Culinary traditions in Middle Earth

[Alkanoonion]

I always associate hobbit meals with good old fashioned English food; my favorite is as follows…

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding cook 1-2hrs

Ingredients
Fore rib beef (about 4 kgs/9 lbs), French trimmed, boned and rolled
olive oil
salt
freshly cracked black pepper
For the Yorkshire pudding
3 eggs
115g/4oz flour
275ml/½ pint milk
beef dripping
salt

Method
1. Preheat the oven to its highest setting.
2. Rub the beef with the olive oil, salt and pepper all over.
3. Put a heavy-based roasting tray on the hob and when hot, add the beef.
4. Sear the beef quickly on all sides to colour and crisp the outside.
5. Transfer the beef immediately to the oven and leave the oven on its highest setting (about 240C/460F/Gas 8) for 20 minutes.
6. Reduce the heat to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and roast for half an hour per kilo for rare, adding another ten minutes per kilo for medium rare, 20 minutes per kilo for medium, and 30 minutes per kilo for well done.
7. Remove from the oven and place on a board or tray for resting.
8. Loosely cover with foil and rest the meat for a minimum of 40 minutes before carving, letting the precious juices that have bubbled up to the surface seep back into the flesh. Also, as the meat relaxes it becomes easier to carve.
9. For the Yorkshire pudding, mix together the eggs, flour and a pinch of salt.
10. Add the milk, stirring constantly, until you have a runny batter.
11. Leave this to rest, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.
12. Place 1cm/½in of beef dripping in the bottom of each pudding mould, or if you are using a rectangular roasting tray, place 1cm/½in of beef dripping across the bottom.
13. Heat the dripping in the oven (at 240C/460F/Gas 8) for about ten minutes, until it is piping hot.
14. Remove the roasting tray from the oven, pour in the batter, and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown and crispy, making sure not to open the oven door for the first 20 minutes.
15. Serve immediately with the carved roast beef

wish it was dinner time yum

[Anguirel]

I stole this Lembas recipe from this very site-alas I don't remember who posted it first. All credit to them.

LEMBAS:

What Tolkien says about Lembas:
-They contain honey
-they are light-colored on the inside and light brown crust
-they are thin and regular-shaped. This implies they were made on some kind of griddle iron. The closest modern equivalent is a Krumkake iron. I used a pizzelle iron.
Some other things we can guess:
-They contain the fruit and maybe the flower-water of the Mallorn tree. I substituted oranges, although kumquats or a hand of Buddha fruit might be better.
-They probably had some kind of finely ground light-coloured nut in them. I used almonds.
-They contained some kind of nourishing flour. I used semolina flour, which is a more primitive flour, and also more nourishing.
-Galadriel probably used some kind of grinder to refine the ingredients. I used a blender.

The recipe:
3 eggs
1 cup honey (preferably wild honey)
1 tablespoon grated orange peel or three kumquats or one large finger of a hand of Buddha.
2 teaspoons orange flower water (optional)
3 oz blanched almonds
1/4 cup melted butter
2-1/4 cups semolina flour
1/2 teaspoon salt Place eggs, honey, orange peel or other fruit, orange flower water, and almonds in blender.
Blend on high for 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of the flour. Blend for 1 minute. Scrape into a bowl and add remaining flour and salt.
Whisk or stir until well blended. Bake lembas on a pizzelle or krumkake iron 15 seconds each or until lightly brown.
You may substitute a waffle iron but add a teaspoon of baking powder. (The texture will not be quite accurate in a waffle iron.)

I haven't yet tried it, but I think you'll agree it sounds mouth-watering, and not too waffly...

[eowyntje]

I love the sound of that lembas recipe, its really based on things tolkien said and not just a wild guess. I can't wait to try it myself.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Nogrod, have you any recipes from the Beornings? Anguirel's post of lembas notwithstanding, all foods posted thus far have one failing: meat. Not that that's a real failing, mind you, but... vegetarians like cooking too.

I have a feeling I'd best like Beorning food anyhow... Shire-food is too heavy for me, and Bree-food likely is also, being so close. I can only ever think of Gondor relying heavily on war rations, thanks to a recent read of The Return of the King. Not so much my taste. Seafood has that nasty fishy smell to it (go figure) that turns my tastebuds right off. There goes all of that. The Indian food of Southern Gondor sounds promising... spices and all easiliy available through sea-trade... Any non-meat dishes you know of that they might have served up? Something fruity that the Elves might be fond of?

And I've tried that lembas recipe... I like it.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The original intent of this thread was for discussion on food in Middle-earth. We already have a recipe thread here: Arda Recipe Book. Please post your recipes there to make finding them all easier.

Since this topic is more speculative than actual book discussion, I'm moving the thread to the Novices and Newcomers forum. Please continue to discuss there.

There is also a thread devoted to lembas recipes here: Lembas

[eowyntje]

I would expect some elves to eat something vegetarian now and then, so that might be a good place to look for recipes without meat. But I would find it less likely for dwarfs or hobbits to be eating vegetarian, unless they couldn't find any meat.

