Yalhuacan Crops

The Yalhuacàn Peninsula and Xampat.

The commonest crops, grown for staple foods, are akhumti'e, hap sakti, malupti'e.

Akhumti'e is a large vine grown in swamps or on the lake, producing many mid-sized fruits with crisp flesh that are used as a source of water.

Malupti'e is a large root grown throughout the wetter, warmer regions in Yalhuaca, particularly Xampat. It creates a large, sweet, potato-like root with a texture crisper than that of potatoes. It is included in a multitude of recipes and its leaves are eaten as a dark leafy green, a type of Camut.

Some grains include hap sakti, Ciknok, Kanòt, Hap Xakun and Wesim.

Hap Sakti is the commonest grain in the region, primarily grown throughout the north. It makes clusters of large grains that are processed into Okimce.

Ciknok is the commonest grain grown in the south. It enjoys wet regions and is actually a nut, growing on long, trailing vines in sunny or partially sunny places. Each vine produces a multitude of small, white flowers. Each becomes a small, dry seed/nut. It is very, very productive, nearly as productive as Hap Sakti.

Kanòt grows throughout Yalhuaca and is not very picky so it is often grown wear other grains do not do well. It is a large plant that has many diveted, 3-point leaves. The plant produces one large flower cluster at the tip of the plant, which results in one large seed head. The seeds are very small and round and can be shaken out easily. Around 3/5 as productive as Hap Sakti, but higher calorie nearly makes up for it. Also easier to harvest.

Hap Xakun grows throughout northern Yalhuaca and is very productive. It is sown closely together and is a grass that produces tall flowers and eventually a lot of seeds. The grains can be used for Okimce or cooked into Naci, though this will lead to a rice-like texture instead of porridge-like. It is difficult to harvest and so therefore not always as common as other grain options.

Wesim grows in southern dry Yalhuaca, and is a very tall grass-like plant with wide leaves. It must be spaced further than Hap Xakun and therefore is less productive but is equally productive in the south and can be harvested much easier. The sweet flavour of it produces a particularly sweet Okimce or Naci.

Some foods grown on trees and taller shrubbery include Tumat Tla'o, Kimput Tla'o, Manuc Tla'o and Pantukli Tla'o.

Tumat Tla'o is a rapid growing, tropical tree that produces abundant harvests of sweet fruit. The fruit contains thousands of tiny seeds centred in the middle. These seeds are ground into a powder known as Cunca. The fruit is very sweet, custardy and not very sour. It can be scooped when it is at its most mature stage, and when not it is much crisper and more sour and is often used in different kinds of recipes. It is known as Tumat.

Kimput Tla'o is a slow growing, ancient, cold-tolerant tree that produces large amounts of very oily seeds. It is domesticated, having been domesticated by kingdoms north of Yalhuaca. It does not grow well in the wet tropical regions but produces abundant fruit in the drier regions or over dry season in sunny places in the more rainforested regions. Kimput Tla'o seed is known as Hap Kimput. The fruit is very sour and can be chopped and cooked or fermented into a variety of dishes, and does not contain the oil. It is known as Kimput. Kimput Tla'o is primarily used for Isa Kimput.

Manuc Tla'o is a very fast growing bush. After a long flowering stage, they produce a multitude of small to mid sized, sweet, crispy fruits. They have a texture of a pear and flavour of a raspberry or other berry. These are often cooked down into jam, known as Canxì or eaten as Manuc.

Pantukli Tla'o is a large tree. It grows in the tropical rainforest regions, producing large, woody stems and very wide leaves. Flower clusters occur throughout the tree and produce mid-sized fruits with very tough skin. The fruit's skin can be cleaved off resulting in crisp, oily fruits which can be cooked and steamed to become softer and more watery. It can produce Isa Pantukli or Pantukli.

Some foraged foods include Ngumpi and Manato.

