Dama cuisine

Dama cuisine is the national cuisine of Asidama. Dama cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. Traditionally, Dama cuisine is based upon five fundamental "pillars": spicy, sour, savory, sweet, and bitter. Common ingredients include fish sauce, shrimp paste, rice, and fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Dama recipes commonly call for garlic, ginger, mint, chilis, basil, lemongrass, and cinnamon for seasoning.

Throughout its history, Asidama has been involved in trade due to its location and natural resources. Asidama's indigenous techniques and ingredients have been influenced by cultures from Skephon to the west, Osamia to the east, and even Harad and Alutra to the north. Alutran traders from Salia, Edury, and Gladomyr introduced produce from the western hemisphere prior to and during Asidama's self-imposed isolation.

History
Because of Asidama's geographic location, rice and fish have historically been the two most important sources of nutrients in the Dama diet. Rice is a staple food that has been eaten at nearly every meal for many millennia. Rice is believed to have been cultivated in what is now Asidama since 3,000 BCE. The advanced hydraulic engineering developed during the Hingu period allowed the Dama to harvest rice and other crops three to four times a year. According to the World Forum Panel on Rice, there are over 1,000 rice varieties uniquely indigenous to Asidama bred over the centuries by farmers. Many spices in Dama cuisine were introduced by merchants hailing from neighboring Skephon and Osamia around the second century CE. Influence from mainland Skephon resulted in the extensive use of noodles and stir frying.

From the 9th to 15th centuries, the culinary influence of the growing Dama thalassocracy spread far beyond the borders of modern-day Asidama into what is now Mitruhmoer, Gemurtrak, Shemia, and neighboring lands. Dama palace food developed into a refined royal cuisine through the Dama royal cooks. Beginning in the 14th century, foreign merchants began introducing new-world crops such as tomatoes, papaya, pineapple, corn, potato, sweet potato, cassava, and chili. These foodstuffs were incorporated into the developing Dama cuisine, which reached its pinnacle in the 15th century before experiencing a period of stagnation coinciding with Asidama's period of self-imposed isolation. Following the opening of the country a few centuries later, mostly conservative Dama chefs had some initial difficulties acclimating to the modern global culinary scene. However, today, Dama cuisine is regarded as among the best in the region for its powerful yet simple flavors and ingredients.

Sauces
In the Dama language, a distinction is made between fermented seafood depending on its consistency and ingredients. Chunky sauces usually have more solid pieces of the fermented ingredient, whereas fine sauces have more homogeneous consistencies. Chunky sauces are prepared by adding a mixture of salt, roasted sticky red rice, and palm sugar to fish filets of the chef's choice before allowing them to ferment for at least a year. The palm sugar and rice give the sauce an earthier and sweeter flavor and a reddish tone. Fine sauces on the other hand can be made from small fish with all the bones and less salt or large deboned fish and more salt which in turn can be made with or without roe. Fine sauce can also be made by pounding cleaned, dried, and salted shrimp into a smooth paste, sun drying it for a day, pounding it again, drying for two more days, and pounding it a final time to achieve the desired consistency.

Other sauces used in Dama cuisine include fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind sauce, and hoisin sauce. Fish sauce in particular is an important ingredient used to add saltiness to soups and other dishes, marinating meats, or as a dipping sauce. Likewise, oyster sauce is commonly used to add a tangy-sweet flavor to meats and vegetables. Soy sauce is commonly mixed with garlic or aged radish and eaten with high protein dishes, as well as used to add saltiness when fish sauce isn't used. Tamarind sauce is made from tamarind paste mixed with fish sauce, garlic, chili peppers, lime juice, palm sugar, and vinegar. Hoisin sauce is used to marinated meat for grilling or soups.

Herbs and spices
The most commonly used herbs and spices in Dama cuisine are sweet basil, coriander, hot mint, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chives. Other popular herbs include kaffir lime leaves,neem leaves, peppermint, scallions, saw leaf, fingerroot, bamboo shoots, and paddy leaf. The cultivation of peppercorns in Asidama dates back to at least the 9th century CE, and because of its uniquely strong yet delicate aroma, described as having a "slightly sweet, eucalyptus taste" it is regarded as among the world's finest peppers.

Fruits and vegetables
Fruit is so central to culinary life in Asidama and so popular that they have their own royal court. The mango is considered the "king," the pineapple the "queen", mangosteen the "prince", and the tamarind the "princess." Other popular fruits include the durian, papaya, watermelon, banana, citrus, rambutan, guava, longan, rose apple, and milk fruit. Although fruits are usually considered desserts, some such as ripe mangoes, pineapple, and watermelon are commonly eaten with heavily salted fish and plain rice. Fruit is also made into smoothies, with popular fruits including durian, mangoes, and bananas. Sun-dried limes boiled in sugar and saltwater are used in fowl-based soups, sauces with fish, and beverages.

