99 meals of Golarion

[UnArcaneElection]

Pope Uncommon the Dainty wrote:

{. . .}

On Earth, my ancestors, I think (and I've seen indications that there might be counter-evidence), got the idea of pasta from the Chinese, particularly by means of Marco Polo's expedition. While such a thing is still possible on Golarion, Cheliax seems to have less of an exploratory mercantile focus than Italy did. {. . .}

Canonically, Cheliax and to a lesser extent Andoran do have at least small colonies in Arcadia, so they (especially Cheliax) have some potential for exploration and mercantilism. Cheliax also had a moderately large colony in Garund, but they lost that . . . Nevertheless, despite their currently shaky situation, they should have had plenty of opportunity to get foodstuffs and recipes from elsewhere.

[zimmerwald1915]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Pope Uncommon the Dainty wrote:

{. . .}

On Earth, my ancestors, I think (and I've seen indications that there might be counter-evidence), got the idea of pasta from the Chinese, particularly by means of Marco Polo's expedition. While such a thing is still possible on Golarion, Cheliax seems to have less of an exploratory mercantile focus than Italy did. {. . .}

Canonically, Cheliax and to a lesser extent Andoran do have at least small colonies in Arcadia, so they (especially Cheliax) have some potential for exploration and mercantilism. Cheliax also had a moderately large colony in Garund, but they lost that . . . Nevertheless, despite their currently shaky situation, they should have had plenty of opportunity to get foodstuffs and recipes from elsewhere.

I'm not sure it's to a lesser extent anymore. Cheliax used to have two colonies in Arcadia: Canorate chartered from Corentyn and Anchor's End chartered from Kintargo. Canorate was destroyed in an earthquake and Anchor's End may have stuck with Ravounel or gone independent itself rather than stick with Cheliax. Andoran, meanwhile, still has a confirmed colony on Arcadia, and is winning the colonial race in Azlant.

As for how any of this impinges on their cuisine, the Chelish and Andoren colonies hug the Grinding Coast and primarily border the Mahwek nations. The name's a dead ringer for "Mohawk," and as such Cheliax's and Andoran's food imports likely include maize, squash, and beans.

[Pope Uncommon the Dainty]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

UnArcaneElection wrote:

Canonically, Cheliax and to a lesser extent Andoran do have at least small colonies in Arcadia, so they (especially Cheliax) have some potential for exploration and mercantilism. Cheliax also had a moderately large colony in Garund, but they lost that . . . Nevertheless, despite their currently shaky situation, they should have had plenty of opportunity to get foodstuffs and recipes from elsewhere.

I'm not sure it's to a lesser extent anymore. Cheliax used to have two colonies in Arcadia: Canorate chartered from Corentyn and Anchor's End chartered from Kintargo. Canorate was destroyed in an earthquake and Anchor's End may have stuck with Ravounel or gone independent itself rather than stick with Cheliax. Andoran, meanwhile, still has a confirmed colony on Arcadia, and is winning the colonial race in Azlant.

As for how any of this impinges on their cuisine, the Chelish and Andoren colonies hug the Grinding Coast and primarily border the Mahwek nations. The name's a dead ringer for "Mohawk," and as such Cheliax's and Andoran's food imports likely include maize, squash, and beans.

Yeah, I tried to work Anchor's End into my description, though I focused on this kind of trade as a way for chiles to enter Chelish cuisine, it would certainly bring maize, squash, and beans ~ I must say I had a bit of a moment as I semi-willfully treated Anchor's End as near a pseudo-Nahua culture (the one I know most about) ~ does anyone know anything of Mohawk cuisine?

Sargava is interesting ~ though the place itself feels very Belgian Congo, the Cheliax-as-Italy analogy would point towards Ethiopia/Eritrea...which is closer in feel to Geb, Nex, and Alkenstar In-Between. I'm not aware of Ethiopian food affecting the kitchens of their colonizers, but it's worth (and likely fun!) to research...

[UnArcaneElection]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

{. . .} Cheliax used to have two colonies in Arcadia: Canorate chartered from Corentyn and Anchor's End chartered from Kintargo. {. . .}

Anchor's End is a Chelish colony on Arcadia, but Canorate is the capital of Molthune; although it used to be under Chelish control not so long ago, it is nowhere near Arcadia. Maybe you meant Canorus?

[zimmerwald1915]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

{. . .} Cheliax used to have two colonies in Arcadia: Canorate chartered from Corentyn and Anchor's End chartered from Kintargo. {. . .}

Anchor's End is a Chelish colony on Arcadia, but Canorate is the capital of Molthune; although it used to be under Chelish control not so long ago, it is nowhere near Arcadia. Maybe you meant Canorus?

Yes, that's right. *blush*

[Gark the Goblin]

I've done the hard route of cutting almost all new world foods out of Chelish and Inner Sea cuisine. Considering Cheliax has only been infernal for about 100 years, I've kept almost all of the Taldan-derived ingredients, with the addition of some Spanish chaparral-type plants (and sugarcane, which imo would be pretty accessible and have long been an export of Osirion). I think it really gives a distinct feel to the cuisine to impose these limitations that are basically alien to us today. While also avoiding copying the results of a historical pillaging of the Americas that really hasn't happened in Golarion.

Incidentally, I've always had a "Spanish inquisition" vibe from Cheliax, while I agree that Taldor is sorta based on Byzantium as you mentioned PUtD.

