#thedas cookery

[exhausted-archivist]

So I'm working on drawing food for the headnotes of the recipes I've concepted out and haven't tested or fully worked out the kinks. I want to post something to celebrate The Veilguard drop, especially something I can queue up because I will be avoiding you all and the spoilers for at least a week haha.

The poll is below and the recipe headnotes are below the cut if you want an idea of what I'm working with.

Boiled Eggs and Pine Nuts Sauce (Appetizer) A simple and delightful dish one would not particularly expect from a nation of opulence such as Tevinter. A sweet dish with the perfect touch of zing, nutty, and savory notes, while holding a compelling contrast of being both crunchy and soft.

Deepstalker Stew (Soup/Stew) An uncommon meal, one that most won’t serve outside the appeal for an ‘exotic’ dish or in times of desperation. This stew is more often one to be consumed should you be stuck in the Deep Roads or an isolated cave. Not, at a tavern when one has been on the road for several days. It should be noted that depending on where you’re capturing these cave-dwelling creatures will dictate the taste. Many of the accounts I have heard from the Legionnaires describe the taste and texture akin to chicken. Whereas if you catch them near water sources they garner a fishy taste with the texture of chicken. But, this stew is simple in and of itself. Usually with very little substance aside from the meat and whatever edible additions you can forage for. In this recipe we have tried to enhance it with herbs, potatoes, and salt.

Braised Nug with Elfroot (Savory) This salty, aromatic dish melts in your mouth with its tenderness. Nug is a common and popular dish for Orzammar dwarves. One that lingers in some surface communities with a twist of new herbs and spices. Though humble is the nug and elfroot, this meal is filling and delightful in its own right.

Exquisite Misery (Dessert) The Orlesians are nothing if not indulgent and extravagant. From wyverns to phoenixes, Orlesians have a tendency to play chance with their lives for whatever element of decadence is in the trends. While deep mushrooms are perhaps the least lethal thing one can consume, I do advise avoiding eating too many of these little cakes. That said, should one partake and find that they are able to get past the musky, earthy flavor; these can be quite a treat. Fluffy, soft, and a touch sweet, it is a dessert I find best to consume after a rather savory or spicy meal.

Roasted Fiddleheads and Leeks with Goat Cheese (Vegetable) A dish available during only a few short weeks in the spring, fiddleheads have a delightful crunch from the roasting as well as their natural snap. They have a sweet, but not quite grassy taste to them almost akin to beans and asparagus. When paired with the sweet, caramelized flavour of the leeks and the creamy, tartness of your favourite goat cheese. It pairs well with a protein or on a bed of grains.

Seasoned Mussels (Seafood) The exact origins of this dish are unknown, given that Antiva, Rivain, and Tevinter hold strong ties to their coastal waters and each have several versions of how to make this dish. Most scholars declare it was Tevinter in origin due to the age of the Imperium, but the question then lies what area of the Imperium and when? The version I have crafted is a blend of Antivan and Rivaini flavours, as I prefer the shellfish off their coastlines to those of Tevinter. A rich dish that can be eaten with a fine pasta or spread over a bed of rice.

[alistairsprayerwarrior]

Dragon Age Fanfic Fun, Part 1: Cook Shops

Edit: I realized, oddly enough, that I wrote this with Haven and Skyhold in mind (in short, DAI - probably because that's what I've been replaying as of late, lmao.) I promise I will get around to including how cook shops would operate in places like Kirkwall or Denerim (basically, urban centers)!

This will be part one of a series that was inspired by this video by the Modern Knight, in which I come up with silly little immersive ideas that one can easily add to their Dragon Age fanfic (or perhaps any medieval-themed fic/story) with the Dragon Age/Thedas setting in mind.

I hope to maybe do a series on this, at the very least for my benefit to reference instead of getting lost and forgotten about in a notebook, lmao. So let's begin, below the cut!

Also mild disclaimer, this is not an end-all-be-all where "OMG WHAT IF THIS ISN'T REALISTIC ENOUGH??" or "ACKTUALLY, MEDIEVAL FOOD SELLERS WOULDn't..." - look, at the end of the day this is just fanfic fodder for you and your blorbos, not a history lesson. I'm bound to make an error in judgment or descriptions, don't come at me with pitchforks. 😔

So you're hanging out in Haven or Skyhold. You're building up the Inquisition from the ground up with allies and defense forces - but also the little people to sell their wares (like our favorite Orlesian merchant, Miss Belle), but what about... Food!? Who's feeding everyone!?

Cook shops!

