Reški Cuisine
When you ask someone who has only ever heard second-hand stories of the rešêk about their cities, they might begin by telling you of their reputed skill with stone- and metal-working, of the deep mines of Thabatnûk or the shimmering canals of liquid silver in the workshops of Rustân Phebašerga Kafthesdut the God-Smith. When you ask someone who has spent time with the rešek, however, they will often talk first about the food. The rešêk are amazing farmers, capable of growing hearty vegetables and succulent fruits even in rocky, sandy soil, and they are equally capable of turning those plants into spectacular, mouth-watering dishes.
Rešk food is heavy in vegetables and grains, but also in seafood: the latter may come as a surprise to many who have not visited the subterranean or semi-subterranean reški cities, but many swimming creatures adapt readily to subterranean life and then can be farmed in controlled underground lakes and canals. On the other hand, larger animals like cattle or swine are hard to raise in most of the areas where reški live, and such meats are a rare treat for the rešek. Beef and pork, when they are available, are often preserved through drying or curing and then used in small portions. Such meats rarely serve as a centerpiece dish on their own, and when they do, they are often used in place of goat, a meat which is easier to come by in the rugged environments where the reški often life.
Reški cuisine involves many preservation strategies, including drying, fermenting, and pickling. Many reški meals involve jams and jellies both savory and sweet, pickled pieces of vegetables, fruits, and meats, and pungent fermented mixtures of vegetables and fruits. The most famous reški preserve is called thûrbuk: a mashed and fermented paste made from mushrooms, peppers, and various spices. Thûrbuk is by far the most common condiment in reški meals, and you're likely to see a jar of it on almost every reški table. The reški predilection for fermentation extends to their beverages, which include both high-alcohol distillates like nakhat—-a grain alcohol aged in hand-hewn granite vessels, sometimes referred to as 'stone-aged whiskey' by other peoples—-as well as everyday drinks like the fizzy fermented fruit juices called suthur, which are also sometimes colloquially called 'small wines' (despite the fact that they are weak enough that they're effectively non-alcoholic!)
Reški cuisine also prominently features a thick, paddle-shaped variety of bread called kegran, which is baked in hot stone ovens and has a crusty exterior with a soft, airy interior. A loaf of kegran is all but guaranteed at almost every meal, regardless of time or setting. Its shape is circular but with a long protrusion called the ašbetik ('pan-handle') which is sometimes used for handling the loaf itself, as it cooks more qiuckly than the rest of the loaf and is usually positioned pointing towards the baker as the loaf bakes. In some places, a rešk will avoid eating this handle-shaped part: as the ašbetik ends up crunchier than the rest of the loaf, it was seen as less desirable, and only those who could not afford a proper meal would stoop to eating it. Despite this cultural association, some reški still prize the ašbetik for its crunchy savoriness, especially when paired with heaping spoonfuls of thûrbuk.
Some other common reški dishes include:
- Hethun, which is a salty broth made by a week-long boiling of certain kinds of stones with dustings of moss, which together impart a mineral flavor and a mild saltiness to the resulting liquid. A bottle of hethun is often kept on-hand as a refreshing drink during hard labor, but it also serves as a base for many other dishes.
- Bâkutand, which is a salad of spiced fermented root vegetables, usually potatoes and radishes, served cold with a drizzle of nut oil.
- Dushâmpek, which is animal skin (usually chicken or salmon) wrapped around sticks of cucumber (or, more rarely, carrot), fried, and served with a generous drizzle of thûrbuk. You will find at least one seller of dushâmpek at almost every marketplace, if not two or three.
- Uphasdît, which is marinated sliced fish (often trout, but sometimes salmon) and mushrooms, left overnight with chilis and spices and then sautéed quickly in a hot pan, usually eaten on top of torn chunks of a loaf of kegran.
Tir-Bhahat is a collection of fragments of fantastic world-building. You can read more about it here.