User:Montecara/Sandbox 3
| Item | Description | Designation granted |
|---|---|---|
| Conçàta | Cheese | 1990 |
| Dozòcoli | Cheese | 1990 |
| Livàni | Cheese | 1995 |
| Perùt | Cheese | 1990 |
| Càbra mascheràta | Cured meat | 2000 |
| Garganèga | Wine | 1998 |
| Spaiòl | Wine | 1996 |
| Verdùxo | Wine | 1996 |
| Xàca | Fortified wine | 1988 |
Agriculture and fishing
Despite its limited land area and high population density, agriculture is by no means a moribund economic sector in Montecara as it is in many wealthy nations. The Montecaran state has gone to great lengths to preserve its agricultural and gastronomic heritage and encourage local producers to stay in business, including by offering tax breaks on the value of agricultural land, promoting agritourism as part of its overall tourism development strategy, granting protected designation of origin status to Montecaran food products and lobbying internationally for their status to be recognized, legally curbing the redevelopment of arable land, erecting non-tariff barriers to certain food imports on sanitary grounds, and offering subsidies on crop insurance. The fact that only Montecaran citizens can buy immovable property in the city-state also removes the pressure on farm owners to sell their land to foreign interests.
Even with extensive government assistance, Montecaran agriculture cannot compete on price with the large-scale industrial monoculture operations on mainland Euclea or the vast farms of Coius with their extremely low labor costs. Montecaran producers must compete on quality, focusing on high-value crops well-suited to the climate, mainly grapes (almost entirely for wine production), citrus, tree nuts, specialty fruits and vegetables, and saffron (zafràn).
Montecaran farms tend to be hillside estates owned by old aristocratic families who have often maintained them for centuries. This ownership pattern is encouraged by the tax code, which imposes no inheritance tax and keeps land taxes on farms very low. Farm labor is typically sourced from Tsabara, which sends thousands of workers every year to work in fields and orchards. The Montecaran state has dedicated visa categories for these short-stay farm workers which do not provide a path to permanent resident status or citizenship.
The state has in the last few decades encouraged producers to take an integrated farming approach, focusing on stewardship of the land and the long-term health of plants, animals, and soil much moreso than on short-term yields. This includes natural pest control methods, companion planting, increased permaculture, the use of farm animals as a natural source of organic fertilizer, and the encouragement of natural pollinators like bees and hummingbirds.
The domestic fishing industry thrives even without nearly as much hand-holding as land-based agriculture enjoys. Fish thrive in the waters of the Gulf of Assonaire directly to the north of Montecara, and the commercial catch brings in billions of libra every year. Overfishing and climate change have nonetheless reduced stocks in recent years, and pollution and the resultant bioaccumulation of heavy metals and other toxins is a growing concern. The industry has adapted in part by adopting techniques from mariculture, establishing Montecara's first fish farm in 2012 and expanding the cultivation of shellfish such as clams and mussels on underwater ropes.
Ingredients
Montecara's island location and long culinary tradition have led to a great variety of specialties making use of local ingredients.
Grains
The Solarians brought their favored grains—barley, buckwheat, and above all the wheat that they made into their favorite kind of bread—with them when they colonized Montecara. All of these plants were cultivated locally to some degree, but the vast majority of staple grain was imported even in ancient times. Montecara developed a native style of wheat flatbread, pitòçu, perhaps under the influence of the matzo that Atudites brought with them when they settled in Montecara beginning in the high middle ages. It is a very thin and crispy bread that uses little flour and will last for a year if kept dry, making the most of limited grain supplies. Unlike matzo, it is made with leaven; after the first bake, the thin sheets are separated and baked again to obtain a toasted end product.
Montecarans have also used their grain to develop native varieties of pasta. One, tidìni, consists of tiny balls of rolled coarse dough that are then toasted in an oven. They are used a manner similar to the couscous from which they are thought to derive: as an ingredient in soups and as a dish unto themselves, usually cooked in stock and left unsauced. The other principal variety, zanpi (meaning "(duck) foot"), is a flat, triangular pasta made from wheat flour and duck egg which is traditionally served with duck ragù. As its name implies, it was according to legend created specifically to accompany duck meat and eggs as a way to "reunite" the animal. It can also be found as a variant, zanpi ripièni ("filled zanpi"), in which a sheet of pasta is folded over to form a dumpling-like shape usually filled with braised duck meat or cheese. The zanpi are boiled in salted water (or, for a very rustic effect, seawater) and returned to a pan with the ragù or, if filled, a light sauce made with olive oil and herbs and tossed to coat. Montecarans favor very lightly sauced pasta; traditionally the sauce should merely coat the pasta but not pool, much like a salad (alla salàta).
