Dynastic Dining Utensils
Dynastic dining is inundated with complexity across its every facet, including the tools and accessories involved in eating its myriad dishes.
Dishes
Serving Platter (A): Large plates atop which food is served to the table. Usually the food, if not hors d’oeuvres or a majestic centerpiece, will not be a large dish covering the platter but rather consist of several different dishes in their own small bowls or plates, carried to the table atop platters.
Small Bowl (B): The key dish at the Dynastic table, the small bowl serves many purposes: the numerous dishes of a Dynastic meal are served in such bowls, and typically there will be two further bowls per diner: the Soup Bowl containing broth, and the Rice Bowl containing boiled or steamed grains upon which morsels of food are placed.
Least Bowl (C): Condiments and dishes served in the smallest quantities are served in the smallest bowls at the table, barely more than teacups. For some specific drinks, and amongst the poor, least bowls serve as both Soup Bowl, teacup, and goblet.
Noodle Bowl (D): The Noodle Bowl is a large, deep dish, used for soups and noodle dishes (in broth or sauce). The particularly ravenous may use such a bowl in place of a Rice Bowl… in more civilized circles, these people are scorned as bloated gluttons.
Small Plate (E): For a few dishes, such as grilled skewers, large steaks of meat, or wraps, bowls have an unsuitable shape. These are instead served on small plates, with diners having their own small plate from which to eat.
Cups
Teapot & Small Cup (F): Tea is the appetizer and palate cleanser in Dynastic dining, and there is a teapot for every table… at many teahouses, a teapot for every guest so each may dictate the strength and contents of their tea. Amongst friends, sharing a favourite tea around the table is a common occurrence. In colder weather or with lower quality spirits, teapots & small cups are also used to serve a mix of rice wine and hot water.
Covered Teacup (G): Used little at the table and more for taking tea while working at desk or reading under the trees, a covered teacup is a tall cup with a lid to keep in heat. Such cups are often decorated with detailed scenes inspired by those found on Dynastic silk screens, and the most expensive have hinged covers. Some refer to these as 'Ledaal Teacups'.
Flute (H): A glass cup, blown and shaped thin with a long stem, used primarily for wines. Such fragile dishware is quite expensive, and the glassware industry is dominated by two Houses: House Cynis and House V’neef, the latter of whom has been able to expand its influence through aggressive use of its monopoly on wine production.
Goblet (I): Thick, fat cups on sturdy stems, goblets are made from all manner of materials: citizens and poor patricians drink from carved wood and shaped clay goblets, while the wealthy favour stone or precious metals and the most costly are studded with precious metals or even carved from jade. Goblets are favoured for most drinks, though not tea, white wines, and rice wines.
Sake Cup (J): Sake cups typically come in sets of two containers. One is the cup itself, usually formed from clay, wood, or porcelain, taller than a teacup. The second is a small decanter for holding liquid. Both dishes are typically decorated with a matching pattern, some of which can be extremely complex (and expensive).
At the table, it is traditional that one never fills one’s own cup. For Dynasts, servants pass by to fill cups from decanters as needed, but amongst friends it is a sign of affection to fill the cups of those sitting next to you using your own decanter. Going to someone seated further away and filling their cup is considered an appropriate gesture for the first stages of courtship.
Wooden Cup (K): A square wooden cup, sometimes called a ‘soldiers’ cup’ or ‘sailors’ cup’. Used for serving heated beverages such as port wine or lower-quality rice wine.
Utensils
Meat Knife (L): The meat knife is a sharp straight-edged blade used for cutting larger servings of meat on the plate. As such, it tends to not see much use in Dynastic dining, and even less in the classes beneath them where meat is not affordable in quantity. Maintaining the edge of meat knives is a demanding process, requiring constant sharpening. Some patricians own Thousand-Cut Blades, meat knives often found amidst First Age ruins which feature a serrated blade that need never be sharpened and seems immune from tarnishing. Fashionable Dynasts and gourmands eschew such things, however, as a serrated blade will never cut as straight or clean as a straight one.
The tips of almost all meat knives in Dynastic dining are rounded rather than pointed, to prevent rude and unfashionable behaviours such as picking one’s teeth or stabbing food. It is also considered rude to point the tip of one's knife towards another diner, and this is taken by many as a threatening gesture.
Toothed Knife (M): A toothed knife is a dentated blade used for cutting bread and fruits (such as tomatos) with hard skins and soft interiors.
Chopsticks (N): Chopsticks are the primary utensil in a Dynastic table setting, and Chopstick Dining has a large number of traditions and practices associated with it.
Deep Spoon (O): While here and there in Creation cultures make use of shallow, curve-bottomed spoons, in Dynastic Dining the primary spoon is deep and flat-bottomed, carrying a whole dumpling from bowl to mouth. While some will sip soup from their spoons, where liquids are to be consumed they will typically be drunk direct from their bowl.
