Cuisines of Alenthyl

## Westershire

Food among the common folk of Westershire is plentiful and diverse.  Many of the islands off the Dutchy’s western coast subsist on a diet comprising mostly of fish and shellfish, whereas those on the mainland subsist mostly on a diet of grains such as millet, barley, wheat, rye, and oats.  Meat is fairly affordable due to imports from Centrafeld, and consists mostly of beef, pork, chicken, and mutton occasionally supplemented with fresh game.  Cheese, specifically made from the milk of sheep and cows is a staple, and is used both as a complete dish and ingredient.   Beer, particularly stout is a famed export from Westershire, as it isn’t warm enough for growing grapes for wine and the duchy produces a large surplus of barley.  A common meal after a long day of work in Westershire consists of brown bread, a fish or beef stew with turnips, parsnips, onions, and carrots, typically cooked and served with a good helping of stout.

The nobility tend towards fine roasts and elaborated baked dishes.  Pasta has become a more common sight on the table of the Prince and Princess and that of more adventurous nobles.  Pasta making is still an unrefined art, however, as it is in the process of being derived from a method to make noodles out of rice and buckwheat from Nobugo.  Westershire nobles import a fair amount of spices and citrus from overseas, but tend to focus more on what they as a duchy produce.  The exception to this is Ulyssian wine and Nobugohito rice wine, which have become extremely popular over the past few years.

## Antonelle

Cuisine in Antonelle is appropriately flashy and impressive.  As much a show of power as it is a pleasure to the senses, chefs in Antonelle are treated like any other artist.  Amongst the common folk, food tends towards simplicity.  The everyday Antonellan diet includes fruit, specifically pears, apples, and grapes supplemented with meat, usually chicken or fish.  Bread is a commonplace, specifically rolls and loaves of long, crusty bread.  Antonellan cheeses are specially treated, using different “cultures” to produce assorted colors and pungent flavors, and are a daily staple.  Dairy in general tends to be important in this region of Alenthyl, as many dishes include some kind of rich cream sauce or a lighter version including butter.

Antonelle is also renowned for its wineries, specifically its white wines used in both in cooking and for drinking.  In addition, champagne is produced almost exclusively in Antonelle, and remains a closely guarded secret.   Antonellan wine is considered some of the best in the world, rivalling that of Ulyssa and Granthel.

While wine is still one of the most widely consumed beverages in Antonelle, as well as one of its most frequently used ingredients, a more recent addition has been made.  Coffee, imported primarily from Zhavwan and some more tropical regions within Rune’Daath has become an extremely common part of day to day life in Antonelle.  It is most frequently consumed with both cream and sugar, as well as cakes or biscuits on the side.  Tea is a moderately popular beverage as well, though it is unlike the humble herbal blends put together in the Arbor.  Tea in Antonelle is imported from all over the world.  Like coffee, tea is frequently taken with or without milk, sugar, and a healthy helping of sweets.

Of course, nothing can truly compare to Antonelle’s love of sweets.  Every day, ingredients ranging from sugar and molasses to citrus and chocolate are brought in from all over the world to ensure that the sweets continue to be produced.  Strangely enough, due to the sheer volume of ingredients imported, Antonellan from almost every walk of life can enjoy a wide variety of sweets on a regular basis.  Though the more elaborate cakes and biscuits are reserved for wealthier patrons, it isn’t uncommon to see sweet shops and bakeries with lines out the door and people of all walks of life carrying away all manner of fruit pies and cakes.  Even for the poorest citizens, many bakeries will hold on to stale stock to sell at a steep discount later that week.  Festival days offer an even more robust selection of sweets, and are easily the busiest days of the year for bakeries.

## The Capital Lands

Being one of the more devout regions in the worship of the Holy Light, the Capital Lands remain very spartan in their cuisine.  The Alenthlyian Templar takes the lion's share of the meat as tithe, using it to make jerky and rations for its paladins to use in the field.  A common day to day meal in the Capital Lands is to have simple food consisting of brown bread, cheese, water, and on occasion meat and beer.

The exception to this simplicity is in Alenton, where lavish feasts and festivals give way to even more lavish cuisine.  Being the seat of power and home of the Capewell family, there are luxurious restaurants stretching all over the city, all vying for the attention of the Emperor and his Court.  This has become a cutthroat industry, and Alentonian cooks are held in high renown across the known world for their ingenuity and work ethic.  Chefs that have had the honor of serving the Capewell family, and suitably impressing them with his or her skills join a legendary elite known as the “Capewell League” (Affectionately referred to as “Cakewells”) and are practically considered gods of cuisine for the rest of their days, opening restaurants across the world and being held in the highest honor of their field.

## The Crags

Unfortunately, due to its lack of arable land, the vast majority of food in the Crags must be imported, primarily from Centrafeld.  Every week or so, caravans carrying salted meat, vegetables and grain make their way through the treacherous mountain roads that lead to the assorted settlements in the Crags.  Food is almost criminally simple, and consists mostly of stew made of dried and salted meat and any vegetables villagers can get their hands on supplemented with a large amount of mushrooms cultivated in nearby caverns and abandoned mines.

One thing that isn’t widely imported however, is cheese and textiles.  Many villages will keep large herds of goats which can graze on the light grasses found in some regions of the Crag Mountains.  These herds are considered necessities to the day to day life of these villages, as they provide milk to make cheese, pelts and wool which can be used to stay warm during the colder months and at higher altitudes, and of course meat.  A village’s goat herds will very frequently be what manages to keep them alive during the winter months where the roads tend to freeze over, making the already dangerous routes through the Crags and absolute nightmare for any merchant hoping to make a nice profit off transporting much needed supplies.

