisines Concept

Influences

Locals/Pre-Covens:

Varieties of ‘Smaller’ Meat Sources for less risk against larger beasts (Example: Fairies, Jackalope or Slime)

More Relies on fruits, mushrooms, herbs, and numbers of non-starchy plants.

Freshwater from natural sources as the main drink.

Low Carb, Low Fat (Mostly from ‘meat’), and mostly Proteins, Minerals, and Nutrients for magic-based performance.

Prefer to be consumed raw, partly cooked, or boiling as stew/soup. (Nutrition Conserving Values)

Imperial/Covens: Influences from 18th Century British Cuisine

Starch Carbohydrate for occasions, especially bakery. (Rice, Noodle, and most non-Bakery Flour product are not quite popular)

More refining on food. Examples, jerkies, juice, sugar, or brewed drinks.

Introducing to fermentation/pickling

Covens & Regional Sub-Cuisines

More technique, cooking tools & utensils.

Liberated/Modernized:

Earth Cuisines Approaching, especially

American

Caribbeans

East Asian

Italian

South Asian & Southeast Asian

Influences of Nutrition Sciences

De-Covenization & Emerging “Fusion” Cuisines

Earth Technology: Some Embrace, Some Against, and Some Twist

Electricity(Or Magical Equivalent) & Clean Water for All

Examples of the Cuisines

Pre-Coven

Fresh Fairy Herbal Salad: A Heterogeneous Mixed “Salad” of live fairies, sliced acidic juice, and herbs that make fairies weaks(or even passed out without dying before being eaten).

Inspiration: Goong Then “Dancing Shrimp” from Thailand/ Southeast Asian Spicy Salad/ Live Sashimi

Mushroom & Peels Stew: Leftover Fruit Peels sometimes are good to suppress the odor of some foul-smelt mushroom, give some complex flavors, and also less food waste.

Inspiration: Bowl of Browns from George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones/Worcestershire Sauce/Chinese Herbs

Fire Salamander Molt Rind: Collected Molt of Fire Salamander that fried by reaction between the chemical in it & salt, making it crispy & more edible. However, spicy & coarse, preferred as seasoning.

Inspiration: Pork Rind, Fire Flake(A:TLA), and “Cruelty-Free Meat”

Golden Snails: The freshwater snail coated & stewed in yolk & herbs/spices-based gravy that made the food look golden. Considered as delicacy for its difficulty from harvesting ingredients to cooking it perfectly

Inspiration: Salted Egg-based Stir Fried/ French Cuisine/ Thick Stew

Coven/Imperial

Fairy Pie

Bard’s Banshee Brew: Drink for the vocal-based bards to have the more enduring, yet, soft & flexible throats. (Alcoholic)

Candied Bile-Apple: Pineapple-like fruit that grew around the right feet of Titan(which have the color & smell of bile somehow, with tastes of complex saltiness, bitterness, and umami). It is candied to be consumed easier, as a health-enhancing food.

Griffon Breasts: Taste like chicken mixed with gamey beef. Usually being cooked as steak for the wealthy, like the Blights. Enjoyed with acidic “gravy”.

Liberated

Boiling Isles’ Curry Stew: Based on Japanese Curry Rice, which is cooked to be eaten by itself. It’s composed of local spices & Earth’s dried spices, protein of choices, and some vegetables (mostly not potatoes).

Nutty O’nut: Doughnut that is made of local nut-based flour & baked instead of fried. Plus, being enjoyed with hot drinks & some fruits.

PB&J (Peanut Blood & Jackalope) Sandwich: Peanut-based version “Apple Blood”, made into jam that enjoyed with Jackalope meat

Smile Dip

#the ow house #the owl house theory #the owl house headcanon #the owl house au #toh theory #toh headcanon #toh au #cuisine worldbuilding #foodbuilding #food worldbuilding #boiling isles #worldbuilding cuisine

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amaiguri · 3 months

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Ahhhh just realized it's WBW! \(*0o0)/ When it comes to the foods of your world would you consider making some of the dishes irl? (or at least as close as you can get them) If so which dishes? Tell me about them! (^v^) [I might've been hungry when I got to this today lol]

Omg YES I have actually made my world's dishes irl -- or as close as I can manage.

