The Power of Food in Fantasy World Building
A Quick Taste: What is this Blog About?
So today, I want to take you on a different kind of tour through the Lands of Vaniya. Not the mountains or the mythology this time. The kitchens and the market stalls, the things that Tarun, the Pathika, the Khans and all the characters eat.
This post is definitely for you if you are a foodie, a writer in world building mode, or an epic fantasy reader.
The Banquet Begins Here: World-Building: It’s the Small Details that Makes a World Feel Alive and Believable
I want to tell you something about what the early mornings are like, the ones I spend in Vaniya before the sun rises and the working day begins.
It is not always battles, portals, prophecies and confrontations with the dark djinn. Many of them are quieter than that. Sometimes, I am sitting with Tarun in the kitchen of his home in Xhadur, and his mother, Umdhala, has made toa, a simple porridge of milled maize and a staple of the poor. As the warmth of the toa fills Tarun belly, the dark shadow of Malazhiim fades for a moment.
These quieter moments taught me something that I have come to believe deeply about fantasy world building. The smallest details are what make the world feel real, and sometimes, you’ll get a reader who just loves an almost inconsequential detail that you spent, what might have seemed to you, to be an inordinate amount of time on.
One such case for me was when I got an email, not about the geography, the mythology, nor the magic system, though all of those matter enormously. It was about a dessert. A small dish that appears and disappears in four lines.
If you are world building as a writer, have fun with the detail, with these faint brush strokes. When these feel real, the bigger world that they live in feels real.
How Food and Drink Enhance World Building aka Foodbuilding as World Building.
Food in Vaniya is never incidental.
Food can tell you many things about a person and their culture. What someone eats, how they prepare it, what they cherish as part of a celebration, what their grandparents cooked, and what they can afford, all help paint a rich picture.
So, let’s get into it and give you your first taste of the foods of Vaniya.
Charra [chahr-rah] Deadly if you have a weakness for sweets and freshly baked bread.
Charra is a traditional sweet bun sold in the markets and tea houses of Hymez. They are always mouth wateringly good, but there is one place above all others that charra-lovers flock, Ranaji’s tea shop. The warm, sweet smell of freshly baked charra laced with melted sugar and cinnamon, float out into the streets, drawing in hungry workers and excited children by their droves.
While the Barons and wealthy snobs of Hymez often turn their noses up at charra while in public, dismissing it a Xhadurian food of the poor. You will find many of them secretly sending their servants to Ranaji’s in the early hours of the morning to pick up a fresh batch.
It seems that no matter who you are in Hymez, these simple, sweet buns cut through the divisive layers of social class.
The Isfah Nut [isz-fahr nuht] A lesson in patience.
Here's a small thing I love about world building: sometimes an ingredient ends up meaning more than you intended when you invented it.
The Isfah nut is a bitter nut, genuinely unpleasant if you try to eat it straight off the tree. But soak it in water overnight, and something changes. It becomes palatable, producing a taste similar to Brazil nuts. Soaked and ground into a paste with jaggery, isfah nut becomes genuinely delicious, used in small cakes like duluz, and in a milkshake-style drink called sualla, made from fresh fruit and sweetened Isfah nut milk.
I didn't plan for this nut to mean anything beyond being a tasty detail in the world. But it seems as if a little message was held inside its husk. The lesson is that some of the best things require patience before they are ready to be enjoyed. You can't rush the soaking of the isfah nut, you can't shortcut the process. But your patience is always rewarded. In fact, I think that isfah tastes better because of the time and effort you must put into its preparation.
Vaniya has a lot of ideas like this, hiding in small places.
The Wealth of Duzkah, Served in a Bowl.
Cross the border from Yehriin and you will find yourself in the grand capital of Kymihz, the city of Duzkah (see the map below).
The food in Duzkah reflects the opulence of this city, built in the image its money-hungry Khan, Khymir.
Paziz [pah-zeez]
Paziz is a sign of status in Duzkah, often served to guests to show off your wealth. It is as much a treat for the eyes as it is for the tastebuds, delectable in every way. Striking lilac-coloured ice cream served with rare nuts, exotic dried fruit and a sprinkling of rose petals.
Tempted?
Maliz [mah-leez]
Another favourite in Duzkah, this one though is not a food, but a drink. Maliz is a particularly potent beverage made from fermented ruuda [roo-dah], an aromatic, spiky, orange-and-green spotted fruit with bittersweet red flesh. Maliz is often drunk as part of a celebration and when Duzkahrans raise a cup of maliz they say "bizlah!" [bhiz-lah] an exclamation used to toast another person, not unlike "cheers" in English. It is one of the words that you learn quickly if you spend any time in Duzkahran company.
A Question for You.
I'd love to know, of these first foods of Vaniya that I have introduced you to,what would you actually want to try?
The lilac paziz with rose petals? A bowl of toa with jaggery? A glass of maliz, if you're feeling brave?
Drop a comment and tell me. And if there's a corner of Vaniya's world you'd like me to explore next, the creatures, the languages, the sacred ceremonies, or anything else let me know that too. This series goes wherever you want it to.
Thank you for sitting at this table with me a little longer.
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