Airman's Margarine

'Airman's margarine' is a margarine produced as a byproduct of biodiesel production. Broadly available even in the absence of dairy farms and a source of useful calories even across species boundaries, this special spread is named for its time-honored place among the provisions of airship explorers, soldiers, and survivalists alike.

Manufacturing process

Fuel biosynthesis reactors contain algae species artificially selected for their prodigious production of fatty oils which, by several chemical and distillation steps, are converted into a more combustible form. In the case of airman's margarine, these steps are instead modified to create hydrogenated oil molecules with bends in them, creating a thick, transluscent emulsion in the presence of water and other oils. Salt, herbs, or spices may be added to taste, but, as among the greatest virtues of airman's margarine is its palatability across a broad range of species and cultures, it is often left unseasoned or minimally salted to maintain this quality. Preservatives may be whipped into the spread and the sealed package exposed to ionizing radiation (i.e. in facilities in the Northern or Southern Tesseract) to further extend shelf life, though, again, chemical preservatives may not be compatible with all biologies.

Significance

Airman's margarine is an important staple for many when resources are scarce, not just when one has become separated from the major centers of food production under the Manifold Sky. This artificial butter found a place in most human kitchens during the short famine that followed the cube-spanning wildfire sparked at Thyonaxes. During more intense periods of the War of Reunification, preserved margarine could constitute as much as half of an average CDF soldier's caloric intake due to interruptions in supply lines to the dairy ranches of Medial C.
Airman's margarine represents a byproduct of biofuel production when demand for low-grade fuel is low. However, this is not the only source of vegetable oil available and the margarine produced is often considered palatable only in the academic sense of the word. Nevertheless, wasting a potential source of calories is almost universally considered a moral ill in the Manifold Sky, as the total volume of arable land is limited by the bounds of the tesseracts. Food scientists at Petalcap Vale University are working to increase the efficiency of the production process, but this is done in parallel with efforts to find entirely new sources of fatty acids.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink