Cuisine of Caphiria

Caphirian cuisine (culinae caphirium) consists of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed across the Imperium of Caphiria. The cuisine is highly influenced by the ancient Latinic and native Sarpic cuisines that predated it. As a result of Caphiria's long history and enormous expansion over most of Sarpedon - which exposed Caphirians to many new culinary habits and cooking methods, the Caphirian cuisine has been influenced throughout the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Aciria, Pelaxia, Cartadania, and Volonia, in addition to its culinary traditions along its eastern and western coastlines.

Forming the "trinity" of Caphirian cuisine is the olive, wheat, and grape, yielding oil, bread, and wine, respectively. From this, herbs such as garlic, anise, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and thyme are heavily used in traditional dishes. Fish and seafood are the predominant meats consumed, although chicken, pork, lamb, and veal are also used often. Cheese, cold cuts, and wine are central to Caphirian cuisine and, along with pizza and coffee (especially espresso), form part of Caphirian gastronomic culture.

One of the main characteristics of Caphirian cuisine is its simplicity, with many dishes made up of few ingredients. Therefore Caphirian cooks often rely on the quality of the ingredients rather than the complexity of preparation. Ingredients and dishes vary by region. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated with variations throughout the country. The most popular dishes and recipes, over the centuries, have often been created by ordinary people more so than by chefs, which is why many Caphirian recipes are suitable for home and daily cooking, respecting regional specificities, privileging only raw materials and ingredients from the region of origin of the dish and preserving its seasonality.

Dining and Meals

Caphirian tradition places importance on conviviality through food dating back to antiquity. The modern Caphirian meal structure consists of: ientaculum, an elementary breakfast consumed by the lower class; prandium, a more standard and typical breakfast; vesperna is Caphiria's equivalent of lunch, although it is the least consumed meal. The mother of Caphiric meals and social events is the cena (dinner), a meal which has barely changed in the last 2,000 years. However, the dishes themselves have become more and more exotic to the average Caphirian taste buds.

At dawn, the middle and lower classes eat an ientaculum, usually sitting at a table with their family. This gets some energy into them before quickly leaving for work. Since wealthier citizens tend not to have such obligations, they enjoy a different meal around 10-11 am. This prandium's closest equivalent in other cultures is the less common brunch as it is served with food from both the ientaculum and vesperna - Caphiria's equivalent of lunch. Caphirians often forgo prandium because it is entirely informal, merely a means of regaining enough energy to make it through a long day.

Only the cena and prandium are served in public restaurants since most citizens would not pay for the basic bread and vegetables that are staples of other meals which can easily be prepared for less in their own homes.

Both kinds of breakfast feature some type of wheat bread dipped in olive oil or served with cheese and crackers. Prandium is interesting because it usually features meat of some kind, like pork or beef, and animal products such as eggs. The most popular meat for this time of the day is lucanica, a short, smoked pork sausage. Some favorites to eat during a vesperna are fava beans, lentils, peas, shrub leaves for seasoning, boletus, truffles, snails, clams, oysters, thrushes, dormice, sea urchins, and mulsum, a mixture of wine and honey. Honey tends to be generously added to servings.

A classic cena starts around 6 pm, with excellent punctuality, and goes straight into the night. The meal is so long that intelligent guests will have only eaten breakfast that day and maybe worked up an appetite with light exercise. This enormous feast opens with a gustatio (appetizer), a non-filing course featuring delectable treats to get people's taste buds ready for the prima mensa (main course), which can last several servings depending on the ambition of the host. In the last few hours, out comes the secunda mensae (dessert). Treats offered at this point might include fruits like figs and pomegranates or sweetened pastries like cakes, rolls, and fruit tarts. This part of dinner is usually very filling, but many will not notice in their insobriety. When the party is ending, and the party has been a success, a guest will praise the host with one last comissatio (round of drinks) before guests return to their homes, often carried away by their servants.