62. Classic fermented pig's feet: This dish is traditionally served whenever a resident of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings becomes an age divisible by 10 (e.g. 10, 20, 30, 40, etc.). Cleaned pigs' feet are placed in a specially formulated brine with a raw salmon in an open oaken barrel and allowed to ferment for five months, during which the meat acquires a very sour, sulfurous flavor and the bones in the feet turn gelatinous. The feet are removed just before serving and sliced. Each slice is then covered in sour cream, sea salt, dill, and fennel (fresh when possible), and served with boiled noodles and beets. The salmon is reserved for the person(s) at the party too squeamish to stomach the main dish.

[Pope Uncommon the Dainty]

Just found this in my Let's Read of Nidal, Land of Shadows:

Rural Life wrote:

Farmers remain dependent on the Uskwood’s druids and their gifts to grow crops under Nidal’s cloud-choked sun, which further ensures their loyalty. While wheat and rye are the country’s staple crops, gasping white fish from Usk Lake supplement the Nidalese diet, as do more ordinary fish pulled from Conqueror’s Bay and Nisroch Bay. The Uskwood and Ombrefell, too, produce food. Given the forests’ well-known dangers, however, only the bravest or most desperate peasants venture far beneath the leaves.

So there's some more canon info on Avistani cuisine.

@Gark: That makes sense and certainly does create a recognizable cuisine that is nonetheless different enough from our usual fare so as to feel sufficiently fantastical, but I'm afraid I don't remember how long Anchor's End, Canorus, and the Andorani settlement have been around? Depending on how recently they were founded, it might strain belief a little bit for there to be no influence whatsoever. I mostly wanted to use the connection there for Chelish society to have adopted chiles and infernal spice over the last century, as diabolism became all the rage. I like the idea of sugarcane from Osirion.

[Gark the Goblin]

Yeah, I guess it makes sense for noble food. I would probably keep the serfs eating blandish Ulfen-Taldan food though. And it seems like the Chelish presence has been pretty limited in Arcadia until recently, at least according to the wiki: Millennia after the first Ulfen arrivals, the next Avistani settlers arrived in Arodus 4679 AR, as part of a Chelish colonization expedition that landed on the Grinding Coast near the Degasi city of Segada.

Going by Earth's timeline, we're essentially like a hundred years from people voraciously reading sensationalist stories about travels to the western continent, and like 400 years from potatoes taking off (especially given that none of the Avistani have even gotten to what we'd consider an Andean equivalent). The one major alteration is that the Linnorm Kings have known about Arcadia for millennia, and could probably have brought over some of the agricultural innovations mentioned in certain books (I'm looking at you, Varisian llamas and Irriseni potato vodka (which could just as easily have come from Earth, though)).

Aside: It occurs to me that one could look to Basque cooking history for inspirations for pre-Taldan Cheliax?

63. Cod pate: Still part of the brunch-lunch menu on the rural Arcadian Ocean coastline in Cheliax and its abandoned colonies, cod pate is made from salted cod ground down and mixed with butter and walnuts. The paste is shelf-stable for up to two months after preparation, due to its high salt content, and is traditionally spread over peasant's brown bread with quince jelly. The version marketed to nobles and rich adventurers is mixed with strong, freshly ground black pepper just before serving, and is spread on brown bread with a light dusting of powdered thileu bark.

[Pope Uncommon the Dainty]

Oh, I'ven't yet posted the second part of my earlier ruminations on Avistani cuisine! Oops, well, here it is:

The pre-Earthfall Kellids of what is now Nidal both cooked food directly on open fires using ceramic vessels, spits, and griddles, as well as by more indirect methods involving hot stones, often mounded into crescent shapes. One more advanced method used sandstone rocks (individual such rocks were used to cook like this for centuries), submerged in pits of water or buried underground to boil, steam, and bake food. Sheep, boar, cattle, goose, and poultry (pigeon and squab for the elite) formed the proteinous backbone of their diet, though red deer, swan, hare, and rabbit were hunted as well, while hazelnuts, rhubarb, and elm bark were used for accompaniment. Pork was salted and smoked, and bacon was popular; the tongue and hams were brined and dried. Whale, dolphin, and porpoise meats were all eaten salted, while carp, pike, tench, bream, and eel grown in artificial freshwater ponds were commonly consumed. The nuts also provided them with oil, after being boiled and then the oil skimmed off the surface of the water. Gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, rose hips, tubers, and apples further complemented the Nidalese Kellid diet, which was seasoned with sweet basil, bay leaves, caraway seeds, finocchio, mint, tansy, rue, pennyroyal, hyssop, sour cherries, sour plums, marigold petals, and saffron. Though they hadn’t yet made contact with Garund and gained coffee therefrom, they did brew a similarly energizing and bracing drink from roasted bay nuts. Brined lupini beans were, and still are, commonly carried as snacks to eat while on the move.

Mare’s milk is drunk and used to make cheeses far more than cow’s or ewe’s to this day, and the horse-meat dishes once consumed on religious holidays still survive as special feast-foods. The meat of a beloved fallen mount is still eaten as a funeral remembrance.

Boiling in long, shallow pits lined with stone and timber was a very common cooking method. The pits were always dug near natural springs and were divided with partitions, both to avoid direct contact between stones and ingredients, and to allow multiple foods to be cooked at once. Similar pits dug into sand were used as subterranean ovens. Each pit served as the center of social gatherings, for meals were always cooked and eaten communally, amidst large complexes of monuments, stacked stone formations, and the like.

