food in the wasteland
this post is inspired by @newvegascowboy 's post on food in the wasteland (go check it out if you haven't read it, its wonderful), and it got me thinking, much of the world in fallout has one characteristic, in one way or another, there is always some group grasping onto the past, and i wondered how that could affect food
lots of folks hold recipes and family tradition close, and at the end of the world that's all some folks have, and with that thought i started wondering how culture would affect food and food would affect culture
a couple notes first, if yall will humour me
i wont be covering fallout 76 or prime (for now) as i have next to no knowledge of them
the Nuka world dlc will get its own post because of unique circumstance within the setting
this wont be all encompassing, it is a collection of thoughts and notes (which yall can use as a basis for any ideas)
yall are wonderful and enjoy
comonwealth
go to meats/eggs
radstag (doe,buck,etc)
brahmin (also used for leather, milk, fertiliser)
yao guai
deathclaw
deathclaw eggs
commonwealth fish
horseshoe mirelurk (young and adult)
mirelurk hunter
mirelurk eggs
(supposedly iguana and squirrel)
clam/oyster (farharbour item called oyster bucket, implies shellfish in general area (all other animals drop meat but it is less appealing or too much effort for everyday people)
major crops
mutfruit
razorgrain
tato
gourd
melon
carrot
corn
tarberry
all fresh variants aswell
foraged plants (food/medicine)
hubflower
bloodleaf
brain fungus
wild carrot flower
glowing fungus
wild gourd blossom
wild tarberry
wild razorgrain
wild mutfruit
wild corn
thistle
wild tato blossoms
silt bean
wild melon blossom
ash blossom
mutated fern flower
theoretical cooking components
butter
cheese
seed oils
tallow (brahmin or yao guai)
maple syrup/sap (maple trees are found in the commonwealth)
pre-existing recipes + theorized realworld components
noodles (ramen made by takashi): razorgrain noodles (alkaline water+razorgrain flower) cooked in broth (brahmin likely), may have additions
molerat chunks: cubed molerat fried in seasonings
radscorpion omelet: radscorpion egg mixed with milk, fried and filled with preference
stingwing filet: fileted and fried stingwing
yao guai roast: yao guai meat, cooked in a thin layer of water in a covered pan, cooked with chopped carrots and tatos (maybe some kind of seasoning or something)
radstag stew: cubed radstag, stewed with cubed gourd and chopped tatos, cooked with a splash of vodka (maybe other seasoning+carrots)
squirell stew: chopped squirell, stewed with chopped tato and carrots, seasoned with bloodleaf
mirelurk cake: chopped mirelurk mixed with mirelurk egg and day old razorgrain bread, fried in thin layer of oil
deathclaw wellingham: heat milk, razorgrain flour, and cheese in a pot till melted and thick, dice/grate tato's, after which mix them in then put to side to cool, mix deathclaw eggwhites till stiff, and fold into cooled-down mixture, place in can and bake
vegetable soup: cook vegetables and seasoning of choice till water becomes broth and vegetables are soft
deathclaw omellet: mix together a deathclaw egg and milk, dice carrots and or mutfruit for filling, fry and fill
sweetroll: mix milk, butter, razorgrain flour and an egg of your chosing, and bake into a small roll, cover with a sugar based glaze of choice
mirelur omelet: mix mirelurk egg with milk, fry and fill with prefference (like mirelurk)
pretty much any meat: fried/grilled/poached (use common sense)
moonshine: bobrov secret recipe
possible local foods
marinated roast beef
"lobster" roll
clam chowder
baked silt beans
clambake
yankee potroast
baked fish
boiled mirelurk
maple anything
fried clams
seafood soups
homemade razorgrain bread/rolls
new england boiled dinner
homemade doughnuts?
vodka
mutfruit cider/wine
wines made from most fruits
cornmeal breads
gravies
mashed tatos
boiled tatos
cooked/boiled vegetables
vibes of the food
hardy food, mostly local with a lot of proteins and carbs, stuff that lasts, especially through the winter. diamond city and goodneighbour have more high end food, good cuts of beef, venison and even deathclaw are found in the markets, takashi toils over hardy broths and succulent mirelurk paired with glowing fungus, fresh breads and high end cooking, down south and along the coast, theres lots of fish and mirelurk on the menu, small house gardens, while to the north there are many orchards, and fields, small by prewar status but mind blowing to folks who come from dc way, central boston is home to more merging of the local diets, but much more pre-war food, folks scrounge for food more than grow it. the food is almost reminiscent of the colonial days, lots of dried or canned goods
the island
go to meats
rad-rabbit
erratic/island radstag
yao guai
fog crawler
hermit crab
mirelurk
mirelurk hunter
commonwealth fish
mackrel
haddock
angler
barnacle
dolphish (dolphin creature)
wolf
clam/oyster (farharbour item called oyster bucket, implies shellfish in general area
crops (most likely to br grown on island)
corn
tatos
carrots most crops are likely shiped in, as growing conditions are rough
foraged plants
aster
black bloodleaf
blight
cave fungus
lure weed
raw sap (maple)
wild gourd (blossom)
wild mutfruit
wild carrot
hub flower
wild tato (blossom)
wild corn
silt bean
mutated fern
razorgrain (found growing feral)
theoretical cooking stuff
tallow
dolphish blubber
syrup (made from sap)
pre-existing recipe + theories of contents
chicken noodle soup: chicken thigh cooked with chopped carrots, razorgrain or cornmeal noodles and seasoned with black bloodleaf
ground molerat: cooked ground molerat meat
gulper slurry: gulper innards stewed with carrot and tato, seasoned with black bloodleaf
wares brew: alcohol distilled from sap
the captains feast: yao guai roast cooked with tato and carrots, cooked in vodka and seasoned with black bloodleaf
sludge cocktail: mix condensed fog, blight and water
seasoned rabbit skewers: fried rabbit and skewers seaoned with aster, black bloodleaf, lureweed and blight (fried in oil, oil coated rabbit as its cooked)
resilient sludge cocktail: condensed fog, bloodbug meat and rad-x
mirelurk jerky: dried mirelurk coated with tarberry juice
wolf ribs: rib meat of a wolf, seasoned with lureweed as cooked
possible recipes
chowder
cooked clam/oysters
boiled mirelurk
"lobster" rolls
ployes
clambake
needhams (made with tato)
mirelurk cakes
"indian pudding" made with syrup not molases
homemade "cornbread" (more bread like}
baked fish
fried fish
boiled fog crawler
cooked meats
homemade stews
fried eggs
homemade gravy
roast chicken
homebrewed alcohol
baked (silt) beans
razorgrainmeal (oatmeal stand in)
food vibes very hearty but humble, lots of seafood, meat heavy meals are meant for special occasions, salted foods are common, lots of preserved foods, very dense foods, very filling, typical of a town where you have to worry about fish people and ancient sea gods, it is the food of people who think that an easy week is half a day off after a full 50 hour work week, imported foods like mutfruit jam is saved for the guests kinda food
washington
meats
brahmin
molerat
yao guai
mirelurk
radroach
possibly iguana (iguana bits)
possibly squirell (squirell bits)
crops/plants
apple
pear
carrot
potato
mutfruit
crunchy mutfruit
cooking components
butter
cheese
tallow
pre-existing recipes + components and stuff
mirelurk cakes: mirelurk meat, eggs and potato starch, fried in oil/butter
noodles: potato starch noodles boiled in a simple broth
squirell stew: made with squirell, potato and carrots
cooked meat
possible recipes
boiled mirelurk
apple "jam"
potato bread