I'm on mobile so I can't embed the video but skim this YouTube video for the real food footage and you'll get to see :DDD

https://youtu.be/IEXTrBwB-Qk?si=_Ec7RzpQmbaKMhkW

The tl;dr -- they were yummy and unique and I had a good time. I want to make the fry bread again sometime :D

#worldbuilding #food videos #fantasy food #food worldbuilding #food in fiction #amaiguri #yssaia #amai answers

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faytelumos · 1 year

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I was writing, but then I came upon the fact that I don’t actually know what a healthy diet for my 300-600 pound reptiles would look like.

If you plan to keep reading, please tighten your seatbelts, not because this is exciting, but because we’ll be taking 90 degree turns at 45mph. This is basically just me researching out loud so people can see my process. Also, I will be mentioning various parts of animals that may make some people queasy.

Useveu are a species of intelligent, flight-capable reptiles that, in adulthood, stand between 6 to 9 feet high on average and weight roughly (so roughly) 300 to 600 pounds on average. They are carnivores, but they live closely to humans, and would therefore eventually incorporate other types of foods into their diets.

(I think it’s worth it to note that the humans who live in countries where Useveu are common almost always have a vegetarian diet. There are logistical and social reasons for this.)

Reptiles like komodo dragons and snakes can eat pretty much every kind of meat. Bones and organs are definitely going to be in an Usevuth’s diet, as well. Reptiles like geckos, however, seem to need veggies, and one thing I read specifically said to make sure geckos are getting enough calcium.

Komodo dragons and snakes eat their prey’s bones, but a gecko isn’t big enough to eat vertebrates. Pet birds, also, are said to need calcium-rich diets, and we humans go crazy for calcium supplements, but again, pet birds and song birds don’t get opportunities to eat bones, and humans don’t exactly make an effort to eat them.

So maybe Useveu won’t naturally need calcium-rich vegetables. And maybe they don’t need to avoid phosphorous if their intake of bone is high enough. But they are a social species living with another social species, and both have relatively high populations, and they have to pay for their food.

Poor Useveu will largely exist off of chicken, eggs, and probably fish for their meats. These are all high in calcium when consumed whole. But there are more dietary needs than that. Useveu are huge animals, and in whatever wild conditions their bodies evolved to cope with, they definitely eat red meat. If their body relies on red meat in their diet but they’re too poor to afford meat from larger animals, this could lead to iron and vitamin B deficiencies.

I think the bottom line for the fact of whether these guys are getting everything they need from a diet of animals is pretty straightforward. If they are consuming healthy animals whole, they themselves will be healthy. This is with the sole exception of deficiencies from being unable to afford red meats. These can probably be compensated for with the purchase of blood (iron, affordable) and whatever amounts of liver (B vitamins, expensive) can be managed.

My questions becomes what non-animal items an Usevuth can eat off of a human’s plate.

I know for a fact that Usevase (males) will have citrus in their diets. But citrus fruits require a substantial amount of water to grow, and in a pre industrial revolution world where there are no freshwater rivers or lakes particularly nearby, these foods become expensive. However, there are trains, which can extend the reach of an affordable citrus belt. Flying to buy or deliver groceries like this would be impractical and expensive, since the quantity of products would be small for such a long distance.

Citrus fruits contain a lot of oils, acids, and vitamin C. Usevase have a bodily use for the oils (which can be harmful to digestion in other animals), and will build a tolerance to the acids. Psoralen, which is a substance that can cause cell damage when combined with sunlight in the skin, would be mostly harmless to Useveu thanks to their scales.

So citrus doesn’t pose a threat to my reptiles that I have to worldbuild around. Then I look to staples of human vegetarian diets that will grow in the climate I’m looking at, as these will be foods Useveu are most likely to ingest.

