I was watching a WebDM video today about cities in DnD, and they talked about smoke mephits making bbq, and between that and the dwarf thread and thinking about how dwarves can eat any organic material and derive sustenance, I've been thinking today about food in a fantasy world.
So, what about it? What do your elves and dwarves and gnomes eat? Having you given any thought to the diet of more obscure races?
For me, Dwarfs love mushrooms and roots, and treat greens, fruit, like we treat spices, rather than thinking of them as food by themselves. Dwarves who learn to cook for other races are treasured for introducing flavors and preparation methods that others would never have imagined. Meat is uncommon for most dwarves, though those who live in the deep forest are happy to eat game animals, including their bones. Stew, soup, etc, is common in dwarven homes, often eating the "same" soup for a year or more, adding fresh ingredients and water every day.
Dwarven alcohol is strange stuff, often combinin stimulating elements as well as the normal soporific effects of the alcohol itself. Contrary to common belief, Dwarven ale isn't any stronger than most human ales and beers, though the roots, barks, moss, mushrooms, and animal bone and other odd ingredients create a filling, nutritious, dark, and often strange, beverage. Some dwarven spirits and wines, in particular, use ingredients that humans generally only use in a medicinal context, creating mild secondary effects associated with those medicines.
Elves tend to enjoy food that focuses on extensive preparation combined with very fresh and often raw ingredients, and that is best eaten in a sort of prolonged ritual. Therefor, an elf dish might involve rice that was soaked in aromatic herbs and slow-cooked at a simmer with fresh greens and peppers, aged and/or dried ingredients such as forest mushrooms, seaweed, etc, fermented sauces, combined with raw fish, fresh vegetables, etc, served in a series of small dishes. When you eat with elves, the intended flavor profile of a dish might require that you first sip from a bowl of herbal broth, dip a slice of fish in a fermented sauce, and follow a bite of said fish with rice mixed with finely chopped strong greens and vegatables, but if you eat it as intended, it maybe well be one of the most satisfying experiences of your life. Imagine your friend who went to culinary school, and wants to make deconstructed sushi tacos with a small batch homemade teriyaki sauce and dried shitaki mushrooms. Is it pretentious? Yep. It's also so delicious that you'll briefly consider the merits of going to culinary school yourself.
Gnomes live semi-communally in my worlds, and so there are some surface similarities with Dwarven cooking, especially amongst rock gnomes and deep gnomes. Pots of soup sitting over the home fire for extended periods aren't uncommon, but the ingredients tend to reflect an eagerness to invent and to take from the traditions of others and make something new. Forest gnomes tend to cultivate a variety of mushrooms in their root-cellar style burrows, and breed and develop varieties of berries and other natural forest fruits near their burrows. Many gnomes dishes mix sweet flavors with strong spice or bitter flavors, and a classic pot roast might involve roasting a cut of meat that has soaked in pepper oil and spices for a day or more, then had the spice sealed in with a marinade of honey and oil and vinegar, and then seared at a high heat and slow-roasted.
Gnomish households save up for spices they cannot grow locally, and they are masters of preserving ingredients out of season, and borrow liberally from the culinary tricks and traditions of other peoples.
One thing that is fairly unique to gnomish homes, and restaurants in cities lucky enough to have them, is the table barbeque. Part stove, part barbeque grill, part serving station, food is prepared in the kitchen and then brought out to the table to be cooked and served, making as much of the process of making and eating the meal a communal process as possible. A goodly portion of the evening is spent at the dinner table in gnomish cultures, discussing the work of the day, projects ongoing and upcoming, etc.
Haflings vary widely in my games. The Talenta Halflings of Eberron eat very spicey food inspired by a mix of South Asian and Latin American cuisine. My Islands World setting has coastal nomad halflings, who eat a diet mostly made up of fire grilled fish, coastal fruits, rice, and a selection of dishes inspired by Philippines and Hawaiian dishes and flavors, over a range of several archelligos, so there is a decent amount of variation from "more Philippines" to "More Hawaii". In my FR game, Halflings are less interesting but their food is a lot of comfort foods from America and Britain, with a few twists here and there. Full English Breakfast, breaded fried fish and chicken, stuffed mushrooms are a common workday snack, and "Walking Pies" where an apple is cored, stuffed with things like dried currants or salted pulled meat, and then wrapped in pastry and baked. Lots of food-stuffed pastries and breads.
Goliaths tend to make a lot of foods that can travel, but that surprisingly includes a lot of baked goods, as Goliaths are strong enough that varrying a small round oven the size of a small child isn't an extreme feat. So, broth from a stew made from the latest hunt, when it is time to move on, is used to make very nutricious trail bread, and then what little is left is reduced down and stored in an animal bladder and used at the next camp to start the next soup. Dried and sweetened fruits can provide a burst of calories, as do hard, dense, pastry breads made from honey, goatsmilk, wild grains, and mashed berries and herbs. Small game, goat, and other such sources of meat are also commonly eaten, and a sort of mead made from honey and berries and mountain herbs, usually fermented over a season in hidden places in small caves or ravines, guarded by traps against critters and poachers alike.
So, what are your ideas?
