Miscellaneous information about vessels, foods, drinks, etc

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There is little cold storage on Gor. Most food is preserved by being dried or salted. Ice is cut from ponds in winter and then stored in icehouses under sawdust. You may go to the icehouse to get it, or have it delivered from ice wagons. Ice is an expensive luxury, especially in the summer. Few paga taverns will have cold storage areas. It would be much more common for them to store certain foods and drinks in a basement area to keep it cool, though not really cold. An amphora is a two-handled, narrow-necked vessel with a narrow, usually pointed base. It is a storage container for liquids and is commonly put into a storage hole in the ground at night to keep it cool.

The most common utensils used on Gor are knives and spoons. There is an eating prong, similar to a fork, which was invented in Turia. It is not commonly used outside of that city. The wealthy of other cities though may use these prongs. Eating prongs would be very rare in taverns outside of Turia.

Goreans are very sociable people and enjoy giving dinners and having parties. At such events, it is an honor to be seated above the bowls of red and yellow salts. It denotes your high station and status. The Turian feast is a unique dinner. It consumes the better part of a night and there may be as many as 150 courses. Etiquette requires that you at least taste each course. Guests may use a tufted banquet stick, dipped in scented oils, and a golden bowl to vomit into between courses. Different wines are commonly served with each course, specially chosen to complement the cuisine.

There is no precise Gorean expression for a restaurant. There are public kitchens where people can get a meal but they are more functional than social places. You can get food at paga taverns and cafes but those establishments serve many other functions as well. There is no social place where you simply go to eat that would be akin to an Earth restaurant.

Many Gorean wines are very strong, 80 to 100 proof. Most Earth wines in comparison are only about 12 proof. Thus, wine may commonly be cut with water. This occurs often when wine is drunk at homes at meals, at certain parties and in some taverns. A wine krater, a mixing bowl, is used to mix the wine and water. "Krater" is an ancient Greek term that means "mixing bowl." If the wine is not cut, it might also be served in very small amounts. At more raucous parties or taverns, the wine is rarely cut or only in a slight amount.

There are a number of common drinking vessels in the taverns of Gor. There are generally no restrictions over what cup or bowl you use to serve a certain drink. Paga and wine can be served in nearly any drinking vessel. Most taverns will have ordinary vessels of cheap metal or pottery. They will not have vessels of gold or silver. Only the most expensive of taverns might have such expensive items.

Goblets, of various materials, are the most common vessel in taverns. Some goblets have rings, aybe four or five, around the cup area and a patron may ask for his cup to be filled to a certain ring. Sometimes bowl-like vessels are also used. A kylix, an ancient Greek term, is a footed, two-handled cup. A kantharos is a deep drinking cup with a high-footed part and upraised handles to grip it. It derives from the Greek word meaning "dung beetle." Some peoples use drinking horns. The Wagon Peoples and Torvaldslanders both use such horns. A bota is a leather flask commonly used for paga and wine. Most botas are made of verrskin. A bota is squeezed to release a stream of liquid. Botas are commonly carried by travelers, as they are portable and not subject to breakage. A bota would not be served within a paga tavern. Wine and paga may also be sold in bottles of various sizes. A hydria, another Greek term, is a high-handled, water vessel. It is a curious aside that the drinking vessels on Gor almost all derive from Greek sources.


Meat Fish and Fowl
These items are kept in the smokehouse or chillery...often freshly butchered from the days hunt. Prepared much as their earthen counterparts, Yellow Knives always has a roast of Kailiauk ready over an open spit and meals are prepared by tribal inahan (slaves) to be served communal style or as a Free demands

Fruit
Fruits - ALL are stored in baskets in the servery or even the chillery unless otherwise noted , principally they are served raw, cooked, juiced, and may be made into preserves which are stored on servery shelves in wax sealed clay containers

Baking
Flours of sa-tarna and rence or the whole grains are used to make many items ie pastas breads, sa-tarna bread, black bread, corn bread is made daily along with various pastries pies or cakes...fresh and preserved fruits or vegetables used as needed along with sugars nuts honey chocolate creams butters and cheeses. The baking ovens are to the side of the servery along with racks to store the items while cooling and a large work table.

Dairy Products
A small herd of bosk and verr are kept and milked twice daily to supply the Tribe with fresh milk butter and cheese. Gant and vulo flocks roam free about the campground and river banks and roost overnight in a small brush leanto where fresh eggs may be gathered. All these items are stored in the chillery. Fresh cheese and aged is made from the milks and stored there as well.