The Dama diet consists heavily of leafy vegetables, such as cabbage, kale, betel, spinach, and watercress, which are all used in soups, stir-fries, and salads. Dama cuisine also uses different squashes (bitter melon, winter melon, kabocha, and luffa), root vegetables (carrots, cassava, potatoes, radish, sweet potatoes, jicama), and other vegetables such as cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, cauliflower, merlitons, shallots, and maize. Many unripe fruits, such as papaya, green banana, and mango, are utilized as vegetables.

Fish and meat
There are more than 1,000 different fresh and saltwater species of fish found in Asidama. Hundreds of thousands of tons of fish are caught in Asidama every year, and the average Dama citizen consumes 63 kg of fish on average annually. They are fried, dried, smoked, and fermented into various sauces. Fish and fish products are eaten from two to three times a day. Popular fish include snappers, mackerel, snakehead, and catfish. Other seafood includes an array of shellfish such as crabs, clams, cockles, crawfish, shrimp, and squid. Boiled or fried cockles seasoned with salt, chili, and garlic are a popular street food. Giant prawns are usually eaten by middle or upper class Damas due to their price.

Historically, consumption of meat from terrestrial animals was considerably more rare, limited to the wealthy elite and inland ranching communities. With the introduction of cattle in the second century BCE, cattle began to be utilized for their meat and hides. Since the second half of the 20th century, the role of meat in the Dama diet has increased significantly, and nowadays the consumption of meat such as beef, pork, and poultry has become common, especially in the capital region. There, ground pork and beef are made into sweet and spicy sausages that are eaten atop steamed rice or porridge. Beef and chicken are commonly stewed, grilled, or stir-fried, while roasted duck is popular during festivals. More traditional terrestrial fare includes frogs, turtles, and arthropods (such as ants, water bugs, and crickets).

Soups and stews
Coconut-pineapple stew is made using red fish paste, coconut cream, palm sugar, and fish sauce with pieces of pineapple, eggplant, and shallots. It is garnished with coriander and basil and eaten over steamed rice.

Sour soup is a broad class of soups whereby the dominant flavor is an aromatic, citrusy tartness, with many different versions. Nearly every major town or region has its own unique version. Yàn-style sour soup features chunky fish paste, turmeric, cabbage, coriander, stewed beef ribs, and tripe. Nui-style soup contains bamboo shoots and shrimp, while Baisu-style features tomato, pineapple, catfish, basil, and lotus rhizome. The sourness and citrus flavor can come from the fish paste, tamarind, lemongrass, lime, lime juice, or herbs such as lemon basil.

Stirring-pot soup is another classic, considered to be one of Asidama's national dishes. It consists of fine and chunky fish pastes, roasted ground rice, a meat (catfish, pork, or chicken), vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Primary vegetables include kabocha, taro, and various mushrooms.

Stir-fries and rice dishes
A common breakfast street food item is fishy rice, featuring rice, grilled or fried fish, chive soup, pickled vegetables (particularly radishes), and soy sauce or fish sauce condiments.

Fried ginger is a spicy stir fry of meat (eel, frog, or chicken) flavored with julienned ginger root, black pepper, garlic, soy sauce, and fresh chilis for heat served over rice.

Peppered crab is a signature seafood dish from the southern coastal departments of the big island of Kuguni. Crabs are stir-fried with garlic, onions, black and green pepper, soy sauce, and various herbs and served over rice.

Grilled eggplant with beef is a common dish found in the central highlands, consisting of grilled eggplant halves with stir fried beef strips, garlic, shallots, and lemongrass garnished with herbs served over rice.

Whitefish cakes are made by mixing whitefish filets with a fermented fish sauce of the cook's choice, pounding them together in a mortar and pestle. The mix is shaped into rounded patties or meatballs and deep-fried, and eaten with a sauce made from garlic, black pepper, and lime juice.

Salads and steamed food
The banana blossom salad consists of cut banana flowers, shredded grilled pork, crushed roasted peanuts, and various herbs and vegetables with a dressing made of garlic, chilis, fish sauce, lime juice, and palm sugar. The salad is commonly eaten sans-pork as well.

Bitter papaya salad is another popularly consumed salad, consisting of garlic, chilis, dried shrimp, pickled crab, papaya, green beans, and tomatoes pounded in a mortar and pestle before being mixed with basil, coriander, and lime leaves and a savory dressing of lime juice and fish sauce, garnished with peanuts.

Cured beef salad combines lime and fish-paste cured beef (sometimes beef tripe specifically) tossed with thinly sliced purple shallots, finely shaven radishes, crushed roasted peanuts, and herbs such as mint or basil.

Steamed-fish pudding is a stew with a mousse-like consistency, and is considered one of Asidama's national fishes. White fish filets are rubbed with fermented fish sauce mixed with coconut milk and eggs and steamed in a container (traditionally a banana leaf) for half an hour. The stew is typically served over rice.

Mung bean dumplings are made using steamed rice or dumpling wrappers, with mung bean filling served in a ginger and coconut sauce.