Since its introduction in the high middle ages, rice (rixo) has been the supreme staple food for Montecarans. As with earlier grains, there has since the introduction of rice always been some domestic production, but Montecarans have relied on the sea trade for the bulk of their supply for centuries. The variety favored by Montecarans is casabèl, a medium-grain starchy rice with a firm texture that holds up well to long cooking. It is well suited to Montecara's most iconic dish, rixòto, a soupy preparation of rice slow-cooked in hot broth that takes on a rich and creamy texture despite containing no dairy. In the traditional fine-dining preparation, a sofrito of onion cooked in olive oil is made to which the dry rice is added and then stirred to coat each grain; dry white wine is added and allowed to absorb, then boiling fish broth to which saffron has been added is ladled in small amounts while stirring constantly to allow it to be thoroughly absorbed and the mixture to take on a creamy texture. The finished product should still be able to flow and is traditionally served on a plate, not in a bowl; a spoon drawn through it should part the rixòto briefly before it falls back in on itself. While it is traditionally a dish that is eaten plain, modern versions often include additions such as shrimp, scallops, mushrooms, or vegetables such as peas or finely diced squash.
Corn (biàva) was introduced from Marirana in the sixteenth century and became immensely popular for a time before developing a poor reputation due to its tendency to cause pellagra in locals who relied on it as their staple food and who did not use the process of nixtamalization that made it safe and practical for its origin population. It has enjoyed a resurgence since the late twentieth century in the form of polènta, a creamy porridge made of coarse meal that pairs well with rich meat dishes and can also be thickened, cut into squares, and fried.
Although Montecara officially uses the metric system, traditional units are still encountered in cooking. The standard measure of flour is the eto, in modern times defined as 100 grams exactly. The typical ratio for making egg pasta (pàsta ai'óvo) is one egg per eto of flour, which yields a well-hydrated dough that develops a smooth and springy texture when kneaded to develop the gluten.
Fats
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Cooking fat was historically an expensive commodity given Montecara's relative lack of arable land on which oily vegetable crops could be grown or milk-producing ruminants could be raised. When cooking fat was available to ordinary people, it was usually duck fat from hunted wild ducks or olive oil produced locally or imported from mainland Euclea or Coius. This lack of fat led Montecaran cuisine to rely heavily on water-based preparation methods like steaming, boiling, and stewing as well as dry methods like grilling and slow-roasting. Fortunately, these methods are well-suited to the delicate flavors of seafood.
In modern times, cooking fat is widely and cheaply available. The most common is olive oil, with duck fat a distant second. Montecara's olive oil supply is sourced largely from Tsabara, where low labor and shipping costs and a favorable climate help to create a very affordable product. A liter of virgin Tsabaran olive oil at a Montecaran grocery costs approximately Ł16 on average (about €3.15), far cheaper kilo for kilo than any other kind of cooking fat. Bulk prices are low enough to be competitive with industrially produced vegetable oils from the EC, so generic vegetable oils tend to be used only for the lowest-end high-heat applications, like frying potatoes. The only commercial producers of olive oil remaining in Montecara are agritourism farms where tiny amounts are produced using traditional methods for consumption on-site or as a souvenir; nevertheless, a group of such farm owners is in the process of applying for protected designation of origin status for Montecaran olive oil.
Fruits and vegetables
Montecara's warm and mild climate is an ideal environment for growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Both wild and cultivated plants are used extensively in the national cuisine both as main ingredients and as essential elements for building and layering flavor.
Citrus does exceptionally well in the hot, dry summers and cool and wet winters that Montecara provides. All three of the original palatable species in genus Citrus—citron, pomelo, and mandarin—are cultivated locally, as are dozens of hybrids and varietals. Of these, the most produced and consumed are lemon, bergamòta, and perhaps most famously xinòta, which has become strongly associated with Montecara as a whole in the popular imagination.
- Root vegetables: lovage root, sunchokes
- Alia: Onion (varieties), garlic, shallots, Cyperus esculentus
- Tomato (introduced when?)
