Food and drink

Many different kinds of **food and drink** can be found across Soothereos and the rest of the known world.

As the Five Kingdoms possess a medieval level of technology, most of their economic activities are agrarian, striving to meet the basic food needs of the population. The majority of the population are poor, common smallfolk working the fields, who usually have only a basic subsistence diet. In the few major cities of the Five Kingdoms such as Throes Peak or Stonesguard, the urban poor are outright separated from farmlands which produce foods, and thus if they cannot afford to buy imported food with money, they face a truly meager existence. If they're lucky, the mobs of urban poor and street urchins in slums such as Poverty Quarter can obtain enough bread to stave off starvation, supplemented now and again with "bowls o' brown" as a minor meat source. At the other end of the spectrum, wealthy merchants and lords can afford extravagant foods and wines, including exotic spices and ingredients imported from distant areas.

## Foods

### Soothereos

#### Basic foodstuffs

* Bread (made from wheat, barley, oats, or rye)
* Eggs
* Hard cheese
* Honey (used in Honey cakes)
* Milk & cream (used to make cheese and butter)
* Olive oil

#### Produce

* Almonds
* Apples
* Bananas
* Blackberries
* Carrots
* Figs
* Grapes (used to make wine)
* Lemons (used in lemon cakes)
* Melons
* Mushrooms
* Onions
* Peas
* Plums
* Potatoes
* Raspberries
* Sour cherries

#### Meats and game

**Livestock:**

* Beef (domestic cattle meat)
* Mutton (sheep meat)
* Pork (domestic pig meat)
	+ Bacon
	+ Ham
	+ Salted pork

**Wild game:**

* Frogs
* Rabbit
* Venison (deer meat)
* Wild boar

**Poultry:**

* Chicken
* Duck
* Partridge
* Pigeon

**Fish and Seafood:**

* Various fish
	+ Lampreys
* Shellfish
	+ Crabs
	+ Lobsters

#### Dishes

* Bowl of brown
* Candied almonds
* Candied plums
* Custard
* Duck sausage
* Fermented crab
* Frey pie
* Gingerbread
* Honey cakes
* Kidney pie
* Lamprey pie
* Lemon cake
* Pigeon pie
* Rabbit stew

It is considered distasteful or disgusting in Soothereos to eat dogs, cats, and rats, though people will choke them down if they are starving (due to poverty, military siege, etc.). They find it somewhat less distasteful to eat horses if no other meat is at hand, but it is considered a waste of a draft animal, so they will only eat horse meat if they have no other options. People have also been known to eat bears if they manage to kill one during a hunt, though they usually don't seek them out. People will also eat snakes if they are in the wilderness and there's nothing else to hunt.

## Wines

### Soothereos

* Arbor gold - held to be the finest and most expensive wine in all of Soothereos
* Khorothian red - also very expensive fine wine, but an acquired taste for those who like a spicy sour red wine
* Arbor reds
* Blackberry wine, homemade

## Other beverages

* Ale
* Beer
* Dusk rose tea - Used as medicine to ease fever
* Giants milk
* Mead
* Pomegranate juice
* Rum

## Regional Cuisine

On a broader level, these descriptions help to distinguish geographic regions, or to emphasize just how different or exotic a location is:

* Due to its cold climate, agriculture is more difficult in Belhelm than in southern Soothereos, and the noble houses of Belhelm are significantly less wealthy than their southron counterparts. As such, food in Belhelm is primarily based on meats (including fish and fowl) and root vegetables, together with certain hardy fruits, nuts, and berries, as well as mostly hardy crops, as the Crop Belt extends throughout the Great Expanse in Belhelm. While Northern lords cannot afford lavish feasts on the same scale as nobles in Atholnar or Pelopay, or Throes Peak, they still make an effort to present abundant spreads.
* In southern regions of Westeros, such as Uneers and the Atholnar, agriculture is much easier, so fruits and vegetables are a bigger component of local cuisines. Although individual Houses have their own methods of presentation, depending on their personal wealth and the occasion, food is generally prepared in more elaborate ways; cream, sugar, and pastries are fashioned into fanciful shapes, and banquets feature a greater variety of delicacies than seen in the North. Wine is also a greater staple of southern culinary culture, as Uneers produces the finest vintages in Westeros.
	+ This abundance and diversity is especially prominent in the capital of Throes Peak – at least among the wealthy – where meals are served in multiple courses and often feature expensive and exotic ingredients. On the other end of the spectrum, the peasants and poverty-stricken masses in Poverty Quarter often struggle to get enough food to survive, typically subsisting on dubious-looking stews dubbed "bowls of brown".
* Khorothian cuisine is strongly connected to the region’s climate, and overall seems to be inspired by real-life Mediterranean cuisines; as the only sand desert on the continent of Soothereos, Khoroth allows the growth of produce not found elsewhere, such as figs, dates, olives, and citrus fruits such as lemons and blood oranges. Khorothian food also tends to be far more heavily spiced than other regions, and “dragon peppers” are a component of many dishes.