A major component of modern Nidalese cuisine is the prevalence given to acids. While their Chelish allies prize the effects of capsicum and similar foods, the Nidalese prefer a cleaner, quicker pain, individual shocks whose fleeting nature calls the eater to long for their return. To this end, they have increased the acidity of the white wine vinegar they have always used to complement their cooking, and adopted the use of pomegranates and lemons from their neighbors to the South as quieter contrasts to that vinegar. Nidalese chefs also commonly use “green juice”, a highly acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes, crab-apples, or other sour fruit, sometimes with lemon or sorrel juice and various herbs and spices, as an ingredient in sauces, as a condiment, or to deglaze. Beef is often eaten untouched by fire, cooked only by being soaked in these four acidic liquids in a dish not unlike tartare or kitfo. Even root vegetables and fruits are often vinegar-pickled in Nidal to preserve them.

Since the alliance with Cheliax, some Nidalese chefs have begun to aim at a “symphony of the tongue’s wincing”, constructing complicated collections of piquancy (thought of as a background melody) and sourness (thought of as the stings of a rhythm punctuating that melody).

Casseroles are common in Nidal. Another common form of food preparation is to finely cook, pound and strain mixtures into fine pastes and mushes, something believed to be beneficial to make use of nutrients.

The Nidalese Kellids, much like the modern Chelish, commonly smoked foods to preserve them if they could not be eaten before spoiling. However, since Earthfall and the coming of Zon-Kuthon to Nidal, it has largely been replaced by the practice of pickling. A few recipes still current in the realm combine the two ancient methods of preservation, either pickling something that had been lightly smoked or using smoking techniques to dry out something that had been pickled.

There is a flavor profile associated with the halflings of southern Nidal, in which they elevate the cheap foods they are given as slaves ~ tough cuts of meat, hard-to-cook or off-putting vegetables, offal ~ with sauces or in stews that combine the palates of all three cultures involved ~ sweet for the halfling tongue, that Chelish fiery burn, and the sharp sour of Nidalese cuisine. Thanks to the Bellflower Network’s efforts, this profile has managed to migrate to Andoran, where a wider variety of meat is available to the newly free halflings. In Andoran, they usually blunt the spice and bite of the recipe by leaning into the Andorani taste for rich foods, utilizing cream to calm the tongue. They’ve also moved towards less intense means of achieving a similar effect ~ hearty doses of black pepper instead of chilis or horseradish or mustard, and balsamic vinegar instead of sharp wine vinegars. Perhaps largely as a celebration of their liberty, Andorani halflings have also turned to the brighter flavor of honey as a sweetener, rather than the more traditional Taldan/Chelish date molasses.

[UnArcaneElection]

^Sounds like Nidal might have a problem with tooth decay, and Andoran might be developing a problem with cardiovascular disease.

[Pope Uncommon the Dainty]

UnArcaneElection wrote:

^Sounds like Nidal might have a problem with tooth decay, and Andoran might be developing a problem with cardiovascular disease.

Welll, don't ignore the Nidalese taste for horse-dairy. Milk is quite basic and can serve to reduce that risk some. I can also imagine that the Nidalese might welcome tooth pain the way some Catholics wear cilices to cause constant pain or discomfort, even into light abscess territory. Nonetheless, Nonetheless, I would imagine that the Nidalese practice dental cleaning of the sort described by Hieronymus Fabricius on Earth in the late 16th century, and use rosemary charcoal to clean their teeth more regularly. (thanks for inspiring me to google "Renaissance dental hygiene", btw)

As for the Andorani ~ yeah, I imagine it's a problem for them. Tbh, I'm not as drawn to Andoran as I think I'm supposed to be (being an American and an anarchist), so I don't have a super-strong image for their cuisine atm. Mostly, I realized that poullet au vinaigre (which I enjoy cooking for my carnivorous friends, and tempeh au vinaigre for myself) could be posited as an example of cultural exchange in Avistan, and cultural exchange is a phenomenon sorely ignored in much D&D/PF-style fantasy world-building so I seized the opportunity

[Gark the Goblin]

I've tried running games in Andoran and just really struggled to conceptualize its culture. It's sort of an idealized America (with a hefty dose of not-so-idealized capitalism), but very different in terms of climate and neighbors and origin. But it is one of the first regions to start getting fleshed out, at least in the Darkmoon Vale area, so it should be possible to tease out some food details looking through those books.

Something I feel are even harder to design are monster foods. But in the spirit of adventure:

64(ish). [B]Cricket patties:[b] Kobolds in the Arthfell Forest cultivate crickets in tunnels dug into the rooting zone of trees, mix them with powdered cellulose, and bake them in carefully engineered stone ovens. The patties are seasoned with melted pine gum, champiñones, or rock salt. Kobold leadership will, when available, douse their patties in milk before consumption, but it's not like people just leave milk lying around in bowls on their doorstep.

[Morhek]

Getting a Mummy's Mask game going, and putting a lot of (probably more than is reasonable) thought into making the world feel as immersive as I can, I would assume that Osiriani cuisine is essentially a hybrid between Ancient egyptian cuisine and modern Egyptian cuisine. Less Greek influence since, unlike modern Egypt, Osirion was never conquered or occupied by the setting's Greece equivalents (Taldor or Iblydos), but with the arabic influence from Qadira influencing their cuisine.

To that end, a tavern-goer in Osirion might order

65.) Keleshite doner kebab, with your choice of beef, chicken, lamb or felafel with hummus, followed by Baklava and Qadiran delight and washed down with Kelish coffee, fresh from Katheer.