Vegetarian staples are largely going to be protein-rich foods, like lentils, beans, quinoa, and eggs. My climate can’t grow quinoa, but soy and lentil are fine. Another good food would probably be brown rice, which can grow in this climate, as well. Looking at its contents for things that could hurt a reptile, I see unfamiliar things like selenium and manganese, but both are water soluble and will be passed by the body once it has the amount it needs. Bread is another thing that will likely find its way into an Usevuth’s diet, and wheat is both accessible and appears to be non-toxic.

Last on the list of human foods I’m going to bother worrying about is cabbage, which appears to be completely fine for reptiles. Some species have trouble due to acidity or phosphorous levels in various breeds of cabbage, but this shouldn’t be a problem for Useveu.

So there I have it. I wasted what must have been almost an hour and a half finding out that nothing I was trying to feed my reptiles was actually going to hurt them. But at least now I know!

눈_눈

Writing is great. Always do your research.

---

Yes, I have sources. No, I will not format or further fact-check them.

https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/komododragon/diet

https://www.completecritter.com/leopard-gecko.html

https://birdsupplies.com/blogs/news/144550983-calcium-deficiency-in-parrots-and-what-to-do-about-it

https://reptilecraze.com/what-human-foods-can-snakes-eat/

https://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/white-meat-vs-red-meat.html

https://www.historyrundown.com/can-cats-and-dogs-eat-citrus-fruits/

https://www.thekitchn.com/10-vegetarian-staples-that-are-always-on-my-shopping-list-252972

https://morningchores.com/growing-quinoa/

https://www.homedepot.com/c/ai/find-your-usda-plant-hardiness-zone/9ba683603be9fa5395fab90108cf77fc

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-brown-rice-good-for-you#nutrition

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/selenium/

https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/manganese

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/wheat#vitamins-and-minerals

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/conditions-need-grow-rice-wheat-corn-soybeans-80104.html

https://dragonsdiet.com/blogs/dragon-care/can-bearded-dragons-eat-cabbage

https://www.animalhouseofchicago.com/news/reptile-amphibian-herbivore-nutrition

#worldbuilding #food worldbuilding #not canon #dragon worldbuilding #dragon diet #worldbuilding research #writing research #this is what research looks like I guess #just wanted to share the thoughts and process I go through #for one line of a story #this took so long #*drags hands down face*#I am better for this knowledge and now anyone who needs it has it you're welcome #writing

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wiingdings · 2 years

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Cooking Without Fire - Dantiereese Worldbuilding

Her stomach grumbled and she went down to the storeroom to fetch herself a meal. A bowl of grain and a preserved fish caught yesterday was her go-to. She cut the fish meat off the bones expertly and placed them in a pan, then walked outside and around the back of her hut, where a lumpy staircase had been molded into the wall. She climbed up to the flattened dome of her roof and set the pan down on the hot brick, then took a cloth covering off of a machine. A large glass lense was attached to a small mechanism placed in the center. It was a circular metal tray with legs so that it stood up instead of sitting directly on the roof, and a large moveable arm was attached from the bottom. It led into the metal-rimmed glass lense. There were runes carved into the metal surrounding the magnifying glass. She placed the pan of fish onto the tray, then brushed her fingers over the band of metal. Each of the runes glowed orange as she activated them. Grabbing the arm of the lense, she adjusted it until it caught the sun and aimed it into the pan. The runes amplified the heat and the fish immediately started to sizzle.

Once the fish was cooked, she touched the runes again, waited for the machine to cool down, then put the cloth back over the top of it. Even normal magnifying glasses could be dangerous in the blazing Dantiereese heat. She picked up the pan of fish by the handle and descended the uneven stairs.

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prokopetz · 3 months

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The thing about fantasy worldbuilding is that verisimilitude and the rule of cool are not enemies. Someone who looks at a pod of flying whales and asks "what do they eat?" is not being a spoilsport – they're engaging with the premise. There are any number of much more serious objections to aerial megafauna than lack of any obvious role in a trophic web that could have been raised if they just wanted to shoot the idea down; a person who wants to know what the flying whales eat is all but explicitly yes-anding the idea. Sure, you might not have an answer at your fingertips, but acting like it's unimaginative for them to have asked is a really fucking weird way to react.

