Food! Real, Partial Fantasy or Completely Fantasy?

[Queengilda]

I love to work on creating new types of food for my new characters. Even characters that appear to be fairly close to humans, still get food which may have real descriptive words like steak in it, but is usually something rather gross. Perhaps like a Green Giant Vampire Bat Rump Steak. How about other writers?

 

[Map the Dragon]

I've done this on occasion too. It adds color to your world as long as its 'off the cuff' and not a focus that draws from your story. I think I mentioned roast 'some beast or another' and broccuck eggs in my novel. I also make up names of plants and what not that find themselves as an ingredient in a tea or stew or something.

 

[Shadoe]

I have stories that take place on a clearly different planet. I don't feed them cows and corn. Sometimes the food is familiar, like stew, which is a basic universal meal concept. But I do come up with different food animals and vegetables. Oh, and different ways of eating, too.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Food and foodstuffs are not a focus in my WIP, but so far everything the characters eat is recognizable from the real world. At one point they feast on delicacies from other nations as well, which are thinly disguised foreign cuisines (Chinese, German). In a later pass, I plan to normalize/unify the cuisine so that it makes sense, since right now it's just random things I thought of while writing. (It doesn't really matter to the story whether they're eating robin's-egg soup or quail's-egg soup.)

 

[sashamerideth]

I have a chart from the USDA that shows all the cuts of beef, pork, etc. The cut is usually descriptive of where the meat comes from, so a five legged thrarl beast would have a flank steak, brisket, shin, and tail (in this case two tails), as well as other recognizable cuts.

Right now my main character only knows that some animals can be eaten, but not what he is eating. He could be given seven organ soup and not know it.

 

[ascanius]

I got some great ideas for food from travel channels Bizarre food with Andrew Zimmerman, it adds a lot of authenticity depending on the life style of the nation or people you can write about. A point i like to remember is food and what we now consider cuisines were born of necessity and availability, this is especially true if resources are limited.

 

[Eimingami]

Vampire bat rump steak sounds nice, they would have to be quite giant indeed. All that hanging from cave ceilings probably tendered em up good too.

On a more serious note, I have a few unique animals in my world but beyond that cuisines are similar to what you would expect in a feudal society for the most part.

 

[Thursday]

I do this sparingly because if I start getting too caught up in what they're eating I get derailed for days. I have also found it useful to have my characters each have a favorite fantasy food-some may think that's a cop out but I use it as a way to flesh them out (so to speak).

 

[Queengilda]

Vampire bat rump steak sounds nice, they would have to be quite giant indeed. All that hanging from cave ceilings probably tendered em up good too.

On a more serious note, I have a few unique animals in my world but beyond that cuisines are similar to what you would expect in a feudal society for the most part.

Actually the bats are very large in my world, and they are very mean! They are one of the evil enemies of the good guys and I always think it's nice when we can eat our enemies!

 

[Ophiucha]

I'm a cook, so cuisine for me is what language was for Tolkien. I certainly have the usual dragon wings (aha) and faeriebane salad sorts of things, but I often come up with entire dishes with cultural significance or unique names. An Alaeon salad would have sweet lettuce, minotaur cheese, darkberries, and a pinch of tornut oil - as an on the fly example. And I like to have tense discussion scenes at a dinner table or at the bar.

One story, my big project, had a subplot about collecting squid ink from the Lovecraftian gods for a pasta dish.

 

[Queengilda]

Ah Ophiucha, that dish sounds just delicious. I think. It sounds like you have a great deal of fun with food in your world of fantasy. I had fun crafting the story for my 9th century English going to the Great Cave to hunt the Giant Vampire Bats during the day, because the lord of the manor wanted his delicacies for a special celebration.

 

[Centerfield97]

My personal belief when it comes to food is that you shouldn't make species/ingredients for the purpose of their being food, but rather create however many species/ingredients you need for your fantasy ecosystem and then figure out where/how your race(s) would get food from said ecosystem. This prevents having miscellaneous creatures running around whose only purpose is to be shot, killed, and eaten.

 

[Devor]

A lot of real world cultures have certain side dishes that are commonly served with most meals, like rice, beans or the Korean Kimchi. There's also certain sauces or even cooking styles that are common in some cuisines and not others. Don't take this the wrong way, but to me, unless there's a detail like that which makes the cuisine really distinctive - something which can take a simple three words to include - then simply naming the strange, disgusting-sounding beast that they're eating sounds kind of cheap or cliche to me.

