Traveling with Food

[CGDG]

One of the things I love about 3.5 is all the options. The Players Handbook has tons of different foods, ingredients and miscellaneous goods. Anything that's missing you can find in the Arms and Equipment Guide. While I often stock my characters up with the necessities for a profession skill, like cooking or baking, or a crafting skill, for art work or sculpting, I've curious now how long some of this would last on the road.

I was, at one point, fairly common for breakfast to consist of bread and maybe cheese, or wine and cheese. What's started bothering me is the logistics of transporting cheese. If you've got magic, I'm sure you could do something to preserve it but, magic aside, what other options do you have for keeping fresh meat or cheese good while on the road in a medieval fantasy setting?

How long will any fresh ingredients for cooking, like meat or cheese, stay while on the road in an era before refrigeration?

[Blackhawk748]

I was, at one point, fairly common for breakfast to consist of bread and maybe cheese, or wine and cheese. What's started bothering me is the logistics of transporting cheese. If you've got magic, I'm sure you could do something to preserve it but, magic aside, what other options do you have for keeping fresh meat or cheese good while on the road in a medieval fantasy setting?

How long will any fresh ingredients for cooking, like meat or cheese, stay while on the road in an era before refrigeration?

Well meat was salted which helped immensely, and as for cheese they just made cheese that didnt need to be cold, theres a lot of cheese that can keep for a long time at higher temperatures. Also it helps if you keep the cheese dry, if you do that it gets hard for mold to appear, oh and Cheese Cloth helps.

[Auron3991]

Non-preserved meat and unprocessed dairy will only last a few days

Fresh fruits and vegetables will probably last around two to five weeks, depending on liquid content and relative security of the skin.

Processed dairy will last longer than unprocessed, but it entirely varies depending on the technique. Some cheeses and yogurts will last a long time.

Bread, salted meat, and wine will last long enough that it doesn't matter at the gold levels adventures get to throw around.

Just remember that smaller portions tend to go bad faster, cooking tends to kill most foodborne illness, and that all times are variable to the conditions. Things will go bad faster in hot, damp conditions than cool, dry ones.

[jedipotter]

How long will any fresh ingredients for cooking, like meat or cheese, stay while on the road in an era before refrigeration?

Your looking at a couple days, at best.

But there is salt and smoke that can extend that to a couple weeks or more. Lots of Old Tymey cheese had lots of salt. So did things like butter.

Some hard cheeses can last months, if kept in cool, dark places....not so much in a backpack on the road.

The classic is simply don't kill the animal until you want to eat it. A traveling group would often take some live animals, like pigs or chickens, with them to eat as needed. Bring a goat, and you can make fresh cheese.

Though it is basically: A person does not travel with very much fresh food. You simply buy, catch or make it as needed.

[TheCrowing1432]

One of the reasons why Survival is an imporant skill.

IIRC its a DC of 10 to find enough food for one person for a day (or was it a meal?)


I dunno, make your friendly barbarian, ranger or druid make this check so everyone can eat.

[Deophaun]

I dunno, make your friendly barbarian, ranger or druid make this check so everyone can eat.
As long as you don't have a Wis penalty, everyone can just take 10. Plus all the equipment that negates even that miniscule requirement.

Which is why Survival really isn't an important skill.

[Flickerdart]

It was common to break fast with meat and wine and cheese for people with houses. Adventurers get a backpack full of field rations - jerky, hard biscuits, grog or patersbier or watered down wine.

[Psyren]

Fresh fruits and vegetables will probably last around two to five weeks, depending on liquid content and relative security of the skin.

Some fruits last way longer than this. Grapes for instance become raisins, which keep for months; this is actually a plot point in Robinson Crusoe.

[Asrrin]

Gentle Repose and Purify food and drink are two spells that can help prevent or reverse the spoilage of food.

[Blackhawk748]

I second the goat, it takes all of an hour to make goat cheese. And no i m not kidding.

[Warlocknthewind]

Then why is it so expensive?!

How much would it take to feed a goat for say, a day, as a unit?

Pumpkins keep for months. Bananas will keep for a month or two if you let the gasses they exude escape, but I guess bananas only really grow in tropical areas, Arborea, and Oregon, so not always practical, but fantastic when for travel when sun dried. (Entirely impractical in Oregon)

I don't believe you're going to get anything new, honestly. If it could be done with what they had, they'd have done it.

But really, Tippyverse, there's no reason your character should go hungry in any setting, almost anywhere in that setting. DC 10 is easy as... Taking it. Picks some berries, Brah. Eat some grubs if you have to. Don't make an actual roll for it, you're just asking to Berr Grylls Brew.

Is there a set duration for a Goodberry? That small herd of animals following a wagon of food supply needed to make your way across the countryside could be replaced by a small pouch at your belt with a few dozen berries. All you'd need is water, or does the berry work against dehydration as well?

I'm hungry now :smallsigh:

[Madhava]

Pre-refridgeration cheeses were made with a lot more salt, plus the whey was coagulated with rennet and wine or vinegar. The end result was something a lot more acidy/salty than what we're familiar with today. And sealing the cheese in wax, to keep moisture out, is still pretty typical even today.

Meats could be salted, dried, or pickled in wine or vinegar. Yams, turnips, onions, apples, some kinds of squash, and various nuts and seeds can go on for weeks or months, depending on the climate.

And there's always hardtack. If it's still dry then it's still good. From what I hear, they've got some historic hardtack on-display in some museums. Still edible, too.

[aspekt]

The origin of cheese in human consumption is often credited to the need for adapting dairy to the rigors of travel and longterm storage.

[goto124]

Most people don't bother with the details of eating, they just say 'we rest at the inn'. Heck, some games don't have hunger as a factor, and treat it as if it were nonexistent for the players.

If I wanted my players (who are also on board with the idea) to enjoy a variety of food, I would just let all food never spoil. No point trying to figure out how fast meat and fruits go bad, when you just want to, well, enjoy said meat and fruits.

Are there systems with lots of details for cooking, by the way? I personally won't bother with the troublesome bits, but merely use them to see what sort of food I can make.

The easiest: Kill a large animal, make a campfire, slice up the poor victim and roast for steaks. Any herbs in the area? Add them! Nothing like dryad steaks with thyme!

[Flickerdart]

Most people don't bother with the details of eating, they just say 'we rest at the inn'. Heck, some games don't have hunger as a factor, and treat it as if it were nonexistent for the players.
While their characters might not get hungry, the players certainly do. Order a pizza.

[Toilet Cobra]

I'm running a desert game right now, where food & water are a big deal (in most games we just ignore both). But even in my case we don't worry about spoilage. Maybe I'll drop that bomb on my players, tell them that "creeping desert mold" has gotten into the larder and their stockpile is worthless.