Cooking vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, and eggplant are cultivated commercially as well as in kitchen gardens. There is also some cultivation of both hot and mild pepper plants. The chilis are usually blistered in a hot pan and eaten with salt and olive oil as a snack or dried on a string and added to mild dishes like eggs for added flavor.
- Legumes: Beans, chickpeas, peas, lentils
- Vine crops: Table grapes, melons
- Peppers: pickled and dried
Other tree fruit produced locally includes figs, quince, and olives. The strawberry tree does especially well thanks to its tolerance of salty soil and resistance to drought. Nut trees are some of the most prized agricultural assets for Montecaran growers as they take many years to mature and produce a highly valuable commodity. The most common nut tree is almond, followed distantly by walnuts. Efforts to cultivate pistachio locally have so far not been successful due to the tree's requirement of at least a moderately cold winter to produce nuts.
Montecarans historically foraged, rather than cultivated, their greens, preferring to let nature do the work and devote their gardens instead to other, more exciting crops. This habit persists to this day, and such wild creatures as cress (of both the water and garden varieties), nettle, purslane, orache, borage, and mallow make regular appearances on native tables. Visitors are often surprised by the intense flavors of the greens that Montecarans favor, such as the intense pepper of watercress, the natural saltiness of orache, and the cucumber-like leaves and honey-tinged flowers of borage.
Montecarans' love of wild foods also extends to the fruits and flowers of native trees. The wild service tree, known locally as sorbo, produces fall fruits known as tornàli with a flavor similar to dates that are prized as a base for marmalade. Before the introduction of hops they were also used before they were fully bletted to flavor beer and lend it a mild bitterness; this traditional use has been revived by local brewers in recent years. Azarole has edible leaves and fruits that are made into marmalade, and the Judas tree produces flowers somewhat reminiscent of hibiscus that are made into a tart-sweet drink.
Seafood
Montecara has always enjoyed access to an enormous variety of fish and shellfish as well as aquatic plants, seaweed, and other forms of marine life. Indeed, it could be said that without seafood, there would be no Montecara: archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that the earliest human settlers were persuaded by the abundance of fish and shellfish they found to stay there permanently. Because Montecara lies in the middle of the Aurean Straits, it is at a natural chokepoint for migratory fish species that makes their capture easy. Historically, this meant that Montecara had plentiful supplies of large species such as tuna, swordfish, and even sharks and dolphins, all of which were eaten in great quantities to the point that they were even shunned at times as food for servants and laborers. Additionally, migratory sea turtles and their eggs were considered a delicacy for centuries until their consumption was banned in 1975 as some species were facing extinction. Fishing employed a huge proportion of the local population from ancient times up to the middle of the twentieth century, when dwindling stocks and economic diversification forced a shift in the labor market.
Overfishing and pollution have, unfortunately, seriously reduced the availability of many types of seafood. Samples taken from the largest fish in Montecaran waters, particularly tuna and swordfish, show that bioaccumulation of heavy metals and industrial toxins can and often does reach hazardous levels. While certain marine species such as mussels and squid have survived and even thrived in these difficult conditions, stocks of traditionally important fish like brançìn have been seriously endangered. The Montecaran state works with its neighboring governments in the Aurean Forum to address these serious concerns.
Despite these difficulties, seafood is still the foundation of Montecaran cuisine. Most Montecarans eat some form of fish nearly every day, and even toddlers are given seafood dishes like octopus rixòto or soup made with fish broth. Saltfish (bacalà), usually made from cod, was Montecara's first major export, produced in industrial quantities and transported on Solarian ships hundreds of miles to markets all along the Solarian Sea, and even today retains its reputation as a particularly Montecaran ingredient. It is particularly enjoyed in a preparation where it is soaked in fresh water for up to several days to remove excess salt and rehydrate the flesh, with the water changed regularly, and then whipped with olive oil to form a light and creamy final product. Alternatively, the soaked filets can be left intact and cooked gently in stock or tomato sauce. Merchants often sell bacalà that they have already soaked for one to two days, saving home cooks the time and effort of doing it themselves.
Inkfish like cuttlefish, octopus, and squid are local favorites, and recipes often make use of the ink (sèpia) as part of a sauce or for color. Cuttlefish are served braised in their own ink, squid (calamàr) ink is used to produce a black rixòto ai nèro in which the flesh is gently cooked, and octopus is grilled and served as a second course after pasta dishes that use the ink to color the dough. Squid is also mixed with thinly sliced onion and served breaded and fried as a snack paired with tomato sauce.
Montecarans have long appreciated the bivalves that thrive in the bay at the center of their island and in the rocky shoals that surround it, namely clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels. The native mussel species, known as peòcio, is hardy and pollution-resistant and is now farmed off the coasts of Auratia and Etruria in addition to being harvested from the wild. Of the locally available clam species, the most treasured is traditionally the cùçica, harvested from deep waters far off the coast and valued both for their mild and tender flesh and for their propensity to grow pearls.
Aquatic plants / sea vegetables
- Samphire
- Spirulina was at various times harvested from brackish water and dried into sheets as a famine food but is no longer eaten.
Fish per se... served hot, cold, and at room temp
- fried sardines
- bixàto, or roast eel, are all typical dishes.
- gó (a small, local fish, often fried)
- small soft-shell crabs which are eaten after molting
- sea urchin.
- Whitebait/fry
- Spiny lobster, langoustine
Meat and fowl
Montecara has very little land suitable for pasturing, so large ruminants like cows have never been economical. Sheep were introduced to the island by the Solarians and were mainly used for their wool and milk, with lamb and mutton rare delicacies that only the very rich could afford. Goats were introduced from Coius at some point in the third to fifth century and have thrived in the marginal, dry, and hilly areas that have little other use. Goat milk was long the most common form of animal milk and goat meat the most widely available form of land-animal food, a situation that has changed only very recently with the advent of cheap refrigerated shipping. Horse and donkey meat were once eaten by the poor but are now virtually impossible to find due in large part to their reputation for unpleasant flavor and texture and association with hardship. Montecarans had to make full use of the animals that they did have, and to this day offal remains popular; fegato (the liver of a lamb or young goat) is a traditional delicacy.
Methods of preservation... cured mutton, merguez-style sausage, lucanica di capra, etc... rabbit with juniper and thyme...
Càbra mascheràta is a traditional cured meat made from goat shank. The name literally translates to "masked goat"; this comes from the unique method used to nourish the animal. Farmers fit the goat with a sort of muzzle that has openings large enough to allow it to forage on weeds and wild herbs and shrubs but too small to allow the passage of crops like grapes or berries. This allows the animal to naturally tend the farmland without the use of herbicides while processing weeds into fertilizer and developing a flavorful meat. The goats are slaughtered at the age of six months to a year; the meat is then brined in seawater to which laurel, hyssop, celery seed, and juniper are added. Once brined the shanks are hung up in a cave or cellar to cure for at least 60 days before being thinly sliced and served. It is often consumed plain but can also be served with raw bitter greens with or without a lemon vinaigrette as an appetizer or salad.
Much more common than red meat, both historically and up to the present, is fowl, both wild and domesticated. Montecara has access to a huge variety of birds as it is on a major flyway, and for centuries locals took advantage of this situation by putting up stakes covered in birdlime (vignòla) to catch birds. Many of the captures were songbirds, which were eaten in large numbers up to the 1980s when their capture was banned by environmental legislation in the face of rapidly dwindling populations; though illegal, it is reportedly still possible to find some chefs who will prepare songbirds in the traditional manner. Far more common, though, were the two major domesticated bird species: ducks and chickens. Ducks and duck eggs were up until recently cheaper and more accessible than chickens for most people, as duck farmers could let their birds eat for free by allowing them to feed in shallow coastal waters. Chickens, on the other hand, had to have their diet supplemented by grain given the lack of open land or forest where they could eat their traditional diet of insects, seeds, berries, and leaves, which drove prices up. This was reinforced by the reputation of chicken meat as so delicious that the rich were willing to pay a huge premium for well-raised birds.
More exotic large birds were consumed with at least some regularity in the past. Goose was once a popular food and its rendered fat even moreso; it still makes an appearance on certain tables at Christmas. Swan was eaten from Solarian times up to the middle of the twentieth century but was always regarded as the height of rarity and luxury, so much so that even the ultra-rich merchants of the fourteenth century made a point of eating it no more than once per year, usually at Easter.
Cheese
Although a lack of pasture land has traditionally limited the local production of milk and therefore cheese, farmers have been able to coax enough product from their herds to sustain a cheesemaking tradition that goes back millennia to pre-Sotirian times. Milk from sheep and goats was historically preserved in rennet and either brined in seawater or aged in one of Montecara's many caves. These methods are still in use to make heritage cheeses today.
