Gabyrian cuisine

The cuisine of the Free City of Gabyr is a highly varied one that is difficult to assess for certain, due to the highly diverse demographics of the insular city-state. As implied by the previous statement, Gabyr's diverse racial and cultural groups - that are largely not native to the island - have brought their own culinary traditions with them whenever they arrived on the island out of their own free will, which means that to a certain extent, Etrandish, Etrancoasti and various other continental cuisines had a considerable influence on Gabyrian cuisine. Nevertheless, the influence of native Nereid diet and the city's position on their cuisine is also undeniable. The fact that Gabyr has always been the bridge between East and West also had some influence on their cuisine, with Shár cuisine being the most notable Oriental cuisine to make its mark on Gabyr's culinary playground.

Meat, fish and other animal products
Fish is the dominant staple food of Gabyr, and for obvious reasons. It is a coastal city right next to the bountiful wide seas, which means plenty of fish to catch and feed the city's population. Salted fish roe is a delicacy for the city's elite, while the plebians simply eat fish.

Sea cows are an important source of both meat and dairy products alike: their thick and creamy milk drunk as-is, but is also made into cheese and butter.

Regular land animal meat is eaten whenever it is available - it is imported from abroad. Since the price imported animals and animal products such as meat, eggs and milk fluctuates a lot, none of them are considered to be reliable food sources, with fish and sea cow being the most reliable sources of animal protein. Typically, when meat is imported, it is already semi-prepared, preserved, salted, possibly even smoked, although the importation of live animals for the slaughter isn't an unknown practice either. Regular cow's milk is near nonexistent in Gabyr, but cheese made from it is imported from abroad.

Seafood (other than fish)
While fish is obviously the dominant staple food for the people of Gabyr, it is far from the only type of food they gather from the sea. Humans are unable to get underwater for a prolonged period without risking drowning, but Gabyr's native Nereid minority originally came from under the sea, and thus, if anything, they feel right at home under the water - hence they get to be the ones who go underwater to hunt for fish and shellfish (clams, oysters, mussels, octopus, squids, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, sea urchins) and forage for seaweeds. Algae gathered from under the sea, as well as the more seemingly unappetizing (by virtue of their appearence) sea molluscs typically aren't well-received by the city's non-Nereid majority, but they have no choice but to eat it during times when supply of "normal" (Human/Elven) food is in short supply.

In addition to gathering seafood from the sea, they also do a limited amount of aquaculture, though it is small-scale, experimental and unreliable, done more for academic purposes than with the intention of being a reliable food source. Contrary to the popular myth, Nereids do not eat sea sponges - however, they do use them as cleaning tools, and sell them to foreigners as well.

Fruits and vegetables
Citrons (specifically etrog), dates and figs are produced locally. Some of ther fruits - such as apples and grapes - also see limited local production, but are typically imported instead. Other fruits and vegetables are imported. but still form an important part of Gabyrian cuisine: tomatoes, pepper, garlic, onions, basil, ginger, leeks and radish are all imported from abroad, yet serve as indispensible flavouring agents that have since became irreplaceable parts of the local cuisine. Cooked fish that isn't flavoured with tomatoes, pepper, garlic and onions isn't even considered a proper meal.

Cereals
Cereals form an important part of Gabyrian cuisine. Just like land animal meat, cerals like wheat, spelt, barley, rye, oats, millet or rice are typically imported rather than locally produced, however, since they are relatively cheap and their price doesn't fluctuates a lot, they can be considered a reliable food source - so much so that they can buy extra to produce beer, rice wine/milk, etc. Meals that contain fish typically go together with bread, though under the influence of Shár cuisine, rice may be combined with fish too. And of course, the elephant in the room, the staple food and savior of sailors and soldiers: hardtack.

Spices
As can be expected from Gabyr - bridge between East and West - Gabyr has been influenced by Oriental cuisine in the spice-department. Cloves, black pepper, red pepper, ginger, saffron, sumac and mustard are all used to flavor otherwise bland-tasting food. The Gabyrian elite can't even imagine the taste of fish without pepper and mustard anymore! Though, as can be expected, most spices are imported from abroad, as few of these spice-producing planets grow natively on the island - and even if they did, there isn't much space for farming.

The importance of spices to Gabyr is not to be underestimated, as they so far have fought at least five wars over spices.

Alcoholic
Out of all available alcoholic beverages, Gabyrian Sour Wine is the most iconic one in Gabyr, very famous and considered a must-try delicacy for more affluent visitors to the island. However, much to the surprise of outlanders, it isn't the most frequently drunk or widely available alcoholic beverage in the city-state: imported Froturnish wine, Etrandish beer and Etrancoasti whisky are all cheaper and more readily available than locally produced lemon-wine. One's preferences in alcoholic beverage largely correspond to one's race, with humans preferring beer or whiskey, Elves preferring wine, the Nereids preferring specifically citrus-wine, etc.

Another local delicacy is fermented and diluted sea-cow's milk.

Non-alcoholic
Other than tea - which originally wasn't native to the island, but was introduced to Gabyr from Dragoc - Gabyrian cuisine was never too rich in non-alcoholic beverages, other than ones imported from abroad. Seawater is undrinkable, and even water from rivers and lakes isn't always realiable without boiling - and if someone bothers to boil the water in ther first place, they might as well make it into a tea or an alcoholic beverage, right?

Any milk other than sea-cow's milk (and possibly hemp milk and rice milk) - dairy milk, soy milk, almond milk - have always been luxuries in Gabyr, being seldom really accessible in wide a large quantity. They typically preserved dairy by converting it into cheese and integrating it into their diet, as drinkable milk spoils extremely quickly. Only sea-cow's milk, hemp milk and rice milk are available widely, because they are relatively easy to produce, and are made from widely available ingredients.