I think the Arda cookbook is a little less serious then this one, containing Mawe's muffins, Yavanna's Yam and orc Stew, where as this topic tries to think of recipes that could actually be made in middle earth (if it existed)

[Thinlómien]

Composing Elvish kitchen sounds a bit too ambitious for me, but if Nogrod or anyone is willing to try, I think it's a great idea.

All I know is that they ate white bread and fruits

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

What, do you suppose, Dwarves of the Misty Mountains ate?

We know that Gollum survived on fish and orc and whatever else came his way, but I daresay that Dwarven tastebuds aren't accustomed to orc-meat.

Birds of the high peaks? Or all imported foods... If imported, would they not have a spectacularly diverse menu?

[JennyHallu]

Mushrooms. I would guess that dwarves, preferring to live, like Hobbits, underground, would perhaps share their prediliction for musrooms. And perhaps for meat they would stick to smaller livestock animals, like sheep, rather than try to herd cattle, which would be almost four times their size, not to mention they would challenge even their strength. Perhaps they have domesticated rabbits...these could be raised in a cage, and thus within their underground homes. They probably do not use a lot of game meats, because of their weak woodcraft. I would assume freshwater fish like trout and catfish, and perhaps small game, as well as smaller animals that could be domesticated. For grain and vegetables, I think they would probably import. Dale is located so close to Erebor that it is not a stretch to suppose that much of the Dalemen's livelihood is derived from supporting the dwarves, but I doubt they purchase anything too exotic, or prepare anything too complicated, just because their character tends to be sturdy and practical. It always seemed to me that Gimli and the hobbits had by and large a fairly similar worldview.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by JennyHallu

I doubt they purchase anything too exotic, or prepare anything too complicated, just because their character tends to be sturdy and practical. It always seemed to me that Gimli and the hobbits had by and large a fairly similar worldview.

Very true. I imagine a nice hearty stew would go over fantastically.

And while I love the idea of curry down south, I can't help but see Dol Amrothians eating a lot of fish stews, dried fish, fish casserole... And duck. I can imagine duck finding its way to their tables, though I'm pretty sure swan would be frowned upon. Sushi? I can imagine it.

[Nogrod]

A few comments...

=Feanor of... Nogrod, have you any recipes from the Beornings? Anguirel's post of lembas notwithstanding, all foods posted thus far have one failing: meat. Not that that's a real failing, mind you, but... vegetarians like cooking too.

The Indian food of Southern Gondor sounds promising... spices and all easiliy available through sea-trade... Any non-meat dishes you know of that they might have served up? Something fruity that the Elves might be fond of?

I do have a couple of ideas for the Beornings and this Indian-styled South-Gondor in abundance (well, bragging a little here perhaps...). I'll promise next to come up with something vegetarian.

=Estelyn. The original intent of this thread was for discussion on food in Middle-earth. We already have a recipe thread here: Arda Recipe Book. Please post your recipes there to make finding them all easier.

Since this topic is more speculative than actual book discussion, I'm moving the thread to the Novices and Newcomers forum. Please continue to discuss there.

=Eowyntje. I think the Arda cookbook is a little less serious then this one, containing Mawe's muffins, Yavanna's Yam and orc Stew, where as this topic tries to think of recipes that could actually be made in middle earth (if it existed)

Well. Indeed the original intent was, unhappily, to do both: the discussion & the recipies (which may be a bad idea). But concerning the Arda Cookbook, I totally agree with Eowyntje's reply. My intention was not to come up with these "First you take two Balrogs" -kind of recipies. Fun stuff they may be at best, but for a different context. I have been quite honestly after an "what could they really have eaten" -stuff.

But what comes to moving this discussion to Novices and Newcomers, that's ok. for me. I kind of had some problems in the first place, about which would be the best place for this thread.

Lembas and the elven food are tough ones. Thinlómien is quite right in that. But still the recipe shared here looked delicious, at least on its own right.

=JennyHallu. Mushrooms. I would guess that dwarves, preferring to live, like Hobbits, underground, would perhaps share their prediliction for musrooms. And perhaps for meat they would stick to smaller livestock animals, like sheep, rather than try to herd cattle, which would be almost four times their size, not to mention they would challenge even their strength.

That's basically the same reason, why I haven't made very many Hobbit recipies with beef (there propably is one or two, which can be explained by the town of Bree and humans there raising & slaughtering the cattle). But Hobbits would have to have pigs... and therefore a wealth of pork-recipies.

JH's ideas about dwarf kitchen are overall reasonable. And the relations to Dale and even Esgaroth should be thought about. If there is some slavic in Lakeside kitchen, I would indeed be ready to bet on dwarvish kitchen sharing that. Isn't there something quite slavic in the dwarves anyway?

[JennyHallu]

Isn't there something quite slavic in the dwarves anyway?

Nordic, really, which isn't quite the same thing, but I don't really know how deep the differences run. I know we have some BDers from both Nordic and Slavic areas of Europe, perhaps we should kidnap them for their input. You yourself aren't that far from there, Nogrod. (I don't think, my geography sucks.)