@TheEdVerse Good Morning Loremaster! Could you provide some insight as to the cuisine and drinks that are native to Shining South, Halruaa especially? Is there is a stark contrast between southern cuisine and the food and drink of the Savage Frontier and the Heartlands?
— Kata Strophie (@thekatastrophie) October 31, 2021
1)
A huge topic, but here’s a starter…
Yes, there is a contrast. More soups, stews, and heavy, warming food, plus food that travels well (sausages, round hardloaves of bread) in the North. 2)
Shining South cuisine has more small meals, with savory and sweet tarts (dominated not by berries as in the North, but by caramel sauces and nuts), and mint and hot spices as seasonings.
Cheeses in both cuisines, but more soft…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
3)
…and crumbly cheese in the South, used more in cooking, whereas in the North cheeses are more sturdy/portable/hard and eaten by hand or in wedges. The South has more strongly seasoned cheeses, with nuts and hot spices added, … 4)
…and sweet-and-sour taste combinations are found only in the South (except where traveling merchants and their trade routes have caused individual migrations of cuisine to specific eateries, inns, and taverns). Pickles in the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
5)
…North have tastes like our real-world modern “bread and butter” pickles or sour pickles; pickles in the South usually taste more fiery, like mustard pickles, and include chopped-olive and caper mixes like tapenades. 6)
As for alcoholic drinks: in the North, mulled ciders and spiked-with-spirits hot broths and “slakes” (mixes of teas and root spices) and ale and firewine. In the South: chilled drinks, like the blue wine avanal and brandies… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
7)
…poured over berries and shavings of ice, and wines in general in preference to beer, as well as kaeth (coffee) in preference to teas.
However, these cuisine contrasts are marked in rural and wilderness areas, but far less so… 8)
…in cosmopolitan trading cities, ports like Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate, Athkatla, Zazesspur, and Calimport in particular, where visiting traders like to eat their customary foods, and arrive in profusion enough to support…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
9)
…eateries offering their favourites.
Oh, and smoky food flavours are welcomed in the North (smoked fish, smoked meats) but in the South are often seen as a mark of poor cooking or attempts to hide bad-flavoured, spoiling food.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
Oh, I forgot to mention that the sky-blue wine "avanal" (taste: a little like a dry Riesling made tart with cranberry juice) is THE drink of choice in Halruaa. Served chilled, in chilled fluted tallglasses, but NOT served with ice.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021
A popular Halruaan snack: a glass or two of avanal served with a small oval platter of nutbread crescents (crescent-shaped cookies; nutbread is like a very dark, rum-and-cherries-and-dark-chocolate Christmas cake; the nuts are pecans, walnuts, and pistachios).#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 31, 2021