Rostúra

Short description

The rostúra is a vegetable stew that is the traditional food for harvest celebrations in Tarrabaenia. The rostúra has a long and complex history, at least considering it is a normal dish. It is a dish so widespread, that probably no Tarrabaenian can pass through autumn without eating at least one portion of it.

Production and ingredients

There are many harvest celebrations in Tarrabaenia, most of which sprung from local festivities in honour of certain, mostly local deities. In Kammargo, the moon goddess Siderar has been worshipped as a harbinger of autumn and patron of the harvest, as she shines brightest during the clear nights of the tenth month. It is there, were the most celebrated form of Rostúra today originated. Kammargo, despite its slightly harsher, continental climate produces a lot of squash, the cool pale greenish púca variety being the most common one. The púca reminds one of the moon, Siderar, in the autumnal night sky, which made it popular as a seasonal vegetable. It was at first the main ingredient of the Rostúra in Kammargo, but soon this form of Rostúra took over all of Tarrabaenia.

Púca are peeled and diced and the seeds are removed. The diced up púca is boiled in a vegetable broth, which is based on carrots, onions and parsley roots. After a few hours, the pieces have become soft and easily fall apart, if stirred too vigourously. The pieces are collected carefully and put in a pot with hot oil. The broth in the other pot is kept for further use in other dishes. After a short while of frying, the heat is turned lower, as enough roasting aroma has developped by then. Other kinds of vegetables, preferably red ones like carrots or red cabbage are cut into small pieces and stirred into the thick squash mash. Another ingredient always used are grain which has been watered for a long time to get soft. Depending on the area, spelt, wheat or millet or a combination of those are used. With the watered grain, more fluid comes into the mix so it becomes more of an actual stew. When the rostúra is served, a piece of salted butter is stirred under and pomegrenade seeds or red grapes put on top. In some regions pomegrenade sirup is stirred lightly into individual servings to produce reddish spots or areas in the stew.

The rostúra is a dish deliberately kept free from strong spices and most non-vegetal ingredients. It is meant to catch the cosy warmth of the autumn sun and the mild autumn winds. The usage of especially red vegetables in the more yellowish-orangy stew evokes the picture of the autumnal landscapes with their mowed fields and coloured leaves bathing in the golden sunsets.

History and role in culture

Even though púca are not readily available in all of Tarrabaenia, most of the Confederation of Tarrabaenia celebrates the harvest with some sort of rostúra. Púca have become a widespread vegetable, though and even if not cultivated as a staple food, it is grown where possible, to be able to make that nowadays very popular form of rostúra from Kammargo. It has become so widely popular only after the Tarrabaenian Empire was toppled and replaced with it rightful successor and predecessor, the Confederation of Tarrabaenia. The restorer of the old order were for the most part from Kammargo and celebrated the first harvest festival in Savína after the reestablishment of the confederation with their style of rostúra. From then on this form got rampant and replaced most other rostúra, as the dish has become some kind of national dish due to the circumstances.

In the very East and the North, where púca can be neither grown nor imported, more traditional recipes can be found. Most of them are based on grain, which is watered in an unsalted vegetal broth and later boiled in that same broth. Typical ingredients include carrots, cabbage and onions, but also mushrooms, especially along the northern slopes of the Sévo Mountains. Instead of pomegrenade seeds, red grapes and elderberries are used as a decoration.

While the púca refers to the moon Siderar in this dish, the other ingredients allude to Genimena, the goddess of fruit, grain and harvest of the Triparié trinity. Especially the grapes, pomegrenades and elderberries, as they are growing in lumps, are a symbol of fertility and wealth of a family and represent everyones wishes to have many and healthy children.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink