Matzé (maʦə)

In an introduction to Argonomics class, University of Megamisama, twenty-six students huddle in front of a set of blackboards covered with the following quote:

"This morning I continue my quest to find a way to palliate the famine that's scouring my homeland of Benevent, I am in this foreign land the natives call Oshleaaga. Some of my cotravelers debate calling it New Etrusca, for it is a rich land, much like the Etrusca of old. I much prefer leaving the native name, and indeed, much prefer leaving the natives to their own devices, but if we can find a way to feed our people, that would be choice.
These natives don't have much cropland, being on terraced mountains, but where they do, the yields are superb. Feeding thousands with half the land Benevent is used to needing. Their crop, this Matzé, is quite interesting, giving much starch. A local delicacy was served to me at a celebration last night, this Matzé, roasted, not boiled like usual. It explodes over hot oil into a soft, starchy solid that tastes quite good, when flavoured with hot butter and salt, or in a lesser form, by itself.
The natives know much which is unknown in my land, take for instance, these Topato, a robust form of tubers. They are perennial, growing starchy flesh every year for the wise farmer who plants his fields with them. Or their Romato, a sweet/salty fruit that loves the sun almost as much as my favored Tornisol.

— Discovery journal of Jud Armillar Sardé de Vilar, published in 786 as I am Phoenician, my travels, New Etruscan Scientific Press.

The teacher walks in, after a dramatic pauze, his wizened form, bent over from age, still vibrant with the desire to teach, but his eyes have lost some of their luster, he has seen, perhaps, too much.
"Students, what do we learn from this journal excerpt?"
"That Sardé, Benevent and Brescia didn't know of Matzé, five hundred years ago?"
"That is quite true, indeed, Matzé, Romato, , Quatriticalé and Topato were all discovered by The Phoenician, all on this single trip to New Etrusca and New Lolland. Who can tell me what the impact was?"
"Stopped the Chitau Famine?"
"No, by that time, the famine had culled enough people that it was resorbing itself in Brescia, at least. And the crop failures that had caused it were seasonal, and unlikely to happen next year."
"But the Brescians changed their crops?"
"They did, that is the impact, they, and the Sardé and the Benevent, diversified, in part due to the famine, but they also accepted his new crops, giving them more options for diversification. This caused quite a few cases of invasive species, but even now, the Brescians think it was a fair trade. Five hundred years ago, he was hailed as a life-saver."
"Why? If the famine was abating?"
"Because, and this is important, this was the first time in recorded history that a crop failure affected so many countries in Eurani, especially the Sarn, Benevent and Brescians, who were the breadbasket for the rest of the continent. The Sardé stepped up a bit, supplying sea-based products, including the newly discovered sailcloth algae, which during the famine was produced mostly as a bland food staple, except for the BVV Phoenix and one other Phoenix Class Exploratory Cruisers, he acquiring the name of the class as an epithet, many considered his discoveries allowed his nation's rebirth."
"They did all that?"
"They were a famous lord of the Sardé, but having been accepeted by the Benevent as a sailor of note, and marrying one of theirs, they commanded the ship Phoenix, and discovered three continents while on board."
"Didn't he discover Ozma, also?"
"No, that was the other Phoenix-Class explorer, the Hjukisol. The Phoenix Expedition discovered the proximity to Saami, and proposed a new trade route via Rhuthen and Saami to alleviate food shortages. The Saami agreed, the Rhuthen tentatively did, but it was never put in place. Ozma's proximity was discovered when the two expeditions traded directions of travel, on their second trip. Hjukisol did discover the deep bay of Tzekaukus to anchor some of the aforementioned trade routes, though.