Ngumpi is a short plant with many long, oblate leaves. Just before the plant flowers, it can be harvested and chopped up, used to add some spiciness and umami to dishes. It reproduces in large clusters and does not grow well when planted so is mostly foraged.

Manato is a short, drought-tolerant tree native to the entire Yalhuacan peninsula. It has two species, one in the rainforests and one in the shrublands and dry regions. It produces many small, red berries. The seeds are large and crushed into a dark red-brown powder. The seeds are known as Hap Manato and the powder as Ke Manato. It adds a rich flavour that exemplifies sweet or savoury dishes. If chopped seeds are cooked in broth, it imposes a stronger, nearly onion-like flavour which does not occur when ground down raw. Bushes can take many years to produce fruit, and do not transplant or plant well, so they are not farmed. The fruit is relatively small in size, with the fruit being bigger than the flesh. It is somewhat sour. It can be cooked in a sweet sauce to produce Manato Canxì.

Some herbs and spices that are farmed include Siplhim, Inekòt and Pikon.

Siplhim is a rapidly growing plant that floats throughout the freshwater sea near the peninsula and island. It is a plant consisting of many flat leaves around a floating central ball that clones itself, reproducing both sexually and asexually. The central, floating rootball is often cut off and imposes a very fresh, pungent flavour somewhat between ginger and mint. The leaves impose a fresh, light flavour somewhat like cilantro but much more watery, between cilantro and parsley. When left out of water and cured, the leaves become incredibly pungent and certain compounds break down producing a flavour between scallions and cilantro.

Inekòt is a rapid growing herb that turns into a wide leafy plant or plant cluster (as the plants are often farmed with multiple seeds in a plot.) Once reaching a certain size, the leaves are cut and the plant regrows using the taproot. Pungent, bitter with a salty and sweet undertone. Inekòt is processed into Sungu which can have a range of flavours, like sweet Sungu water, salty Sungu concentrate, or smoky Sungu oil.

Pikon is a slow growing rainforest understory tree. Wild Pikon flowers are huge, with each flower having up to a teaspoon of nectar. Domesticated Pikon can grow in sunnier locations and produce up to a tablespoon of nectar. Pikon nectar changes flavour with soil and water, ranging from a strong, amber flavour if dehydrated, or a light, vanilla-like flavour if given enough water.

Some common dark leafy greens include Katinte, Pamutòn and Lhapti.

Katinte is a tree with large leaves that are harvested young and chopped finely to be used in a multitude of things, including fermented, cooked or raw.

Pamutòn is a lakeplant that lives under water and produces tall plants with giant leaves. It is often farmed in lakes or the big lake by hanging the bottom of a wooden structure facing downwards so the entire plant can be pulled up at maturity, when flowering occurs. It is fully aquatic and due to a lack of roots and a vasculatory system it would not survive on land. When chopped, the leaves and stem carry a fishy and bitter flavour but soften and sweeten when cooked. They are usually eaten cooked or mixed into a variety of dishes, or raw or cooked as a side dish (with Naci or Kalacit, usually.)

Lhapti is a bush native to the rainforest. It grows slowly when young, and stops growing until the sun emerges when it rapidly grows to a large size. When a forest area is going to be chopped down, Lhapti is planted. Around 30-60 days after planting the Lhapti, the trees are cut down and used for whatever they are needed for and the Lhapti grows rapidly to a very large size. The leaves are very large with large, watery stems and at that point they are cut down. Leaves are bitter when raw, cooked they become sweet and slightly radish-like in taste. The stems are very crispy, sweet and easy to consume, and are not cooked. They are used by the plant to store sugars so therefore are very sweet. The leaves are a type of Camut and the stems as Pulkat. Since the understory is left, and only a small area is cut down, the forest will regrow quite quickly with understory trees, including Lhapti that isn't harvested, growing to large sized canopy trees. Once the trees are a large size, the leaves are inedibly and stems are quickly inedibly once they become woody.