Bushanese Cuisine
The largest island in its corner of the southwestern oceans, Bushan is nevertheless far from a breadbasket: the jungles which cover parts of the island consist of hardy plants with little need of nutrients, and the soil is not optimized for agriculture. Hilly and rocky regions provide the main starch of Bushan, sweet potatoes, which are either roasted with bird fat or boiled and mashed into a soup flavoured with lime juice and green onion, both of which can be found on the island.
A key part of Bushanese cuisine is the Muttonbird, an incredibly fatty seabird with a mutton flavour. The bird was once common on the shores of Bushan, but has been hunted until scarce... now, hunters and sometimes even war canoes journey to the island of Highcliff where thousands of them can be found nesting. Muttonbird is boiled repeatedly to pull out the fat, which is saved for use in other dishes. The bird is then simmered with the leaves of a local thistle and served. Alternatively, the boiled Muttonbird can be placed in a bag made from bull kelp and covered in its own rendered fat, a preservation method that allows it to last for some time and form part of shipboard rations for long journeys.
The island of Bushan is home to other birds: small brightly coloured songbirds not commonly used for cooking, and flightless birds such as the Kakapo and larger Fubard, both of which are traditionally stuffed with limes and green onions then roasted, though overhunting means neither is common on local tables and can only be found in the deepest jungle areas.
A Western island, seafood is prominent in Bushanese cuisine. Abalone are abundant in local waters, and many of the common folk make their living as divers, harvesting abalone and selling them at market, where their shells are used for jewelry and dishware and their meat is prepared as food.
In the Realm, abalone is considered a delicacy, often prepared braised with mushrooms, but in Bushan it is very much a common food due to its abundance and proximity to shore. Preparation is typically one of three ways: the first is raw, shortly after harvesting. The second is diced, mixed with green onion, cassava starch, and egg, then fried in a little bit of bird fat to make an abalone fritter, a common street food in Bushan's docks and markets. The third method uses the abalone entrails, not normally eaten in the other two dishes: these are salted and fermented, becoming a common tavern dish consumed while drinking.
While many fish fill nets around Bushan, butterfish is most abundant... a fatty fish, if not of highest-class flavour. The Bushanese typically prepare it either grilled (finished with lime juice) or in a soup along with vinegar, kelp, thistle leaves, and cubed breadfruit. The fish, and other varieties, are also dried and preserved with salt for ocean voyages.
Another fish, caught with lines into deep water, is yelloweye rockfish, which is the basis of a common dish at the tables of noble and warrior caste families (the red colour of its scales associated with warrior strength and virility): the rockfish is placed whole in an earthenware container along with herbs, lime juice, and a dollop of bird fat, and the container is covered over with coals to bake the fish. At noble tables, the dish is finished off by serving it topped with a salsa of diced pineapple, green onion, and vinegar. Another preparation sees the fish sliced raw, then mixed with roasted candlenuts, green onion, seaweed and lime juice to produce a ceviche.
Whale is the most celebrated of Bushan's seafood sources, its size meaning it can be brought in only by the war canoes of the upper classes. The whale is used in its entirety, though not all components are used as food: whale oil is the major source of oil for lamps and wax for candles in Bushan, while bone and baleen are used in crafts and skin in leather. The meat itself is too expensive for most of Bushan's common folk, but higher-class tables feature lightly grilled, unseasoned whale steaks, and the most prized (and costly) whale dish is thin-sliced sashimi from the meat of the tail.
Kelp is a common ingredient, dried for storage and then boiled to create a simple broth, without much substance but incredibly cheap, sold from large roadside kettles in the poorer areas of Bushan. A variation, containing a dab of bird fat and imported ginger, is eaten amongst wealthier Bushanese as a light meal to treat hangovers or upset stomachs.
The jungles of Bushan do not offer up much in terms of edible materials: green onions and thistles are gathered regularly and added to many dishes, and breadfruit is not an uncommon occurrence, and is often cooked and mashed into a paste which seems to remain naturally preserved for years, even decades, a key food source for ocean voyages. Mashed breadfruit is also fermented and distilled to produce a local liquor, comparable in many ways to poor-quality vodka and consumed by all classes with their evening meal (often in significant quantities).
Since becoming a satrapy of the Realm, attempts have been made to convert many swampy areas of Bushan into agricultural fields, producing rice and cassava. The former is polished and served in small bowls as a side to regular dishes at the tables of the upper classes. The latter is ground to produce tapioca starch, cooked and served as a dish similar to pudding, or dropped as pearls into a mix of coconut milk and mashed fruit served as a cool beverage. Trade has also brought the yam to Bushan, planted along the slopes of the central volcano where other crops have great difficulty prospering: yams provide most of the carbohydrates in the diet of the local lower classes.
