Dwarven diet

The diet of the dwarven race is unique to all other races in Thedas, owing to the majority of dwarves living their entire lives underground.
After the fall of the dwarven empire, many thaigs which were responsible for producing food were lost to the darkspawn. This has left them with few choices when it comes to food production.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 119 As such, the diet of the dwarves of Orzammar is heavily supplemented by food imported from the surface.After the sharp decline of food imports as a result of the wars on the surface in 9:41 Dragon a famine broke out in Orzammar which led to riots as mentioned by the three dwarven emissaries who gossip on news from Orzammar in the Winter Palace during Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts. However, they are still heavily involved in breeding animals and growing food, or finding it in the Deep Roads and other underground locations around the thaigs. In dwarven culture underground, their definition of edible may be at odds with those who live on the surface, but their concept of "food" is easily defined; if something is edible and can be scavenged, it will be consumed.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 155
== Harvested and gathered ingredients ==
Dwarves make use of all edible items that can be scavenged, some of which are hazardous due to their proximity to lyrium, and the darkspawn taint which is quite common. Mushrooms are farmed for food in Orzammar.As mentioned by Varric Tethras in party banter with Anders in Dragon Age II.
* Deep mushroom - while they naturally grow in close proximity to the darkspawn taint and lyrium veinsDeep Mushroom (Origins), these mushrooms are considered delicacies and are prized for their unique flavor and intoxicating scent. Some dwarves believe that the closer a deep mushroom is to lyrium and darkspawn the better the flavor.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 17 Dwarven merchants often hire casteless for very little money to enter the Deep Roads and collect mushrooms, a dangerous task due to the everlasting presence of darkspawn. A common recipe for deep mushrooms is in cream sauces accompanying nugs.Codex entry: In Praise of the Humble Nug
* Dirt - added to Orzammar ale.As mentioned by Ohgren after the coronation in Dragon Age: Origins.
* Fungus - possibly used to brew liquor.
* Lichen - can be made into aleDragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 155 and bread,As implied by Garin. if well-dried beforehand. One known variety used is black lichen. Black lichen is toxic, but the cooking process renders it harmless.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 45
* Moss - used in the production of dubious liquor.As mentioned by Rica Brosca in the Dwarf Commoner Origin.
== Food animals ==
Dwarves both catch and breed animals as food sources.
* Bronto - originally bred by the Shaperate as a food source, beast of burden, and mount. They are roughly equivalent to surface oxen and cows.Codex entry: Bronto
* Cave beetle - dwarves are known to roast and eat these beetles in the shell.Dragon Age (tabletop RPG), Game Master's Guide, set 2, p. 24Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 27
* Deepstalker - served as a stewDragon Age: The Stolen Throne, ch. 15 p. 319 or roasted on a spit.Dragon Age Game Master's Kit: Buried Pasts, p. 19
* Giant spider - domesticated by underground dwarves. They are served roasted or fried.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 15
* Nug - a small animal that looks like a cross between a pig and a rabbit. It is a primary part of dwarven cuisine.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 81 Nug-wranglers catch nugs to sell, and may also practice some form of nug farming to breed the animals. The flavor has been described as an "unholy union of pork and hare" and like "a cross between pork and rabbit". It is favored as a food source by poor and wealthy alike. It is considered to be tender, particularly when roastedDragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 81, but should be boiled beforehand.Mentioned by Nug Wrangler Boermor A popular sport among the lower castes is nug racing. After nugs can no longer race, they are consumed as food.
== Known dwarven liquor ==
Dwarves have a long-standing love for, and uncanny ability to tolerate, liquor. They both import liquor and produce much on their own.
* Brakien Brew - a beer with a heavy head and a deep, rich taste.
* Coconut DraftA drink proposed by a waitress in Tapster's Tavern in A Tale of Orzammar DLC.
* Dwarven ale - not actually an ale, but a black liquid with a reputation of being almost undrinkable for anyone who is not a dwarf. It is reputedly made from fungus.Dragon Age: Asunder, pp. 132-133 As noted by Oghren, Orzammar ale tastes like dirt in comparison to Fereldan ale, as dwarves put dirt in it.As mentioned by Ohgren after the coronation in Dragon Age: Origins.
* Hirol's Lava Burst - a gift for Oghren in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, produced in Kal'Hirol. It is said to taste "like burning".
* Lichen ale – a toxic ale of choice among Dust Town dwarves.Codex entry: The Casteless It must be enjoyed in moderation due to its toxicity, as it can overpower those who are not dwarves and even the sturdiest of dwarves.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 155
* Mosswine - an astringent, toxic wine brewed from moss.
* Valenta's Red - called the "Paragon of Ales" and is considered the best that money can buy.As mentioned by Corra, proprietor of Tapster's Tavern.
