The Dwarves live in mountainous terrain, and arable land is at a premium; they are, however, an industrious folk, with a mind for engineering, and have created a system by which the sides of mountains and canyons might be used to grow food for their people. The crops which grow best in this environment - rice, olives, grapes, tea - are rotated throughout these terraces, where strict controls on water, fertilizer, and temperature produce enough high-quality crops from their broken land to feed their subterranean populace. These foods, combined with river-caught and farmed fish and the meat of the massive Dwarven Mountain Goat (whose flame-resistant wool features prominently in dwarven craft) provide a rich and balanced died.
Some communities have also taken to growing new crops from across the sea - a thick tuber called "potato" and a tall, thick-stalked grain called "maize."
The high sugar content of these crops, and the easy availability of both yeasts and fungi grown in underground farms, inform Dwarven drinking culture; the most common drink of the working man is a thick drink of herb-seasoned fermented rice that is both calorific and strangely dry and bland, at least to Human standards.
Where the Dwarven craftsmanship truly shines, however, is in their wine and spirits. The most common liquor is a shockingly high-proof rice distillate, the lower grades of which are used as industrial fuels and solvents. It is served, traditionally, in a Samovar-like device, which heats the liquor while adding one of several available flavoring syrups, the most popular being basil-mint, peppercorn, and sugarbeet.
The wines, on the other hand, have truly endless variety. Individual Dwarven families, guarding millennia-old family recipes and techniques, produce wines that run the gamut of flavors, each on their own well-guarded terraces. The only reason these wines are not more famous is an issue of supply.
