Daxian Aspic

Corummese Aspic Aspic is a food dish in which varied ingredients are set into gelatin, usually made from commercial gelatin mixes. Most types of food can be used for Aspic dishes such as meat, vegetables fruits and even fish. The origin of Corumm's aspic food is its prison system but it has spread to the lower echelons of society hence it is disdainfully called 'trash food' by the upper classes.

Origins

The invention of aspic is attributed to Qiao Yun, Vice Warden of Mirzak's central prison. Following the Party's 1995 directive to bring down incarceration costs, he sought a way to save on food consumption and make prisoners more compliant by reducing their caloric intake. He found the solution in one of his favorite desserts, jello. By combining the power and versatility of powdered gelatin with other food, visually appealing and stomach filling dishes could be created. The fact that the prisoners diet was now fifty percent gelatin, with dangerously low nutritional and caloric value, was hailed as a true innovation that would also help keep prisoners lethargic and bring down violence levels inside the prisons.

Almost any food could be encased in gelatin and preserved in gelatinous stasis for very long periods of time. The budding aspic program was so successful in Mirzak's central prison that Yun's superior decided to extend it nationwide. To the present day all prison facilities have an exclusively aspic menu for those incarcerated.

While starting as prison food, Aspic has managed to spread beyond as prisoners are released back into the general population. Several studies commissioned by major food companies have revealed that former inmates keep an acquired taste in aspic. Retail giant Agario has even began heavily promoting aspic in Corumm's colonial holdings as a cheaper food alternative, as opposed to work and capital intensive agriculture. Some proponents go as far as saying the diet of the natives could be replaced entirely with aspic, with the 'real food' going to Corummese households. Starting in 2020 legislation was introduced prohibiting non-Corummese residents of Xisheng from owning or consuming non-Aspic food. Concurrently retail giant Agario introduced the Aspic exclusive stores under the slogan Aspic, the most nutritious polygon of the food shapes!