When world building I rarely plan out what food is available for the characters to order and eat, but I find myself answering the question ‘what are they serving tonight?’ with an audible uuuuuuuh. So, in order to stop embarrassing myself, here is the menu of the Drakes and how I made it.
What’s available?
The Drakes are a cluster of tropical islands far to the east so fruits and spices will be plentiful. However, the four primary sauce options will be;
Sweet Chili
Spicy Curry
Savory Tzatziki
Spicy Honey Mustard
The island is filled with numerous creatures, but the primary ‘beasts’ that are gathered for meat are the dinosaurs and crazy insect population. To continue simply listing ingredients the primary kinds of meat are;
(Steak) Hadrosaurus: Large herbivorous dinosaur with a bony head crest.
(Chicken) Ball Beetles: This 2 lbs. land crustacean rolls into a ball like a pillbug when startled, making it really easy for humanoids to catch it for dinner.
(Lamb) Flying Centipedes: These 4 foot long centipedes have 6 pairs of wings that allow it to fly through the air.
(Tofu) Red Caps: These thick red mushrooms have caps that can grow up to 3 feet in height. It is plentiful throughout the drakes and filled with all kinds of nutrients.
(Muscles) Blackwater Snails: These hefty quarter pound mollusks are minor nuisance around the docks since their hard shells are easy to trip on.
(Tuna) Tuna: Its a fish
With this basic starting list I can move on to Stall Food which is easily constructed and readily available.
Stall Food
These items could be eaten alone, as a snack, or served as an appetizer.
Kababs: A stick skewering the choice meat with grilled in the desired sauce.
Fly-Frys: A serving of 6 to 10 flying centipedes which have had their wings plucked, then the centipedes are battered and dumped into a fryer. These crunchy critters are served with sweet chili or spicy honey mustard sauce.
Fried Rice: This rice has an assortment of vegetables is fried with your choice of meat.
Guacachitin: This guacamole dip is served with fried chitin chips made from various insects.
Dinochanga: This wrapped sandwich if filled with your choice of meat and then fried to give it a crisp outer crust.
Tacos: This crisp chitin shell is filled with your choice of meat and sauce, and is topped with appropriate vegetables.
Fancy Food
Several items in the Stall Food part could be turned into a fancier version with rice, beans, salad, or soup as a side dish, but in addition to those here are a few menu items that you can’t just walk around with and are meant to be enjoyed as a meal.
Curry: This saucy dish is served with your choice of meat and a bowl of chitin chips.
Fajitas: This deconstructed Dinochanga is served with the desired meat sizzling on a skillet.
Rolls: This rolled rice is filled with fresh uncooked meat of your choice and presented with your choice of sauce and ocean water for the saltiness.
Pearl: This is a specially prepared Ball Beetle. The creature is startled into a ball, the cook shoves various sauces and spice toward the beetles belly near the center of the ball, coats the beetle in clay and bakes it for 24 hours allowing the invertebrate’s meat to become soft and infused with flavor. The chef then removes the clay when the pearl is ordered and the customer can break open the pearl releasing a cloud of intoxicating smells into the air.
Drinks
I wanted to give my players a wide selection of beverages to choose from and this is what I settled on for now.
Tea: Green, Chai, and Black are most common
Coffee: Black, Vanilla, and Perro (partially digested coffee beans that have a stronger flavor).
Beer: Stout Drake (Stout) and Pale Sails (Lager)
Wine: Isle Mist (White) and Isle Blood (Red)
Liquor: Runner’s Rum
This is a good enough list that I have prepared material and enough knowledge of what’s available to wing menu items when necessary. Now the real question, did ANY of you find this particular post interesting? I find these mental exercises fun and laying out my thought process could be beneficial for you, but I actually have no idea if this is the kind of content you want. Just let me know in the comments what you think.
Thank you.