Ancardia Worldbuilding--Draulfyn Cuisine Part 2
Tsojik: While lesser-known than the ubiquitous Spider-Bread, Tsojik is equally as popular among the dark elves in just about every province and locality with any Draulfyn population whatsoever. It's also very common to find as the main dish sold at small eateries with single narrow bartops lined with chairs that have large galley windows allowing for bowls to be rapidly passed through directly from the kitchen (called Cuchima). Technically, Tsojik is just the name of the noodle itself--made of the pressed pulp of the naturally blue-hued Syjy bean and powdered mushrooms--but most dishes based on the noodle are simply called "Tsojik" as well, and usually are in the form of noodle soups, the noodles with a coating of rich sauces, or a soft of warm "noodle salad" with several finely-chopped types of vegetables mixed in and a sauce applied overtop like dressing. Most often, Tsojik dishes also contain things like intact Syjy beans, mushrooms, amaranth or deepnettle greens, and a variety of spiced pickles.
Aupa: A vegetable and meat dish consisting of layers of finely minced vegetables and thin slices of raw salted uqi cricket or fish eggs, topped with a sauce made of either wine or dew-mead. Aupa is a very involved recipe--and those who prepare it usually do so with great pride, and with the intention to impress! The uniformity and quality of the vegetable minces and uqi slices is a key factor in how "good" an Aupa is considered by the more particular of Draulfyn critics--but for less uppity folks, just that the layers are prettily arranged, the fish eggs are shiny and fresh, and the sauce is delicious is what matters far more.
Ytsrle: The word for this sweet, common pastry dish is famous among those learning to speak the dark elves' language as the typical example of how little regard the tongue has for making sure not too many harsh consonants are right up next to each other without vowels to break them up. It is also fairly important to learn to pronounce early, as Ytsrle is a food option which is considered fairly safe and not outlandish compared to all of the roasted slices of spider legs, bright blue edamame-like beans, and mead made of sugary insect secretions. It's a very simple and homey pancake-like food made chiefly of amaranth flour, honey, deepmara milk, and small fruits mixed in. Most of the time, the fruit component is the round, transluscent berries of the Deep Lilypad plant or small muscardine grape cultivars that the dark elves brought down from the Surface in ancient times.
