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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It may be spiritually fat but I enjoy reading about fictional foods. Remember you talking about the groundswell/brickwork some time ago - tried something similar with soaking parmesan rind in a cup of hot coffee - enjoyed the savoury addition but found the saltiness too much. Reminiscent of soy sauce in coffee. Is there a less salty cheese that still has a non-wax rind? Room for research.
ReplyDeleteWRT interesting foods - have recently read about churchkhela & tempeh - looking around for spots to try both. There's this youtube I was recommended by the algorithm called truongsauce who does interesting, tempeh-esque things with mold - short videos, well-produced, good for a lunch break.
No health risks to psychic obesity! I should say that IRL I actually like everything in this post, except for the papaya shrimp curry thing, which was my gf's contribution (something she enjoys that sounds highly questionable on paper). Good question about the cheese. I love eating cheddar while drinking coffee; maybe some cheddar with a rind would be worth trying if you're looking to modify. I've found coffee to be tough to tweak successfully beyond the obvious; I love butter but putting it in coffee the way some people do does not work for me. I'd rather just eat it room-temperature with a knife (Kerrygold develops this cookie dough flavor after ~20 minutes out of the refrigerator; Isigny Ste Mere also becomes extremely delicious). Similarly I tried mixing in cinnamon for awhile but found it always accumulated in a viscous scum at the top.
DeleteSorry for the dump incoming as I am very fond of this cuisine: as I understand it Eastern Europeans tend to think of Georgian food as the best of the region, and IMO for good cause. Churchkhela can be very nice but it's best to find a place that makes their own if possible, even places in Tbilisi can have kind of ratchet churchkhela if it's been hanging from the wall long enough. Alas I've never seen a place that makes it in the US. If there are any Georgian restaurants near you and you haven't had it before definitely go. A good chakhokhbili can be life-changing. Khachapuri adjaruli is a favorite of mine, and they make a delicious cucumber and tomato salad. Georgians love khinkhali but I'm afraid I might not have had a definitive example yet. I am very very partial to their wines, which to me often have a kind of blackberry flavor. Kindzmarauli is my favorite. Khvanchkara is said to have been Stalin's favorite wine and is also very nice.
I haven't had tempeh yet! I checked out truongsauce on your rec and his cooking and food are aesthetic.