Artaburran cuisine

The cuisine of Artaburro is heavily influenced by that of Froturn and Dragoc, and to a less extent, Etrand as well.

An important aspect of the Artaburran is the "unificationist" nature of the cuisine in regards to catering to both Titanist and Naturalist sensibilities: forbidding cat meat, dog meat, horse meat and the meat of any sentient creature, as well as making it taboo to casually snack most types of food.

Meat
All types of meat - with the exception of pork rind - are considered "heavy food", therefore it is a taboo for Naturaist Artaburrans to snack on them casually - "heavy food" is meant to be eaten only during breakfast, lunch or dinner/supper. Pork rind on the other hand is considered "light food", therefore it can be freely snacked casually.

Out of all the types of meat, pork plays the most important role in Artaburran cuisine, in addition to poultry and mutton. Beef is barely present.

Meat can be consumed cooked, fried, or more rarely, "raw" (cold) - poultry and mutton are nearly always either either cooked or fried and then eaten while still warm, while bacon can be sometimes eaten cold, but not without some preparation first: usually, smoking it. While fried meat is usually eaten in itself - or accompanied with bread or potatoes, and optionally vegetables; cooked meat is nearly always eaten as part of a soup. Pig cheese is also widely consumed in Artaburro.

Under the Titanist rules, eating cat meat, dog meat, horse meat, or the meat of any sapient creature is forbidden, while under Naturalist rules, all types of meat - except pork rind - count as "heavy food", therefore should be only eaten as part of a breakfast, lunch or dinner, never to be snacked casually. Due to the "unificationist" nature of Artaburran cuisine, both religion's rules are abided regarding meat consumption.

Dairy and other animal products
One ultimately unique feature of Artaburran cuisine is the usage of sheep's milk - cattle and goats are rare in Artaburro, so milk is taken from sheep. Sheep milk is both drank as a beverage, and also used to make dairy products, such as cheese. Pig's milk is also used to make cheese, but pig's milk is never drunk - quite funnily,the in the Artaburran Wood Elven language, "pig cheese" can mean both head cheese and cheese made out of pig's milk - people have to rely on context to guess which one is being mentioned, though sometimes to differentiate the two, one is called "pig jelly cheese", while the other "pig milk cheese".

Since poultry also plays a big role in Artaburran cuisine, it's self-evident that eggs are also consumed, namely, fried eggs. Another practice is boiling the eggs, then picking away the shell, and eating the insides.

Cereal products
Spelt - which is nearly unique to Artaburro, rare in other countries - is most popular and well-grown cereal in Artaburro, but wheat, rye, barley and oat are also present to a lesser extent - they are mainly used to make flour, which is then usually used for making bread. Due to Froturnish influence, pasta is also popular in Artaburro - spelt pasta is a unique part of Artaburran cuisine.

Rice is not grown in Artaburro, but imported from Froturn or Etrand - they are primarily grinded into flour, then used for making pasta, or more rarely, bread.

Sweet pastries are also present in Artaburran cuisine. They are most often made with fruits like cherries or raisins.

Vegetables
Botanical vegetables play only a background role in Artaburran cuisine for the non-Naturalist population: garlic and onions are often used as flavoring agents for meat, but that's pretty much it. Pea soup is rather popular, beans are also somewhat popular, but otherwise, vegetables don't really play a big part.

This is somewhat different for the Naturalists, who - deviating a bit from the cuisine's "unificationist" nature" - put more emphasis on sorrel, chives and spinach. Naturalists consume mainly spinach, sorrel, lettuce, and cabbage during the breeding period of animals, as meat is taboo for them during that time of the year.

Potatoes are much less popular than in other countries.

While they are considered culinary vegetables, botanically, tomato and pumpkin are actually fruits, so they are discussed below.

Fruits
While they are considered vegetables due to their culinary functions, tomatoes and pumpkins are actually fruits - tomatoes are usually consumed together with meat. Tomato sauce is an important flavoring agent in Artaburran high cuisine, more so than in other countries. Pumpkins play a limited role - they are present in pumpkin soup, and that's it.

Dried fruits like prunes and raisins are considered "light food", therefore completely acceptable to be snacked casually. Apples, pears and cherries are also counted as "light food", and eaten accordingly. Cherries and raisins are heavily used in pastries.

Alcoholic beverages
Wine is the most well-drunk alcoholic beverage in Artaburro. Red wine is preferred over white wine. The local climate allows for the production of both raisin wine and ice wine, but the earlier is preferred.

Fortified wine is also drunk - raisin wine or ice wine is distilled to make brandy, which is then mixed with regular wine, to produce fortified wine. This type of "grape-only" fortified wine is mainly drunk by Titanist Artaburrans. Naturalist Artaburrans instead make fortified wine by mixing regular wine with a fruity brandy - in other words, mixing grape wine with a distilled beverage made out of any fruit but grapes - most often apples, plums, cherries or blackberries.

"Cherry wine" - fortified wine made by combining wine and cherry brandy - is popular among Titanist Artaburrans as well.

Non-alcoholic beverages
Artaburro is unique by being the only country in which sheep milk is widely drunk - most other countries have cow milk or goat milk instead.

Additionally, tea has been present in Artaburro since the country was founded. Residents of both religions drink tea and enjoy it very much. Tea is drunk by children to make sure they avoid alcohol, tea is drunk by the sick and the elderly who enjoy it for its medicinal qualities, tea is also drunk by people who are doing careful work that requires sobriety - and last but not least, tea is also an important ceremonial drink for the Naturalist population.