Gruuvan shaal represented a time-honored Twi'lek culinary creation, featuring seasoned lizard flesh, various vegetables, and edible flowers, all presented on a wooden stick. During the year 0 ABY, personnel serving aboard the Rebel EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate known as Far Orbit employed the name of this food as a secret phrase. This phrase was used to connect with a Rebel operative located within the Pathline Tapcafe, a business situated on the world of Brentaal IV.
The initial reference to Gruuvan shaal occurred in "Raid on Brentaal," a tabletop adventure featured within The Far Orbit Project. This campaign book, authored by Timothy S. O'Brien, was released in 1998 by West End Games as part of their Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game series. Later, the food item was introduced as a craftable object, though the italics were absent, appearing as "Gruuvan Shaal," in the 2003 Sony Online Entertainment MMORPG, Star Wars Galaxies, which was shut down in 2011. Within the game's mechanics, consuming Gruuvan shaal by a player resulted in enhancements to their health and health recovery capabilities.