#media #tropes #fantasy #worldbuilding #grumping #food mention #swearing

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puppyeared · 1 month

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littlest furth shop

@laikascomet

#i think i had a little too much fun with this lol #i also wanted to draw road boy and other characters but maybe when they actually get introduced #i do have a sketch of him with a lil chainsaw.. im not gonna be normal when he gets introduced man he looks so sillygoofy #if you squint laika's eye marking is a clover yue's is a crescent moon and mars' is a star ^_^#i wanted to give laika an accessory too but i couldnt think of anything.. maybe a stack of pancakes??#im curious to see the apocalypse side of the story too.. like so far we have an idea of the comet fucking everything up #and im assuming that lead to a ripple effect causing the apocalypse but exactly how bad?? i cant wait to find out #rn im kinda piecing stuff together.. larkspur delivers mail in a beat up van so that might mean all transportation is grounded #the buildings we've seen so far are intact like the observatory and turnip's house but idk if thats the same for big cities #laikas playlist only includes songs downloaded on yue's computer and there hasnt been internet in 20 years.. but radio signals might #still work.. if yue grows his own food we can assume that mass production and distribution also isnt a thing anymore #sorry im a sucker for worldbuilding.. and the furth puns are fun to me. i like to think toronto would be clawronto.. and vancouver wld #be nyancouver.. barktic circle.. mewfoundland and labrador.. canyada....#christ i have so many drawing ideas. willow if youre reading this im so sorry youre probably gonna expect to see a lot of drawings frm me #like. i wanna draw laika in the akira bike pose so sosososo bad. IT WOULD BE SO AWESOMECOOL. ill teach myself to draw bikes if i have to #i also wanted to animate laika leekspin.. man #my art #myart #fanart #laika's comet #laikas comet #laika #mars #yue #furry art #fur #littlest pet shop #lps

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jvlianbashir · 1 month

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"the creator said in a reddit thread -" "the official twitter account posted that -" "the actors confirmed in a livestream that -"

i don't care and that's not real to me. put it in the text.

#for fun stuff like 'this character's favorite food is meatballs' im like cool but for worldbuilding and stuff? nah #i do understand some nuance with writers or w/e who were held back by corporate teams on confirming a character is gay or something #and wanting to talk about their hopes and intentions #but this is rly about the opposite with creative teams wanting the points for diversity or plot choices #or world building without putting it in the actual story #esp if its bc they just didn't want to piss off bigots or can't write well #sw giving backstory on the sith fleet situation in a TWEET will always be infamous to me #not st #doctor's log

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ink-ghoul · 1 year

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now to my fave minecraft worldbuilding topic

what can you cook? what's edible? what's possible with enough imagination?

I'd like to start with things that are present in-game (vanilla), first, the foods and drinks (ingredients too), having a loaf of bread with a nice mushroom stew seasoned with dandelions for breakfast is an option taken straight from the game

now let's say that I take the apples, wheat, milk, sugar and eggs to make an apple pie, that isn't in the game, but it's something possible to craft

in an extend things like salt can exist because the presence of sea water, same as things like bacon (pigs), cheese (milk) and so on

what if I throw the existing leaves in hot water to make tea?

or since all the dyes have an organic source can I make a rainbow cake?

how you cook things must be important too I imagine, maybe steak cooked in the smoker tastes way better than cooked with a fire aspect sword

#this is to all the 'mumbo eats redstone' enthusiasts #yes redstone is an edible mineral #but I guess just like salt it isn't recommended in large quantities #alcoholic drinks are possible too why not vodka (potatoes) wine (sweet berries) rum (sugarcane)#I could pull an 2 hour essay about the gastromy possibilities of minecraft #minecraft #minecraft worldbuilding #food mention #alcohol mention (in the tags)#side note but this is sad news for us mexicans because neither tomatoes or corn or chiles exist here. I'm devasted

