The Worldbuilder Diaries: Food and Drink
As someone who enjoys cooking/baking in real life, I have added some mentions of food into my books, and they’re not always the typical variety, either. I have several species featured that don’t have the typical human-style omnivore diet, and their food preferences also come up in my stories. For the purpose of this post, I’m going to focus mostly on those because I find it more interesting.
The Felenes of The Relics of War
The Felene people are a feline people who inhabit the jungles of the southern continent. One Felene of note is Maryn, who joins Vardak and his group as they embark on a journey to locate the celestial goddess’ temple. Maryn’s food preferences come up not long after he joins the others.
Since they’re feline, I thought it was best to make them strict carnivores, just as real world cats are. And since they live in the jungle, some of their meal choices are a bit unusual. Maryn is shown on-page snacking on dried lizards, but he also mentions spiders (I’ll admit, I drew some inspiration for Maryn’s diet from watching Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.)
The Botanaari of Wraith and the Revolution
The Botanaari people required more research on my end than any other fictional species I’ve written into a book to date. They’re evolved from carnivorous plants, and though they have a humanoid appearance, their dietary requirements are somewhat unique. (I had to research other aspects of plant biology when designing them too. I may be a scientist—and a type of biologist—but plants aren’t something I ever studied extensively.)
The Botanaari people are green due to the chlorophyll in their skin. They can photosynthesize, but like real carnivorous plants, they require additional nutrients that can only be obtained from consuming insects or meat. Botanaari cuisine comes up a few times throughout the book.
The tricky part with the Botanaari is that it’s taboo for them to consume anything derived from plants (it would be a form of cannibalism, if you think about it.) That eliminates most of your typical baking ingredients, spices, and every fruit, vegetable, or nut-derived product you can imagine. When specific ingredients came up in the book, things like “ground cricket flour” are mentioned.
Tessamir from Serpentus
Tessamir (or Tess, as she’s often referred to) is a human character, but what makes her special is that she dabbles in brewing.
This was inspired by my husband’s hobby of making wine, and as a microbiologist, I know a little bit about the process, since it involves yeast. It was fun to make this addition to the story, both as part of Tess’ back story, and as something I have some experience in.
The Sevanni from The Mage War Chronicles
The Sevanni are an aquatic species that had human ancestors. Since they live solely underwater, none of their food is cooked. They consume mostly fish and shellfish, supplemented by things like sea lettuce or seaweed.
The main character of book 3, Magic in the Deeps, has to learn about fire and cooked food once he finds himself stranded on land… And he discovers a love for sugary treats and mead while he’s there.
The Murkor from The Relics of War
While the reader doesn’t see much of the Murkor society in the main trilogy, they do get to experience it in the related works, both Serpentus and The Ballad of Alchemy and Steel. And like the other non-human species I’ve mentioned so far, they have their own style of cuisine.
Meat is reserved for special occasions, as the Murkor people don’t tend herds. However, there are fish available to them in the subterranean lakes beneath their cavernous home, and they cultivate mushrooms. Honey is also available to them, in part through trade with other people, and in part from the wild hives that can be found near their caverns.
The Murkor diet is similar to their human counterparts, but is simply a bit restricted due to their geographical location.
I hope you enjoyed the latest in The Worldbuilder Diaries, and if you’d like to check out previous posts, they’re all here: The Worldbuilder Diaries Blog Series