66.) Osiriani melons, figs, dates and graps grown along the fertile fields along the Sphinx River, alongside hunted river fowl from the river and honey-sweetened bread made with honey from apiaries or the rare merope honey traded from the reclusive thriae hives, with cottage cheeses and Smy (thickened milk) made from the milk of Osiriani cattle.

67.) Osiriani bouza, brewed from grains harvested from Sphinx Basin farms and the namesake of the Common word "booze," and date winefermented in the vineyards of Tephu.

[Gark the Goblin]

68.) Minatan fried pies: Similar in appearance to a pirogi or empanada, these flaky semicircular pastries have sweet potato and wheat flour in the dough and are baked in wide, flat clay ovens. One popular variation, available on the streets of every major city in the Wandering Isles, uses a coconut meat and minced pili nut filling, and is sprinkled with brown sugar (if not meant to be carried in the hand, in which case it is left plain). Savory versions are also quite popular, using minced chicken or bean and tamarind sauce.

[Lathiira]

69. Varisian pot pie. A common traveller's dish supposedly originating with Varisia, this is cooked in a cast iron pot over a low fire. First, whatever meat one desire is heated, broken up, usually cooked in the juices of whatever fruit or berries are available. Once this cooks down, add in whatever vegetables are desired; peas and beans are often added during cooking to let them soak up the fruit juice. While this all cooks, take a root vegetable (turnips and potatoes are best, though others work), cook it till soft and mash it-a second fire might be useful but this can be done first. When the meat and vegetables are good, take the root vegetable and cover the top of the pot. Pull off and let stand for a few minutes.

(very loosely based on shepherd's pie)

[Gark the Goblin]

Just had a short feast interlude for Winter Week in one of my games:

70. Bleach-bread, also known as winter bread, Absalom bread: Made possible with a process perfected in south-central Vudra in the 5th millennium AR, but only imported to Absalom about 300 years ago, bleach-bread is a fluffy, white bread usually baked in circular loaves about 5 cm high in the center and 20 cm in diameter. The low fat content of the milled and bleached flour used allows storage for up to three years in an ideal climate, but the milling process is also significantly more expensive than for that of regular flour. Bleach-bread is thus primarily eaten during celebrations of Winter Week, though where a mill capable of producing the flour is readily available (such as Absalom), it may be more common in wintertime diets.

71. Plantain pot pies: When the Chelish occupiers of Sargava realized they would never be able to implement large-scale turnip production, they improvised. Plantains, steamed, mashed, and lightly seasoned, now substitute for the starchy root vegetable, and the conversion is done even for foods not originally of Cheliax, like the Varisian pot pie. The filling is supplemented with, ideally, Sargavan pork, but thrush or dove meat is also popular. Some cooks also swear by adding diced pineapple to the meat sauce.

72. Chelish honey pie: A sweet open-shelled pie with a filling made of honey and cream, baked. Usually dusted with ground anise.

73. Sorghum pancakes: Usually made with a sourdough, and sometimes dotted with chopped dates. Common in Mulaa cuisine but bears distinct similarities to a Nexish flatbread.

74. Winter Week smörgåsbord: Pates, cheeses, salted fish, salt pork, pickles, and more, eaten with some sort of bread.

[zimmerwald1915]

Someone's done a thesis on 17th-century Portuguese cuisine, which I intend to mine for information on Ravounel dishes. It helpfully delineates New World influences too.

[zimmerwald1915]

75. Revousa Congee The swampy, sourged confluence of the Katharevousa and Yolubilis Rivers lends itself well to rice production, and a porridge of rice and chicken is a peasant staple in the area. Downriver, it is used as a folk medicine for seasonal colds. Savoury flavorings include olive oil and salt, while sweet flavorings include sugar and mint.

76. Clenchjaw Feast The dish takes its name only indirectly from the variety of oyster that abounds in the Yolubilis estuary. While clenchjaws can certainly be included, and provide the ultimate source of the name, it comes most directly from the typically copper but occasionally silver-plated hinged vessel in which the dish is cooked. Typical inclusions other than clenchjaws include mussels, prawns, onions, garlic, and pork sausage. While the ingredients are fairly plebeian, owning a clenchjaw vessel and being able to prepare this dish are considered a marker of having ascended to the middle class.

77. Marmalades Orange, blackberry, and other fruit preserves are popular sweeteners, and especially popular among sailors, who bring tubs of marmalade on long voyages to Arcada and Vudra to ward off scurvy.

78. Roasted Shields Spitted and grilled sardines, seasoned with olive oil and garlic, are so called because of their resemblance to the common silver coin, first minted under Chelish rule but continuing in use.

79. Livelylick Typically eaten as breakfast (hence the name) on the North Plains, this dish is based on crumbled, day-old bread wetted and mashed with poached eggs, oil, cilantro, and vinegar. Fishers in and near Cypress Point include cod and whiting when they can afford it, while pork is more common inland.

[Gark the Goblin]

Livelylick sounds delicious actually.

[Freehold DM]

How is livelylick breakfast?

[UnArcaneElection]

zimmerwald1915 wrote:

Someone's done a thesis on 17th-century Portuguese cuisine, which I intend to mine for information on Ravounel dishes. It helpfully delineates New World influences too.

Whoa, 415 pages!

[zimmerwald1915]

Freehold DM wrote:

How is livelylick breakfast?

Because I was reaching for a Pathfinder-y sounding (meaning three-syllabled, with the first and third syllables starting with the same consonant) quasi-translation of "acorda."

[Gark the Goblin]

80. Butter-fried scorpion: Scorpions fried whole in butter with pepper and parsley. Scorpions are typically harvested at night, when a local variation on the light cantrip can be used to make their backs glow like little stars in the sand and scrub. Should a hunter manage to survive an encounter with a greensting, or worse, a ghost scorpion, any meat from these larger creatures is usually steamed and shelled prior to frying, as their chitin is much too tough for humanoid teeth.

[Yqatuba]

81. Your own flesh, bile, and fecal matter (for Nyogoth Qlippoth only.)

[Edward the Necromancer]

Delicacies of Geb

While the many of the rulers of Geb do not need to eat, or even can eat, those that still need to and/or simply enjoy eating have a few local delicacies....

82: Blood Pudding: a pudding made out of the blood of slaves and/or prisoners. The pudding is further categorized by what creature the blood came from. Rumor has it that Aasimir Blood Pudding has a subtle yet sweet flavor.

83: Brains from the skull: If a slave is disobedient, infirm, or if the master just wants to show off their wealth to a guest, the slave might just meet the unfortunate fate of ending up on the menu. One of the most flamboyant ways this might happen is for the dinner party to eat their brains directly out of the skull...

[UnArcaneElection]

Edward the Necromancer wrote:

Delicacies of Geb

While the many of the rulers of Geb do not need to eat, or even can eat, those that still need to and/or simply enjoy eating have a few local delicacies....

82: Blood Pudding: a pudding made out of the blood of slaves and/or prisoners. The pudding is further categorized by what creature the blood came from. Rumor has it that Aasimir Blood Pudding has a subtle yet sweet flavor.

Linkified for your convenience. Also see blood sausage. I've actually had the latter in Uruguay, although I don't know whether it was the Uruguayan/Argentine variety (morcilla) or an Italian or German variety (as brought in by more recent immigrants). It seemed to have an extremely high fat content.

Edward the Necromancer wrote:

83: Brains from the skull: If a slave is disobedient, infirm, or if the master just wants to show off their wealth to a guest, the slave might just meet the unfortunate fate of ending up on the menu. One of the most flamboyant ways this might happen is for the dinner party to eat their brains directly out of the skull...

Are you sure Urgathoa hasn't been active on Earth?

[Riobux]

84:

Cannibalism and body horror warning:

Pickled Punk.
As Geb has been exporting food, they've been experimenting with delicacies that the less discerning of customers would be interested in. No takers yet.

85: Carbuncle Surprise!
This delightful dish from Kyonin actually uses the husk remaining of carbuncles, carefully extracted as to not render it to dust, and fills it with spiced spinach, cucumber and lettuce. Eyes are boiled eggs blended within the shell before boiling via magic as to evenly distribute the yolk in the white and a carefully sculpted raddish as a horn.

86: Oprakian Tack
While hardtack and jerky are used by the common hobgoblin, some have taken upon themselves to bake the hardtack around already dried jerky. While the few diplomats who have visited Oprak have questioned on the jerky, they've had a mix of vague responses from the shrug of "whatever's available" to the coy wink of "best not ask" that smuggles a joke whose punchline is unknowable to the outsider.

[Thebazilly]

Pope Uncommon the Dainty wrote:

UnArcaneElection wrote:

^Sounds like Nidal might have a problem with tooth decay, and Andoran might be developing a problem with cardiovascular disease.

Welll, don't ignore the Nidalese taste for horse-dairy. Milk is quite basic and can serve to reduce that risk some. I can also imagine that the Nidalese might welcome tooth pain the way some Catholics wear cilices to cause constant pain or discomfort, even into light abscess territory. Nonetheless, Nonetheless, I would imagine that the Nidalese practice dental cleaning of the sort described by Hieronymus Fabricius on Earth in the late 16th century, and use rosemary charcoal to clean their teeth more regularly. (thanks for inspiring me to google "Renaissance dental hygiene", btw)

Seems obvious to me that the Nidalese would invent dentistry. Who else is going to stick a bunch of pointy metal implements in your mouth and admonish you for bleeding?

Love this thread, by the way, especially the point about the trade routes to Tian Xia. Such a simple change from Earth and the consequences are that the Vikings have noodles instead of the Italians. Fascinating!

[Set]

Edward the Necromancer wrote:

Delicacies of Geb

Ooh, I am inspired!

87. Feast of Knowledge Ghouls particularly treasure the bodies of the long-dead, believing that they absorb ancient lore in the consumption of the flesh of those who lived in ancient times. A practice from Nemret Noktoria has spread to Geb which hearkens to this belief, with the skin of a slave being tattooed (with inks made from diverse substances, mixed with their own blood) with arcane lore, similar to the creation of a scroll, and then the rolled up skin presented as a dinner gift to a visiting ghoul emissary. As he consumes the skin, the spell is triggered (generally a buff of some sort, rarely a trap..., but sometimes an inflict wounds spell, making the meal a sort of 'healing potion' for ghouls).

Variants include one that is tattooed with mundane lore, or a vivid vista, but enchanted so that the information 'written' (or imagery / scenery emblazoned) on the skin is then imprinted into the mind of the ghoul who experiences it as a dreamlike vision or memory.

88. Pesh Spiced 'Wine' or 'Red Pesh' Vampires among the Gebbite aristocracy have had many human lifetimes to get beyond bored with the taste of blood. They've had all kinds. Human blood, elven blood, various type of animal blood, no matter how rare or exotic, the blood of terrified people, the blood of people who ate a rich fatty meal, the blood of those died of plague, the blood of children, the blood of drunkards. It gets boring. And so the latest fad is the blood of those on various drugs, with the rage being Pesh. Slaves are fed on a rich diet of Pesh, but care is taken to bleed them before they die from it (pesh ain't cheap, and the taste of the blood of a dead person is different than that of the blood of a living person, vampire blood-snobs can tell the difference!). Still, it's not a fun life. Wake up, be force fed drugs, be drained of a few pints. Next day, do it again, until your health fails, generally, soon...

