Characteristic dishes of the mountaintop city-state.
Groundswell: Powdered Parmesan mixed with black coffee to create a porridge. Regular breakfast during the detective agōgē. After graduation, some agents refuse to touch it ever again, others make it whenever they feel nostalgic. Politely called 'Rainy Plain' on bed and breakfast menus.
Snowmelt: A little mound of whipped cream with hot espresso poured over the top. Eaten with a long spoon.
Sour Peon: Sourdough bread soaked in heavy cream. May be served with a dollop of raspberry or blackberry jam.
Ziggurat: A potato chip dusted with jalapeño powder, heaped with sour cream, topped with a slab of pickled herring and a little piece of onion.
Lewdbread: Bread soaked in bacon fat. Generally attained by frying a large amount of bacon and then placing it in a serving canister with bread at the bottom.
Bent Rainbow: A dish imported from Cape Cittacotte. Papaya shrimp salad with creamy yellow curry served on a bed of soft lettuce. Polarizing.
Lanterns: Little slabs of potted meat fried on a camp stove, e.g. while writing reports at midnight. Can by corrupted by the addition of egg, radish, rice, and/or oyster sauce. Also called Pig's Procrastination.
Barrel Mash: Black beans and rice soaked in olive oil and then pan fried with sausage, fennel, garlic, and red wine. Often eaten as a sandwich on wheat or soft black bread.
Archipelago: Cheddar, sour cream, and paprika salami on a soft, sweet cracker. Served dozens to a dish at cocktail parties.
Birthday Swill: Root beer mixed with lemonade.
Crucified Banana: Peanut butter and banana whipped together. Eaten with a spoon or encased in chocolate.
Monsoon: Heavy cream blended with root beer.
Volcano Pudding: Cottage cheese drenched in chili sauce.
General Winter: Bad coffee poured into a metal cup and left out in the snow overnight; much improved by morning.
Aftermath: Strawberry yogurt blended with peanut butter.
Brickwork: Chunks of Parmesan placed in the mouth, followed by a sip of hot coffee to slightly melt the exterior.
Stomion Cocktail: Whisky, cranberry juice, and pear schnapps. Should be nearly black.
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Indigenous Starling & Shrike foodways evolved from historical conditions of alpine isolation modulated by the arrival of imports-enabling technologies such as refrigeration, rigid-hulled airships, and elongated biplanes. Agents serving contracts in distant lands brought back a taste for tropical goods such as coffee, peanut butter, and chili products.
Personally, I love ziggurats.
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