Editing Cuisine (section)

==Eberron Cuisine==

Aundairian cuisine features a cacophony of ingredients that their classically trained chefs turn into a symphony of taste and texture. Aundairian meals consist of small portions presented in elegant fashion, each plate a beauty to behold and a wonder to savor. Sauces play a heavy role in any recipe, and the cuisine of this nation is considered to be exquisitely rich and suitable for special occasions. Pan-seared rabbit with an Aundairian wood-nut sauce, gold pheasant stuffed with sparkle mushrooms and rice, and dragon salmon in butter and dark wine sauce are particular favorites that have begun appearing in House Ghallanda inns throughout the Five Nations.

This region also has a reputation for its premier vineyards, and the wines of Aundair are considered among the finest in all of Khorvaire. Some of the best recent vintages now being traded in markets across the land include fireburst wine from the vineyards of Arcanix, dark Orla-un wine known for its fruity sweetness, and Windshire rainbow wine, a type of mursi (red wine) that changes color and flavor as one consumes a glass.

Finally, Aundairian pastries and sweets reveal a level of artistic and culinary sophistication unmatched throughout the Five Nations. From tarts to cremfels (thin, fruit-and-cream-filled pancakes), the desserts that originated in this region combine elegance with artistry that reveals at least a portion of the Aundairian spirit.

Brelish cooking utilizes meats, vegetables, and hearty sauces to create filling and comforting meals. Northern Brelish cuisine tends to be simpler fare, with a sweet and savory flavor. This is the food of farmers, designed to satisfy even the most ravenous appetites before and after a day of work in the fields. Here one can find beef boranel, a favorite of the king, that features a bread and mushroom stuffing roasted inside a full side of beef. Other hearty meals from the northern and central regions of Breland include farmer’s stew, thrice-poached eggs and sizzling pheasant, and kettle fried spider and redeye berries.

Southern Brelish cooking is more adventurous, utilizing the spices and vegetables that grow in the more tropical clime. Food with a lot of heat dominates the menu, as do meals influenced by the diverse population of Sharn and then transported into the rest of the countryside. Traditional southern Brelish cooking is spicy and flavorful, and often too hot for those used to simpler fare. Fire-wrapped golden fish, spiced pork and orange peppers, and hot-spiced chicken in panya leaves are considered high cuisine in the best inns and restaurants throughout Breland.

Sharn fusion, meanwhile, is a culinary experiment in combining traditional Brelish cooking with the exotic cuisine of the diverse people that regularly pass through or settle in the City of Towers. Taking ingredients and cooking styles from all over Khorvaire, the master chefs of Sharn combine these exotic dishes with their native presentation to make a totally new form of cuisine. Bold and exciting, Sharn fusion isn’t for everyone. But for those willing to try something new and a little different, this exotic culinary experience is worth the effort and expense (Sharn fusion tends to cost more than a traditional Brelish meal).

Karrnathi cuisine tends to be as heavy and complex as its architecture, with filling, multi-layered casseroles one of the mainstays of the typical family meal. Karrns consider sausage- and cheesemaking to be art forms, and all kinds and varieties of these foods can be found throughout the land. Because of the harsh winters, stews and soups are a staple of Karrnathi cooking, and every hearth has a pot of something simmering over the fire throughout the long winter season.

Brewing, another popular Karrnathi pastime, has created some of the most flavorful and potent beers and ales in the Five Nations, and kegs of Karrnathi brews find their way to markets across the continent. Baking has also developed into a staple of Karrnathi culinary art, and all kinds of pies and breads come out of the rich-smelling ovens throughout the land. One particularly popular loaf, called vedbread, combines crusty bread with the flavorfully sharp ved cheese. This is enjoyed warm as it emerges from the oven, or slathered with onion butter.