And then the body has to be burned, because a bunch of giggling vampires stumbling around and weeping blood and running around naked and telling maudlin stories that never end and make no sense is one thing, but when a *ghoul* eats the flesh of someone who died with a bunch of Pesh in their organs, they go violently berserk and have to be put down if they can't be restrained for the many hours such an episode typically lasts.

[Edward the Necromancer]

89) Orc Blood Meed: Like most meed one of the primary ingredients for this drink is honey. Unlike most meed the OTHER main ingredient is blood, which is where this drink gets interesting. The source of the blood determines the value of the meed, with animal blood (horse, pig, etc) being low quality, and more exotic bloods making more valuable Blood Meeds, with Dragon Blood Meed being one of the most valuable varieties out there.

[Edward the Necromancer]

Set wrote:

Edward the Necromancer wrote:

Delicacies of Geb

Ooh, I am inspired!

87. Feast of Knowledge Ghouls particularly treasure the bodies of the long-dead, believing that they absorb ancient lore in the consumption of the flesh of those who lived in ancient times. A practice from Nemret Noktoria has spread to Geb which hearkens to this belief, with the skin of a slave being tattooed (with inks made from diverse substances, mixed with their own blood) with arcane lore, similar to the creation of a scroll, and then the rolled up skin presented as a dinner gift to a visiting ghoul emissary. As he consumes the skin, the spell is triggered (generally a buff of some sort, rarely a trap..., but sometimes an inflict wounds spell, making the meal a sort of 'healing potion' for ghouls).

Variants include one that is tattooed with mundane lore, or a vivid vista, but enchanted so that the information 'written' (or imagery / scenery emblazoned) on the skin is then imprinted into the mind of the ghoul who experiences it as a dreamlike vision or memory.

88. Pesh Spiced 'Wine' or 'Red Pesh' Vampires among the Gebbite aristocracy have had many human lifetimes to get beyond bored with the taste of blood. They've had all kinds. Human blood, elven blood, various type of animal blood, no matter how rare or exotic, the blood of terrified people, the blood of people who ate a rich fatty meal, the blood of those died of plague, the blood of children, the blood of drunkards. It gets boring. And so the latest fad is the blood of those on various drugs, with the rage being Pesh. Slaves are fed on a rich diet of Pesh, but care is taken to bleed them before they die from it (pesh ain't cheap, and the taste of the blood of a dead person is different than that of the blood of a living person, vampire blood-snobs can tell the difference!). Still, it's not a fun life. Wake up, be force fed drugs, be drained of a few pints. Next day, do it again, until...

Glad I could inspire you! I have to say the Vampire 'Red Pesh' is a stroke of genius! I find the idea of Vampires getting wasted on this hilarious!

[Edward the Necromancer]

90) Mermaid Seafood: Since cooking is impractical under the sea, Mermaids prepare most of their food raw, but have found inventive ways to prepare their food. A favorite method is to wrap what they are eating up in seaweed. Because of this seaweed is a staple of Mermaid food preparation in a similar way that grains are for the surface.

[Gark the Goblin]

91. Custard puffs: Delicate yeast-based cakes fried in oil so that they expand to over twice their size, cut in half and filled with flavored egg custard. Popular in Absalom, where variants in the shapes of some of the city's most popular beasts of burden are common.

[Set]

92. Calistrian Crunch Small delicately crafted candies in the shape of wasps, honey-sweet and crunchy. In every serving is at least one candy-coated actual wasp, and the infusion of venom into that crunch makes for a tart eye-wateringly piquant surprise. Tradition has it that the person who 'gets the wasp' from a shared serving is blessed by Calistria, but only so long as they do not cry out in pain!

[Edward the Necromancer]

93) Tian sticky sweet Cake: A sweet cake made with rice flour and lots of sweetener, this sticky cake is enjoyed as a traditional new years treat in the Continent of Tian.

We have almost made it to 99! Lets finish this!

[UnArcaneElection]

Set wrote:

92. Calistrian Crunch Small delicately crafted candies in the shape of wasps, honey-sweet and crunchy. In every serving is at least one candy-coated actual wasp, and the infusion of venom into that crunch makes for a tart eye-wateringly piquant surprise. Tradition has it that the person who 'gets the wasp' from a shared serving is blessed by Calistria, but only so long as they do not cry out in pain!

Not as far out as you might think. When I was in 4th grade (well before I quit eating chocolate), I had chocolate covered ants (the closest relative to wasps, and my favorite in the bunch), caterpillars, crickets, and 1 or 2 other similar things. This came from this weird grocery store in Atlanta called Cloudt's, where my parents got various other weird things, but this store unfortunately seems to have disappeared. And speaking of weird things, one of the things they got for a while was Limburger cheese (which originated from a French-speaking part of Belgium), otherwise known as weapons-grade cheese. Despite my natural inclination to have the second view of it as described below, I have actually been wanting to get a bit for old-time's sake to see what temporarily drew my parents to it, for they are both gone and cannot answer.

So what part of Golarion would have such a thing? I am going to guess that although Avistan has no close equivalent of Belgium, some parts of the River Kingdoms that received refugees from Galt -- particularly Gralton might be sort of equivalent. And so -- I present:

94. Gralton cheese. Seen by some as a delicacy, and by others as a terrorist biological weapon, this soft cheese with a powerful presence that is difficult to get in most regions of Golarion almost never inspires a middle ground in those who have experienced it.