Or, "medieval fast food." These cook shops would be strategically placed where there would be frequent passers-by, such as next to a market square, or a busy gate entrance, and cooked to eat on the go (rather than cook-to-order.) In short, you see a tasty-ass pie, you buy it, and eat it right then and there.

I can also imagine the types of clientele our varied cook shops might have; you have a wide range of people (and pockets), varying from Templars with their income, refugees who may only be able to afford suspicious cuts of meat, or members of the Chantry with specific food preferences.

What sort of food would a cook shop sell?

This is not an exhaustive list of foods a cook shop would sell in Thedas, but perhaps ideas/suggestions you can quickly use. Otherwise, I'd recommend checking out @exhausted-archivist (formally known as @old-archivist) who will easily have a vast list of Thedosian cookery that will tickle your fancy in their Foods of Thedas Masterpost (it will even specify the region in which certain meals come from!)

Also since Haven and Skyhold are Ferelden-based, keep in mind what types of foods/ingredients will be procured/used in the food being sold. There are of course exceptions, such as Belle who was recruited from Orlais, for example (so there is always the possibility of foods outside of Ferelden cuisine.)

Also, cook shops can serve a specific type of food (rather than being a mobile Walmart of sorts.) Personally, I'd be a fan of Pickled Food Merchant... mmm. Pickles.

Boiled roots

Meat/Fish/Vegetable pies

Porridge

Roasts

Sandwiches

Sausages

Fish wraps

Soups/Stews

Nuts

Dried/Cured fruits or meats

Pickled foods

Hardtack

Rations

Edible plants

Desserts

Cheaper cuts of meat

Fried/Buttered foods

There are also ideas from other historical/modern use of foods:

Perpetual stew

Pagpag (though I see this used in more urban areas, such as Kirkwall's Lowtown)

But what about breads and drinks!?

Typically you would go to a baker for breads, or the tavern for drinks. In short, if you wanted to conjure up a meal, you'd have to likely go to different locales/merchants to pick and choose your foods. I feel like maybe bread could be an exception, since I can't imagine a baker really setting up shop in Haven/Skyhold because, well, baking, but this is all fantasy so you know what, fuck it, add your traveling baker!

Alcoholic drinks, of course, would be reserved for taverns. When it comes to non-alcoholic beverages, I'd still suggest sticking with taverns because they have the facilities for storage (casks, wells, tubs, etc.) But, again, have your own traveling wine seller, you do you boo.

Honestly, I like to imagine Haven or Skyhold being way bigger than portrayed in the game, so perhaps there would be room for a complete bakery (I mean, we've got Herald's Rest in Skyhold, so why not?)

Just, uhhhh, I feel bad for those merchants at Haven. Because, you know. Reasons.

What would a cook shop look like?

Since I imagine a cook shop for organizational establishments like the Inquisition, you won't exactly have people selling food right out of their homes (as was done in medieval times), since Haven or Skyhold aren't exactly "towns."

Instead, temporary stalls, huts, or cabins could be used to open and close up (in short, you won't be finding any glass windows or bars to protect products. Rather, there would be a shutter or board of sorts, that goes over the gap where you see the person cooking, which would be lowered during the day (like a table to display food) and then shut up and bolted when closed. The "ovens, and cooking facilities" are placed at the front so you can see the chef cooking, just like at Subway when you watch people make your little dinky sandwich.

Another alternative, you could simply have someone wandering about with a tray of foods they want to sell and yelling at the people of Haven/Skyhold to eat it (think popcorn, and hot dog sellers at baseball games. :)

When vendors sell their food, they may also yell at passersby to eat their products at certain times of the day

Services

Now this is gonna be fun. You can also have a cook shop that will literally make the food for you if you provide the ingredients (obviously if the merchant has the capability/equipment to do so.) In this case, according to the Modern Knight, ingredients would likely be made into pies or stews (be wary though, as merchants might steal some of the ingredients for themselves. 👀)

Also, how does Haven/Skyhold manage to look so nice when there's waste to be had? There were cesspits or barrels used to take away waste off-site. Also, be wary of hygiene practices; especially when it comes to using spices to cover the taste/look of spoiled food!

Sus Cook Shops

I'll just leave this here, for signs that a cook shop is rather questionable:

Flies

Reheated meats/foods

Foul garnishes

Faking the contents of food (such as using beef and promoting it as venison)

Well, there you have it. A basic gist of cook shops and fast food that you can implement into your DA fic (and maybe even conjure up some OCs!) Feel free to include in the comments/reblogs any other ideas you might have! Thanks for reading!

