Jugdral Food and Agriculture Headcanon
Jul. 9th, 2013 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mark_asphodelWhy not? The more I write the more I have to think about it.
Jugdral, like most FE worlds, appears to be strictly Northern Hemisphere, possibly at the latitude of Europe considering the snow-covered state of Silesse. Silesse could, however simply be at a very high elevation which allows for the whole continent to be closer to the equator. It really does look like Fake Europe tipped at an angle the way that Archanea/Valentia[*] look like Fake Eurasia and Fake Americas. Orgahill would be Great Britain, Agustria is France and Verdane Spain, Grannvale is Germany and Miletos Italy, Northern Thracia is the Balkans and Southern Thracia Greece, while the Yied is Poland, Isaac is Ukraine/European Russia, and Silesse is Scandinavia.
But my headcanon doesn't entirely play that way. My headcanon also says that a warm ocean current akin to the Gulf Stream keeps Western Jugdral much warmer than eastern nations at the same latitude-- so, Northern Thracia and Southern Agustria aren't in the same climate zone, and Souther Thracia is far less warm than the south of Verdane. Silesse meanwhile takes the full brunt of a cold airstream that glances off Isaach.
My headcanon also doesn't bother mandating a distinction between Old World Food and New World Food like I do with Archanea/Valentia.
* I refuse to call them Ylisse and Valm.
Verdane:
Let's start with the foresty place with the big lake. Everything about Verdane from the name on down screams lush vegetation, and given that its massive central lake calls Florida's Lake Okeechobee to mind, I'm going to give it a subtropical climate verging on tropical at its southern reaches (and ghost orchids blooming in the Spirit Forest). That lake, of course, would be a primary source of food for Verdane's people. Freshwater fish and rice are staples, supplemented by a wide variety of fruit. While the cleared areas of Verdane support cattle and other livestock, those living in the heavily forested areas shoot birds and small game. Verdane's cuisine-- complex, colorful, and highly flavored-- rivals that of any of the "civilized" nations.
Agustria:
A region of diverse microclimes, Agustria supports a variety of crops and its cuisine reflects that. Honestly my inspiration for Augustria is the great state of California, with a touch of, say, France. This nation has a bit of everything-- grain crops, fruit orchards, vegetable cultivation, plus sheep and cattle ranching that provide not only meat but a bevy of dairy products including fine cheeses. Citrus groves are common around Nordion. Several grape-growing regions produce the continent's most notable wines while pear and apple orchards in the north produce hard cider. Agustria could easily feed its populace if the upper classes weren't greedy; instead, crops are exported to Grannvale while peasants subsist on a very poor diet.The diet of upper-class Agustrians is exceptionally rich, with more emphasis on cheeses and cream sauces than is found elsewhere.
Silesse:
Kind of a Poland/Russia/Scandinavia place. The key starches of the Silessian diet are potatoes and buckwheat, with potato dumplings and buckwheat crepes especially beloved. An abundance of berries provides color and vitamins to the otherwise "white" diet. Saltwater fish and various fowl (wild game and cultivated) are often eaten, but spring lamb is a delicacy preferred by the upper classes. A thick soup made of root vegetables, with or without fish, is eaten through the long winter. A variety of fruit-derived liquors and distilled spirits made from potatoes also help pass the time. Silesse is self-sufficient and its inhabitants are quite satisfied with their limited diet and thus import very little.
Isaach:
The patchy ground of Isaach isn't especially good for cattle; sheep and goat herding are common, with some herders still practicing a nomadic lifestyle. Oats are the staple crop. Um, that's really all I have. Oats and goats. Isaach doesn't make any sense. I kind of see it as Fake Scotland, maybe? What Isaach does have is good spring water, so various tisanes are preferred to alcohol by most locals.
Northern Thracia (Manster District):
The continent's breadbasket provides the bulk of the wheat, rye, and barley consumed in Jugdral. Cattle can be nourished through the entire season and so this is the one region in which mature beef is strongly preferred to veal; hog farming is also common. Lower classes get by on horsemeat and the River Thracia does provide some popular species of fish. This emphasis on grains also makes the Manster District the leading producer-- and consumer-- of ale and grain-derived distilled spirits. The diet of Northern Thracians, heavily slanted towards red meat and refined wheat, doesn't seem especially healthful! Apples, cherries, and strawberries are favorite fruits while rhubarb is a popular vegetable.
Southern Thracia:
Potatoes grow-- poorly-- in Thracia's mountainous farms while some areas have pockets of a primitive kind of maize that makes better moonshine than it does a meal. The coastal inhabitants eat mostly fish while those in the highlands get by on goat meat and whatever they can catch, which often finds its way into a dark and potent stew that is the hallmark of Thracian cuisine. Legumes are farmed in places. The primary "starch" for many is actually chestnuts, as their tall trees thrive in some areas, while some ancient olive groves provide fat to the fairly miserable Thracian diet. The entire area teeters on the brink of famine every year; one hailstorm can send a region into crisis and every year food must be imported. Thracian nobles, from the king on down, live on a diet little better than that of the low-ranking mercenaries. It's enough to live and fight on, but not much more than that. Southern Thracia was doing a lot better before certain people instituted an embargo, though.
Miletos:
Uh, kind of generic "Mediterrean" Southern Italian/Greek sort of thing. They take Northern Thracian flour and make pasta shapes out of it. And there's ice cream. And melons.
Grannvale:
I guess every area has regional specialities, but basically I see Grannvale as reaching out with wide hands to consume whatever it can get from the other nations. In the process, they do transform the raw materials into some damn impressive high cuisine, but what they make feels kind of meh compared with the what Verdane, Agustria, Silesse, etc have to offer directly. I mean, sure you can have some grain-fed Manster pork chops on a bed of Verdanese cinnamon rice topped with Silessian cloudberries and washed down with some Madino red, but at a certain point it's all a bit much.
So, where does the coffee grow? We have to have coffee. Originally I thought coffee might grow in Isaach because hey, "exotic" peoples at the edge of the desert, but the latitude looks aaaaaall wrong.
Jugdral, like most FE worlds, appears to be strictly Northern Hemisphere, possibly at the latitude of Europe considering the snow-covered state of Silesse. Silesse could, however simply be at a very high elevation which allows for the whole continent to be closer to the equator. It really does look like Fake Europe tipped at an angle the way that Archanea/Valentia[*] look like Fake Eurasia and Fake Americas. Orgahill would be Great Britain, Agustria is France and Verdane Spain, Grannvale is Germany and Miletos Italy, Northern Thracia is the Balkans and Southern Thracia Greece, while the Yied is Poland, Isaac is Ukraine/European Russia, and Silesse is Scandinavia.
But my headcanon doesn't entirely play that way. My headcanon also says that a warm ocean current akin to the Gulf Stream keeps Western Jugdral much warmer than eastern nations at the same latitude-- so, Northern Thracia and Southern Agustria aren't in the same climate zone, and Souther Thracia is far less warm than the south of Verdane. Silesse meanwhile takes the full brunt of a cold airstream that glances off Isaach.
My headcanon also doesn't bother mandating a distinction between Old World Food and New World Food like I do with Archanea/Valentia.
* I refuse to call them Ylisse and Valm.
Verdane:
Let's start with the foresty place with the big lake. Everything about Verdane from the name on down screams lush vegetation, and given that its massive central lake calls Florida's Lake Okeechobee to mind, I'm going to give it a subtropical climate verging on tropical at its southern reaches (and ghost orchids blooming in the Spirit Forest). That lake, of course, would be a primary source of food for Verdane's people. Freshwater fish and rice are staples, supplemented by a wide variety of fruit. While the cleared areas of Verdane support cattle and other livestock, those living in the heavily forested areas shoot birds and small game. Verdane's cuisine-- complex, colorful, and highly flavored-- rivals that of any of the "civilized" nations.
