Old Grehk/Famous Exports

Old Grehk is a resourceful realm. Abundunt of resources and industrious, creative people. Here is just a short list of some of the famous exports of Old Grehk.

Food

OG Royal Moutai OG 皇家御用茅台

The name comes from the small town of Maotil near the Xerus River where the liquor was first distilled. It was first introduced to the outside world in the Grand Ossmat Tournament organized after First Undeads/Monsters Invasion. It is said that when the nobles of the tournament saw the curious under glazed yellow pot of Moutai, they thought it vulgar and refused to accept it. In great indignation, King Vagabond smashed the bottle on the ground. As the liquor ran over the floor, the sweetly intoxicating odor filled the hall and some nobles present wanted a taste of it. It ended up catching so much attention for its excellent quality and unique flavor that each noble was only allowed 2 bowls. (Yes, use bowls to drink Moutai!) Since then the liquor has enjoyed a good reputation worldwide. It is also in this occasion the liquor received Royal attention and its creation under Royal regulation.

Moutai is made of sorghum and wheat, half and half mixed, fermented eight times and distilled seven times. Its production technique is complicated and seasonal, like that of field crops. The raw materials should be processed before the ninth day of the ninth lunar month and the processing is completed in ten and a half months. The raw materials are boiled seven times and condensed nine times without addition of any water to create a more purified and aromatic liquor. Then it is kept for half a year and tasted. If it is not up to the standard, it will be distilled again and again until it is. The whole process lasts about one year, after which the liquor aged for several years.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

OG Seaweed OG 海苔

This Seaweed is mostly found in the Gulf of Gemke. Its mostly found in the southern part of the Gulf only for the relatively warmer weather there. Most of the weeds were found in Gemke coastal area and smaller quantity is found in that of Pomatim. It is not to be eaten, IT IS TO BE SMOKED. There is no word to describe the aroma of it, you can only buy a few grams from an OG trader and try for yourself. It is rumoured to be one of the most favourate 'food' of Queen Melian.

Best served with a weird drink called SevenUp imported from Darka of Atamara. Not suitable for children.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

Pickles

With the abundance salt and a thriving blackmarket for spices in Gethsemene, it has become the hub and trade center of all pickled food products. some delicacies are mentioned here,

• Dried Pickled Fish in onion sauce
• Mango Pickle with boiled pulses and wheat cakes or rice
• Pork Vindaloo
• Mixed Vegitable Pickle
• Pickled monsters and undeads are available at exorbtant prices on orders and availability, monsters maybe imported from plegroth.
• Seaweed with pickled Oyster and caviar is available in the summer seasons only.

Pickle preperation are similar and are region secrets, some ingredients might be missing or cant be found elsewhere.

- by Sir Yeller, Duke of Gethsemene and former Count of Junohep

Rice 大米

Rice is believed to be a species of grass by some people. It grows best in wetland, the areas around Lake of Vozzessdor as well as irrigated plains around Ossmat. However rice can be grown anywhere even on steep hillsides of Vatrona, Iknopata and Jedinchel. This is also the reason why it is the most consumed cereal grain in OG.

Rice is used in OG's standard wartime army rations, taking the place of bread in such difficult times. It can be stored much longer than bread and can be easily boiled for consumption.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

Addendum: Baqua too produces large amounts of rice and so did Junohep ~Sir Yeller

Tofu 豆腐

Tofu, sometimes also called bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks. The making of tofu from soy milk is similar to the technique of making cheese from milk.

Dried Tofu is used in OG's standard wartime army rations, taking the place of meat in such difficult times. Its importance to soldiers is just after that of rice. However fresh tofu is always preferred just it is too easy to perish.

Tofu, is also versitile and can have many different ways to serve:

Tofu Pudding...Fried...Streamed...In Soup...as beverage (see below)

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

- amended by Xeth'ranis of Leung Family

Addendum: A cheap substitute for Tofu has been rumoured bieng manufactured in Gethsemene - it's working name is Paneer and is made from milk, unlike Cheese it's manufactured in a day or two and is perishable.. ~Sir Yeller

Soya Milk 豆漿

A very tasty and nutritious juice first produced in OG! It is also called 'Soy Milk' and is extracted from 'soybeans' (BUT it is not milk just looks like milk), which can be consumed as food also. The procedure of extracting Soya Milk includes soaking, grinding, cooking and straining, which are not known in anywhere of Beluaterra but OG.