food vibes desperate and despair, most soil is unfarmable due to all the bombs, people eat what they catch, brahmin are sickly and produce precious little food, its inventive in a sad way, even with cleaned up rivers the fish are still unfit to eat, and will be for a while, the soil will take lots of tlc and hydroponics can only do so much, its a wasteland
the mojave
go to meats/egg
bighorner (used for milk, wool and hides)
brahmin (used for milk, fertiliser, transport and hides)
deathclaw
deathclaw eggs
gecko (used for hides too)
gecko eggs
perch
minnow
suposedly iguana and squirell (iguana/squirell bits)
molerat
crops (some imported)
crunchy mutfruit
fresh apple
fresh pear
fresh carrot
fresh potato
jalapeno
maize
mutfruit
pinto bean
foraged (and farmed) plants
barrel cactus
bannana yucca
broc flower
buffalo gourd
cave fungus
honey mesquite
nevada agave
pinyon nuts
prickly pear
white horsenettle
xander root
possible cooking components
butter
cheese
tallow
oil
chile oil
pre-existing recipes + components
brahmin wellington: brahmin steak, wrapped in ant egg puff pastry
caravan lunch: cram, instamash and pork and beans
desert salad: xander greens, topped with sliced barrel cactus, thin sliced dried brahmin meat and pinyon nuts
gecko kebab: gecko meat marinated in jalapeno and banana yucca
noodles: cornmeal noodles cooked in a broth
ruby's caserole: cornmeal crust filled with chopped molerat marinated in jalapeno and radscorpion venom
trail mix: fresh apple+pear, pinyon nuts and sugar bombs
wasteland omelet: deathclaw eg mixed with brahmin milk, filled with a mixture of blamco mac n cheese, mutfruit and lakelurk meat
possible recipes
Chateaubriand
onion rings (the strip)
ribs
cornbread
grits
tortilla
chicken fried steak
baked potato
mashed potato
homemade gravy
green chili stew
mutton stew (bighorner)
sagebrush salad
quesadilla
stuffed peppers
chile
sauted corn (corn, chiles. seasonings)
stews -soups
tamales
grilled maize
fried fish (near lake mead)
cactus fries
nopales
jalapeno poppers
sopapillas
homemade bread
homemade rolls
food vibes western-new mexico, the strip has more high end food but most of the mojave has more rural staples, very flavourful, kinda ranch food, keeps you going all day and makes you glad to come home, really homecooked vibes, lots of variations, like never ask for a recipe in a crowded room cause it will start a fight over whose grandma had the better recipe, lots of meat and vegetables, very little fish, not a lot of "pickyness" over food
zion canyon traditional
meat
perch
rainbow trout
yao guai
gecko
mantis
bighorner
molerat
plants
cave fungi
daturana
sacred datura
xander root
prickly pear
spore plant pods
bannana yucca
honey mesquite
pinyon nuts
cooking components
tallow
recipes
stews
fried meats
fried xander greens
fried fish
fried mushroom
roasted pinyon nuts
food vibes not highly intricate but somehow nostalgic, very traditional indigenous, simple in an uncomplicated way not a bad way, some of the best quality ingredients around, clean food and clean water, smoky flavors, food isn't meant to be showy or fancy, its meant to leave you full and happy as you spend time with family, its meant to be honored and not wasted
new California republic
meat
brahmin
deathclaw
deathclaw egg
gecko
gecko egg
fish
various wild game
crops
potato
onion
cabbage
maize
green mutfruit
fava bean
apple
rice
tomato
carrot
foraged
seaweed
recipes
shi rice: cooked rice served with a side of seaweed or fish
brahmin, any cut of meat grilled or fried
cornbread
grits
tortillas
cabbage soup
chile
cabbage salad
mashed potatos
baked potato
sauerkraut-coleslaw
pickled veg
jerky
mashed potato
baked potato
stews
soups
food vibes very diverse, lots of regional staples, San Francisco has lots of seafood while towns like Modoc have mostly brahmin meat and veg, Klamath has gecko, its very locale dependent ¨(out of character, fallout 1-2 is super bleak and sparse) food is often a matter of survival more than fancy, with the exemption of larger settlements and cities where imports are available and you can afford to experiment with food