Agustria:
A region of diverse microclimes, Agustria supports a variety of crops and its cuisine reflects that. Honestly my inspiration for Augustria is the great state of California, with a touch of, say, France. This nation has a bit of everything-- grain crops, fruit orchards, vegetable cultivation, plus sheep and cattle ranching that provide not only meat but a bevy of dairy products including fine cheeses. Citrus groves are common around Nordion. Several grape-growing regions produce the continent's most notable wines while pear and apple orchards in the north produce hard cider. Agustria could easily feed its populace if the upper classes weren't greedy; instead, crops are exported to Grannvale while peasants subsist on a very poor diet.The diet of upper-class Agustrians is exceptionally rich, with more emphasis on cheeses and cream sauces than is found elsewhere.
Silesse:
Kind of a Poland/Russia/Scandinavia place. The key starches of the Silessian diet are potatoes and buckwheat, with potato dumplings and buckwheat crepes especially beloved. An abundance of berries provides color and vitamins to the otherwise "white" diet. Saltwater fish and various fowl (wild game and cultivated) are often eaten, but spring lamb is a delicacy preferred by the upper classes. A thick soup made of root vegetables, with or without fish, is eaten through the long winter. A variety of fruit-derived liquors and distilled spirits made from potatoes also help pass the time. Silesse is self-sufficient and its inhabitants are quite satisfied with their limited diet and thus import very little.
Isaach:
The patchy ground of Isaach isn't especially good for cattle; sheep and goat herding are common, with some herders still practicing a nomadic lifestyle. Oats are the staple crop. Um, that's really all I have. Oats and goats. Isaach doesn't make any sense. I kind of see it as Fake Scotland, maybe? What Isaach does have is good spring water, so various tisanes are preferred to alcohol by most locals.
Northern Thracia (Manster District):
The continent's breadbasket provides the bulk of the wheat, rye, and barley consumed in Jugdral. Cattle can be nourished through the entire season and so this is the one region in which mature beef is strongly preferred to veal; hog farming is also common. Lower classes get by on horsemeat and the River Thracia does provide some popular species of fish. This emphasis on grains also makes the Manster District the leading producer-- and consumer-- of ale and grain-derived distilled spirits. The diet of Northern Thracians, heavily slanted towards red meat and refined wheat, doesn't seem especially healthful! Apples, cherries, and strawberries are favorite fruits while rhubarb is a popular vegetable.
Southern Thracia:
Potatoes grow-- poorly-- in Thracia's mountainous farms while some areas have pockets of a primitive kind of maize that makes better moonshine than it does a meal. The coastal inhabitants eat mostly fish while those in the highlands get by on goat meat and whatever they can catch, which often finds its way into a dark and potent stew that is the hallmark of Thracian cuisine. Legumes are farmed in places. The primary "starch" for many is actually chestnuts, as their tall trees thrive in some areas, while some ancient olive groves provide fat to the fairly miserable Thracian diet. The entire area teeters on the brink of famine every year; one hailstorm can send a region into crisis and every year food must be imported. Thracian nobles, from the king on down, live on a diet little better than that of the low-ranking mercenaries. It's enough to live and fight on, but not much more than that. Southern Thracia was doing a lot better before certain people instituted an embargo, though.
Miletos:
Uh, kind of generic "Mediterrean" Southern Italian/Greek sort of thing. They take Northern Thracian flour and make pasta shapes out of it. And there's ice cream. And melons.
Grannvale:
I guess every area has regional specialities, but basically I see Grannvale as reaching out with wide hands to consume whatever it can get from the other nations. In the process, they do transform the raw materials into some damn impressive high cuisine, but what they make feels kind of meh compared with the what Verdane, Agustria, Silesse, etc have to offer directly. I mean, sure you can have some grain-fed Manster pork chops on a bed of Verdanese cinnamon rice topped with Silessian cloudberries and washed down with some Madino red, but at a certain point it's all a bit much.
So, where does the coffee grow? We have to have coffee. Originally I thought coffee might grow in Isaach because hey, "exotic" peoples at the edge of the desert, but the latitude looks aaaaaall wrong.