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hoofpeet · 5 months

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Traditional satyr/faun snack --> It's just a stick of ice cream covered in salt crystals. Ruminant hybrids intake lot more salt than other species and their cuisine in general is a lot saltier, to the extent that a lot of it would probably be inedible to humans. Colloquially known as salt licks 👍

#hoof draws #hoofology worldbuilding 2 !!!!#caprine satyrs esp. their traditional food is probably like eating the crumbs and debris at the bottom of a pretzel bag

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salmontheking · 1 year

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This gentleman is consuming an anatomical sandwich - an artificial organism made specifically to take the form of a bun with filling, ready to eat, at the end of its life cycle. Like a banana.

The cheese is blue because at some point the number of cheese species grew so large that people couldn't distinguish that many shades of red, yellow an orange.

The sandwich itself feeds on petroleum, naturally.

It's called post-agriculture and most food is made like this since the 2120s. Beings that are neither plant nor animal nor fungus, devoid of any life functions other than growth. Natural produce is for eccentric people willing to splurge on food. The consensus is that if it grew out of the dirt, it also tastes like dirt and makes you feel like dirt when you eat it. Synthetic food is tastier, healthier, more filling and more varied.

A concept of a "food gap" exists among humanitarians - the idea that because poor countries still use ordinary agriculture, their citizens must suffer perpetual dietary deficiencies and waste plenty of time on preparation.

#Megaton Heart #food #worldbuilding art #worldbuilding #concept art #illustration #artists on tumblr #artwork #digital art #retro #retrofuturism #retrofuture #retro scifi #sci fi art #scifiart #scifi #science fiction

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kingstooth · 1 month

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[guy who put a lot of thought into fantasy cuisines based on regional ingredients + cooking methods + class voice] i'm SO normal about food you guys have no idea

#this is peasant food but not impoverished food #so they get a little bit of variety but admittedly some of this is Special Occasions Food #they're in a primarily grassland biome w harsh winters dry summers and high winds and would have limited access to any kind of baking #so most food is steamed boiled or stewed!#there's also a large focus on keeping sheep so the peasant class would consume primarily sheep products #the kingdom specializes in textiles #food #king drew this #worldbuilding #*small correction the south has dry summers the interior and northern region do not #dnd

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chocodile · 5 months

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Thought it would be fun to illustrate some Amaranthine cuisine from various regions (and time periods). Long writeups under the cut!

Western Kingdom Cuisine: Northern Upper Class

The cultural cuisine of the northern part of the Western Kingdom is shaped by the region's harsh, snowy climate. The cold meant that it was easier to keep food from spoiling, but hard to find it in the first place. During the warmer spring and summer months, food would be collected and then salted, dried, pickled, or otherwise preserved in order to last through the winter. Red meat is their primary dietary staple, and is served in a wide variety of ways, including raw and engastrated. Dairy is also common in all forms -- cheese, butter, milk, and as a component of common sauces and chowders (another cultural favorite, and great way to use up leftovers). Alcohol is also common, with a favorite cultural drink being a spiced, warmed fermented milk with a flavor similar to eggnog.

Northern dishes prioritize making use of all parts of the animal, especially nutrient-rich organ meats and fat. As a landlocked region with few rivers, fish is somewhat uncommon, but not unheard of, especially salted or pickled fish shipped in from the south. Also, as mentioned before, eating animals, including "one's own kind", is not taboo at all in this region. In such harsh climates, turning one's nose up at a filling meal is seen as ridiculous.

When good meat is available, though, presentation can get a little… creative. Or, as some might describe it, obscene. Feasts for nobles often involve whole roast hogs stuffed with turkeys stuffed with game birds stuffed with exotic, imported pickled fish, ground meat sculpted into strange and creative shapes, and other ostentatious displays. If a nobleman's chefs can do something artistic with the meat that his guests have never seen before, it's considered very impressive. Of course, to foreigners, a western kingdom noble's banquet can look rather nightmarish and grotesque. Such displays of excess are generally the realm of the wealthy, but most families will still celebrate with a "turducken" or similar engastrated roast once a year during winter feast.

Fresh fruits and vegetables make up only a small component of northern dishes. Berry preserves and pickled vegetables are prepared during the summer months, but the only "fresh" vegetables accessible during colder months are hardy root vegetables and tubers harvested from geothermal caves. Mushrooms, also harvested from the caves, are eaten in many forms.

Bread made in this region is typically very hard and dense. This "thickbread" is intended to be soaked in gravy, milk, or soup to soften it and make it more palatable. Attempting to eat the bread without softening it is a clear indicator that someone is a foreigner, or perhaps so poor that they can't afford a proper meal. Some "thinbread" is baked slightly softer and intended to be eaten in slices, but culturally, it's still expected that you put some sort of gravy or spread on it so that you don't look like a confused foreigner or destitute peasant.

For dessert, northerners often eat dessert breads soaked in sweetened, spiced cream and topped with berry preserves and candied mushrooms. Berry tarts are also made with preserves during colder months and fresh fruit during summer months, and are associated with spring, celebration, and hardship ending. These berry tarts are often eaten at celebratory dinners at the end of winter and given to students after finishing exams.

Many residents of other territories find traditional northerner food a little overwhelming due to how rich and dense it is. It can certainly take some getting used to. Eastern Kingdom residents tend to find northern cuisine especially nightmarishly grotesque and barbaric due to their cultural views around meat. However, with increased trade and travel over the last few decades, northerner food is beginning to look more like the food from the rest of the Western Kingdom, and some of the more offputting cultural practices like the ostentatious engastrated meatcraft and inedible-unless-softened bread are becoming somewhat less popular.

Eastern Kingdom Cuisine: Coastal Citydweller

The Eastern Kingdom's cuisine is similarly influenced by their climate. The desert that spans much of the region meant that, aside from its sparkling oasis cities and rim of fishing towns along the coast and major river, many residents traditionally lived a nomadic lifestyle. Additionally, unlike the Western Kingdom, they absolutely do view "eating your own kind" as tantamount to cannibalism, which meant that most red meat was only consumed during times of desperation or occasionally during holidays/rituals, though the latter is mostly seen as a weird unsavory rural thing.

The Eastern Kingdom's meat taboo generally does not extend to fish, shellfish, and insects. Fresh fish and shellfish are routinely consumed near the coast, often seared in olive oil and spices and served over a couscous-like grain base, and a salty paste made of fermented fish is smeared on bread in interior regions. Beetles coated in chopped nuts and chili powder and dried, and honeyed crickets are also popular snacks.

Eastern Kingdom cuisine also involves a lot of nuts, beans, and seeds as major dietary staples. These foods are long-lasting, spoilage-resistant, nutrient-rich, and grew easily along the banks of the kingdom's major waterway and oases even before cities settled there. These three food groups are found in nearly all of their cooking. Nuts and seeds are baked into bread and desserts but also mixed into stir fry-type dishes to add protein. A common dessert and trail snack consists of dried dates mixed with walnuts. Dates and figs are also made into jams and eaten spread over bread or as a component in sauces.

Vegetables and fruits, as well as olives, were grown in grand, sprawling, aqueduct-fed gardens in oasis cities and on riverbanks. Cacti, once cultivated extensively by ancient nomads, are served chopped and glazed with honey, another dietary staple.

Dairy, derived from pack animals used by nomads, is also somewhat common, though difficult to transport without spoilage. It is paradoxically seen as a practical, basic food by nomads and farmers, who can milk it directly from its source, something of a luxury by city-dwellers.

Additionally, the Eastern Kingdom's sprawling coastlines mean an extensive seafaring presence. As a result, they have brought back many novel plants from far afield to be cultivated in the Eastern Sultan's personal palace garden. Among these: cocoa beans, which are refined into a spicy energizing herbal drink similar to coffee. "Chocolate houses" serving this drink can be found throughout larger cites, sometimes mixing the cocoa drink with more familiar sweetened cactus juice to stretch the expensive cocoa powder further.

