“When you have good food, good friends to enjoy it with, and have a good time overall, what more could one ask for?” - Saying attributed to Xaliburnus the Conqueror, First Emperor of the Elmaiya Empire, after a victory party.

The conversations around the tables ground to a halt when several waiters, led by the owner’s own daughter-in-law, arrived from the kitchen below with large platters of appetizers and snacks balanced on their hands. There were already some previously prepared things for the guests to nibble on the tables of course, but they were merely simple things like dried fruits or salted peanuts rather than proper appetizers.

What the serving crew brought were more freshly-prepared dishes, both hot and cold, which were intended to whet the appetite. Chewy, transparent slivers of jellyfish were mixed with cucumbers that had been smashed and carrots that were finely julienned, all drenched in a spicy-sour vinegar based sauce that gave a pungent kick to the ingredients’ natural refreshing flavor.

Small buns and dumplings were served in woven bamboo baskets, so fresh off the steamer that they still gave off some steam themselves. They were filled with various ingredients, from roasted sweetmeats, to a rich amalgam of meat and seafood, to one that was filled to the brim with pungent, flavorful garlic and chives, as well as some vegetable-filled options which mixed mushrooms with onions, carrots, and radishes all finely julienned under the skillful hands of the chefs.

Cal enjoyed them quite a bit, especially the dumplings which were crisped on one side, while remaining tender and soft on the other, as one side had been fried directly on the pan itself, with the rest steamed thoroughly. She munched on a dumpling that was filled with a fat, sweet, chewy shrimp surrounded by fine chopped up chives, and enjoyed the combination of flavors on her tongue as she chewed happily.

Next to her, back on her nursemaid’s lap, little Farah was tentatively biting into a small steamed bun - which was still nearly as large as her face - with a smile on her face. The little toddler chewed happily as she bit into the bun, which was filled with roasted sweetmeats so soft even a little girl like her could enjoy them, and was engrossed with eating to the exclusion of all else.

Other dishes were brought out from the kitchen not long after, just as the appetizers were about to run out, in fact. To Cal’s surprise, she recognized many of the dishes as stuff that would normally be considered peasant or low-class fare, usually the sort nobles would turn their noses up and rage when it was served before them.

Yet on the other hand, she noticed how the dishes were also better polished to make them more presentable for the august personalities present, and on top of that, Cal recalled how Xain had been encouraging frugality amongst the nobles and ministers as a whole. He had naturally used himself as an example, which made it harder for those who disagree to make their argument, for after all, the Emperor himself had led by example.

In the Empire’s history, excess was the norm amongst the nobles, regardless of their ethnicity or background. It was all too common for nobles to host lavish feasts using the rarest and thus most expensive ingredients just to show off their wealth, and it was a practice that Xain now tried to curb, if not outright exterminate.

A large platter contained what mainlanders might have mistaken for flatbreads, and were in practice quite similar to breads indeed. When one bit into them though, they would immediately notice the many-layered construction of the bread, crispy on the outside while chewy inside, with a pleasant savoriness and some flavoring from the chopped green onion kneaded into the dough. It was a common peasant food that could be seen literally everywhere in the Empire, just made with finesse and expertise to the peak of its possibilities by the chefs below.

Similar to it was the large plate of fried rice that the waiters then served into individual bowls. While such a dish was not uncommon even on the tables of nobles, there usually it contained things like rare, expensive shellfish or the choicest cuts of meat. Yet the chefs below defied that expectation as the dish contained only eggs, chopped green onions, and tiny, salted whitebait instead.

Even with its simplicity however, the flavors were familiar and extremely comforting, the saltiness dancing and invigorating the tongue without being in excess, and it brought nostalgic smiles to the face of many in the room, especially the older ministers and generals, many of which had probably eaten similar food in their youth when they were far less important than they were now.

Other plates were brought to the table shortly afterwards. Several platters of large, saltwater fish caught just that morning, simply steamed with a braising sauce that further brought out their natural taste and garnished with a sprinkling of onions, were placed on each table. For those that favored bolder flavors, more of the same fish was brought, their flesh scored and fried until it bloomed outwards, in a strongly flavored spicy sauce that had not held back on the chilies.

Suckling pigs were roasted whole and brought to the table in a large tray, before the waitress skillfully sliced through the crispy, golden-brown skin and juicy, tender meat into neat squares using only the edge of a plate. The plate was just a regular, porcelain plate, but the roasted meat was so tender that when the waitress brought the plate down like a cleaver, it just parted beneath the edge.

Racks of ribs from a fat lamb, doused with a sticky, sweet-savory sauce while it roasted, was also brought out. The bits of tender, chewy, and deliciously fatty meats that stuck to the ribs were perfectly cooked, so tender that they easily parted from the bone with a bite. Sometimes the meat even slid off the bones as one of the diners picked them up.

Chickens were baked whole after wrapped with various spices and stuffed with glutinous rice, wrapped in paper then covered with clay before the whole thing was shoved to the oven. When the waiters brought the cooked clay “eggs” to the table and broke them apart with small hammers, the fragrance of the roasted chicken within wafted out and filled the room the moment the paper that covered them was peeled off.

A fat duck was also slaughtered, then had chunks of its meat wrapped in paper with vegetables, sauce, and spices. The resultant parcels of paper were then fried until the contents were cooked, and opened at the tableside where the strong aroma whetted the appetites of everyone present. All in such quantities that nobody present in the private floor was left wanting for food.

Urns of the best wines and ales produced in the Empire were brought out in abundance, and poured freely, with fragrant teas for those who abstained from alcohol. At the table where Sada and Arquivaldo sat, casks of hard liquor from their respective personal collections were brought out, and soon the table turned to exchanges of ribald tales by half-drunk people.

The room only calmed down from the merriment when the dessert was brought out, bowls of fresh fruits cut into cubes, mixed with cubes made from almond milk and agar, as well as a special kind of seaweed that had long been considered a delicacy in the empire, one that looks like transparent corals, with a pleasantly crunchy texture, that had been marinated in honey. The whole thing was served with crushed ice and sugar syrup drizzled on top, just enough to give a pleasant addition to the natural sweetness of the ingredients without going overboard.