The Autumn Feast

Holiday of Harvest and a Celebration of the previous year.

Written by Dejers

Have you tried frying a stick of corn? I hadn't, but I'd also not thought of trying to fry Shebizi, but that brings you closer to the edge than any crazy thing I've found in the south. You get youself some frying the next time you're in town for the Autumn feast, I know it's not as important in the cities anymore, but it really brings you closer to the towns and little hamlets that actually make up most of this world.
Who knows? You might learn something!

— The Notes of a Northern Chef

With the harvest of the final crops and the setting aside of the scythe, the setting of the autumnal sun is the one that heralds the cool breath of the Frost. It takes time for the season to change, but at that integral tipping point when the Fire loosens it's grip on the continent, people come together to celebrate the cumulative efforts of the year.
Farm-hands are released from the majority of their burdens as few crops are usually left to be harvested in any quantity. The final day of working in the fields ends with a night lit by torches and filled with revelry and the delightful crunch of fried foods.

Preparations

The exact date the winds finally turn is rarely known far enough ahead of time to matter. However, this doesn't mean that the days to weeks preceding it are spent in vain. The years have given easily noted measurements; the stars' color to the winds' strength, this means that the Autumn Feast surprises only those lacking attention. The gathering of oil, the grinding of extra flour, and the collection of special spices all take up a good chunk of that time.
When the final point arrives and the farmers put out the calls that they have gathered the majority of their crops, the final preparations begin. For this end of year celebration; the meats are slathered into flour-y mixes and tossed into simmering vats of oil. All the food consumed that night are fried. Whether they are fried meats, vegetables or sweets, nothing escapes the flashing heat of oil and batter.

Participants

While the holiday is ostensibly centered around farmers and the hard work of their farm-hands, the communities that house and home these workers are far more involved in the production and celebration of this holiday. Traveling merchants have to know when to start bringing their newer and more exotic oils to pass along to the shops that have to begin boiling their own oils to avoid being caught unprepared for the maelstrom that follows those well known phrases brought by those finally released farm-hands.
"Garma, the Halfing of the Hearth has prepared the feast!" or "Firn, the Chilled Halfling has set the table!"
At the first of these calls, the word spreads and the various pots of readied oil are allowed to be utilized for the frying of foods.

If you feel that cool wind and you haven't bought your oil, you're too late, but you might catch up in time.
If you heard the farm-hands making their way in with news of the finished harvest and haven't brought your oil to temp, then you've boiled gold.

— The Notes of a Northern Chef

Origin, Spread and Significance

It's said that the Autumn Feast dates from Iwa, however, it wasn't introduced to Ithungsida until Brodray and Pursir refounded Renai and the new Halfling settlers brought the celebration back into prominence.
while this remained as a Renan tradition for many years, the advent of faster travel with trains helped the holiday spread in practice across the entire continent. Now a variant can be found almost anywhere with crops.
While the Autumn Feast has a history that easily outlasts the time between the landing of the Fourth Fleet of Iwa and the current year, it was re-introduced to Ithungsida with the founding(or re-founding) of Devout Monarchy of Renai.
As a tradition, this holiday quickly spread through the major parts of Ithungsida and became ingrained in the cultures of many of the nations. To a degree, entirely supplanting previous traditions that focused on harvest time. Due to this heavy level of interconnection, followed by the massive fracture afterwards, the exact fashion of celebration for the holiday varies wildly across the continent.

Gods Associated or in direct support of this holiday include:
Firn, the Chilled Halfling and Garma, the Halfing of the Hearth.

Where are these quotes from?

The Notes of a Northern Chef is a carefully crafted grouping of recipes, fine dining instructions and repository of other tips on where to find the best sources for your most important spices and other ingredients.