[exhausted-archivist]

Sorry to bring a life thing up, I had surgery today and it went great! But I'm going to be stuck in bed for a bit and being a responsible, good patient and take it easy. (I dunno why but I feel suspiciously too good). Anyways, please feel free to send me asks, give me things to catelogue, or just something to do in between the long hours of bed rest.

[exhausted-archivist]

Did the first test of a recipe that I've had in the making for 3 months. It was a hit and boy howdy do I feel validated in holding off to test it till I lucked out on a sale at the store.

I unfortunately over did it and I'm back to feeling crummy. But hey, my soup turned out spectacular so now I'll just eat soup till I feel better.

[exhausted-archivist]

WIP Game

I was (informally) tagged by @haunteddollco to do the WIP game! My file naming convention is either... an actual convention or "what it says on the tin boss".

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

File names since they get cut off:

Dragon Age Meta: Known Crops

Eyes Shut, Hearts Open

Fuck Nugs: Bruised Hips, Stained Lips

Clan Revassan Meta

Inquisition Notes

Dungeons and Monster Hunters Lore

Coil (Chapter 1: Banafelasal Vhenas)

Recruiting Iron Bull: First Impressions

Thedas Cookery Narration

Thedas Cookery: Climate, Culture, Food, Geography, and Trade Notes Meta

So I am realizing who I know that actually writes is a little murky, but @justabrowncoatedwench I know :D

If anyone else wants to do this tag me, so I can see!

[exhausted-archivist]

Wip Wednesday

So, with the cookbook now with an actual date I think I'll carry the high I've had over that announcement for October 17, 2023 and share the project I've been yelling in my tags about.

I’ve been working in the Foods of Thedas cook book/blurb collection project. I started it when I amassed all the foods in Thedas in a post on my old blog (I am working on a new version in time for da4). Since I tripped down that rabbit hole, and fell face first into researching historical foods I've managed to write a couple novels worth of blurbs, recipes, headcanons, and just hyperfixation.

I'm really excited for this and see if there is any new lore from the recipe book that can be added. Though I don't know if the official cookbook will be written in the voice of being in world. I hope just because I'd find that more fun but I digress.

The layouts for the cookery I've been working on:

Enjoy the muppet of a baby griffon acting as a placeholder. It is from my Bestiary of Thedas project, so no…no consuming baby griffons. I got three versions:

1) Working Recipe format (no griffon chick)

2) Non-working Recipe (muppet baby to distract)

3) Working Recipe Spread - for the recipes I decided to make super involved.

To think the interest in even collecting all the food in Thedas started out with my Herbalist Handbook project (which I am still working on) and I just spiraled too deep into the world building.

I've put in a lot of research and wanted to make this something fun to add flavor text to world building/headcanons or fun recipes you could try yourself. This project got a lot bigger than I originally planned haha.

[exhausted-archivist]

WIP Wednesday

So I did Camp NaNoWriMo last month and worked on my "book" for the Foods of Thedas. I've collected all the recipes mentioned through out the series and am attempting to create a collection of blurbs describing the dishes as well as a couple functional recipes. This will all be done in the voice of my lovely Anjou Baskar, a dwarf who roams around Thedas collecting recipes and experiencing food.

I made my writing goal, and am polishing some of the recipes and blurbs I have. Honestly for July's Camp NaNoWriMo, I think I will focus on some original/headcanon recipes inspired by historical recipes I've collected between the 5th and 13th.

So little wip blurb from the start of the collection

If it wasn’t clear when you picked this up, you should know this isn’t your average collection of cookery. This isn’t some Orlesian compendium where I disdain about ingredients used by other nations or cultures. Nor is this a tome your mentor likely kept about because the Lady of the house or young lords and ladies had a particular sense of taste that either limited or omitted so many wonderful flavors. This is an exploration of flavor, from Ferelden to the Anderfels to Rivain. It spans across the ages and references the memory and spirit of flavors long since lost. So, to make sure anyone can use this tome, I wanted to explain some common ingredients used through out these recipes. Regional or ancient ingredients used across Thedas that are easily replicated or near impossible. I wish to tell you where you can get these, and if you cannot get them, what you could substitute them with. This won’t be exhaustive, and if an ingredient is specific to one recipe I will make note of such things there. I can’t promise that you will be able to craft the flavors, or even be able to honor the spirit and memory of the intended foods. Not at first anyways. One thing I can promise you, is that you and yours will have a full belly and a tale to tell your friends. -Anjou Baskar