## The Arbor

Arbor cuisine is extremely practical.  The average citizen spends quite a bit of time doing hard labor, tending towards jobs as shipwrights, miners, and foresters and thus require a large amount of calories each day.  While some cultivated plants, particularly grains such as barley, wheat, and millet are still a large part of the average Arborian’s diet, the vast majority of what is consumed are wild plants and hunted game.  Vegetables such as wild onions, asparagus, potatoes, and acorns harvested from the nearby locations are supplemented by durable vegetables grown in gardens within villages and towns such as turnips and carrots. Berries are also a common staple, examples include wild blueberries, elderberries, gooseberries, and blackberries.  Honey, both raised in an apiary or found in the wild is considered a treat, and is the closest thing to sweets the Arbor has, aside from berries.

Meat is almost exclusively hunted, and consists of basically anything a hunter can bring down. There is certainly enough venison, rabbit, and boar to go around, but one shouldn’t be surprised to find wolf, bear, squirrel, dog, or frogs (caught in nearby ponds) on the table.  Fish are eaten primarily along the eastern coast or in villages that had the good fortune of being located near a river. Frequently, a family will keep a hog to ensure no scraps go to waste, and will slaughter it during the winter once it’s fattened up nicely.

Mushrooms deserve special mention as they’re a huge staple of the Arborian diet.  In times where meat is scarce, wild mushrooms are a readily available source of protein and appear frequently enough to supplement the diet of entire villages.  Truffles are used as a sort of seasoning, and exported all over the world for profit.   Mushroom broth is a particular favorite, as it can help keep you warm and full during the brutal winters.

Lastly, there are drinks.  Herbal teas are a favorite, due it its general availability and cost.  Alcohol tends to be whatever can be imported, as there isn’t much excess fruit or grain to make alcoholic beverages with.  However, the Arbor does produce two different alcoholic beverages.  One is a particular kind of elderberry wine, called “Hunter’s Delight” which is common in taverns closer to the eastern coast of the Arbor.  It tends to have a rather earthy taste, and is rarely exported.  The other alcoholic beverage from the Arbor is a bit of an oddity, and is either a heavily acquired taste, or a way to trick travellers into tasting something disgusting.  Arborian Absinthe is a liquor refined from a secret recipe, which includes but is not limited to wormwood, a wide variety of (possibly toxic) mushrooms, and in some cases, live worms.  It has a strong and earthy taste, and in many cases can cause hallucinations.   Needless to say it hasn’t become widely adopted, as not many people enjoy the taste and it has become a rather infamous method of hazing outsiders.  Otherwise, it's considered a legendary sign of fortitude to be able to drink a glass of Arborian Absinthe without passing out, hallucinating, or wretching your guts out.

## Lordharbor

Being a small, but nonetheless important Dutchy.  Lordharbor has created a diet unique to Alenthyl in that it almost exclusively consists of seafood.  A popular saying is that an individual from Lordharbor knows at least a hundred and two different ways to prepare a fish, and may not be entirely hyperbole.  Due to the wide variety of imports from all over the known world, Lordharbor has developed a diverse cuisine that remains rooted with its own basic ingredients. ===
Fish, particularly shellfish such as clams, mussels, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, and abalone are staples of Lordharbor’s cuisine.  They are served in many different ways, boiled, fried, stewed, steamed, and baked.  This is another region where the practice of pasta making is becoming more common, as Nobugohito merchants share their practices when in port.  Flour is frequently imported from Centrafeld and used to bake crusty loaves of bread with a distinct sour flavor.  The reasoning as to why this “sourdough” bread has this distinct taste has long been a matter of hot debate, and one is more than certain to hear more than one story or legend as to why it is.

While fish and bread are definitely a staple in Lordharbor, one other practice should be noted.  It isn’t uncommon for taverns near and within port cities to have large pots of stew simmering at almost all hours of the day.  Any kind of meat that can be caught, ranging from pigeons, rats, and squirrels to the occasional slab of salted beef or pork is added to the stews and supplemented with seafood until a rich, meaty stew is produced.  This stew is affectionately referred to as “slop”, a shortening of “slop trough” since it resembles something that would normally be fed to a hog and is usually a very nutritious and cheap option when travelling through Lordharbor.  However, one may want to be careful and take keen note of what kind of meat is being used.

## Centrafeld

Centrafeld, in spite of its size and strength as an agricultural powerhouse actually has very little in terms of unique cuisine.  Due to its shared borders and the fact that nearly every caravan that travels by land has to move through it at some point Centrafeld has adopted a mix of every other dutchy’s cuisine.  Here you will see Antonellan wine served with Crag goat cheese, Westershire stout with roast meat in a sauce featuring Arborian truffles and mushrooms.  Chefs from this region tend to migrate north towards the Capital Lands, as this wide variety of ingredients make them valued in Alenton.  Many a member of the Capewell League had their start as a humble chef in a tavern or inn in Centrafeld.

This isn’t to say that Centrafeld is completely devoid of its own identity.  Its wide fields and large farms and orchards have made an ideal climate for beekeeping, and by extension the making of mead.  Alongside flour and dried meat, one of the biggest exports from Centrafeld is honey and mead.   The other major culinary innovation made by Centrafeld is known as the “glasser”.  A “glasser” (A shortening of “stained glass window”) is a sort of mixed plate of different foods from the different cultures and subcultures across Alenthyl.  The practice originates within caravans, who would have wide varieties of people from all walks of life travelling in them and frequently sharing or trading food with one another.