Soy Milk is an alternative to dairy milk (commonly produced by cows, goats and horses). It's considered better for the lower cost in production. OG has a 'Milk for Children Policy'. All infants under age of 3 were given coupons which can be exchanged for dairy milk while those between 3 to 12 were given coupons for Soya Milk. However, breast feeding is still preferred as 'best for babies'.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

- amended by Xeth'ranis of Leung Family

Honey

Made by OG Bees. They produce such an abundant amount, far more than the hive can eat, that we glady harvest the excess for them. Honey was used as early as Grehkian settled in Keffa city, after their long march to the north. The trade routes to the south were not yet opened that time and sugar could rarely be found, most households used honey as a sweetening agent. There is also a form of alcohol drink made with honey, called Mead. Legend said they were once drink of Gods.

Honey is well known that it never spoils, the nutrients it gives is rich and thus often included as soldier standard meal. Some native healers of the north also used honey to treat wounds with good result. The Healing House of Ossmat is currently conducting a research on its healing effect.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

Salted Preserved Fish 靚鹹魚

Product from a small fishing village at the outskirt of Gethsemene city. The elders used abundant amount of salt mixed with fish and sunfried for days, a product of their traditional family wisdom. Shortly after OG is created and food became a problem, the existance of such food caught the attention of military. Renowned for the good availability of ingredients (fish and salt), easy making process, easy storage and strong taste, it becomes one major food manufactured and consumed during difficult times.

The consumption of Preserved Salty Fish in OG now mostly serves as a reminder of the difficult times, a famous dish in any big or small festival. Fresh recruits of the army often found themselves served with Preserved Salty Fish 3 times a day, 7 days a week to 'be familiar with army life'. Due to its saltiness it is better to serve is generous amount of rice. Chop the fish up into small shreds are ideal for fried rice or cooked by mixing with meat (steam, is better, OG people like steaming).

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

Aloe

Aloe is a genus of succulent, flowering plants. They are stiff and rugged, consisting mainly of a rosette of large, thick, fleshy leaves. Native in the old world's tropics. The colonist of New world bought Aloe seeds with them and it was widely planted. So do Old Grehk forefathers they marched North with this amazing plant. This plant is ediable and said to have many medical uses. It is famous by its universal healing effects, such as a remedy for coughs, wounds, ulcers, headaches. For ladies it is said to be skin softening and soothing and commonly made for comestics as well. Healers of Old Grehk often carry them to the battlefield, along with other herbs.

Drinks made from aloe pulp are popular in Old Grehk, as beverages, and as a tea additive. Also in form of jelly served as deserts.

- by Xeth'ranis of Leung Family

Eriocheir sinensis 霍氏達湖大閘蟹

Found in the Lake of Vozzessdor, also known as Old Grehkian mitten crab or Vozzessdor Hairy Crab. OG Mitten Crabs spend most of their life in freshwater, but they must return to the sea to breed. During their fourth or fifth year in late summer, the crustaceans migrate downstream, and attain sexual maturity in the tidal estuaries. The crab meat is believed by the Old Grehkian to have a "cooling" (yin) effect on the body.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

High Quality Salmon

Found in the upperstream of theXerus lake, available in both fresh and preserved manner. Salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. For many centuries, Old Grehkian caught the salmon as they swam upriver. Two famous spearfishing sites are Xerus River and Yermon River.

- by Vagabond of Cheung Family

Other common exports

Sand

Sand from the beaches of Gethsemene are exported to land locked realms which have little or no access to water and want to experience the "beach life"!

- by Sir Yeller, Duke of Gethsemene and former Count of Junohep

Precious Stone

Vatrona's Finest Marble

Famous for being undistructable, Vatrona is widely spread in the world. It is a very solid stone, which cannot be destroyed by simple explosives (of Infiltrators). Mainly religious buildings are build of Vatrona Marble. It is known to have a very beautiful dark red color. Vatrona's Finest Marble is in fact normal Marble from Jedinchel, but refined in Stone Adaptors Academy in Vatrona-countryside.

- by PrinsSimon of the Willems Family

Weapon and Armour

Melee Weapons of Old Grehk

Old Grehk has a distinct style of weaponary compare with typical realms due to cultural differences. For instance sword is only reserved for high ranked nobles or soldiers due to it's cost and difficulty to mass produce. Lesser soldiers uses spears or pike most often. Cavalry favours lance with small shield to charge.

Armours

Old Grehk favour mobility. Armours are often light to medium only. Chain armor, composite armour with leather and linked plates are most popular. Old Grehk has experimented heavy plate armour but they are too bulky for swifty manunover on battlefields.