Festiva Feasting

Have you ever been to a full on dwarven Festiva Feast? Don't call them Feastivas - every dwarf I've ever met really did not appreciate it. But if you get a chance to attend one, especially one in a dwarven city, cancel your other commitments and take it.

You've probably had dwarven food, and think I'm crazy, and I can see where you are coming from, but you haven't had this. First, there is this mushroom that takes a full year to ripen, and that tastes best when grown from winter solstice to winter solstice, so they are almost only available for Festiva. These things are the size of your fist. They hollow them out, take everything and cook it down with garlic and fat, then mix in spices and cheese made from the mountain alpacas' milk, and stuff it all back together. They will change your life!

Or the meat pies! The big hunts are done, and the meat has been put away, but some choice bits are saved for the pies. Oh, a pie with moose liver and tubers, swimming in gravy, with the dense, stick to you crusts the dwarves make? Worth the trip, every time. Have some of the bacon wrapped onion slices.

And I would be remiss to not mention the desserts. The porcini mushroom brûlée is outstanding, especially when you get it made with a real bean meringue. It makes you feel like you are curled up deep underground, safe and dry.

— Dinik Lockspring
Gnomish gourmand, met in Carnwold

History

The dwarven Festiva Feasts began with the first major dwarven settlements, as has continued down through the ages, regardless of anything happening in the world. The traditions surrounding it have changed, but wherever dwarves are or have been, there has been a gathering around the winter solstice to eat unusual delicacies, and devote substantial time to making unusual foods.

The current incarnation is probably most attributable to Silverbeard Mountain, and to a lesser extent Craghold. Both have feasts that are known as far away as Sulae, although the SIlverbeard menu is more thought of as the traditional type.

Participants

All members of dwarven society take part in the Feasts. The Festiva period sees the mines go quiet, the forges go dark, and the dwarven people come together to celebrate the passage into a new year. Most dwarves attempt to make some dish for at least one meal of the Feasts, although the real work is done by clan heads and owners of various business ventures. Any major employer, or group that relies on a modicum of goodwill from the populace, will open their doors to the public, putting on elaborate spreads.