The Culture Column
It can be slid into just about any culture, even replacing many of the cuisines of other cultures presented earlier in this column, and wouldn't be out of place as the usual faire in a typical medieval-or-thereabouts fantasy setting.
Staples
Qyko bread is one of the most common breads, low-quality and made not just from grain but also, commonly, legumes. It's used to feed horses, but also the poor and anyone else who can't afford more expensive bread. Much of it is actually not exactly edible (like grain husks), making it low in calories but high in fiber, and root vegetables and other ingredients are also frequently added to the mix. Qyko, like other kinds of bread, could be broken off into pieces and used as a sop, to be soaked in a soup or other liquid before being eaten. The higher classes will commonly have it pre-cut instead of having to break it at the meal. Stale bread can be carved into a square and used as a trencher or sort of plate for food. Afterward it can be soaked or covered with a sauce, or given to the poor.
Olive oil is very expensive, but there are other alternatives in poppies, walnuts, hazels, and similar foods. Butter and lard are also common, especially since they're not exactly low in fat content (and a bit of pudginess is never a bad look on a person who doesn't know for sure that he's going to be eating next month).
Millet and wheat are the most common grains eaten. Barley and oats are also common but are primarily the food of horses and other animals (or used for beer production). Peas, beans, acorns, and even walnuts can be ground up and added to bread to stretch out supplies. Cabbages (which are often turned into rolls), peas, beans, and onions are the most widely-eaten vegetables, and most meat consumed is beef, sheep, pork, or chicken, all of which can be made into sausages. Fish, especially, is jellied rather than eaten immediately. Fish are also an exception to the usual rule of boiling and are more commonly roasted or smoked, and then served with mushrooms, which are common additions to other dishes.
Common Dishes
A base of wheat flour and fat is often combined with beer and cheese, and a thickener made from potato, in order to create beer soup. Pilobe is made from wheat, as many meals are, with additions of ingredients such as milk, eggs, almonds, sugar, and flower water. Mashed flowers can be used on their own or added to many different dishes (most salads, in fact, regularly include flowers).
A kodol is a kind of flat cake, made out of any sort of grain and of varying thickness. It can be eaten plain, covered in a sauce, or stuffed with meat or some other food. A dlaxile is a kind of kodol with a cheese filling, which is served with strawberries. Depending on how the harvests go, this usually ranges from "special treat which the lower classes can have, if not every day" to "sign of wealth and power." Yeast is occasionally added to kodols. "Wartime stew" is a common name for a concoction made from scraps, leftovers, and "Hey, I don't know what this plant is called or even how it tastes, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't poisonous," and cooked in intestines or stomachs so that proper pots aren't needed. Xoxod stews are made from thin stripes of tripe (usually beef) and carrots, seasoned with parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Wealthier people often add imported paprika and marjoram.
Xixid kolou soups are generally made from a base of chicken's blood and equal amounts of sugar and vinegar, although other animals can be used. It includes pieces of dried pears, plums, or cherries, apple vinegar, and, in more expensive versions, honey. It is usually served with noodles, boiled potatoes, kodols, or qyo xaso.
Leftover foods are commonly turned into fritters when the opportunity presents itself. Especially since some foods can be a bit messy, the dough covering makes it a bit cleaner and adds to its portability and easy storage. Despite how the fritters are made, though, nearly every food is actually boiled.
Orop li'i is a soup made from soured rye flour and boiled meat (usually some kind of pork). Ker salads are made from chopped potatoes, pickles, eggs, chicken, and onions. Another potato-based dish includes only a coating of butter and raw egg. Potato pancakes, with flour and egg and onion or garlic, are common, especially when there's only scraps of this and that left of potatoes, and nothing else can really be made out of them.
Qyo xaso dumplings are made from a mixture of flour, eggs, onion juice, and salt. They are boiled in large casseroles in salted water, or in soups, and then served immediately after. Popular varieties include eqom dumplings, with river fish and hard-boiled eggs instead of the usual beef. Qimdombs are made with chunks of potato, meat, and cottage cheese.
Kobimbs are dishes of minced fish with eggs, onions, garlic, and milk, fried and then rolled in breadcrumbs.
Beverages
Qoi'y pomer is a wine which is mixed with cinnamon and heated before serving. Despite the seasoning it is not a highly-regarded drink. Alcohols are considered to be unclean and corruptive on both the mind and spirit, and qoi'y pomer is generally the drink of choice for those who are low-classed enough to be alcohol drinkers but not so poor that they can't avoid extra seasonings. Increasingly it's becoming a way to fake wealth. While there are also several varieties of beer, another common alcoholic drink (and one which is made mostly at home, rather than professional brewers) is the xrokxliok, which is made from black or rye bread and further flavored with fruits or seasonings like strawberries. The lower classes often drink more xrokxliok than every other beverage put together.
Milk is boiled for hours, often overnight, until it has a brown crusty coating. After this it can be stored even at room temperature for a couple of days without any problem, and milk is rarely used even in baking before it's been boiled. In situations where fresh milk cannot be obtained for drinking(which is common enough), almond milk is used, and it is considered to be only slightly inferior to the true stuff. While the consumption of alcohol is frowned upon, there are other alternatives like pemypom xyou, a drink made from dried or fresh fruit which is boiled in sugar water and then left to sit and cool. Whey is another relatively common drink, especially among the rural communities and lower classes.
Soxlokal tea is used by everyone who can afford it (generally anyone who isn't living day to day) and is considered to help prevent colds, tuberculosis, and kidney problems, relieve them when they do occur, and cure dizziness, stomach problems, heartburn, and hangovers. It can be used to spice meat by soaking the meal in it, and the leaves can be chewed raw for flavor. If treated properly it can also be used as a poison which causes first cramps, then paralysis (and possibly death if the person is allergic).
Desserts and Luxuries
"Pimeqpode" is the name given to a popular kind of sauce, made from pounded raisins and cinnamon mixed with meat and wine. Pears and syrup are a popular dish, as are honey-cakes, which along with fruits and syrup-filled sweetbreads are traditionally given to guests by those who can afford it. Even poorer households might stretch themselves to the limit in order to get these supposedly minor luxuries if they know that someone is going to be coming by.
Cakes called daldis are made with eggs, sugar, and ground nuts, without any flour (although bread crumbs are sometimes used to this degree or that, so flour is sometimes used at a step removed). Icing made from sugar and mixed with other seasonings is usually put on after, and a daldi can have several layers. Okykoms are tiny balls of unleavened bread mixed with hazelnuts and dried fruit pieces and coated with honey.
A very rare dish (it's usually only served on special holidays), nykemb is a grain pudding mixed with walnuts, sugar, and raisins. Poppy seeds, honey, milk, and even rice are also added not infrequently. Its rarity is due in part to its customary pairing with toffee-like candies called bylo-bylos, which are eaten on a regular basis only by the upper classes.
Schedules and Dining Habits
There are usually two meals: dinner around noon or the early afternoon, and supper in the evening. The lower you head in class and the more that physical exertion is necessary, the more often you will find the people eating small extra meals, and the more numerous those meals will be. It is a sign of status and power to not need anything but dinner and supper, in fact, and in the upper classes it is traditional to have nothing but a small amount of tea or other beverage in the early morning and have a dinner which is almost as light as one's supper. A more normal breakfast is eaten by people who will be working hard that day, including the lower classes, and also children and the infirm. Workers will commonly receive a vopesom, or allowance of money to purchase some food to keep their energy up while on the job.
It is utterly disrespectful to eat on your own when there is company to eat with. Even when every last one of you is a stranger and you only happen to be in the same place at the moment because you're all new to the city and you all got lost and happened to wander into the same alley, if there is someone else around when it is time to eat, then you need to eat together. An exception is made for the sick of course. Dinners and other meals eaten at the workplace are held with workers, overseers, and employer together, and a rich noble and his family will dine with the household servants. Forks do not often exist and it is expected that everyone will bring their own knife; it is a gesture of utmost respect to give someone a knife for use at the table.
