What do the average citizens of the city states eat?

[Teryaani]

I would love to hear what the lore masters of the forum know about the foods of the 3 cities. As odd as it may sound, it's these types of details that help me connect with the game world.

My guesses:

Gridania
Well-to-do - Game. The presence of poachers could mean that the elementals don't let anyone have big game, but I'm betting not.

Rank and file - Roots and small critters (birds, rodents), and river fish. Stews And gruel. Gruel is universal I suspect.

Ul'dah
Well-to-do - Imported foods. The more complicated it is to get, the better. Imported foods that are a pain to get even in their home region? Best. More expensive = Better.

Rank and file - I'm suspicious that the lower orders of Ul'dah eat the worst of all the city states. Meat may come from indigenous pest creatures (marmots, tuco-tuco) and knowing the brass blades, even these may require a special license that you have to have before you can hunt.


Limsa Lominsa
Well-to-do - Not fish. You'd probably see more bison and boar on the wealthy tables.

Rank and file - seafood, and likely not the good stuff. Oysters (these were cheap fare once), herring, seafood pies and stews.

[Enkidoh]

The actual design of each of the three citystates and their surrounding areas give clues as to the common sources of food in each city and their traditional cruisine, as do speaking to npcs leads to some surprising revelations. But in a (kupon)nutshell:

Gridania - the hometown of the Botanist's Guild the Greatloam Growery, Gridanian cuisine is actually predominately vegetarian in nature. Fruit and vegetables are in bountiful supply so most Gridanians do not go hungry. Meat products on the other hand, are more rarer, given the Gridanian emphasis on harmony in nature, thus hunting is strictly controlled. Several npcs in the Adventurer's Guild remark in fact on how bland Gridanian cuisine is. Gridania also appears to be a major exporter of fruit and vegetables to the other city states - Ul'dah especially.

Ul'dah - due to the surrounding arid landscape of Thanalan, farming in Ul'dah is much more difficult than it is elsewhere in Eorzea, and this has led to an apparent history of food and water shortages, resulting in a lot of their food being imported from other cities (Gridania especially), a problem further exacerbated by the large refugee population who live in the wilds surrounding the city. Cabbages and popotoes (a form of potato) appear to be some of the common vegetables grown.

Limsa Lominsa - the home city of the Culinarian's Guild, naturally cuisine plays a big part in Limsan culture. Naturally seafood is a common food, but the rolling meadows of La Noscea also allow good grazing for sheep, meaning red meat is also commonly eaten in Limsa. Orchards and farms are shown growing various food crops as well, seeming to suggest that the Thallasocracy doesn't go hungry.

I'm sure I've made mistakes though so feel free to correct me.

[myahele]

One npc did state that Gridanian food is bland/bad.

Based on Mionne and BTN quest they eat eel pies at least.

[FJerome]

Limsans actually seems to eat a lot of cabbage, sauerkraut's a Limsan dish and stuffed cabbage's a Sea Wolf one, due to their sea-faring heritage and that whole having to avoid scurvy thing.

The food descriptions often give a little background where a dish comes from; Limsa and Ishgard seem to have the most specialty dishes, probably because the Culinarian guild is in Limsa and because Ishgardians are just so damn fancy-pants.

Also food seems to break-down along racial as well as city lines though I imagine there'd still be regional differences, like a Thanalan Seeker's tuna miq'abob would probably be more heavily-spiced than one made by a Limsan Seeker.