Bonus Glossary of Otherworld Ingredients

Meats

Giba

A large boar-like animal with a pair of horns and large tusks. Highly aggressive. They breed rapidly, and are prone to wild swings in population size. As a result, if they are not kept in check, they will often spread beyond their native forests, causing serious damage to property and crops. A major pest species.

Usually, only the leg meat of a giba is collected, because the people of the forest’s edge are expected to hunt frequently in order to keep the population in check. If properly preserved in pico, the leg meat will last more than long enough for a single person to use it up if eating normally.

Giba meat is a deep red, and has a potent stench if not properly bloodlet immediately. It is traditionally prepared by slicing chunks off the bone in haphazard manner, and then boiling it at high temperature for 20 minutes to make a stew. However, preparing it in this way results in the meat becoming soft and slimy on the surface, while still remaining extremely tough and sinewy on the inside. It makes for an unpleasant meal, especially for the very young and old. It can also be dried out using lilo and eaten as a jerky, though it will still be as tough as rubber.

In order to bring out the full potential of this ingredient, a more laborious cooking process is needed. The meat must be simmered at a medium temperature for approximately 80 minutes. This softens the meat all the way through without overcooking the surface to the point that it becomes mushy. In the end, you will have a meat with a rich, quirky flavor that some may find overpowering, but which is just as delicious as pork or beef.

Alternatively, the meat may be minced and made into a hamburger meat patty using dissolved poitan as a thickening agent, to be served either steak style or sandwich style with aria, tarapa, or fruit wine sauce. The giba’s own fat is used to keep the patty from sticking to the pan as it fries at high temperature. The meat does not become overly soft because it is not submerged in water. This is a more difficult method of preparation, due to the thickness of the pots used by the people of the forest’s edge and the simplicity of their stoves making temperature regulation difficult. A thin patty may be quick baked using a single pot, but if a family has multiple pots that may be heated to different levels, the second may be used to more slowly cook the patties to the center after the surface has been seared.

Karon

An animal with meat that tastes similar to beef. Back and rib meat is especially prized, and is difficult for the average person to afford. In most markets, only leg meat is sold. It is said to be delicious, but it can be overly tough if not cut thinly and stewed thoroughly.

Kimyuus

An animal with white meat similar to processed chicken. Relatively cheap. It lays eggs which are also used as food. Commonly grilled, roasted, or fried with the skin still attached—considered a particularly delicious treat when prepared in the latter way. Its flavor is mild and simple, so it is easily overpowered by any vegetables and spices it is served with.

Fruits & Vegetables

Aria

A layered vegetable resembling a bulb onion in appearance, but lacking the eye-burning chemicals contained in onions. It is vibrantly green in color both inside and out. When cooked for only a short time, it has a crisp crunchiness and very little flavor. Heating for around 20 minutes will cause it to soften and become sweeter. It is a common ingredient in a wide variety of dishes because it is cheap and provides all the nutrition one would need from a vegetable.

Chatchi

A fruit with an outer layer like a yellow-skinned orange, beneath which is a fleshy lump with the taste and texture of a sweet potato. When cooked thoroughly, it breaks down into soft chunks, somewhat resembling mashed potatoes. If not fully cooked, the core will remain solid and crunchy.

Fuwano

A grain used to make a sort of soft but dense flatbread, which can be wrapped, molded, and stuck together to make a meat bun, burrito, or pot pie-like dish. Does not keep as well as poitan.

Gigo

A plant that grows massive tubers over two meters in length. Has a flavor that has charitably been described as “mellow” or alternatively as “boring.” It breaks down when boiled to make a thick stew, and while it has little taste of its own, it can also suppress the unpleasant taste and texture of poitan. When added to baked poitan, the resulting bread is softer and fluffier, somewhat more closely resembling a yeast bread.

Lilo

An herb that is used along with pico to make smoked giba jerky. It has a potent aroma that effectively covers up the stink of raw giba meat, and is sometimes used to make the meat more palatable.

Myamuu

A vegetable that grows in long, thin, green stalks. Cannot be eaten raw, as it is excessively spicy, but this is lost when it is cooked. When properly prepared, tastes like a cross between garlic and a bit of cilantro. It does not smell as strongly as garlic, though. Can be cut up and mashed into a paste that works well as an ingredient in a wide variety of sauces and marinades.

Pico

When pico leaves are dried, they turn black and crumble into a coarse powder easily. This powder is used as an extraordinarily effective preservative for giba meat, drawing out moisture and preventing the onset of decay. When submerged in pico, giba meat will last up to three weeks, even in the hot and humid conditions at the forest’s edge. If properly maintained by stirring regularly, a batch of pico will remain effective for up to a month before needing to be replaced. Pico is slightly spicy, and can be used as a seasoning like pepper. Along with lilo, it can also be used to make smoked giba jerky.

Poitan

A poitan resembles a potato in size and shape, but in actuality it is an immense grain berry, and provides all of a person’s dietary needs for grain. It dissolves readily in water, creating a broth that tastes like raw flour, requiring ingredients with very strong tastes to cover it up enough to make a palatable soup.

Though it is a grain, its tendency to agglutinate is very weak. In order to produce anything that even resembles bread out of it, a specific procedure must be followed. First, the poitan must be heated in a proportionately small amount of water until is dissolved, in order to make a thick, mushy broth. This must be further heated to the point of almost burning in order to reduce the water content, until it becomes a sort of batter. Drying this batter under sunlight will finally produce a dense flatbread that easily pulls apart, but is at least strong enough to make a sandwich with. A small amount of gigo can be added during the heating process to make this flatbread a little softer and fluffier.

Pula

A green vegetable shaped like a ginkgo leaf, but with thickness to it. It is bitter, but if cut into small pieces it can pleasantly accent other tastes.

Romu

A medicinal herb, with pitch-black leaves shaped like those of a maple tree. Reduces pain and fever. A single leaf made into a tea is an effective dose for an adult.

Tarapa

A red fruit about as big as a small pumpkin, with a similar ribbed skin and internal structure. It has a tomato-like flavor, though with a somewhat stronger sourness when raw. When combined with aria, pico, and fruit wine for sweetness, it produces a strong tomato stew that can even overcome the flouriness of poitan. A sort of ketchup can also be made from it.

Tino

A large green vegetable that looks like a rose made of cabbage or lettuce leaves. It has very little flavor, but can be used as a garnish, or to add a pleasant bit of fresh crispness to a chewing experience.

Zozo

A strongly aromatic plant that looks like a coiling beehive. It is not medicinal, but smells like medicine. The people of the forest’s edge use it as a soup ingredient to cover up the smell of giba meat, while the townsfolk make it into a tea. Zozo tea is mildly bitter, but smooth and pleasant to drink.