Ta'arohan cuisine

Ta’arohan cuisine reflects local practices and ingredients including influences mainly from the indigenous population, including the Kanasa and cuisines brought by peoples from elsewhere, such as Riyata, The Teleri Republic, and Edury. Some groups were forcibly relocated to within the nation’s borders, and without the familiar ingredients from their homelands, modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available domestically.

The four traditional staples of Ta’arohan cuisine are maize, potatoes and other tubers, amaranthaceaes (quinoa, kaniwa, and kiwicha), and legumes (beans and lupins). Staples later brought by outsiders that have become popular include rice, wheat, and various meats (namely pork, chicken, and beef).

Many traditional foods-such as quinoa, kiwicha, chili peppers, and several roots and tubers-have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in native Ta’arohan foods and culinary techniques. Chef Kerana Yamandu has become well-known for raising awareness of local ingredients. The most important ingredient in all Ta’arohan cuisine is the potato, as that country has the widest variety of potatoes in the world.

Crops
Ta’aroha is considered an important center for the genetic diversity of the world’s crops:
 * Potatoes: Many varieties of potato are native to the highlands of northern Ta’aroha; over 85% of all cultivated potatoes worldwide are descendants of a single subspecies originating there. This subspecies has developed into thousands of varieties that vary by shape, size, color, and other characteristics.
 * Quinoa: (also called “Vatupayic” rice) three varieties
 * Kaniwa
 * Tarwi: a legume native to the northern highlands similar to the lupin bean
 * Pirami bean
 * Maca
 * Oca: A potato-like tuber
 * Ulluco: A potato-like tuber
 * Caigua: A vegetable with a cucumber-like taste.
 * Chili peppers: Including aji amarillo and aji limon.
 * Fruits: Ta’aroha has more than 20 native fruits used in cooking or eaten fresh.

The sweet potato is native to Vidina and was domesticated there at least 3,000 years ago. Only two varieties of sweet potato are commonly available for sale in the nation’s markets, but there are more found across the country. One has dry, orange flesh and light tan skin with a sweet taste. The other has purple skin, is white and brown inside, and is only moderately sweet. Occasionally another variety, characterized by small tubers and dark skin, is available. Ta’aroha has thousands of varieties of potatoes found domestically, the largest number of any nation. The most common potatoes are the white flesh type and a more expensive yellow fleshed type. Perhaps the most common form enjoyed by Ta'arohans across the nation daily are oñê’âvy kwe oneîki (translated to "salt potatoes").

Among the fruits native to the Vatupayic region in general (Ta’aroha, Riyata, Koranel), are lucuma, camu camu, prickly pear, cocona, pacay, guanabana, pepino, papaya, ciruela, cherimoya, granadilla, moriche palm fruit, and tamarillo. Yacon, although an underground tuber, is used in cooking as a fruit. Other native fruits are available, but rarely on a wide-scale commercial basis. From Vatupaya, foreign traders and explorers brought back to their homelands that would become staples for peoples around the world. The varieties of chili peppers, maize, and tomatoes that were brought back to the old world, despite having been introduced from the south, were also unique to the region.
 * Potatoes: Potatoes were introduced to nearly all corners of the world from Vidina. The varieties used abroad, however, derive from a single subspecies indigenous to Ta’aroha’s northern highlands.
 * Beans: Several varieties of the common bean are native to Vatupaya, notably the pirami bean.
 * Peppers: The varieties most commonly used around the world tend to derive from regions south of Ta’aroha; Ta’arohan aji peppers are virtually unknown outside Vatupaya.
 * Maize: Maize is also native to lands south of Ta’aroha; the varieties used elsewhere come from these regions. The maize grown in Ta’aroha is a kind of flint corn that is sweet and has large, often multicolored kernels; this variety of corn cannot be eaten on the cob, but is good for popping or grinding into meal.
 * Tomatoes: The tomato is native to Vatupaya, proven by the great number of varieties available in that region. In contrast, lands to the south have only two main varieties available, the Common Globe and Plum Tomato.

Many foods from the old world since introduced to Ta’aroha, first as status symbols and then as staples, have been incorporated into the nation’s cuisine. These include rice, wheat, barley, oats, lentils, chickpeas, broad beans, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, onions, cucumbers, carrots, celery, lettuce, eggplant, olives, chicken, pork, beef, numerous spices (including coriander, cumin, parsley, cilantro, mint, themy, marjoram, turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, black pepper, and oregano), bananas, quince, apples, oranges, limes, apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, melons, figs, pomegranates, honey, white sugar, almonds, walnuts, cheese, hen’s eggs, cow’s milk, etc.

Cultivation of ancient plants
From the early modern period and continuing until the time of the Summer War, Ta’arohan cuisine tended to focus on foreign models (seen as being more sophisticated) and virtually ignored much of what was regarded as native. Traditional food plants, which the common people continued to eat, were regarded as “peasant fare” to be avoided. These internalized attitudes took some time to fade. Since the mid-20th century, there have been several efforts to bring these native plants back out of obscurity, with motives ranging from nationalism to practicality.

Some plants cultivated by ancient cultures of Ta’aroha have been rediscovered by modern Ta’arohans, and have been carefully studied by scientists. Due to the characteristics of its land and climate and the nutritional quality of its products, some Ta’arohan plants may play a vital role in future nutrition across the globe. Examples include quinoa (an excellent source of essential amino acids) and kaniwa, which look and cook like cereals but are in fact pseudocereals. Nutritionists are also studying root vegetables such as maca, and cereals like kiwicha.

For many of Ta’aroha’s inhabitants, these food stocks allow for adequate nutrition despite poor living standards. Abandoning many of these staples during the early modern era lowered nutritional levels. Since the dawn of space travel, various nation’s space agencies have used some of these foods-quinoa, kiwicha, and maca-to feed their cosmonauts.

Ta’arohan cuisine is often made spicy with aji pepper, a basic ingredient. Ta’arohan chili peppers tend to not be spicy, but serve to give taste and color to dishes. Rice often accompanies dishes in Ta’arohan cuisine, and the regional sources of foods and traditions give rise to countless varieties of preparation and dishes.

Regional differences
Ta’aroha is a nation that holds not just a wide variety of ethnic mixes since times ranging from the First and Second Auynic Kingdoms, the Korasic Empire, and the founding of Ta’aroha itself, but also a climatic variety of several different types. The mixing of cultures and the variety of climates differ from city to city, so geography, climate, culture, and ethnic mix determine the variety of local cuisine.

Coastal areas
The Bay of Guasu is the principal source of aquatic resources for Ta’aroha. Its richness in fish and other aquatic life is enormous, and many oceanic plant and animal species can only be found in Ta’aroha. As important as the bay is for the nation’s biodiversity, freshwater biomes such as the nation’s many rivers and lakes also play a large role in the ecological makeup of the country. Each region along the coast, being distinct in flora and fauna, adapts its cuisine in accordance to the resources available in its waters.

Gamûñe nokea is one of the most popular dishes in Ta’arohan coastal cuisine. It is made from a thick seafood stock soup, potatoes, milk, and chili pepper. It is regularly found in restaurants specializing in southeastern cuisine. A center of commerce and immigration, the central coastal region surrounding Pirami and its neighboring cities have incorporated unique dishes brought from the arrival of foreign explorers centuries ago, and the subsequent diplomats, traders, and mercenaries. Besides international immigration, there has been, since the second half of the 20th century, a strong internal flow from rural areas to cities, in particular to Pirami. This has strongly influenced Pirami’s cuisine with the incorporation of the migrants’ ingredients and techniques.

Frequently sold by street vendors are ñapytĩ: boiled corn with cheese or meat and wrapped in a banana leaf. They may also consist of corn mixed with spices and sugar, filled with meat such as pork, chicken, beef (or even sloth) and olives, finally wrapped in the leaves of corn husks. Various types of ñapytĩ are common breakfast fare, often served with lime and various local sauces (most containing the signature aji pepper). Another favorite found in many restaurants and street carts is Juehegua yvy'a (Jueheg-style potatoes), a dish consisting of sliced boiled potatoes, served on a bed of lettuce with a spicy sauce and olives. The dish is cheap to make and utilizes ingredients that are readily available in Ta’aroha, yet its complex flavors and textures make it very popular. This combination has helped make the dish popular across all classes of Ta’arohan society. Kũpira morotî, or fried cod tongue, is a common dish in restaurants and bars across Ta'aroha that began from desperation in the south.

Pirami bean salad is a salad made with pirami beans, cooked whole, cooled, and mixed with a mixture of onion, tomato, and green aji, marinated in lime juice, oil, salt, and vinegar. Pirami beans have been a part of Ta’arohan cuisine for at least 6,000 years. Kure ta’aro (Ta’arohan ham) is a sandwich with slow-cooked sloth meat, sliced onions, sliced chili peppers, lime, salt, pepper, and oil on a white bread roll. Yga, in its basic form, is a mashed yellow potato dumpling mixed with lime, onion, chili, and oil. Varieties sometimes include avocado, chicken, tuna, or even shellfish added to the mixture. Yga is especially popular in Pirami, and is usually served cold with hard boiled eggs and olives. Chupe ate’y (sloth stew, often substituted by beef, pork, or lamb) is made in apot after marinating in corn beer and spices, including cilantro and garlic. The dish is most popular in the northwest.

Northern highlands
In the northern uplands, the diet is far more traditional, being based on maize, potatoes, and an assortment of tubers. Meat comes from indigenous animals like the Vatupic ground sloth, but also from imported livestock like swine, cattle, and sheep. As with many rural cultures, most of the more elaborate dishes are reserved for festivities, while daily meals are simple affairs.

Moko is a distinctive Ta’arohan dish. Cooked all over the northern highlands, it is made from a variety of meats (traditionally sloth, but including pork and beef), herbs, and a variety of vegetables that are slowly cooked underground on a bed of heated stones. Because of its tedious preparation, it is normally only made for celebrations or festivals, though recent years have seen the appearance of many restaurants catering to tourists in rural areas serve the dish year-round.