While the heart and soul concentrates on the Silver Flame, the collective stomach of Thrane looks to the country’s unique cuisine for a different kind of religious experience. Many find that secular life in Thrane is stifled by the theocracy, but few who come to the country find the food to be disappointing. “It is like a breath of fire in the cold of a dark winter’s night” said Princess Wroya of Breland during a diplomatic visit to Thrane, after partaking in the Feast of the Silver Flame. Utilizing thrakel spices cooked in thick sauces, Thrane cuisine tends to be heavy, filling, hot, and delicious. Thrakel-seared beef in red sauce, three-thrakel fish stew, and the traditional silvered vegetable skewers are particular favorites in Thrane and beyond.

The people of Thrane also enjoy their desserts, but here they take a different tack. To counter the spicy nature of the main meal, Thrane desserts tend to be sweet and served cold. Beesh-berry sorbet on top of silverfruit pie is considered the best of many tempting desserts.

Food holds a special place in Adaran life. It is a requirement for life, but it is also a mode of expression, a blessing from the spirit world, and an experience. An Adaran avoids cooking and eating when he is angry or grieving, lest his emotions taint the meal.

Food is usually baked in or roasted on a clay oven built in the house, though broiling over an open fire is a common alternative. Adarans avoid using utensils. They use their hands, sometimes protected by leaves, to pick up food, intending to involve all five senses in eating.

Adarans like spice. The fragrant herbs used in cooking provide taste, and many also aid digestion and fortify the body. Foreigners can find Adaran food too spicy, and Adarans often find foreign food bland.

A wide variety of comestibles can be found on the Adaran table, from broad, woody cavern fungi to the meat of mountain sheep, from fleshy fruits to the milk of oxen and goats—along with yogurt and cheeses from this milk. Some Adarans refrain from eating meat, showing their respect for the lives of all creatures.

Monasteries are often more limited in fare, due to the ruggedness of the land around them. Still, the ascetics appreciate food as a manifestation of life.

The people of Rhiavhaar, Pyrine, and Ohr Kaluun eat fish. Those of Dor Maleer are hunters by tradition. Few other Riedrans eat meat, and many consider the practice barbaric.

The mainstay of the Riedran diet is the pomow plant. This fruit was developed by the Bountiful Horn during the first few centuries of the Riedran unification. Its origin remains a mystery, but common belief is that it involved meta-creation techniques and wild zones bound to Lammania. Pomow is a hardy crop that can grow in a range of climates, and every part of the plant has a use. The meat, root, and seeds can all be eaten, and are remarkably high in protein; the core is filled with juice; the bushy fibers around the stalk can be worked into thread, much like cotton; and strips of the tough rind are sharp enough to shave with. A pomow is a dark purple spheroid, ranging from one foot to two feet across. Pomow plants are remarkably fecund, and a stalk begins growing new fruit as soon as the sphere is plucked. Riedrans use a wide range of spices to add flavor and variety to their common meal of pomow gruel. They abstain from any sort of intoxicants.

Food in Syrkarn is plentiful, well spiced, and served with copious amounts of ustah—a potent liquor brewed from honey and wild berries, reportedly from an ancient ogre recipe. The demands of rural life limit the choices available to the Syrk palate, with meat, fruits, and vegetables all typically dried for storage and transport. However, Syrks treat cooking with the same reverence as their other arts, and need no excuse for a feast.

The Tundra is not the place for cultured cuisine, but in terms of resourcefulness and ingenuity, Tashanans must be admired. In coastal and lake areas, the diet consists primarily of fish, waterfowl, and sea mammals, with some varieties of harvested seaweed. Inland, meat is provided by the vast herds of caribou, supplemented by fox, bear, and the occasional mammoth in the far north. Many tribes also harvest various types of lichen and algae that cling to the glacial rocks of the plains. Tashanans are renowned for finding utility in every possible part of the kill—examples are foxsnout soup and the infamous Chuniigi blubbercake. Some larger southern tribes employ a limited system of agriculture for winter grains.