[Set]

95. Cured ankheg steaks Popular orcish feast cuisine, ankheg flesh is white and flaky, similar to fish or crustacean, but powerfully acidic causing upset stomach and painful cramps if not cured for a day in baking soda before cooking. When prepared by orcs, it tends to taste somewhat chalky, unless, as they prefer to prepare it, burned to a char on the outer surface, but humans who live near Belkzen and have modified the preparation use less soda and for a shorter duration, creating a much more tender steak that can be cooked for less time and has a rich earthy flavor (and causes no gastric distress, when properly prepared). The cook must walk a fine line between over-soaking it, and getting a blank and 'chalky' flavored meal, or under-soaking it and causing horrible heartburn in their diners...

96. Naga noodles. Despite the name, this hearty bowl contains no noodles, and certainly isn't made from naga. It is made *by* a naga, and is a signature dish found only in Kaer Maga. Made from foot long river eels, who produce strips of white flesh that are boiled together in a collection of spices and served in the broth, resembling a bowl of flat noodles (only the 'noodles' are meat). Different spices, pale vegetables and mushrooms round out the dish (varying depending on what's in season), and rumor has it the 'house special' includes a few droplets of venom from the naga chef, diluted and denatured by cooking so as to be (mostly) harmless. This is just a rumor started by the chef, and not actually true, but the chef's signature mixture of spices has not been identified, and so the rumors persist.

[Lathiira]

97. Fire eel. This dish is of Osirioni origin and is found there as well as Katapesh and Qadira. It consists of fresh saltwater eel that is stuffed with peppers and roasted over an open fire. The dish is served over whatever grains are available. Some coastal villages specialize in particular combinations of peppers and spices to make the hottest eel possible and have competitions regarding this during the autumn.

[UnArcaneElection]

Come on, we've got to finish this thing up so that we can get on to Musical Instruments of Golarion.

98. Irriseni ice cream. Under the new rule of Anastasia, Irrisen has made first steps at attempting to export cold in a way that people will actually find useful. Although ongoing suspicion by its neighbors have combined with formidable logistical challenges to confine exporting of ice to the easiest river journeys, the larger food merchants in the region recognize that if large enough quantities of ice can be marshaled for preservation of perishable foods, the amount of food saved would make it worthwhile to sell some food to Irrisen in exchange for the ice. They also recognize that the newest export from Irrisen, ice cream, is delicious and has the potential to attract many customers, if only they can get the logistics straightened out. Although intentionally chilled food has deeper roots in history than one might expect, achieving a broad market with it is a real challenge.

[Edward the Necromancer]

99) Arcadian Flat Bread: These pieces of flat bread are made with a local flour and are used to make wraps which can be filled with many different food stuffs. The biggest difference between these flat breads and flat breads found in the rest of the world is the type of flour used. While the Dragon Kingdoms prefer Rice flour and Avistan uses wheat flour, Arcadia uses a local grain called "corn" for their flat bread.

[ZamuelNow]

100) Honeyed Bite Turnips: This dish was developed following the detoxification of the land around Etran's Folly and the subsequent revitalization of the town. Though the recipe follows traditions of other similar dishes, such as candied yams, the titular "bite" is from a localized pepper that recently began growing in the area.

Reasoning:

I figure something based off The Fall of Plaguestone would make sense to get in here.

[Edward the Necromancer]

101) ShackleTack, Pirate's Biscuits, Sailor's bread, these hard to eat but long lasting bread has many different names but is a staple for those that spend a lot of time away from shore and on the open ocean.

[Seisho]

102) Sea Serpent Stew: Recently availible in a Tavern in Absalom thanks to the the circumstance that the heroes frequenting it got the opportunity to slay a sea serpent who managed to get into the sewers of the city. Only limited availibility after which the price is expected to skyrocket.

103) Otyughs Delight: Not a dish in itself but a catch-all term for leftovers which might not look entirely appetizing anymore but are still edible. Sometimes used as term from higher-standing citizens for lower class food.

104) Krooth-Brooth: A Delicassy in New Thallassion made from the infamous crocodile eater found in the vast swamps of south-varisia (among other places). They have dense, muscly meat which only becomes edible after hours of cooking. But once soft enough to consume it is a healthy and hearty dish that supposedly fights most sicknesses and gives strength to whoever eats it.

[UnArcaneElection]

Seisho wrote:

{. . .}

103) Otyughs Delight: Not a dish in itself but a catch-all term for leftovers which might not look entirely appetizing anymore but are still edible. Sometimes used as term from higher-standing citizens for lower class food.
{. . .}

(Suddenly remembers school lunches and the even worse slop in the cafeteria of Valdosta State College in Georgia . . . .)

[Alex Kaeda]

I play a Halfling Ranger-Bard, and one of the things Miti does is keep a journal of the parties' adventures.

I decided early on that Miti's Aunt sent him out into the world with a collection of recipes. He's spent the past year trading recipes with people he interacts with (and recording those recipes into the journal)

In the absence of other information, I decided that Isger's food was influenced by Croatian/Hungarian and Bosnian foods. As our party moved east to Breechill, foods became more Greek/Bulgarian. We've since traveled to Mwangi (with Congolese-Angolan-Zimbabwaeian cuisine). I'm looking forward to discovering where we're headed next and chronicling their cuisine (inspired by similar geography from Earth)

[UnArcaneElection]

Here are 8 more meals (with fragment of a 9th). Not sure whether the count in this thread should increment accordingly, since this comes from an "official" source (here).

