The Definitive Guide to Cuisine: A Bournish Tongue

The Definitive Guide to Cuisine: A Bournish Tongue is a book discovered at Fort Aytysos.

## Description

A series dedicated to the cuisines of Ahlus intended to serve as a general overview instead of more in-depth studies performed by experts in specific disciplines, this copy of the Definitive Guide to Cuisine, the seventh in said series, focuses on the food and drink of Kingbourne, a Realm of western Ahlus.

## Reading

### Completed by Anivia Reman

The western Realm of Kingbourne is defined by its reliance on the waters for sourcing its food and drink, and yet revels in many culinary delights found solely upon the soil and stone within its - oft disputed, owing to its neighbour of Codorne - borders. Naturally, I found it imperative to seek out both the meals enjoyed by captains aboard their vessels and those that toils and travelled in their terrestrial homes. There is little denying the profound presence of seafood and other produce of the waves in Bournish cuisine. It is said that every species of fish and shellfish found within the markets along the coast has at least a dozen names in Deckpatter, stirring up great confusion and innovation alike as recipes are often difficult to discern due to the great variation in naming schemes. For example, the commonly enjoyed bronze-bone mackerel is freely caught throughout the Hempweed Straits, but may also be sold as Bledge, Breamand's Mackerel, Brown-Striped Scad, Carrageenan Lancer, Dulmus' Messengerfish, Knotted Tigerfish, Mudstorm Mackerel, Retinue Fish, Razorrib Scad, Sagefond's Mackerel, Shinegulley Scale, Spotted Thunderfish, Stippled Thunderfish, Strait Skult, Ulvo Mackerel amongst numerous others. As such, oral traditions of information transfer dominate, adding to the heart-warming allure of the fireside. For sake of brevity, I have decided that I will present this guide to the Bournish Tongue in two broad sections, reflective of the aforementioned two divisions of society within the Realm.

That which was first encountered, upon my travelling northward from the Sunar capital of Halima, was that of cuisine not dissimilar in many ways to that of the Realm of Sunstone. Wheat grows freely in the fertile grasslands, and while other cereal crops are also cultivated, it is indeed the formermost that is more celebrated. As per the Sunar, oils, typically created by the pressing of olives are used for both cooking and preservation and harvested from natural and planted orchards in the rolling hills and valleys of the rivers that divide up the lands. Goat, mutton and poultry are amongst the terrestrial meats enjoyed, often roasted in cooking fats and served sliced thin alongside fried vegetables. Also similar to that of Sunstone, citrus fruits are enjoyed both as desserts either fresh or candied, or turned into high-strength liqueurs as an aperitif.

Undeniably, it is surely for the other slice that your eye has been drawn to this tome, for many Bournish folk reside upon the waters, either on floating pontoons upon its rivers and lakes, or more commonly, aboard the decks of ships that frequently call port but rarely linger for long. Seaweeds, either collected from rockpools and shallow bays, or skimmed freely from atop the waves, serve as a foundation for many dishes, either served fresh, or dried and salted upon racks for storage and later usage. In many cases, seaweed varieties serve the purpose that land-grown foliage such as cabbage and other leafy greens may elsewhere, providing a foundation, texture or flavour contrast to other components, or as a fermentable substrate to produce alcoholic spirits such as *Algac* or *Hesperol*. Elsewise, seaweeds may be used as the encasement for other food items, knotted tightly and then steamed to cook contents such as rice, diced fish or meat or sweet puddings. Having previously mentioned the variety of fish available - and the greater variety of names afforded unto them - it cannot be understated the wide net that is cast by the fisherfolk of the Realm of Kingbourne, with everything from spiny urchins to fish egg paste being enjoyed in some capacity. Long-legged crabs are particularly sought after, and typically served shell-on, for the longer the legs, the higher the price that can be demanded, with some particularly bold fisherfolk venturing far into the waters of the Brumal Deep to the north in pursuit of tales of creatures of particularly monstrous proportions.