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Although it is a not too publicised aspect of life in the Federated Suns (concerning a person’s privacy, a Fedsunner would typically say), food and gastronomy do play a great role in the cultural traditions of our nation. Even though the Federated Suns is so vast that different culinary traditions can coexist within its boundaries, such as the South Asian cuisine of the former United Hinu Collective, the core of our traditions lie firmly within the Crucis March, as the Draconis & Capellan marches are open to the strong cooking influences of their respective neighbors.
But wherever they were born, Fedsunners enjoy simple cooking for everyday life, reserving more sophisticated treats for special occasions, or showing hospitality to their guests. The most common daily staple is quillar, a bio engineered crop. By far the most considerable crop harvested in the Federated Suns, quillar looks like ordinary grain, however, generally twice as large as ordinary Terran corn. Unlike these crops, however, quillar can be flavoured or textured at will, so that you can get whatever fruit, grain or vegetable you want, be it wheat, potatoes, carrots or bananas. Needless to say, it needs on average twice as little land and nutriments than the aforementioned plants, with the side benefit that the dried stalks are nearly as useful, either as food for the cattle or as fertiliser if you leave them rot on the field. Quillar is so popular in the Federated Suns that you can find it anywhere in your food: in pasta, or the fruity condiment you pour on your meat, even a fruit flavored fizzling soda . Legend has it that only the most capable chefs in the Federated Suns are the only one who can tell whether there is quillar in a meal they just tasted. Truth be told, this is way above the capabilities of a born Fedsunner like me!
The day’s most important meal is the morning breakfast, which will always consist of some form of cereals, a hot drink (on New Avalon, it’s traditionally tea, while many other worlds in the Crucis March will prefer coffee), some eggs, maybe bacon, toasted bread with quillar jelly and some fruits . If you are lucky, you will enjoy our legendary naranji (they are notoriously difficult to grow, and the season is somewhat short). It’s indeed a citrus, but you would not guess it at first sight . Its oblong shape and purple color make it rather look like some plum. Anyways, it can be peeled and eaten like an orange, or pressed for its juice like a lemon… Its taste, however, is inimitable and trying to describe it is a hopeless challenge. It reminds me of mixed raspberries and grapes, but no two people would agree on this. As the Federated Suns version of the old Terran saying goes, it is useless to argue on colors, tastes AND naranjis! The breakfast tradition originates in the Old-Terran nation of Great Britain, and spread to all the people constituting the population of the Federated Suns over the course of the centuries.
Other English treats have made it over time, none more so than the traditional Christmas pudding. You can buy it of course out of most delikatessen stores, but these won’t have the extra charm of those made by Crucis March families. Other English pastries abound, and you won’t lack buns or scones if you feel like some. Although Terran Englishmen would associate these with their 5 o’clock tea, this tradition at least has not pervaded the Federated Suns. Another great tradition is to celebrate Thanksgiving, although the date has been switched from late November to the anniverssary of the founding of a colony on New Avalon. What did not change, though, is the treat associated with it. All Federated Suns families take pride in preparing the traditional stuffed turkey. Another special dish, though more frequent on those worlds populated by people of French descent, is the bourguignon. It’s basically stewed beef meat in a red wine sauce, along with some onion and pomtera (named after the French for potato, pomme de terre); it is a bio engineered potato. First developped in the Terran United States in the 21st century, it can replace all species of potato, either hard or soft fleshed, and is suitable for any potato associated dish, from chips to mashed potatoes to stewed ones. It is also ultimately resistant to all diseases and pests known to affect this vegetable. As for the Christmas pudding, nothing equals those you’ll enjoy at a simple family’s table in the Crucis March. But maybe one of the most enjoyed treats in the Federated Suns is cheese… all sorts of cheese, from the mildest Cheddar to…, well maybe not, short of heavily scented cheese.