Inland cuisine’s main freshwater fish is the trout, raised in fisheries across the region. Ollucocan is another traditional inland dish; olluco is a yellowish tuber domesticated by pre-Auynic populations. It is visually similar to colorful small potatoes, but with a distinct crunchy texture when cooked. The dish is a stew up finely diced ollucos with pieces of cured, salted, and dehydrated meat served over white rice. Arequipa is another popular dish, made from stuff rocoto chilis. Rcotos are only of the very few spicy chilis of Ta’aroha. In this dish, they are stuff with spiced meat (sloth, beef, or pork), onions, olives, and egg white, then cooked in an oven with potatoes covered with cheese and milk.

Ka is a cured dried meat originally obtained from domesticated sloths, eaten by the peoples of the coast and highlands for long journeys. Today lamb is a common substitute for sloth meat. It is used as an ingredient in a variety of dishes throughout the region. It is prepared using recently cured meat, in which furrows are made with a knife so salt can penetrate. Salt penetration is key, as it determines how long the cured meat lasts. The meat is left to dry in the sun and cold nights for up to one month. Cassava soup is another common staple of the inland, with various versions containing different vegetables and spices added in. Another popular preserved meat enjoyed in the north is maizemeal pork. As the name suggests, maizemeal pork is a cured pork loin rolled in yellow maizemeal. Hogs were first introduced to the Vatupic subcontinent sometime around the early 16th century. Their hardiness and taste quickly led to their becoming a staple throughout the region, and among the most popular means of consumption in Ta'aroha is maizemeal pork. It is uncertain as to who began the practice, but it is known that it served the purpose of preserving pork loin past its normal lifespan. In the age of refrigeration, this cornmeal exterior serves mainly to give the loin a crispy edge. Maizemeal pork is most commonly enjoyed as a roast, served with a gravy over potatoes and other vegetables.

Dessert
Rice pudding can be found in various varieties, introduced from Edury. It consists primarily of cooked rice, cinnamon/nutmeg, raisins, and milk. Rice pudding in Ta’aroha is commonly eaten with a jelly-like clove mixture called ro’y. Vlataart is another popular dessert with Eduran origins.

The lucuma fruit is native to Vatupaya, and is commonly made into juice, shaved ice, and corresponding ice cream and shakes are very popular throughout Ta’aroha. Ro’y is a jelly-like clove-flavored dessert. It takes on the color of one of its main ingredients: purple maize. A variety of purple maize that grows only in Ta’aroha adds color to the water it’s boiled in, along with cinnamon cloves. When the water cools, chopped fruit, lime, and sugar are added. Andaikura is a sweet, ring-shaped fritter with a pumpkin base often served with a molasses syrup. Andaikura are made either of squash or pumpkin dough and sweetened with chancaca, raw cane sugar melted into a syrup. The dish was invented in ancient times as a popular treat for nobility in the time of the Korasic Empire.

Beverages
Ta’arohans enjoy a wide variety of non-alcoholic infusions (although now and the both groups are mixed, such as cocktails mixing ka'a and gin). Among these, pytã has long been the most widely enjoyed; in 2008, over 500,000 metric tons were harvested in Ta’aroha, mostly for domestic consumption. Ka'a is also one of the top agricultural exports from Ta’aroha, as it is valued the world over. Other than pytã, tai is considered by many to be among the nation’s foremost beverages. Tai is a clove-flavored beverage that is perhaps the nation’s most popular soft drink. It is prepared from a base of boiled purple maize and a generous amount of powdered cloves, to which sugar, cinnamon, and ice are added as it cools. Occasionally chunks of pineapple are added.

Sweet, carbonated beverages can be commonly encountered throughout the nation, in large part thanks to the Eduran influence on the nation’s palette. Soft drinks based on existing beverages, like pytã or tai, are the most prevalent.

Medicinal herbs are common throughout the country; among them the most popular are chamomile, lanceleaf, boldo, poleo, peperina, carqueja, thyme, canchalagua, rue, mallow, rosemary, passionflower, bira bira, palan palan, muna muna, to mention only the main ones. Many of these herbs are also used in aperitifs and bitters, alcoholic and otherwise.

Alcoholic drinks
Kaguy is perhaps the best-known native alcoholic beverage, based on different varieties of fermented maise and different aromatic herbs, depending on the region. Its consumption has historically been limited to rural areas, but it has become more common in metropolitan areas in recent years. A common beer-drinking ritual among many Ta’arohan men involves a group sharing one vessel. The party holding the bottle waits for the prior person to drink from the glass before receiving that glass, filling it and passing the bottle on to the next in line. While this custom is more common among men of lower classes of society, people of higher social status, particularly youth and occasionally women, take part in this custom for fun.

Haimbe is a popular alcoholic cocktail made from pisco (a native kind of fruit brandy) combined with lime juice, egg white and simple syrup.

Eating habits
Ta’arohans usually have a large, hearty breakfast, typically consisting of fried eggs of some kind, beans, Ta’arohan salty sour cream, avocado, sweet fried plantains, and potatoes in some form (typically baked or fried). Meals during the day are typically lighter so as to be conducive to labor, and dinner is often eaten at or well after sunset. These larger meals are often followed with various alcoholic and nonalcoholic digestives and aperitifs.