D&D General Sandwiches should exist in your fantasy world!

[DragonLancer]

A sandwich being something nice to eat between two slices of bread already exists in my world. I didn't need an Earl of Sandwich to put them there either.

 

[Bohandas]

Goulash and chili are both generally considered stews and -- outside of modern variants that use ground beef in the case of chili -- typically start with tougher cuts ("stew beef") that's softened over time.

So the express intent of those two stews, which use stew beef, is to make the tough, inexpensive beef easier to eat.

I've been to restaurants that had chili in the soup section of the menu

So a club sandwich is really a cake?

You raise a good point. I feel the diagram should be re-labeled: salad->toast->sandwich->grinder->burrito->quiche->calzone->Big Mac

 

[Shades of Eternity]

...And then the gnomes invent the Big Mac and the Double Down

That explains this.

,.



But yeah

If Halflings invented the Sandwich

Gnomes invented deep frying.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'd describe it as Fantasy American Ren Faire.

So yes to burgers, no to cucumber sandwiches.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Heck, it is more plausible than forks existing in your fantasy world.

Pixie polearms.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Gnomes invented deep frying.

I thought it was dwarves who were Glaswegian?

 

[Theory of Games]

Why wouldn't you not want sandwiches in your fantasy game? There is no reason they should not exist in an earlier era; they are portable and nutritious, and you have variety. In a fantasy game, you have so, so many options, so let's hear them!

After all, hit it!

No.

Them iron rations hit real hard after a long day of monster-slamming. Plus you gotta figure bugs and bears and wolves will be on you trying to get that PB&J

 

[Steampunkette]

Yes, maize corn is out of place in settings meant to be strict counterparts to pre-Colombian-Exchange Europe. However, "corn" was, and in some contexts still is, used to refer to wheat and barley (and rye and oats) rather than to maize. Whiskey is a broader term covering American bourbon, Irish whiskey, and Scotch. The objection to whiskey as an anachronism is that distilled spirits didn't become well-known in Europe until late in the medieval period. (Per Wikipedia, "The first known written mention of Scotch whisky is in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland of 1494.")

I was unaware of that use of the word corn. Though I suppose, in hindsight, I shouldn't have been, considering barley corns are a thing and refer to the individual bits of edible plant that you use for cooking. I apologize.

You'll win more friends and influence more people if you refrain from attributing differing aesthetic preferences to political thoughtcrime. Even if Colombian-exchange elements get handwaved into an otherwise medievalish setting, one still might want a nod toward a world where regional cultural differences haven't all fallen to the effects of industrial-age transport. Or if you insist on injecting politics, a world where the Europe-analog nations haven't (yet) gotten all conquistador and imperialistic, and so haven't looted the non-Europe-analog nations for their cuisines.

This might shock you but I'm not looking to "Win Friends" when I discuss or mention the racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism that exists in the TTRPG community. The only intention is to acknowledge that it is there, rather than pretending that it isn't.

It was not an "Out of Nowhere" shot across the bow. It was a pointed reference to a specific cluster of people who were entirely happy with TONS of elements of materials from around the world and across history based on their imagined expectations of "Historical Accuracy" in a fantasy setting with magic and monsters from across time and around the world. Which actually has less to do with "Political Thoughtcrime" and more to do with revisionist expectations of historical food, weapon, and armor varieties based on pop culture. (Though the racist part makes Tacos, specifically, a no-go even though they are absolutely a medieval food of Mexico)

It was also of direct relevance to the thread, because it shows where the community (or at least a vocal portion of the community) draws the line on Sandwiches: No Tacos or Sushi. Nothing "Visibly Foreign".

It feels like an odd question to me, because D&D does not resemble medieval Europe in any way whatsoever. Ignoring the obvious fantasy elements, it is very American--I'd describe it as Fantasy American Ren Faire. I don't feel any cultural connect between D&D and my history/culture at all, any more than I do when watching Star Wars, and I'm not sure why I should be expected to. It is its own thing.

So, huh. Sandwiches, wizards, steampunk goggles, it's all good.

Highlighting this, bigtime! ^

DEEPLY American. Not just in all the food and monster and weapons and armor elements, right? But also the cultural structural expectations being very... let's say "Skewed".

Most farmers own their own farms in D&D settings, and more resemble what an American imagines a dust bowl era farmer to look like rather than any kind of historical Serfdom. Farmers often travel "To Town" to sell their produce, rather than being part of a lord's manor who handles all the money, himself. Thanks to Jack and the Beanstalk in 1734 we imagine farmers on the brink of collapse "Selling the family cow". But that was LITERALLY OWNED by the Feudal Lord and would've been direct theft from his pockets.

D&D settings often include massive societies of barons and dukes, counts and lords, princes and knights. Every knight (barring a bachelor) was a landowner with serfs directly answering to him, historically speaking. The King owned the Kingdom and gave out sections and slivers of it to various lords and ladies (and typically their families through heredity) with the population working that land under the noble.

We tend to include most of that but stop at the -actual- serfdom because no matter how "Historically Accurate" people might want to imagine these fantasy worlds are, we just don't have the same cultural understandings and expectations of the feudal system. We have movies and mass media, instead, where this stuff has been rewritten, renegotiated, or simply made up based on what the writers, editors, directors, and producers think will tell the story and sell tickets/copies/whatever.

That's not even getting into how important NPCs are written. From their motivations to their expectations, they're very much written from an American perspective.

We do this in hundreds or even thousands of tiny ways, all but imperceptible to ourselves. But practically every D&D setting is incredibly, undeniably, American.

But yeah

If Halflings invented the Sandwich

Gnomes invented deep frying.

Naaaah...

Humans invented Deep Frying. And Orcs love it. It's why our life spans are so short compared to Elves and Dwarves and stuff. They'd all die of "Natural Causes" at 110 if they lived deliciously, too.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've been to restaurants that had chili in the soup section of the menu

Give us names so we can have the health department close them down.

 

[Piperken]

Food is one of those world building details that I just don't think a lot of players care about. But maybe players don't care because DMs don't put a lot of thought into it. In most D&D games, at least in my experience, we tend to treat the setting very much as we expect our modern lives to be and that extends to food. Does the average person in the city of Greyhawk even have an oven at home? I'd say no. A real oven is likely to be the purview of the wealthy while most people get their bread from a baker. What kind of bread does the average person eat? Is it even appropriate for sandwiches? We're used to nice, soft bread for the most part, but bread wasn't necessary soft like we're used to. But then PCs can probably afford whatever bread they want.

It's bizarre in one sense, because you look to something like LotR and food really has its place in that story.

Re: ovens. The most common thing people do when they need their morning bread is make their dough, but bring it to their neighborhood's bakery to be baked. This still happens!