They come in all shapes, sizes and kinds, either cooked or uncooked, and the only problem you’ll have with them is the inordinate price that’s asked for them, unless you’re lucky enough to visit one of the producing regions.
Gastronomy in the Suns, however, cannot be reduced to these simple family fares, as we have one of the most innovative traditions of the Inner Sphere, tracing back its origin to the Terran 20th Century chefs of the Nouvelle Cuisine. Nowhere, but in some small restaurant of Avalon City will you discover the true (and hidden) taste of these ingredients you take for granted. Nowhere else will you also discover the flavor of till then unknown ones. For instance, have you heard of rhiniosh? One the greatest things you can taste but, unfortunately, one of the rarest. This purple mushroom will grow exclusively at a dept of about 50 cm in the woods surrounding Avalon City, on the continent of Albion on New Avalon (and the reason of a major success of Avalonese environmental groups against the implantation of a military base there in 2745). Gourmets will say its taste resembles that of the Terran truffe, yet uncannily enhanced, and richer. Needless to say, it’s one of the most expensive amenities, and is rarely exported out of new Avalon. Nowhere else in the Inner Sphere can you find such a spring of culinary innovation as here!
This gastronomy tour of our nation would be incomplete without a brief survey of the wines and spirits grown and distilled here. It is no secret that from its origin, Kathil was partly settled by some winegrowers from the Terran regions of Bordeaux, Bourgogne and California who brought along vine trees and the knowledge hundreds of years of tradition had produced. Now throughout the Federated Suns you can find the very best wines of the Inner Sphere, setting new standards (thanks to the ideal climates found throughout our nation’s many worlds) that are unreachable even by the original Terran regions. In this respect, allow me to make a special mention of the wines grown on Kestrel, home of the Allard family who (also!) brought there some wine growers from Terran France, participating in this proud tradition of our nation. Part of these wines are distilled, to produce the best cognacs you could dream of (especially those distilled on the continent of Brunswick on New Avalon), but there is no question that the Federated Suns standards for spirits are bourbon and gin (scotch, although highly sought after by elements of the nobility, has to be imported from either the Lyran Isle of Skye or Northwind; the FS production just is not up to it, unfortunately, despite the claims to the contrary laid by some producers on New Syrtis).
But wherever they were born, Fedsunners enjoy simple cooking for everyday life, reserving more sophisticated treats for special occasions, or showing hospitality to their guests. The most common daily staple is quillar, a bio engineered crop. By far the most considerable crop harvested in the Federated Suns, quillar looks like ordinary grain, however, generally twice as large as ordinary Terran corn. Unlike these crops, however, quillar can be flavoured or textured at will, so that you can get whatever fruit, grain or vegetable you want, be it wheat, potatoes, carrots or bananas. Needless to say, it needs on average twice as little land and nutriments than the aforementioned plants, with the side benefit that the dried stalks are nearly as useful, either as food for the cattle or as fertiliser if you leave them rot on the field. Quillar is so popular in the Federated Suns that you can find it anywhere in your food: in pasta, or the fruity condiment you pour on your meat, even a fruit flavored fizzling soda . Legend has it that only the most capable chefs in the Federated Suns are the only one who can tell whether there is quillar in a meal they just tasted. Truth be told, this is way above the capabilities of a born Fedsunner like me!
The day’s most important meal is the morning breakfast, which will always consist of some form of cereals, a hot drink (on New Avalon, it’s traditionally tea, while many other worlds in the Crucis March will prefer coffee), some eggs, maybe bacon, toasted bread with quillar jelly and some fruits . If you are lucky, you will enjoy our legendary naranji (they are notoriously difficult to grow, and the season is somewhat short). It’s indeed a citrus, but you would not guess it at first sight . Its oblong shape and purple color make it rather look like some plum. Anyways, it can be peeled and eaten like an orange, or pressed for its juice like a lemon… Its taste, however, is inimitable and trying to describe it is a hopeless challenge. It reminds me of mixed raspberries and grapes, but no two people would agree on this. As the Federated Suns version of the old Terran saying goes, it is useless to argue on colors, tastes AND naranjis! The breakfast tradition originates in the Old-Terran nation of Great Britain, and spread to all the people constituting the population of the Federated Suns over the course of the centuries.