Basic ingredients

The base of Caphirian cuisine relies on ingredients popular along the Urlazian coast, including fresh vegetables (especially tomato, garlic, eggplant (aubergine), capsicum, and artichoke), wheat products (bread, pasta), olive oils, wines, legumes (beans, chickpeas), mushrooms (particularly wild mushrooms), nuts (pine nuts, hazelnuts and almonds), all sorts of pork preparations (sausage from Vic, ham), sheep and goats' cheese, poultry, lamb, many types of fish like sardine, anchovy, tuna, and cod  and other seafood like prawns, squid, sea snails and sea urchins.

Traditional Caphirian cuisine is quite diverse, ranging from fish-based recipes along the northern coast, to mutton and game-intensive dishes cooked in the heartlands. These meat and seafood elements are frequently fused together in the Caphirian version of surf and turf, known as mare e monti. Examples include chicken with lobster (pullum et lucusta), chicken with crayfish (pullum et squillae), rice with meat and seafood (frumenti mare e monti) and cuttlefish with meatballs (crustae saepiae et agni).

Caphirian cuisine has various commonly used ingredients, ranging from fruits, vegetables, sauces, meats, etc. In the north of Caphiria, fish (cod, bacal, etc.), potatoes, rice, corn (maize), sausages, pork, and different cheeses are the most common. In central Caphiria, the cuisine uses ingredients such as tomatoes, meat, fish, and pecorino cheese. In Acreum, pasta (especially pappardelle) is traditionally served with meat sauce (including game meat). In Southern Caphiria, tomatoes (fresh or cooked into tomato sauce), peppers, olives, and olive oil, garlic, artichokes, oranges, ricotta cheese, eggplants, zucchini, certain types of fish (anchovies, sardines, and tuna), and capers are essential components to the local cuisine.

Caphirian cuisine is also well known (and well regarded) for its use of a diverse variety of pasta. Pasta includes noodles of various lengths, widths, and shapes. Most pasta may be distinguished by the shapes for which they are named—penne, macaroni, spaghetti, linguine, fusilli, lasagne, and many more varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini.

Pasta

Pasta is a critical element of Caphirian cuisine. Pasta is categorized in two basic styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta made without eggs can be stored for up to two years under ideal conditions, while fresh pasta will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Pasta is generally cooked by boiling. Under Caphirian law, dry pasta (pasta secca) can only be made from durum wheat flour or durum wheat semolina and is more commonly used in west Caphiria compared to their eastern counterparts, who traditionally prefer the fresh egg variety.

• Examples of traditional Caphirian pasta
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  Fusarioi pasta
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  Filateddhi pasta
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  Trivelle pasta
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  Lanterne pasta
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  Fregola pasta

Desserts

In Caphiria, desserts and sweets are a delicacy with a long history going back to ancient Caphiria. During the First Imperium, monasteries and religious groups began producing candies and pastries, commonly with sexual or associated fertility themes. This theme persists in the pește bellaria, a breast-shaped cookie in honor of Saint Emeletta.

In medieval times, Caphiria became well-known for its many kinds of conditura, or confectionery shops. These shops evolved from traditional bakeries during the 16th century when Caphiria was going through its renaissance, and an emphasis was placed on the artistic aspect of the trade. This, in addition to the Imperium's vast trade network, which brought new and rare spices and ingredients from around the world, led to the creation of many Caphirian desserts and sweets. In particular, Caphiria is noted as the birthplace of marzapane, a confection consisting primarily of sugar, honey, and ground almonds. Today, it is often shaped and painted with food coloring to resemble fruit - frutta marturana. Marzapane's popularity quickly escaped Caphiria and spread throughout Sarpedon and Levantia, becoming a staple component of many other countries' desserts. For example, the Yonderian Gabionesc-style pastry uses marzapane.

In addition to marzapane, Caphiria is also famous for esidetà - a semi-frozen dessert of sugar, water, and flavorings such as lemon juice, mandarin oranges, jasmine, coffee, almonds, mint, and when in season, wild strawberries and black mulberries. The nuances of the flavorings are essential to the flavor of the finished esidetà: Urlazian lemons are a less acidic, more floral variety similar to Meyer lemons, while the almonds used contain some number of bitter almonds, which are crucial to the signature flavor. Another popular flavor used in esidetà is pistachio, an agricultural product of northern Caphiria. Caphiria is also famous for artisanal gelato and has become widespread with the ice cream cone, covering 75% of the national market.