[Set]

105) Mediogalti eggs - the kobolds of Mediogalti island live in various fortified enclaves, secure against the many saurian threats on the island. One group lives on a small rocky outcropping, just off the southern coast, frequented by hundreds of nesting pteradactyls, who gather there much like seabirds on other islands, away from land-bound predators. They have learned to tolerate the kobolds, who also fish the surrounding waters and share the offal of their catch with the scavenging pteradactyls and ferociously fight off airborne raids by larger pteranadons, who would scoop up nesting pteradactyls, nest and all, as a snack. The soft leathery-shelled eggs are eaten raw, with the chewy shell being a special treat for kobold children (a parent often sucks the egg of it's contents and then gives the empty leathery shell to their child to finish off, the chewy nature of it being good for their developing teeth). Eggs take 30 days to mature, and are generally eaten within a few days of being laid (like chickens, a pteradactyl whose nest is empty will immediately produce a new egg, making this an almost endless resource), but a few eggs will be left, with only a mark for the date laid upon them. Twenty days later, they will be collected and given to the chief as a special treat, for he alone gets to enjoy the pleasure of eating a tiny pteradactyl in the shell, enjoying the crunch and the squirming as part of the experience.

Mediogalti eggs are available all over the island, as the kobolds of 'Rock Island' trade regularly with various other factions (except the local monkey goblins, with whom they share a mutual loathing), the local pteras producing vastly more eggs than they could ever consume by themselves (and themselves having developed a taste for 'anything but more eggs...' over the generations).

106) Stavian's 18th birthday breaking of the fast - A special event, the soon to be king's 18th birthday, called for a special repast. And so a team of warriors, arcanists and priestly support hired from the Banker-church of Abadar were sent to the World's Edge Mountains with an expert beast-hunter, to secure a Roc's egg. They had reliable intelligence from the locals, and found a new nest without incident, losing only three men, including their lead arcanist and the reputed beast-hunter securing one of the two eggs present (the other was destroyed during the fight, as was the parent roc, who fought to the death to prevent the plundering of their nest). The long trek back was harried by the surviving roc parent for several days, while the arcanist's apprentice huddled in the wagon with the egg, casting ray of frost endlessly to keep it chilled. The second roc gave up within a week, and they returned to the capitol bedraggled, but successful, and the great egg was prepared 'sunny-side up,' as they lacked any reliable way to flip it during cooking. Stavian himself was presented with the table sized fried egg, and given a fancy crossbow to 'pop the yolk' (it only took him two tries to hit it, at which everyone politely laughed, pretending he had deliberately missed the first shot just to be amusing), and everyone queued up to dip their fancy bread in the thick orange yolk that sluggishly poured forth. Stavian later declared it was 'too thick and too strong a flavor' and 'lacked subtlety' and everyone involved praised their respective gods that he would not want this feat repeated...

[Yqatuba]

107) Lopado­temacho­selacho­galeo­kranio­leipsano­drim­hypo­trimmato­silphio­kar abo­melito­katakechy­meno­kichl­epi­kossypho­phatto­perister­alektryon­opte ­kephallio­kigklo­peleio­lagoio­siraio­baphe­tragano­pterygon (look it up)

[JenkinsMyMan]

108. Half-Elf Oat Cakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 10-15 minutes Yields: about 10 medium pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

1 & 1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup whole rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 cup oat milk (any plant milk will work)
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp water)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp chocolate chips (or blueberries, raspberries, etc)
1 tsp any neutral oil will work

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl mix the oat flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and sugar together.
2. In a small bowl stir the oat milk, flax egg, lemon juice, and vanilla until combined and the flax egg is well-dispersed.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. Add chocolate chips and stir again. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the batter to thicken.
5. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add oil and spread in the pan to prevent pancakes from sticking.
6. When the pan is hot, turn the heat down to medium-low and add batter to the pan. Cook for 1 & 1/2 minutes or until bubbles start appearing on the pancake surface. Flip pancakes and cook for another 1 & 1/2 minutes.
7. Transfer to plate and keep warm or serve immediately.

[JenkinsMyMan]

Okay. I cheated with this one and just used the coddle recipe I have at home.
109. Dwarven Coddle

INGREDIENTS

½ to 1 lb of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 pound high-quality pork sausages
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
12 oz of your favorite stout
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 large onions, cut into slices
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Fresh cracked black pepper
2 cups of broth (beef, ham, or chicken. Your preference.)

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2.Heat a large, oven-proof heavy-duty pot with lid Dutch Oven over high heat. Add in the bacon and cook until crisp, about five minutes. Remove the bacon to drain on paper towels. Leave the grease in the pot.
3.Add the sausages in, a few at a time, and cook on each side until just golden brown—no need to cook all the way through. Remove to a plate and continue with additional sausages. Remove to plate. When cool enough to handle. Slice into 1" pieces.
4.Reduce the heat to low, and then whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Then remove from heat completely.
5.Whisk in the bottle of your favorite stout.
6.Place half of the potatoes in the gravy, followed by half of the onions, half of the garlic, half of the bacon, half of the sausages, half of the parsley, the bay leaves, the thyme, and black pepper. Repeat layers with the remaining ingredients.
7.Pour the broth over the whole thing. Place the lid on, and bake in a preheated oven for at least 2 - 5 hours.
8.Serve to you and your drinking buddies after an evening at the tavern.