Other English treats have made it over time, none more so than the traditional Christmas pudding. You can buy it of course out of most delikatessen stores, but these won’t have the extra charm of those made by Crucis March families. Other English pastries abound, and you won’t lack buns or scones if you feel like some. Although Terran Englishmen would associate these with their 5 o’clock tea, this tradition at least has not pervaded the Federated Suns. Another great tradition is to celebrate Thanksgiving, although the date has been switched from late November to the anniverssary of the founding of a colony on New Avalon. What did not change, though, is the treat associated with it. All Federated Suns families take pride in preparing the traditional stuffed turkey. Another special dish, though more frequent on those worlds populated by people of French descent, is the bourguignon. It’s basically stewed beef meat in a red wine sauce, along with some onion and pomtera (named after the French for potato, pomme de terre); it is a bio engineered potato. First developped in the Terran United States in the 21st century, it can replace all species of potato, either hard or soft fleshed, and is suitable for any potato associated dish, from chips to mashed potatoes to stewed ones. It is also ultimately resistant to all diseases and pests known to affect this vegetable. As for the Christmas pudding, nothing equals those you’ll enjoy at a simple family’s table in the Crucis March. But maybe one of the most enjoyed treats in the Federated Suns is cheese… all sorts of cheese, from the mildest Cheddar to…, well maybe not, short of heavily scented cheese.
They come in all shapes, sizes and kinds, either cooked or uncooked, and the only problem you’ll have with them is the inordinate price that’s asked for them, unless you’re lucky enough to visit one of the producing regions.
Gastronomy in the Suns, however, cannot be reduced to these simple family fares, as we have one of the most innovative traditions of the Inner Sphere, tracing back its origin to the Terran 20th Century chefs of the Nouvelle Cuisine. Nowhere, but in some small restaurant of Avalon City will you discover the true (and hidden) taste of these ingredients you take for granted. Nowhere else will you also discover the flavor of till then unknown ones. For instance, have you heard of rhiniosh? One the greatest things you can taste but, unfortunately, one of the rarest. This purple mushroom will grow exclusively at a dept of about 50 cm in the woods surrounding Avalon City, on the continent of Albion on New Avalon (and the reason of a major success of Avalonese environmental groups against the implantation of a military base there in 2745). Gourmets will say its taste resembles that of the Terran truffe, yet uncannily enhanced, and richer. Needless to say, it’s one of the most expensive amenities, and is rarely exported out of new Avalon. Nowhere else in the Inner Sphere can you find such a spring of culinary innovation as here!
This gastronomy tour of our nation would be incomplete without a brief survey of the wines and spirits grown and distilled here. It is no secret that from its origin, Kathil was partly settled by some winegrowers from the Terran regions of Bordeaux, Bourgogne and California who brought along vine trees and the knowledge hundreds of years of tradition had produced. Now throughout the Federated Suns you can find the very best wines of the Inner Sphere, setting new standards (thanks to the ideal climates found throughout our nation’s many worlds) that are unreachable even by the original Terran regions. In this respect, allow me to make a special mention of the wines grown on Kestrel, home of the Allard family who (also!) brought there some wine growers from Terran France, participating in this proud tradition of our nation. Part of these wines are distilled, to produce the best cognacs you could dream of (especially those distilled on the continent of Brunswick on New Avalon), but there is no question that the Federated Suns standards for spirits are bourbon and gin (scotch, although highly sought after by elements of the nobility, has to be imported from either the Lyran Isle of Skye or Northwind; the FS production just is not up to it, unfortunately, despite the claims to the contrary laid by some producers on New Syrtis).