Post-Fall Cuisine: Ironfrost Middle Class

The society that eventually emerged after the fall of the Old Kingdoms was quite different from what came before. Though discovery of ironworking led to the rise of industrialization--processed food and automated canning, among other innovations-- the harsh, permanent winter that eventually consumed most of the continent meant that cuisine never reached the levels of decadence it had in the Old Kingdoms. This is especially true of the working class in Ironfrost, whose rather dreary cuisine is shown here.

Limited accessibility of fresh fruits and vegetables--grown in engineered greenhouses or shipped in from the far south over increasingly long distances as the cold spread southward--meant that nearly all vegetables are eaten canned. Many, especially those in rural northern towns that lacked greenhouses, may have never even seen a fresh tomato or head of lettuce before. (The City of the Sun produces fresh fruit and vegetables for the far north--including exotic apples in nigh-extinct Old Kingdom varieties--but cutting a trade deal with the reclusive city-state can be difficult due to the whims of its elusive cultish leader.)

The one exception? Mushrooms. Like the Western Kingdom northerners that lived there before them, Post-Fall societies came to rely heavily on harvesting edible mushrooms from the geothermal caves below the tundra. Mushrooms are a crucial dietary staple and can be roasted, pickled, fried, pureed, or even candied. Many of the more specialized cooking styles such as candying were passed down by survivors of the fallen Western Kingdom, thought the passage of time and changing availability of spices and other ingredients have rendered many recipes quite different from their ancestors.

Fresh meat is easier to access and easier to preserve with minimal loss of taste or texture thanks to the frigid weather providing easy "refrigeration" by way of outdoor iceboxes. However, a whole, freshly-cooked roast is still considered a rare treat for most, especially for the mine and factory workers living within the dense industrial labyrinths of Ironfrost. Canned and dried meats are popular due to being less sensitive to spoilage when kept indoors or transported across different climates.

Overall, the heavy reliance on dried and canned food means that most available ingredients are ugly, mushy, and lacking in natural taste due to the extensive preservation process. As a result, stews, loafs, and casseroles are common, as well as jellied aspic dishes. Any manner of preparation that can hide the appearance of limp, shriveled vegetables or disguise the taste of eating the same salted meat every day is useful. Creative meat presentation, such as sculpting ground meat into fun shapes, decorated meatloaf, and ornate aspic molds is another cultural holdover passed on by Western Kingdom survivors, though in the current day it's associated more with the middle or lower middle class rather than nobility. It is now more of a way to make the most out of poor circumstances than to impress fellow nobles at parties.

(Side note, not pictured: Modern day Ironfrost elite tend to favor very plain dishes made out of fresh food, garnished with sliced fruit--the mere fact that they can access such exotic fare makes their wealth self-evident! An aspiring elite with limited funds can choose to rent a bowl of Sun City apples or even an elusive pineapple to impress party guests instead.)

One of the few pieces of Eastern Kingdom food culture that survived to the present day is chocolate, though like Western Kingdom dishes, it is now quite different from its original form. These days, cocoa is blended with fat and sugar and eaten as a dessert: chocolate. This has caused its popularity to explode. Chocolate bars are incredibly popular for their delicious taste and portability, and cakes and cookies made with chocolate are coveted by the poor and wealthy alike. Of course, the cold climate means that cocoa beans can only be grown in specialized greenhouses, and the owners of these greenhouses are keen to charge a premium for access. Ironfrost and The City of the Sun are the two major cocoa producers and it's not unheard of for Ironfrost soldiers to bully smaller cocoa growers out of business to maintain their near-monopoly. Still, hidden cocoa grows scattered around the tundra ensure that a large supply of "bootleg" chocolate remains on the menu--just don't get caught with it in Ironfrost territory.

#worldbuilding #food #fantasy food #verse: amaranthine #food //

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