Most favored are sheep's-milk cheeses, especially those aged long enough to take on a finely grained texture. Goat cheeses enjoy somewhat less prestige but even greater popularity thanks to their lower price and multitude of styles. Perhaps the most common is a local variant of a crumbly brined-curd cheese originating in northwestern Coius known locally as livàni. It is one of the four Montecaran cheeses that enjoy protected designation of origin status, along with dozòcoli, a firmer brined cheese made of a mixture of sheep's and goat's milk; conçàta, a highly complex cheese made from 100% sheep's milk formed in wicker baskets and cave-aged for at least 12 months; and perùt, a strongly flavored goat cheese with a moldy rind.
Herbs, spices and flavorings
The importance of trade to Montecara's culinary history is clearest in the use of spices. Montecara has had more and longer access to the spices of Coius than anywhere else in Euclea, and it accordingly developed a much more heavily spiced native cuisine than is typical for a continental Euclean culture.
The all-importance of salt
Domestically cultivated species...
Flowers...
Trees...
- Mastic (lentìscio), resin
- Mahleb (sbolsafrìn), seeds
- Lemon (and zest)
- Bay leaf
- Myrtle, leaves and berries
- Monk's pepper, leaves, flowers, berries
- Pine nuts
- Caper, buds and berries, leaves pickled or boiled
- Juniper
Leafy herbs...
- Carom, a now little-used herb (leaves and fruit/"seeds") with a strong fragrance of thyme and pungent flavor
- Hyssop (ìsopo), (leaves) in fatty lamb dishes, baked goods, and as an herbal tea. Produces excellent honey
- Lemon verbena (melìsa), (leaves) especially in sauces and marinades for fish
- Rue (rùa), as a flavoring for liquor and egg dishes or battered and fried shoots
- Marjoram
- Tarragon
- Basil
- Sage
- Savory
- Sumac
- Thyme (very common native)
- Mint (esp. with tomatoes, capers)
- Calamint
Roots...
Seeds...
Meals
Montecarans generally have a light breakfast on the way to work or school at cafés or stalls located throughout the city. This often consists of a pastry, sandwich, or fruit accompanied by coffee or juice. There is a traditional mid-morning break for coffee around 11:00, and shops and offices often close briefly to allow for this. Lunch, usually the largest meal of the day, is eaten around 14:00 to 15:00, and workers generally take a full hour to do so, often eating at home. It usually consists of a main dish and at least one accompaniment, such as a salad or antipasti. Dinner is eaten at about 21:00.
Courses
A full meal with all the traditional courses consists of the following:
- Aperitìv
- Sparkling wine, liqueur-based cocktails and accompanying snacks such as nuts or dried fruit
- Antipasto
- Cold, light pre-first course
- Primo
- Starchy first course
- Secònd
- Meaty second course
- Contorno
- Accompaniment to the second course, usually cooked vegetables
- Salàta
- Salad
- Formàxi e fruti
- Cheese and fruit
- Desèr
- Dessert
- Cafè
- Coffee or orzo
- Digestìv
- Stronger, bittersweet liqueur
Typical dishes
- Sardi a saor, a dish consisting of sardines in a sweet-sour sauce
- Sauces... (tonàdo, tomato, garum, etc.)
Sweets:
- xinòta-flavored marmalade and hard candy
- formàxo giàço, a frozen dessert and snack similar to ice cream that is flavored with soft cheese and usually served in a split-open sweet bun (brioxa)
- Confit nuts
- Fruit mostàrda
Special foods are eaten around Easter. These include galani, a rum-flavored fried pastry served with lemon zest, and pandòr, a sweet egg bread. Easter lunch traditionally includes a feast of seven different types of fish, the exact components of which vary but which generally include clams, scallops, salt cod, anchovy, and sea snails.
Drinks
Wine
No other food or drink has so profoundly affected Montecaran society or touched so many Montecaran lives as has wine. More than even rice or fish, wine has been a constant of Montecaran life for millennia, a drink of the rich and poor, native and foreigner, coaxed from the native soil by princes and slaves alike. Wine grapes, Vitis vinifera, originate in southeastern Euclea on a sliver of craggy upland that runs from the coasts of Auratia along the Gulf of Assonaire down to Montecara. All wine grapes can be traced back to this homeland, where their wild ancestors were plucked by nomads and eaten by goats before the first settlers discovered that their juice, left in the open to be fermented by wild yeast, could transform itself into wine. Montecara is still home to some of the most ancient varietals of the species, some cultivated since the Solarians ruled Montecara over two thousand years ago.
