@TheEdVerse what are some common four course meals in the Realms? Do they vary more depending on race, or depending on locale?
— Jon Forel (@Jon_4L) October 6, 2019
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They vary most depending on race; orcs and half-orcs prefer to eat a diet almost exclusively of meat, and dwarves prefer meat and dark, nutty breads, whereas elves prefer berries and green vegetables.
If you’re traveling2)
…in the Realms, and dining in taverns, inns, or eateries, here are four common meals with several ‘removes’ (=courses):
THE WARM BOARD [a solid, respectable meal, served in “good inns” in cities and towns]
1. Bowls (of…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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…fire-eggs, of nuts, and of cubed cheeses). “Fire-eggs” are hard-boiled eggs, usually hens’ eggs but sometimes duck eggs, cut in half, with the yolks blended with honey or mustard, then spooned back into the cut halves 4)
2. Pottage (a soup of yesterday’s leftover meat, with vegetables). Such as: potato, leek, and diced bacon or roast fowl, or ham, leek, and pea, or barley, bean, and goose (or duck, or chicken).
3. Roast Eel, Tench, or Silverfin…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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…(in coastal areas) or Rabbit or Grouse or Boar (inland).
4. Tarts (filled with cherries or berries).
Served with ale and/or “table wine” (a blended dry or semi-dry white or red wine, made locally) 6)
SOLID SUPPER [plain but sustaining fare; found in rural way-inns or the best eateries in small towns]
1. Bowls (of cubed cheeses, squares of honeycomb, and/or dates).
2. Pottage (a mixed stew of local vegetables and meats…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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…[whatever can be had, from local rats to the last fragments of smoked, aged carcases of just about anything; often venison]; failing that, simmered broth).
3. Capon with orange or lemon sauce (chicken stewed in wine, fruit, …#Realmslore 8)
…and spices) or Boar in Gravy.
4. Sugared Bread Slices (hardbread/toasted rusks sprinkled with sugar or spread with local berry jams).
Served with small beer or ale.
EVENINGFEAST [expensive, served in superior establishments]#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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1. Bowls (of chocolate, preserved fruits [jellies], sugared nuts, pickled silverfin or other smallfish, hot snails in butter).
2. Chilled Fruit Soup (such as strawberry, mandarin oranges, rhubarb) 10)
3. Cucumber Medallions in Vinegar and/or Roasted Marrow Slices in Mulled Wine or Cider.
4. Cheese Tray (assortment, served with pickled onions, sweet pickles, spiced jams and/or meat marrow, on flavored crackers).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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5. Boar Salad (bacon-flake-covered fresh greens, with sliced radishes and root vegetables, drizzled with spiced cider dressing).
6. First Meat (roast hare and/or stuffed chicken and/or stuffed pigeon, garnished with hard 12)
… -boiled eggs spiced with cloves).
7. Second Meat (roast stag quarter, and/or a whole roast roe deer, and/or a whole roast wild boar, and/or a stuffed-with-pickled-eels sturgeon [ports and coastal areas only]).
8. First Sweet…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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…(plums stewed in rose-water and/or fruit tarts: cherry, gooseberry, or other local berries, often stewed in brandy or cordial).
9. Second Sweet (Sugared pastries [we would call them “shortbread cookies”] or love bites [small 14)
…oval puff pastries filled with lemon cream and glazed with caramel]).
Served with zzar, brandy, port, sherry, and an assortment of light wines and dark beers.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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SIMPLES [Served in rural places or by those charging little or with impoverished pantries]
1. Pork pot pies (stuffed with pork, bacon, and onion or leek, and seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, or other spices). 16)
2. Sausages, fried with eggs and/or diced, spiced root vegetables (parsnips, turnips, or potatoes).
3. Grapes, drenched in a honey glaze.
Served with small beer or ale or homemade “petal” wine (dandelion or other wild weed).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019
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Local variations on all of these, of course, depending on what’s available.
For instance, a cheap seaside tavern may serve a fried mash of mixed smallfish, followed by diced pickled herring, 18)
…followed by leek-buttered fried slices of hardbread, all washed down with ale. A cheap countryside tavern may serve a “simmer stew” of mixed vegetables and whatever meat can be had (it’ll be brown and dominated by onions).There we are; hope this is of help.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) October 7, 2019