Part 64: Regarding Meals of the Various Myrran Races

Regarding Meals of the Various Myrran Races

Although some might consider the differing manners of cooking of the different races a trivial matter, nonetheless, in the interest of a greater appreciation and understanding between the races of the kingdom, I shall endeavor to describe what might be 'typical' meals of rich and poor of all the various races of Myrror. Each race retains its own traditions, and further amongst the dark elves and dwarves each different realm retained its own variations in their traditions, but my examples shall at least endeavor to be representative.

The table of a mine worker near Goldwash might, at his primary meal, hold pork or mutton sausages, or perhaps fish from the sea roasted in a fire, accompanied by boiled turnips and carrots, black rye bread with a little butter or honey, and a mug of small beer brewed from wheat. On special occasions, a good mead in place of small beer might be enjoyed at the table.

A merchant of Goldwash, secure in her wealth, might enjoy roasted beef, pork, or venison, covered in its own gravy, fresh pease cooked with bacon, lighter brown wheat bread with plentiful honey, chilled honeyed milk, and blackberries candied in honey and a small glass of mead after the meal.

A noble of one of the Houses of Bloodrock might enjoy, at her primary meal, strips of chicken or lamb cooked in a cherry glaze, or perhaps river fish roasted with nuts and leeks. A salad of leafy greens, nuts, and small berries will always accompany the meat, but the nobility of the dark elves disdain breads or the hearty root vegetables as suitable only for animal feed. The meal will be followed by some dessert, such as fresh-picked strawberries in sweet cream or candied pears. A plum wine from the Crimson River valley, or perhaps imported peach wine from Blademarsh, will accompany the meal.

A dark elven silk plantation worker near Bloodrock, of the sort once enthralled in dark elven realms, will have as the staple of his diet a pottage of black beans, flavored with a bit of animal lard or fish and cooked with some onion. Although in less enlightened days the beverage with this meal would be a bitter tea of narcotic herbs that numbs the mind and body, in these days dwarven-style small beer is more usual.

A proud member of the warrior caste of Fangrock might have his primary meal as a dish of chunks of goat meat, cooked with a fiery pepper sauce along with chunks of white onion and pepper. A loaf of maize bread and a wheel of goat cheese may accompany the primary dish, and a strong maize liquor flavored by various spices and peppers left to soak in it for months may serve as a beverage. Although the liquor is at first clear, by the time it is ready to be consumed it turns a brilliant crimson color. A few small peppers of exceeding fieriness serve as a dessert.

One of the coastal fisherfolk of Fangrock's district might have, as the primary meal of her day, a piece of maize flatbread spread with a coarse pepper paste and fish. Maize beer spiced before drinking with dried pepper powder will accompany the meal.

A minotaur noble of Bantanu might feast upon a venison haunch, brought in from the forests by centaur hunters and cooked so it remains rare and juicy. Apples and slices of cow cheese might accompany the meal, or perhaps a small cake baked with hazelnuts and served in sweet cream. To drink, the strong brown barley beer of Bantanu will be favored- the brewers of Bantanu have perfected making a beer very heady and powerful.

A goatkin farmer working the fields outside Bantanu might have a meal of cow cheese, brown bread, and a little beef and butter. Depending on how prosperous her times are, she may drink beer either watered or unwatered, conserving the beverage in times of greater scarcity.