Wine is by far the most popular alcoholic drink for Montecarans, accounting for over 60% of all alcohol consumed. Montecarans consume approximately 56 liters of wine per capita annually, equivalent to about a glass a day on average. Wine is commonly drunk with both lunch and dinner, and a small serving of fortified or distilled wine is sometimes added to coffee in the morning to make a cafè corèto.
Montecara now finds itself near the lower extreme of the wine grape's range. At thirty-two degrees north of the equator, it is one of the most southerly wine-producing places in the northern hemisphere. Conditions at sea level are unfavorably hot and dry for the production of quality grapes, but at elevations from approximately 500 to 1,000 meters the native grape varietals thrive. Montecara has, in total, 4,759 hectares of vines. Their yield varies somewhat from season to season and vineyard to vineyard but is typically between 40 to 60 hectoliters per hectare on average, giving a total annual yield of 190,360 to 285,540 hectoliters (roughly equivalent to 27,000 to 40,500 tonnes). At a typical price per tonne of grapes of approximately $850, the total value of Montecaran wine production is roughly $23 to $35 million per year. Because of strong local and tourist demand, relatively little Montecaran wine is exported. Individual producers will ship cases to foreign buyers, but there is no infrastructure for supporting a large-scale export industry. This has given some Montecaran wines a cult following among collectors who seek out the very few bottles that make it out of the country. Some producers have tried to capitalize on outsize demand by selling futures in upcoming vintages and using the money to pay down debt or invest in new equipment and facilities.
History
Vines have been cultivated in Montecara for at least 2,500 years... Phylloxera, destruction of vines in war and for other land uses Sulfur and Bordeaux mixture as antimildew measures
Climate, soil and water
Agricultural land in Montecara by use, 2019
Macro, meso, microclimates Climate change
The extinct volcano Monte Cara has left a blanket of dark, rich, and porous soil on its slopes that is ideal for winegrowing. Because volcanic soil holds moisture well, grapes can thrive in Montecara's very dry summers, and the mineral content contributes savory and earthy flavors and acidity to the naturally sweet and lush hot-weather fruit. The result is a fresh and exuberant selection of wines.
Alc content tends to be high due to high sugar content
Terraces, limestone, soil erosion exacerbated by dry season and lack of irrigation. Lately organic fertilizers (manure) mandatory due to concerns over inorganics leaching into groundwater. Issues with salt toxicity causing leaf burn. Buffering to control pH...
- Water...
- harvested rainwater
- boreholes
- levadas
- recycled wastewater
- public water supply
Law
- Regulation, gov regulatory body
- Regulatory environment: EC and local regs, trade barriers or lack thereof
- Quality grading system
- Organic, biodynamic certification?
Only wine that is made from 100% domestic grapes may be labelled "vin Montecarà". This is not an indicator of quality, only of appellation; the Euclean Community recognizes it under law in a reciprocal scheme where Montecara recognizes the appellations of mainland Euclean wines and other gastronomic products.
Grape varieties
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Montecara is unique among winemaking nations in forbidding the cultivation of internationalized grape varieties. Only native, heirloom grapes can be grown, a rule in place since the Gaullican occupiers handed down a decree to that effect in 1812 in a bid to prevent Montecaran wine from competing with their domestic products. At least two dozen varieties have been identified growing in Montecara, many on feral vines outside managed vineyards; among these, the most economically significant by a wide margin are Garganèga, Verdùxo, and Spaiòl.
Garganèga is a red grape that has been cultivated on the slopes of Monte Cara for at least 400 years. Its thick skins and extensive root structure make it well-suited to the dry and hot Montecaran summer, and it thrives especially in the native volcanic soil. Although it buds early, it ripens late, with a harvest as late as the end of November. It produces a wine that is full-bodied, with high acidity and firm tannins, giving it excellent aging potential; quality bottles will reach their peak in 12 to 18 years from vintage. Well-made bottles will often have notes of leather, cured meat, and white pepper when young, developing into dark, sweet notes of figs and chocolate as they age. Its rich flavor makes it a worthy companion to lamb, oxtail and other fatty meats as well as earthy roasted mushrooms. Alcohol content tends to be medium-high at around 12-13% by volume.
