Cosmere food

[Gasper]

I am in the process of making a cosmere cookbook for my self and the various cosmere fans I know. But I am running into a problem, outside of Roshar, little is know about the cuisine of the cosmere. I really need help on the food from Nalthis, Scadrial, and Threnody. I will post the PDF of the cookbook as soon as I have tried the various recipes suggested. Does anyone have any recipes they want to share any suggestions on cosmere cuisine?

[Ruin's Scariest Koloss]

Gotta have some instant noodles in there.

[RShara]

@Vortaan has been interested in doing the same for a while. I think he's worked out quite a bit.

[Gasper]

Great! I did not know that! I will message him.

31 minutes ago, RShara said:

@Vortaan has been interested in doing the same for a while. I think he's worked out quite a bit.

 

[Ashertliden]

Taldain recipe for homemade water:

 

Shove some magic into some sand

 

Fun Fact, water is one of the most important foods in the cosmere. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by Kal-Eldin

[Vortaan]

Ok, so here's the Vortaan approved breakdown of what I think each Shardworld is like, culinary speaking. There's some caveats. Many cultures we don't see enough food to judge entirely what they eat. I'm also basing a lot of things on what real world cultures the Cosmere culture is based on. This is going to be a somewhat wordy post, at least for me, so let's get started.

SEL

Sel is one of the more diverse Shardworlds from a cultural standpoint. Kiin's table has dishes that seem reminiscent of anything from Thai food to noveau French. That said, I suspect the Jindo are very similar to a traditional Chinese or Vietnamese, but with the addition of potatoes as a starch. There is a WoB that relates that Arelon itself is more like medieval Spain, and I imagine that carries over to Teod too. Fjordell and Svordish I honestly have no idea on, but based on their cultures I am going to make an educated guess at German or Swedish food, possibly even Russian.

NALTHIS

Nalthis is an easier world to make guesses about, because we only have two cultures with a shared lineage. That said, the split between the Idrians and the Hallandrens makes me think that their foods have vastly digressed since the formation of Idris. This is apparently backed up by Siri being completely unfamiliar with much of the food of T'Telir. Using that, I am going to speculate that Hallandren pre-Manywar was very similar to Renaissance Italy, with a lot of local cuisines and a heavy emphasis in seafood and exotic foods at the ports and on the coasts. Post-Manywar, Hallandren likely went further down this route, but now I imagine them mixing in equivalents to North African influences. I expect their food drifted towards more flavorful, involving more spices. As the population grew, a greater emphasis would have been put on easily acquired food, and as a seafaring culture the ocean is likely where most of it comes from. This is backed by the dried squid Vasher feeds to Vivenna, as it is probably the cheapest available foodstuff. Idris, on the other hand, I think would be more equivalent to pre-Industrial Revolution England. Their cuisine would be very bland, seasoned mainly by root vegetables and garlic. The main meat is likely mutton, and I expect that for most Idrians meat is a sometimes addition to a table and not a primary part of every meal.

FIRST OF THE SUN 

First of the Sun is another one that we don't see much of. I am going to just put them down as Polynesian inspired food, likely high in seafood, with something equivalent to pork being eaten but not regularly. There are likely more spices, but this is one of the cultures I expect to eat more fruit than others as part of their diet.

SCADRIAL

Scadrial is pretty clearly influenced by France in it's names and culture, and this influence seems to carry over to it's food. Vin's experience in the ballrooms of Luthadel are very noveau cuisine, while the bay wraps are not out of place in French peasant food. The large haunches of meat with heavy gravy are also a staple of certain kinds of French cooking, and the canning process was invented by a Parisian confectioner. All of these parallels lead me to believe that Scadrian food is French and evolved along similar lines, to the point where current Scadrian food in the Wax and Wayne era is probably very equivalent to early 1900s food in France. Unfortunately , this places it as equivalent to food being eaten around the time of World War 1, which isn't ominous at all.

 

ROSHAR

Roshar is hard to parse as a whole. We get most of our exposure through either the Alethi or other Vorin kingdoms, and it's fairly clear to me that the Vorin kingdoms have all been culturally influenced by the Alethi to some degree. That said, there's some things I think we can guess. Lavis grain is probably a very high protein grain, and Vorins probably don't have access to many good leavening agents. This is indicated by Kaladin and Shallan's references to "fluffy" Thaylen bread, indicated a lower-protein variant of the grain in the Thaylen region, or a better grade of yeast. Food in Alethkar is probably very similar to Persian food. The regions even look similar on a map. In addition, Persia and that region of the world was an area where many cultures met and traded influences. Alethkar was at other times a conquering nation, and it's more than likely that some other influences came home with them. Chouta in particular I imagine as something similar to a falafel with an indian-style onion gravy, served on a fairly dense flatbread.

 

That's all the analysis I've done so far. I'm working on recipes, and will possibly post some down the line.

[Ciridae]

Eggplant for Threnody

Quote

Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

My favorite character is Nazh... I just want anything about him, even if he's just his favorite food.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Isaac. Give us a favorite food...

Isaac Stewart [PENDING REVIEW]

So, he likes, and Brandon will have to confirm this, but he likes a plant-- fried-- it would be considered an eggplant almost.

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

Fried eggplant. We're good on that.

Isaac Stewart [PENDING REVIEW]

It's not-- It looks like an eggplant, it's native to Threnody.

source

We know they don't eat pork, but if I remember correctly they hunt game, so maybe rabbit, turkey, and Silence definitely serves venison in her inn. 

They also have potatoes, mushrooms, and know how to make beer. 

I can't find the WoB but I think Brandon has said that Threnody was inspired by the first Europeans settling in America, so that's a good time and place to look at for comparison. 

Also, I think this is a great idea, I would love too see the finished version if you ever make it! 

Edited October 6, 2018 by Ciridae

[Calderis]

10 minutes ago, Ciridae said:

We know they don't eat pork, but if I remember correctly they hunt game, so maybe rabbit, turkey, and Silence definitely serves venison in her inn. 

While this isn't a sure thing, the three simple rules are based off of a Jewish belief about what is and isn't appropriate behavior on Shabbot. 

From the Post script of SfSitFoH 

Quote

The world was mostly formed in my head, though over the years I’d added the idea of the shades for various reasons. One was to show off a few hints regarding the Cosmere afterlife, and another came during my initial research for the Stormlight Archive, where I read a lot about classical Hebrew life and philosophy. The original idea for Threnody was to make a system of magical rules with their roots in the Law of Moses and Jewish tradition. (Not mixing meat with milk, not kindling flames after nightfall on the Sabbath, etc.) Many of those rules transformed over the years, leaving their roots behind in the same way that the Stormlight magic system left behind its roots in the fundamental forces of physics. But you can see those hints still having an influence on the tone and setting of this story.

In that context, the not eating pork makes perfect sense under what is and is not Kosher. Rabbit is also non-kosher (any animal that chews its cud must have a split hoof like cows. Or it's not. I have no idea the reasoning). 

It's an interesting concept though. Placing dietary restrictions from one type of regional diet into what appears to be a very different one could have some... Interesting results. 

[Gasper]

18 hours ago, Vortaan said:

Chouta in particular I imagine as something similar to a falafel with an indian-style onion gravy, served on a fairly dense flatbread.

I made some chouta by mixing a homemade falafel mix with ground beef, fried flat bread, and a gravy made from the left over beef fat. It was not bad. but i need to use none fried bread, more spices, and a higher fat meat.