Pastries
Rice oilcakes are rice flour pastries that are deep-fried before being glazed with palm sugar and garnished with hemp seeds or crushed nuts (usually peanuts). They are commonly sold in markets and eaten as a to-go breakfast food.

Moldcakes are another common street food, made from a mixture of coconut milk, rice flour, and spring onions, shallots, or radishes cooked on a griddle with half-spherical molds (giving the dish its name)

Steamed ricecakes are made from rice flour combined with palm sugar to create white (coconut), orange (mango) and green (green papaya) variations.

Layer cake is a steamed rice cake made out of layers of pandan and coconut milk. It is commonly associated with filial rites and rituals, and is thusly commonly served at family gatherings.

Puddings, porridges, and jellies
Banana-coconut pudding is a popular dessert made from palm-starch, slices of banana, coconut milk, and palm sugar garnished with grated coconut and ground roasted peanuts. Likewise, mung bean pudding is made using palm-starch, mung beans, palm sugar, and coconut milk, and is commonly eaten after lunch or after work in the evenings.

Sweetcorn porridge is made using sweet corn kernels and rice boiled in coconut milk, usually but not always sweetened with palm sugar.

Grass jelly is a dessert made by boiling aged mint stalks and leaves with potassium carbonate with a little palm-starch for several hours, and then cooling the mixture to a jelly-like consistency. The dark-colored jelly can be cut into cubes or other shapes or mixed with different flavoring syrups to produce different drinks.

Beverages
Water is the most popularly consumed drink in Asidama. As drinking water sources were historically not easily accessible in much of Asidama, water is traditionally boiled at home and consumed hot. Indeed, it is believed by many in Asidama that consumption of water in a cold state is hazardous to one's organs and overall health. For this reason, in urban areas, bottled water and other beverages are typically kept and consumed at room temperature. Green tea is consumed throughout the day by nearly all Damas. It was most likely introduced from mainland Skephon through trade with what is now Mitruhmoer. Thanks to widespread consumption and suitable climate, a great deal of green tea is grown locally in Asidama, although it is virtually all consumed domestically and little in the way of an export industry exists.

In urban areas, coffee is popular with those who wish to be seen as sophisticated, or as a status symbol. Believed to have been introduced by Salian or Ventoran traders (who themselves brought it from Haksarad, coffee in Asidama is usually consumed with a great deal of palm sugar and condensed milk mixed in rather than black. It is found at coffee carts, coffee house chains, and specialty coffee shops in larger cities.  Despite relatively widespread consumption and a suitable climate, almost no coffee is grown in Asidama domestically. What remains of a coffee plantation once owned by King Myamunu the Great was discovered in the 1960s, and efforts have since been made to preserve the remaining coffee plants for posterity's sake, with coffee produced from the beans growing there fetching millions at auction.

Fermented beverages
According to the Trakian diplomat Mitigo Yazegya, five alcoholic beverages were served at a banquet which he attended in the late 13th century at the Royal Dama Court: rice wine, rice beer, mead made from the leaves of an unidentified plant, "palm wine" made from sugar and palm starch, and a fruit wine made from passionfruit. Today, the most commonly enjoyed alcoholic beverage is rice wine. It is produced by fermenting boiled and dried rice with a natural fermentation starter for at least a day and distilling the resulting mixture. Modern distillation methods were introduced in the late 19th century. Rice wine is often infused with various herbs, roots, and bark to create medicinal cocktails.

Another popular, albeit lower-prestige alcoholic beverage is palm wine. Palm wine historically was popularized as a cheap alternative to rice or fruit wines, and is produced by fermenting palm sap. This process is achieved either through spontaneous fermentation by adding several plants to the sap and hanging the containers on trees, or through the addition of a fermentation starter made from fermented palm sap and various herbs and barks. "Sparkling" palm wine has recently been introduced to rural markets in Asidama, where it has enjoyed considerable success.

Meals and etiquette
In Asidama, meals are traditionally prepared twice a day (breakfast and dinner), with lunch being a relatively modern addition. A typical Dama breakfast consists of rice porridge with dried salted fish or shrimp, rice with fried and salted fish and vegetables, or rice with leaf vegetables. For those who eat lunch, it usually takes a lighter form with the same basic elements as dinner: steamed rice, soup with meat (fish, pork, chicken, or beef), and leaf vegetables, or fried fish along with fresh fruit.

In Asidama, meals are served and eaten simultaneously and family-style. A number of simpler side dishes are usually served alongside main dishes. Additionally, a variety of condiments, such as jellied chilis, pickled green chilis, sugar, garlic flakes, fish sauce, and soy sauce are commonly available. White steamed rice and soups are usually served hot, while other dishes are preferred at room temperature. The balance of flavors and satisfaction of individual preferences are achieved by combining the individual dishes with rice. Dama meals are traditionally eaten with hands, but today spoons, forks, and knives are also used by many.