Verdùxo, thought to be named for the vivid green (verdo) hue of its fruit, is a climbing vine that produces a wine with clean flavors and a crisp, fruity aroma. Traditionally the most widely cultivated of all Montecaran grapes, it was for generations allowed to grow nearly wild in kitchen gardens, up downspouts and old clotheslines to keep it off the ground which was used for growing vegetables, and aged in simple clay or glass vessels where it was colonized by feral yeast. This strategy (or lack thereof) produced large quantities of very weakly alcoholic (8.5% by volume or less) wine that varied hugely in quality but which was rarely noteworthy. With the benefit of more respectful management techniques it has come into its own, appreciated for its notes of almond and lemon and occasionally apricot and peach, with a light body and higher but still gentle alcohol level of approximately 10-11% by volume.
Spaiòl is a white grape that favors the island's highest altitudes, thriving at elevations of 800 meters and higher where the climate mellows and nights bring in cool air even in midsummer. This gentler treatment results in a grape that has much softer tannins and is used to make both a golden dessert wine with notes of honeysuckle and apricot and a light, acidic still wine.
Some estates have made well-regarded wines from a number of other native varieties, notably Caràxa, Asalìn, and Fràsca.
Production
The large-scale vineyard monoculture—hectare after hectare growing nothing but staked vines—that defines modern winemaking in most of the world's most prodigious wine-producing regions is alien to Montecara. Instead, wine production happens almost exclusively on small estates that have mostly been owned by aristocratic families for generations. The Montecaran state sees many advantages to this ownership pattern, not the least of which is that smaller producers are highly incentivized to develop labels with strong reputations and exercise good stewardship of their land. A typical wine-producing estate might have twenty or thirty hectares' worth of vines in total, but they will inevitably be interspersed with a wide variety of other plant and animal life. Vines might grow alongside citrus, olives, and figs, and sheep often roam the fields eating weeds and depositing valuable organic fertilizer in the form of manure. Ducks and chickens are loosed to eat snails, slugs, and insects, controlling pests while developing the flavor of their meat.
As of late 2019, there were 114 estates producing wine locally.
Styles
The particular style of wine historically most associated with Montecara is Xàca, a fortified wine made that can range in color and sugar content from nearly clear and dry to almost black and very sweet.
- vinàrda, which roughly translates to "burnt wine."
Liquor
- Local version of anisette
- Fernet
Beer
Beer (bìra) has historically run a distant third in terms of popularity behind wine and spirits, but the modern trend toward craft beer (bìra crùd, literally "raw beer") has increased the drink's market share substantially. Montecara's first modern brewery, Lupo di Luppolo, opened in 1998 and continues to produce a range of beers focused on amber ale along with some pale lagers and occasional forays into sour beer. There are as of mid-2020 five breweries operating in the country.
Coffee
Coffee (cafè) is immensely popular and is consumed at nearly all times of the day and night. It is consumed at home, at coffee bars and cafes, at restaurants, and at work and school. Coffee, which originates in the mountains of Dezevau, was introduced to Montecara around 1530 as part of the regular trade with the Gorsanid Empire. Montecara was the first Euclean country to have coffee; from there, it was spread to the rest of eastern Euclea by the middle of the seventeenth century. Cafés were established not long after coffee's introduction and proved especially popular as places for merchants to meet and discuss business, particularly as the beverage they served sharpened the wit rather than dulled it as did the wine that taverns served. Soon cafés became destinations traders and those eager to invest in shipping, especially in the nascent joint-stock corporations of the day that sprung up to allow for investments to be spread out over many ships. Cafés posted information on ships' comings and goings, the prices of goods, and stock information, which added to their appeal. This informal coffeehouse network grew into the first stock exchange, the Borse Mercànte de Montecara, founded in 1563. Early coffee was finely ground in a mill and boiled with sugar in a small, long-handled open pot over coals, moving it as needed to keep it from boiling. This "Pardarian coffee" remained the typical style of the drink until well into the nineteenth century and is still considered something of a local specialty in Montecara, especially if brewed with ground cardamom.
