Sustenance in the Alhara desert

The Alhara desert is rock and inhospitable wasteland, almost entirely void of water and plagued in parts by the undead spawn of Bleddyn. This harsh environment is almost exclusively inhabited by nomadic desert Gruakhai, known also as the Kindushel. Though their kind naturally thrive in cold environments such as the Alhara, the particularly arid conditions of the region have in a major way shaped the way they acquire and prepare their food.

Limitations

The foremost limiting factor in the region is its lack of water. The Alhara sits in the heart of Mundus Major covering formidably high, arid highlands and the northern valley where no rivers run. Springs are rare to come by and the chance of rainfall is amount to a miracle.
The Alhara is surrounded by the undead-infested mountains to the north, vast grasslands to the west and the east, and a cold taiga to the south. As such, fresh agricultural products are practically nonexistant in the regional cuisine, as they are very difficult to source. Notable exception include certain edible tubers of the grasslands, such as wild onion and garlic. Grain and flour is imported from foreign trade hubs, and they serve as an important supplement to the local diet.
The most important source of sustenance is the meat, blood and milk of various pack animals (horses, camels) as well as locally hunted wildlife, such as the fiercely territorial razorbeak, or the deadly sand stalker which strikes at unwary prey with a venomous, barb-tipped tail.
Nothing goes to waste in the Alhara. Whatever meat is butchered and cooked by the Kindushel is used to the very last scrap, and the bones are thoroughly boiled for broth, when the situation allows it. The bones are then left to dry, and once thoroughly dessicated and brittle, they are ground to make bone-meal. This nutritious (though off-putting) substance is used to supplement bread, or used as fertilizer in the few Kindushel settlements which are able to engage in agriculture. In the northern reaches of the Alhara, this practice extends to the bones of their own dead, as the gruakhai have grown to fear the possibility of their own ancestors rising to fight against them.

Example meals

Blood bread. The gruakhai bring a spare pack beast for each morning of the journey (as well as an additional few, so as not to tempt Fate or the Deities), and each morning they butcher one for their sustenance. The blood is collected and mixed with flour and groats of rye, barley or similar hardy grains to form small patties, which are then baked over hot stones around the campfire. Such bread is disagreeable for the palate and stomachs of more settled folk, but for the Kindushel it is a reliable, nutritious and hearty staple food.

Sour milk soup. Milk is an important source of nutrition and hydration for the Kindushel, and it is intentionally soured to preserve it in the often hot environment. Sweet milk is reserved for the honoured few. The Kindushel have several traditional recipes where freshly butchered or salt-preserved meat, bones and the occasional tuber are boiled in milk, resulting in a savory and thick broth. Such a brew smells foul, but is most nutritious and surpisingly pleasant on the tongue.

Mundus

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