Quillar

A staple of the Inner Sphere, quillar is a prolific and flexible bio-engineered crop used in many foods and beverages.

Overview

Common throughout both the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, quillar is hardy, bountiful, and incredibly adaptable. Between the two states, quillar finds frequent use as a substitute for traditional common ingredients, be it in German Cuisine, Italian cooking, French fare, or Spanish sustenance - a near universal application. Grown to be twice as large as old Terran corn, like typical grain it can be processed into many forms with unique textures and flavors. Unlike a typical grain, however, it can act beyond traditional bounds, and be adapted into various vegetable and fruit substitutes. Quillar even has a presence in asian dishes despite of the tumultuous history between House Davion and Kurita.

The plant is logically a staple farm crop, grown on planets such as Alexandria in the Lyran Commonwealth, where a quillar farm was operated by the family of Galen Cox until their deaths during a Kurita raid in 3039.

Rastaban Agricultural Products, in fact, was one of the Commonwealth's greater grain producers. With over five trillion acres of land across five different worlds, RA as of 3025 was a chief producer of quillar, and surprisingly, the Draconis Combine was their chief consumer - albeit through third party channels. As of 3067, despite damage sustained in the Clan Invasion Rastaban Agricultural still held somewhere in excess of three trillion acres of land, and traded openly with the Combine as well as Clan occupation zones. Rastaban's quillar stocks were even said to be bolstered post-invasion by a newer, hardier, longer-lasting type of fast-growing high-yield grain breed.

Quillar was also taken on Kerensky's Exodus to the Clan Homeworlds, the plant being present on planets such as Tranquil in 3060.

Of additional note - quillar is non-terrestrial.

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

Hachiman's flag, depicting what could be windswept quillar stalks in golden sunlight.

Applications

The depictions of foods and beverages quillar is known to be used in are as follows:

• Omellettes, as a potential ingredient;
• Peanut-butter & quillar sandwiches;
• A vacuum sealed ration format;
• Jellied quillar smeared on toast, a condiment with a fruity taste popular in both halves of the Federated Commonwealth in 3062, but considered a luxury in the Draconis Combine;
• A sugar substitute, granular quillar, added to breakfast cereal; and
• Quillar Fizz, an apocryphal carbonated beverage - typically fruit flavored, and non-alcoholic;

Notes

• It is likely that most forms of grains and vegetables within the Inner Sphere - pastas, breads, etcetera - are derived from quillar.
• The flexibility of quillar seems parallel to the flexibility of corn, which itself ranges from grain to vegetable to high fructose corn syrup.
• The name possibly refers to quillar's exaggerated scale compared to traditional stalky grain crops.
• The Capellan Confederation may be one of the few states adverse to Quillar, preferring the efficiency of rice - and at times, banning certain types of cuisine, such as German.
• Rastaban bears three stalks of grain on their logo - and some worlds, including the traditionally Kuritan system of Hachiman, feature stalks of grain upon their flags as well - possibly quillar, or perhaps just generic grain.
• Rastaban is not explicitly stated to grow quillar, but the prominence of the crop throughout both FedSun and Lyran cuisine seems to imply very much so that their grain is quillar.
• It is possible that quillar grows alongside traditional grains.
• In summation, quillar seems to be a form of mega-maize.

Apocryphal Content Ends

Bibliography

• BattleTech (Video Game)
• Handbook: House Steiner
• House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)
• House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)
• Illusions of Victory (novel)
• Lethal Heritage
• Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers
• MechWarrior, Third Edition
• Patriots and Tyrants
• Storms of Fate (novel)
• Trial Under Fire (novel)
• Warrior: Riposte