The Diet of an Ashlander

I don't know if fan-made stuff is welcome here or not (i couldn't find the stance on conjecture), but I think a lot about food and the culture around it. I also think a lot about ashlanders, and wrote this a couple of months ago.

Ashlander Food

The ashlander attitude to everyday food is very pragmatic. It’s necessary nutrition, and little more. Easily transportable foods are bound to be the staples of their diet. Their duties taking place at entirely different hours of the day makes everyday meals as a social pillar unattractive and the closeness you have with the small and close-knit with makes it unnecessary.

There are clear distinctions between everyday food and feast food for the Ashlanders. Feasts are dictated by a plethora of rules and cues, as most social events are. You would not, and never should, prepare food the same way for a religious come-together and a diplomatic meeting.

Everyday food, however, is a personal affair. Each mer makes and prepares their own meals. Elaborate recipes are not entirely rare, but seen as a waste of energy (and therefore rather silly, energy conservation is important). Simple, low preparation food is ideal.

For these reasons, all yurts will have a pot of saltrice porridge simmering over fire. The rice is kept at a low temperature, and while definitely undercooked in the morning hours, and overcooked at night, it does well as a base food, filling the stomach and providing decent, lasting energy.

The variations of this core food come mostly in the form of herbs and spices added to the porridge. Each addition has different qualities. Some help to quicken up senses dulled by ash, some will soothe, and others will heal certain diseases. Kwama scramble is often a welcome change to the saltrice porridges.

Meat ridden into an energy-rich compact jerky while travelling, or by hunters, is the common source of protein, although blood soups or sausages are far from rare.

An ashlander diet, both everyday and on the feasts, is also restricted by their class. All foods are limited to certain groups and trades, based on their effects. The only general food is saltrice porridge.

Children, for example, may not eat the flesh of guar, alit or kagouti, kwama eggs or bark. Their first meal of guar actually comes after a rite of passage, where they are to kill and prepare a guar they have helped raise. This teaches them to banish the softness, which will only have them killed if it is not reined in.

The internal organs are limited to the wombed, as they are believed to hold more life force. The heart is the highest honor of these, and will go to the pregnant (to help bring forth a strong and able son) if present. If none are present, the honor goes to the wise woman.