𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 — 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃, 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐈
𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝
𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧.
𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞
𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
After several days of highly scientific investigation (opening cupboards, staring at shelves, and looking far too closely at what people leave sitting on tables), I believe I have begun to understand White Orchard's actual diet.
The answer, unsurprisingly, is apples.
An astonishing quantity of apples.
Apples baked whole. Apples in pies. Apples preserved. Apples drying. Apples waiting to become something else.
If White Orchard were somehow cut off from the rest of the Continent, I suspect its population could survive for several years simply by consuming apples in increasingly creative forms.
I have yet to determine whether this is admirable or concerning.
Potatoes appear nearly as common.
Baked potatoes are found regularly in homes and inns alike, suggesting they form one of the region's most reliable staples. Combined with milk, butter, cheese, or whatever scraps of meat happen to be available, they provide substantial meals for relatively little cost, dear reader.
One can easily imagine large pots of mashed potatoes accompanying roasted meats, or potatoes sliced into gratins and baked slowly near the hearth!
I suspect every household has its own preferred method. And every household is convinced theirs is the correct one.
The dairy situation is also encouraging!
Milk appears regularly throughout the village, which is hardly surprising given the number of cattle grazing nearby. Where there is milk, there is cream. Where there is cream, there is butter. Where there is butter, civilization survives.
Cheese is likewise common enough to suggest local production rather than exclusive reliance on trade.
I have begun making notes. Extensive notes. Perhaps, excessively extensive notes.
The cheese investigation continues. Bread appears everywhere.
This is not remarkable in itself, but it does confirm my earlier suspicions regarding grain cultivation. Most meals seem built around bread, potatoes, vegetables, and whatever protein happens to be available.
I have observed roasted chicken legs in numerous locations.
Chickens are plentiful throughout White Orchard, making them one of the most accessible sources of meat and eggs. Roasting appears common, likely because it requires little preparation and allows entire households to share a single bird.
Geese as well, too many have been caught lolly-gagging around the inn, mind you. One can imagine festive meals built around roasted waterfowl, perhaps stuffed with apples, onions, herbs, or dried fruits.
As a daughter of Toussaint, I wholeheartedly approve.
More interesting still are the numerous pigs. Not merely living pigs. Dead pigs. Hanging pigs.
Pigs suspended from hooks in a manner that strongly suggests active meat preservation.
This implies the existence of hams, cured meats, sausages, smoked cuts, rendered fats, and all manner of preserved pork products.
Frankly, if one raises pigs and does not make sausages, I begin to question one's priorities.
I suspect White Orchard possesses a thriving culture of preservation born from necessity. Rillettes seem plausible, pâtés even more so.
Various forms of smoked or salted pork almost certainly exist, especially considering the uncertainties brought by war.
When fresh food cannot be guaranteed, preserved food becomes precious. The forests surrounding the village likely contribute additional variety.
Rabbits seem particularly probable, hares as well. Deer and venison would not surprise me in the slightest, especially among hunters supplying nearby settlements and also the quantity of wolves hanging around.
A venison stew thickened with root vegetables and dark beer feels entirely appropriate for the region. Perhaps, adding beer to one would do the White Orchard vilageers some good.
I noticed, beer may be more important than it first appears.
The abundance of spirits and alcoholic beverages in both the inns and houses suggests that fermentation plays a major role in local food culture.
Not only for drinking, but also for cooking.
Beer can enrich stews, tenderize tougher cuts of meat, and create rich sauces. A village capable of brewing is a village capable of making surprisingly sophisticated food with otherwise humble ingredients.
And White Orchard, for all its hardships, strikes me as a place of humble ingredients elevated by practicality.
The drinks themselves are fascinating.
Homemade pepper vodka immediately caught my attention. The concept alone suggests people here have looked at ordinary vodka and decided it was insufficiently alarming... I respect the commitment.
Cherry cordial appears frequently enough to indicate access to fruit preservation and sugar or honey. Mandrake cordial is, admittedly, another matter entirely, I am still determining whether it qualifies as a beverage or an alchemical experiment.
The same may be said for several bottles I encountered whose labels inspired more questions than answers. There are also imported beverages.
Nilfgaardian Lemon, Redanian Herbal, Mahakaman Spirit, Dwarven Spirit... These suggest trade routes remain active despite the war, at least to some degree.
White Orchard may be rural, but it is not isolated.
Goods move, people move, recipes move... That is how culinary traditions grow!
Plums deserve special mention, now that I remember-... I have encountered them often enough to suspect they play an important role locally. Fresh plums are excellent, of course, but they also preserve beautifully.
Dried plums. Plum preserves. Plums soaked in spirits. Plums baked into pastries. Plums cooked alongside pork. Plums transformed into sauces.
The possibilities are extensive and, frankly, delicious!
Combined with the village's apparent abundance of apples, they provide a strong foundation for desserts! Simple crumbles, tarts, pies, baked fruits served with cream...
The sort of comforting food people make when they need reminding that life contains joys beyond war and monsters.
One final observation! Water is present. Milk is present. Beer is present. Wine appears occasionally. Vinegar almost certainly exists.
Which means White Orchard possesses all the foundations necessary for pickling, preserving, marinating, and extending the life of valuable ingredients.
The people here are not extravagant they are very much resourceful.
Every cupboard, every cellar, every hanging cut of meat tells the same story: Food is too valuable to waste.
And perhaps that is why I find White Orchard so interesting compared to Toussaint, or Oxenfurt, or even Novigrad!
At first glance it appears simple, but the longer I stay, the more I suspect its cuisine is built upon generations of people learning how to make abundance from uncertainty.
Also, I found another apple.
I felt it important to record this.
[𝐍𝐁: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 "𝐈 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝."
𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 "𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐰?"
𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧-𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 "𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥" 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟑 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬: 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬" 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬!]