== Surface foods ==
Trade with the surface is essential to the wealth of the city of Orzammar, and food products are a part of that. Indeed, without the lifeline of trade, including food, into the city, survival in Orzammar would be very difficult.Commented upon by the traders at the city gates in Dragon Age: Origins. Surface food products are necessarily in high demand in Orzammar due to the few choices of food produced by the city itself and the exotic novelty of surface foods. Due to their great expense, typically only noble, the wealthy or the very influential are able to purchase these goods.Beraht during the Dwarf Commoner Origin is able to purchase figs from the surface in order to bribe guards in Orzammar. Notable surface delicacies are jams Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 119, with a particularly high interest in plum jam,Mentioned by a noble in the Diamond Quarter in Dragon Age: Origins. caviar,Athenril mentions that she works with the Carta to steal such foodstuffs from Hightown nobles and smuggle it into Orzammar in Dragon Age II. coconut, and hot sauce.Mentioned by Oghren when entering Denerim Market District Other surface goods in Orzammar include apples, carrots, grapes, marrow squash, oranges,Seen in Orzammar table settings in Dragon Age: Origins and plums. The Tapster's Tavern also imports and serves liquor, such as honey mead, traded from a surface family who ships it every month.
The dwarves trade arms and armor in exchange for various goods such as goat milk and free passage rights for their traders from the Avvar.Dragon Age (tabletop RPG), Blood in Ferelden, pp. 78
== Known cuisine ==
Dwarven cuisine commonly uses some type of alcohol among its ingredients.
* Braised nug with elfrootMentioned by Varric when in the nug nest at Crestwood
* Brandy soaked cherriesReferenced by Oghren in banter with Sigrun in Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
* Deepmushroom flavored cream sauce
* Deepstalker stew
* Dwarven plum jam - a very sweet preserve made in Orzammar from ingredients imported individually from the surface.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 119
* Fried mushCodex entry: The Noladar Anthology of Dwarven Poetry
* Fried young giant spiders - the legs are fried and served with an alcohol-based sauce that varies with every Orzammar eating establishment.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 15
* Lichen bread
** Black lichen breadDragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 45
* Mushrooms cooked in ale - a sauce that comes recommended being served over roasted nug.Suggested by Korbin to Luka
* Nug pancakes – a savory pancake made with nug. It is a favorite among dwarven children and featured in a dwarven folk song.Codex entry: In Praise of the Humble NugCodex entry: Traditional Dwarven Folk SongsDragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 81
* Nug steak
* Nug-gets - a favored food of children.Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 81
* Nug-loafMentioned by Korbin to Cillian in Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer
* Old cheese and shredded dried meat - used as a spread.As mentioned by Garin.
* Pickled nugMentioned by Oghren in Amaranthine Market
* Roasted cave beetlesDragon Age: The Official Cookbook: Tastes of Thedas, p. 27
* Roasted nug
* Seared nug - seared on a hot metal plate and finished in the oven, then dressed in a cream sauce flavored with deep mushrooms. It is a favorite dish of King Ansgar Aeducan.Codex entry: In Praise of the Humble Nug
* Slow-roasted nug-letMentioned in Tapster's Tavern
* Spit-roasted nug with hot sauce
* Roasted giant spider legs
* Spit-roasted deepstalker
== Trivia ==
* Varen, a former Legionnaire, discovered the edibility of nug while lost in the Deep Roads. He was made a Paragon for his discovery.
* Tapster's Tavern serves 52 types of ale, 17 meads and 12 imported wines, a testament to the dwarves' long-standing love of hard drink.
* Oghren's gift, the Beard Flask from Feastday Gifts and Pranks, is fashioned from a nug stomach to facilitate hands-free drinking.
* Alistair and Leliana will comment upon drinking dwarven ale in location-specific dialog in Dragon Age: Origins. Wynne also professes interest in it in party banter with Oghren, and even develops a taste for it by the time period of Dragon Age: Asunder. King Maric Theirin also drinks it in Dragon Age: The Calling, having developed a taste for the brew himself.
* The sauces used in Orzammar are highly guarded secrets due to the fierce competition for "Orzammar's Best Sauce". The coveted title has led to some forming plots to steal these secret recipes, in hopes of winning.
* A dwarf in Orzammar is a jam maker. They hope that if they make the jam themselves, they can sell their products at more reasonable prices.
* Another common good seen and mentioned in Orzammar is cheese, however it is unclear if they make their own or strictly import it.
* In the Dragon Age (tabletop RPG) adventure The Autumn Falls, it mentions that some noble houses will serve drinks in hand-carved crystal goblets with runes to keep their contents chilled.Dragon Age (tabletop RPG) Core Rulebook p. 376
== See also ==
== References ==
Category:Dwarven lore