 

[Ghost]

simply naming the strange, disgusting-sounding beast that they're eating sounds kind of cheap or cliche to me.

True. It can easily become a gimmick. If it's integrated into the culture, I find it easier to stomach. People eating dragon tongues sauteed in butter 'cause it sounds like a fantasy dish: meh. People buying rotisserie-style dragon's tongues from street venders on the new year because they're associated with good luck: a little better.

I prefer basic food in fantasy. Folks in AG eat normal foods like bread, stew, porridge, omelets, salads, rice, and other common things. I try to come up with regional dishes, delicacies, and treats based on what grows in the area. Since I'm still working it out, I haven't got much. I make up dishes and drinks but mostly base them on things you could eat on Earth.

In the eastern lowlands, they eat something called hapskod. It's a patty made of hashed potatoes and bacon fried in duck fat. It's usually topped with pepper, garlic, rosemary, honey, and lemon, if you can get some. Hapskod is a breakfast dish topped with fried eggs and often served with a side of berries and goat cheese. I have no idea if it tastes good, but it's simple and I can easily imagine people eating it. I doubt any of this makes it into my books.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I wrote a story that takes place on two planets. On one planet, food is pretty much what you would see in the U.S. On the other, it's more like what you would eat in Hong Kong, which is to say some things are not so different... and some of the foods make you wonder, "who would eat that?" (I love preserved eggs, but I only tried chicken feet ONCE.)

 

[fantasyflirt]

Wow some of you are super imaginative, I'm so new at this food didn't even cross my mind for my writing, but duh, they set camp and need to eat something.... One series I thought did awesome with the food and ingredients, though it's not really fantasy but historical fiction i guess, was the Earth's Children series, by Jean M. Auel. I loved that she took it to the (pun intended) root of the plant or natural source. She was a medicine woman so the author actually researched herbs and such to make it authentic, it was awesome! Or, with Anne McAfferey, tubers, i'm pretty sure are basically potatoes, I like how she used familiar food but gave it a different twist, but only slightly to make it believable.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

I recall a similar thread a month ago, but this is just another chance to give a more refined response to a topic I love. I've had a strong interest in nutrition, herbalism, botany, biology, ecology, cooking, gardening, anthropology, and history since I was 10. Food isn't something to be ignored or carelessly mentioned in passing; it gives insight to culture, how they adapted and evolved with their ecosystem, and it can brings together people from all walks of life. A journey to save the world from the Big Bad usually takes more than a few days. Even if all other often-ignored survival challenges are avoided, you need to drink and eat regardless of health or weather. (this may end up being 2 posts) The humans gotta eat, elves usually do, so does the family dog or dragon, etc. Even if someone doesn't digest other related organisms, they usually need energy from somewhere. The availability of food, as well as most other resources, is directly tied to the natural environment.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

It varies with the climate, landscape, and seasons. As a culture evolves with their environment, convenience and nutrition is of the utmost importance, and both the resources and needs of a pyrokinetic hominid race in the temperate forest/savannah will differ from a tool-wielding canid race in the taiga. After need comes want. Taste for many unsavory things can be acquired, but a variety of flavors may be sought out or cultivated based on personal preference or social custom. Preparation also varies, but is equally connected to both availability and taste. If a resource isn't found locally, that isn't necessarily a reason not to use it, but I account for it with trade or some other good reason. Many believe nomadic hunter-gatherers had more variety in food than agricultural societies. Likewise, my desert nomads have many goodies both foraged and traded. Food not only gives insight into culture, but also individuals, and many of my rest scenes revolve around meals.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

People come together and talk over food, gossiping, joking, planning, sometimes arguing, but almost always communicating somehow. Talking with your mouth full wouldn't be an issue if no one did it. We have few things in common with our Paleolithic ancestors; they didn't have TVs, tablets, or smartphones, and they probably didn't need them. Those things are specks on our several hundred millennia history as a species, but the basics our ancestors enjoyed have survived the test of time: chilling with loved ones, psychoactive plants, and good food around the fire. My characters meet one side of each other on the battlefield, but they never truly know each other until the quiet times, times to refuel for their life together between draining themselves fighting for it. Food isn't just a sidenote in a story, it's what keeps the story alive.

 

[vaiyt]

I love food, and its history is one fascinating subject for me since everyone eats, and the food trade is a fun way to observe how cultures interact. Just look at the origins and usage of oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas.