Gotevian Cuisine
Gotevian food is based largely around grains and vegetables, since so much of Gotevian territory is agricultural. Several types of grains are eaten, including rice, wheat, corn, barley, oats, as well as several Aeniith-specific grains known as jɛa or simply ‘grains’. These include laxdan, siθit, tjɛsi, and gymma.
Vegetables in cuisine include many tubers and roots, often prepared with herbs and spices in various pureed or stew forms: much of Gotevian food is quite soft. Other popular vegetables include zucchini, squash, tomatoes, leeks, tamni (an oblong, greenish squash-like vegetable), celery, ziŋa (hard red vegetables with a zesty taste), bolsa (a type of thin, wiry white root), and cabbage. These are often augmented with various types of spices and herbs, both local and imported (the Gotevians have a long history of importing spices, even from as far as Elta as early as 300 E.K.).
In the Gotevian household, two main meals are taken per day: one in the early morning, and one later at night. Both meals include three courses: the wirtɛm (‘the preparative’), the haɛlor (‘the center’), and the kukoz (‘the sweet’). The wirtɛm often consists of fresh vegetables and lots of liquids such fruit juice or water flavored with small amounts of syrup. The haɛlor can consist of anything—the meal is usually defined by the haɛlor, and it is where chefs and cooks show the most creativity. The kukoz can be all sorts of things: nuts covered in honey, figs or dates, candied fruit, or even fresh flowers. After the kukoz, it is customary for everyone to remain in the eating room but choose different places to sit than where they had for eating. This is a period in which everyone digests and relaxes. It is common for tea to be served about half way through this period.
In between many types of liquids, such as wine, tea, and various elixirs brewed especially for the upkeep of health are drunk in place of solid food. The first meal often consists of the same ingredients as the last meal, but more fresh fruit is eaten in the morning, as well as some dairy products, such as goat milk and cheese. Milk from the Ketan animal known as a tjutet is also drunk, usually warm and spiced in the evening. From tjutet milk, the Gotevians derive yoghurt, fresh cheese, and a sweetened type of cream called wɛnni. When this is served as a dessert, it is often with various type of berries, including raspberries, wild currents, or the Aeniith-specific berry called oroni. Cow's milk is almost never consumed, except for certain ritual purposes.
Dishes
Several common varieties of Gotevian wirtɛmae, haɛlorae, and kukozae are listed below:
wirtɛmae
- kaixena : a small type of salad, served in a special white bowl made specifically for this dish. It consists of tekka leaves (from a bitter plant growing in the rainforests of Lomilin), tjimunka fruit, and sometimes crumbled goat cheese. It is eaten with the hands.
- dizian : assorted fruits served in a tall, thin glass. The diner lifts the fruit pieces out the narrow glass with a long spoon. It is sometimes coated with powered bisan, a sweet-tasting tree bark.
- amdei : a pureed drink consisting of carrots, blood from a bɛnxai bat, and honey or (if one can afford it) sugar. It is served icy cold, sometimes with fresh herbs on top.
- pikyni : a hollowed out squash filled with raspberries and tiny pieces of tjutet meat. It is often seasoned with red pepper and honey.
- maipas : cold lemon water mixed with juice of strawberries and oroni berries.
- gatja : a mash of peaches, oroni berries, and various nuts, rolled in sheets of rice.
haɛlorae
- djann : a basic puree of tuber and squash, often mixed with rice and seasoned with various herbs and spices. Probably the most well known and common meal.
- taf : thin sheets of what could be described as a type of pasta. The sheets are oblong and oval in shape. They are often rolled over and filled with zucchini and vinegar.
- zinka poll : this consists of the thorns of a plant called a haixa, which is a bit like a cactus, except with twelve-centimeter thorns that are about two centimeters in diameter. They are bright red and have a peely skin and white powder that falls off the skin when boiled. These are referenced by many Gotevians as a favored childhood food, especially when served broiled or boiled, as they become very soft and have a slightly sweet and nutty flavor.
- brallon : a hot, spicy soup originating from northern Gotevi, near the equator. This dish dates back to before the Ankesimtoh people traveled to the Quarios continent; it is a dish of the Amelae originally living there, but was long ago adopted by the modern mainstream Gotevian culture. The soup includes a sour type of grass called haslin and fat, round nuts that float in water known as kakae. It is flavored with a sauce called pidan, which is salty and made from fish. Often on the site of the brallon, sticks of stalk like vegetables such as celery are served, presumably to cool the mouth from the hot spiciness of the soup.
- givva : a meat dish, consisting of the wings of the bɛnxai bat, a favored form of game in Gotevi. They are either baked or fried in vegetable oil, often eaten with pickled cucumbers. It is a common food for small restaurants to sell to hungry travelers, as it is inexpensive to make, due to the abundance of bɛnxai bats in most parts of Keta.
- pɛful : a type of soup made from the pɛful plant, a tall, green member of the alliaceae family. The name is now equivalent to the soup as well as the plant.
- fakal : friend balls of rice and wheat mixed with small pieces of vegetables. It is eaten with a spicy sauce called kaldan.
kukoz
- sulɛmpa : an oval shaped mound of pudding made from figs, dates, nuts, and rice, covered with a light syrup. It is often eaten in winter, due to the availability of its ingredients (dried fruit, stocked nuts and grain).
- hilmin : a sweetened cream flavored with raspberries or oroni berries, often eaten with tube-shaped cookies called tjagmae.
- nurfiŋae : pureed fruit shaped into balls and covered with honey and nuts, served very cold.