Sushiman Cuisine
Amongst the Islands of the Southwestern Threshold, Sushima is well known for its cuisine, unique in its emphasis on meat and sweet local fruits. More fertile than the larger nearby island of Bushan, though certainly no match for the breadbasket that is Wavecrest, the cuisine of Sushima is dominated by sweet flavours.
Sugarcane is a major crop for both export ad internal consumption. Locals consume a sweet-and-savory soup of sliced sugarcane stem boiled with shredded breadfruit, bay leaf and lemongrass, sometimes with addition of crab meat and/or pork fat. Sugarcane juice is a common beverage, mixed with lime or calamansi. Rum production is a significant sector in Sushima’s economy, the sugar-derived liquor making up the bulk of its tribute to the Realm and being traded to surrounding islands (it is popular amongst the upper classes of Bushan and Murak), with lower-quality production mixed with water by ship captains to supply grog rations for their crews.
Sushima is one of few islands in the southwest to support a notable population of land-bound mammals, a small species of Boar. While many islands have hunted local animals to extinction, Sushima has made efforts to breed and domesticate their boar, which provides significant pork for local cuisine, the typical preparation being to skin a boar, squeeze the juice of fruits over the outside before stuffing onions and the remaining fruit within, wrapping the whole thing in bull kelp and burying it in a pit of hot coals so it can roast whole. While some boars are exported live, these are highly expensive, and more typically surrounding islands obtain pork packed in salt to preserve it. As boars roaming free are thought to have the best flavour, hunting them in Sushima’s remaining jungles is a common diversion for local nobles and House Peleps Dynasts on the island.
A number of fruits can be found on Sushima: breadfruit is the major source of starches in the local diet, while pineapple is more expensive and served with boar or skewered and grilled. Sushima also grows significant amounts of calamansi, a citrus fruit which stands as a cross between a lime and an orange in flavour.
Being a Western island, seafood has some presence on Sushima as well, though it is viewed as the fare of the poor. Catches are typically smoked to preserve them, eaten skewered as snacks (often dipped in vinegar), minced with breadfruit to form balls and served in light broth, or two larger fish pinned together into a ‘basket’ in which is served a fried Muttonbird egg.