Most coffee consumed in Montecara is sourced from eastern Coius, especially Terangau, Mabifia, and Dezevau; coffees from this region are known for their juicy, fruity, and sweet-savory qualities. Beans are typically imported washed but raw and then roasted locally; the best cafes roast their beans on-site to their own specifications. Montecarans generally favor a darker roast, resulting in a more bitter but less acidic coffee. Quality roasters stop just short of an oily, black bean, which should result in a coffee with well-developed caramel and chocolate notes but no burnt or ashy flavor. The most popular method of preparation by far is the esprèso, in which hot (approximately 93 to 95 degrees) water is forced under intense pressure (usually around 9 bar) through a compressed "puck" of finely ground coffee. When done properly, this method extracts desirable flavors while leaving overly bitter compounds behind. It requires expensive specialty equipment and is therefore usually not made at home. Indeed, coffee was not usually consumed in the homes of ordinary people until the invention of the now-ubiquitous cafetièr in 1933. This device allowed the home user to make a good-quality coffee similar to the esprèso that was served in cafés.
Coffee is usually consumed immediately after it is made, often with a small amount of sugar and optionally a thin peel of lemon for added brightness. Milk is not a typical addition, though some specialty esprèso drinks involving steamed or foamed milk have become popular since they were introduced beginning in the 1980s. Coffee with milk is considered strictly a morning drink and is not generally consumed after about 11:00.
Orzo, herbal tea and other hot drinks
Originally developed as a coffee substitute during wartime, toasted barley (cafè di orzo, usually just called orzo) is now enjoyed as a drink in its own right. It is especially popular with children and people avoiding caffeine. It is usually made in the style of esprèso. Tea (thè) is uncommon, but dried hyssop (ìsopo) is used as an herbal tea.
Sprìsi
Traditional non-alcoholic drinks made from fruits, vegetables, grains, and other flavorings are known as sprìsi.
Markets
Eating establishments
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Eating meals outside the home has been a tradition in Montecara since the days of the Solarian Republic at least. Solarian Montecara had many taverns (tabernae), usually located in the ground floors of a typical apartment building (insula), where cheap and simple food and wine was available. As the poor and middle classes who made up the vast majority of the population lived in small dwellings without their own kitchens, the tavern was the main source of food for most. Typical dishes included soups and stews served out of large cauldrons, fresh and dried fruit, olives, nuts, cheese, bread, and grilled or roasted fish, goat, or pork. It was typical for urban dwellers to meet for a meal and conversation at the neighborhood tavern at least once a day.
The tradition of dining out seems to have faded during the post-Solarian period as supply lines and the complex urban life they supported withered. Even as Montecara recovered and prospered, fine dining was limited to the homes of the elite who could afford well-equipped kitchens and professional cooks. Evidence suggests that commercial dining establishments were not common again until the thirteenth century at the earliest, when the concept of a public tavern where food was prepared and served daily was revived. These taverns usually served essentially a prix-fixe meal with no choice on the customer's part, usually at a common table. As Montecara prospered during the high middle ages, dining reached new heights of sophistication.
The first restaurants in the modern sense, with a menu of options at various prices and private tables, appeared in the seventeenth century amid the craze for new imported luxury foods like coffee and chocolate.
Ristorànt
Tratorìa
Osterìa
Paninerìa
Bars
Montecara has a rich and storied bar culture. Bars (bacàri) range in size from gardens that can seat hundreds to tiny nooks that seat four or five, and in opulence from vast gilt and marble rooms at the finest hotels to street-facing windows that might not even provide seating. Social drinking is well-integrated into Montecaran culture and is not considered scandalous or shameful; parents routinely bring their young children with them to bars, and it is not unusual for children as young as eight or nine to be offered a small taste of wine. There is no legal minimum drinking age in Montecara, but the legal purchase age for alcohol is sixteen for on-site consumption and off-site wine and beer sales and eighteen for off-site liquor sales. This has led to the social norm for friends to gather at bars without their parents starting around the age of sixteen.
Bars, by definition, emphasize drinking over food. However, nearly all offer some type of snack (chixeto) to complement the drinks. Chixèti are eaten with fingers or a toothpick, never cutlery, and are usually priced at Ł5-15 each. They include:
- Marinated or fried:
- Artichoke
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Cheese
- Squid
- Arancini di risotto
- Fried polenta alla marinara
- Bean paste on toast
- Bacalà on toast
- Grilled or boiled baby octopus
- Boiled duck eggs
- Oysters
- Clams
- Charcuterie
- Cheese
- Olives
- Snails
- Sea urchin
- Radish with salt
- Crudi of scallops or shrimp
- Special drinks / cocktails
A bar specializing in beer is a birrerìa.
Street food
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Traditionally served from carts in the shadow of towers and big buildings in public squares. In some areas, upgraded over time to permanent booths with one vendor inside. These one-man kiosks are now considered icons of Montecaran life.