Meta Month, Day Four: Magvel Cuisine

[mark_asphodel]

Frelia:  

Syrene and Tana discuss cooking but provide no specifics.  Grr.  In keeping with the idea of Frelia as the “Scottish place” (with some Nordic influence), I imagine lots of fish plus a general “heartiness” of food necessary to see one through the northern winters.  Game is eaten more often than farm animals.  Oats and potatoes are common starches, though the upper classes have access to wheat.  Pies and pasties, both savory and sweet, are favored, as are stews and sausages.  I think it says something that Tana was able to do “good Frelian cooking” at an army camp-- we’re not talking Cordon Bleu finery here.  Berries and almonds turn up in sweet dishes, as do strong spices like ginger and cloves.  IMO, Frelians are more likely to drink ale and beer... and hard liquor.  Maybe mead, but not so much grape wine.

Renais: 

Landlocked Renais focuses more on livestock-- beef and veal, lamb and mutton, pork, and poultry-- than the other nations, though freshwater fish are well-loved.  Lack of a seaport means that exotic spices and such are harder to come by, and the food in Renais has an emphasis on fresh local ingredients, with fruits and vegetables.  Possibly one of the more healthful cuisines of Magvel (aside from red meat), but considered somewhat unsophisticated and provincial.  Wine and ale both favored as beverages, and liquor made from grapes.  Local honey is preferred to imported sugar, except by the upper classes.  Apples, grapes, apricots, and walnuts turn up a lot.  

Grado:

Pork is eaten here, moreso than elsewhere.  Ham is a delicacy.  The swampy areas are conducive to growing rice, and subtropical fruits are found along the coast.  I actually imagine this cuisine as being close to what Virginian and South Carolinian cooking used to be like, back when the cooking of the Old South was the best the US had to offer gourmets.  Imagine a feast with cream of peanut soup, ham with oyster sauce, sweet potatoes with molasses and coconut... yum.  Wine is the preferred drink.

Carcino:

I see Carcino as a place for innovation, as the rulers outdo themselves at banquets in an attempt to prove they’re better than nobles.  I think of it as Northern Italian cooking-- think Emilia-Romanga and Etruria (no, not that Etruria!).  Desserts include gilded almonds, glaceed fruits and chestnuts, and other little delicacies.  Wine is drunk.    

Jehanna:

Persian/Chaldean, maybe.  Lamb and chicken, sweet-sour dishes with saffron rice, liberal dustings of sumac, and extremely sweet desserts.  Teas and coffee, and drinks like orange-water and cinnamon-water are popular.

Rausten: OK, they like fish.  With their northern latitude and all, I see this as more Russian/Baltic.  Pickled fish and pickled vegetables, potatoes and other root vegetables... just the basics for the common folk.  Nobles would enjoy their caviar, though!  The thing that stands out about Rausten would be a culture of ritual purity with regards to food-- very particular rules about everything.  More like Eastern Orthodox or Russian Jewish culture, maybe.  And now I’m imagining little!L’Arachel digging into a platter of rugelach.  Yum.

Oh yes, and don’t forget the vodka.  I’m sure Dozla knows a thing or three about that... though the holier types drink plain water to show how good they are.