Rapture food headcanons? Everybody just learned to love sushi?
(This is a huge, multifaceted answer so forgive me if I ramble. )
Food production in Rapture is super intriguing. Let’s begin:
Sushi isn’t the most popular dish, but fish is definitely a huge cornerstone in the food of Rapture. Seafood, especially the local species like cod, haddock, and redfish- are now considered the poor man’s chicken, simply because of how inexpensive and plentiful they are.
Kelp is the new wheat substitute- grows easily in the area, relatively easy to maintain, and also filling, it’s also a meal staple for the lower-class, and kelp bread is a common affordable bakery dish (While it still uses wheat, the kelp acts like filler to stretch the dough, making it much cheaper) Flour is still used and sold, and is slightly less then on the surface, because the process of filling it out with kelp and therefore using less had reduced demand. Potatoes are also pretty inexpensive, as they’re easy to buy and ship from the surface.
In contrast to the surface world, crab is a LOT cheaper. This is because the location of the city is much closer to in proximity to their habitat, and so is much easier to collect for sale. Although it’s much more affordable in the city, old habits die hard, and the elite still enjoys crabmeat on the regular. As such the price is inflated in most fancy bistros, to appeal to the wealthy citizens’ sense of exclusiveness and make a bit more profit. However, smugglers make a fast dollar selling incredibly cheap crab at basement price to the poorer populations. ‘Bargain crab’ is the receiver of much slander by Rapture’s elite, though it’s essentially the same.
In the city, the cost of bulky livestock meats- like pork and beef, have exploded, due to the fact that raising cows or pigs in an underwater city is nigh impossible, so all meat must be imported from outside sources. While current average cost of a pound of beef is $3.70 (USD), in Rapture the same amount could easily go for $10 (Rapture Dollars). Pork is about $12 (RD) a pound, as well. Dairy is equally expensive, as it is very temperature sensitive and must be kept consistently cool during shipping.
The vegetable and fruit sales are different in their status because the city can actually support some forms of plant life- you can see in Julie Langford’s office, she has plant incubators and in Arcadia, you can see trees, flowers, and insect life in the garden. While most of these plant species are ambiguous, we are given a specific species of plant in game- the rosa gallica, or French rose. With that, we can make a safe guess as to what kind of climate Arcadia emulates. As rosa gallica is predominant in Southern and parts of Central Europe, we can safely guess that the natural environment in Arcadia (and by extension, the organic environment of Rapture) is decidedly Mediterranean. This says that some specific kinds of vegetation, including olive, mandarin, fig, pomegranate, lemon, walnut, and grapefruit trees can be raised in this environment. The merchants of Rapture likely knew this, so the marketplace would have been rife with Mediterranean produce. It wouldn’t be unusual to find a fruit merchant with a private fruit grove.
While plans for other regional nurseries are in the making, the Arcadia/Mediterranean vegetation is the most popular because of the accessibility of suitable environment
Produce from other regions is a bit more expensive because of this. Fruits and vegetables from cooler regions are a bit more expensive: for example, while the average pound of apples is $1 (USD) in Rapture the same amount goes for $2.50.
Coffee is still pretty cheap, though! This is because the beans are small enough to be shipping en masse, and don’t expire as quickly as fresh fruits like raspberries or bananas.
Luxuries like chocolate are much more expensive- while not quite the tripled price of pork or beef, it is quite a jump in costs. While the current average price of for a pound of chocolate is roughly $15, in Rapture it’s $21 for the same weight.
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