bonecracker eggs served at wedding feasts
As long as they pay the difference, I will indulge them and make their pastries and pies with bonecrackers eggs.Bonecracker eggs taste almost the identical to chicken eggs, only very refined palates can tell the difference. Bonecracker eggs are much more expensive but ancient dragons used to keep bonecrackers the way we humans keep chickens, and Swynfaredian nobles love the idea that they are doing the same things ancient dragons did.-Garan, Swynfaredian Bakerby Eron12 with Hero Forge
Swynfaredian nobles eat bonecracker eggs for breakfast or dinner on a routine basis (though some less wealthy nobles only eat bonecracker eggs at special occasions). Most peasants cannot afford to eat bonecracker eggs at all, but there is a common practice of Swynfaredian nobles donating bonecracker eggs to peasant couples for their wedding feasts.The best way to serve bone crackers is to cook them in the shell and present them as whole eggs and give guests a slice of it like you would a cake. It makes the ordinary feel extraordinary and that's the whole point of serving bonecracker eggs at special occasions."Bonecracker eggs don't taste like anything special but they look special. A good chef knows that presentation is as important as flavor. If you serve an egg the size of a melon, you don't just scramble the egg (then it becomes indistinguishable from two dozen scrambled chicken eggs).
History
During the the First Age, dragons domesticated various dinosaurs that they found useful. Dragons kept bonecrackers in a similar manner to how modern human and elves keep chickens.
After the First Unmaking over 90% of bonecrackers were slain but bonecrackers were so common that 10% was enough to let the species rebound. Most other dinosaur species were not so lucky.
In the the Second Age, elves continued the practice of raising bonecrackers to collect their eggs, allowing the species to rebound, but the elves eventually figured out that chickens and ducks were more efficient, so bonecracker farming gradually became less common.
During the Second Unmaking, more bonecrackers died and very few survived but there were enough survivors for them to have a viable breeding population to recover in the Third Age
A bone cracker egg may have the nutritional value of twelve chicken eggs, but bone crackers cost so much more to feed and house than chickens that chickens are more economical, especially for peasant families. Still, many humans and other mortals enjoy the novelty of eating very large eggs. Lots of humans and other mortals also like the idea of feasting on the same food that ancient dragons once ate, and few humans are bigger fans of draconic culture than Swynfaredian humans.
As Kingdom of Swynfaredia grew in size and wealth, the Swynfaredian upper class (commonly called "dragon bloods") sought to purchase as many bonecrackers as they could. Their nation probably holds an estimated half of all bonecrackers now. Enough that they now sometimes export bonecracker chicks to other nations.
Dragon bloods often eat bonecracker eggs on a routine basis making it sort of a food for upper class (that and most peasants cannot afford to feed and house bonecrackers).
Early in Swynfaredia's history, the original House Fremiss wanted to make bonecracker eggs a bit more egalitarian. The house valued acts of charity to the peasants and they valued fertility in general. They created an in-house tradition of providing free food to peasant couples getting married on their lands, commonly featuring bonecracker eggs as the main dish.
Because House Fremiss intermarried into every other dragon blood house, the practice of gifting newlywed peasants bonecracker eggs for their wedding feast spread eventually becoming a general Swynfaredian practice so ubiquitious that if a dragon blood doesn't provide any bonecracker eggs, they look like misers.
Observance
Swynfaredian lose face if they do not provide at least one bonecracker egg to a wedding occurring on their lands unless the couple in questions are from families on their lord or lady's naughty list.
In a lot of cases, a stingy or cash strapped noble can get away with sending one such egg (which could easily feed six people) enough for the bride and groom and their parents. Other nobles go all out with several such eggs plus additional food. It depends as much on a noble's supply of extra food as much as it depends on their attitude towards their lower classes.
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