Culinary traditions in Middle Earth

[Nogrod]

Good point on honey!

Well, I was indeed quite sure that the Beornings would be vegetarians, not vegans, but just tried to ask.

Even though, we might do with a couple of more arguments, one way or another...

One interesting thing is, whether they were described by Tolkien as a kind of a very poor ancient nordic community (described by the roman Tacitus f.ex.), that possibly ate meat, f.ex. bear's meat, at certain festivities / rituals, anyhow, rarely - as some northern people did in the real world. And was this due to them worshipping the animals, or holding them dear just because they were so scarce? So was Tolkien of the mind of creating a totally vegetarian people (which would have been quite ahead of his time), or was it just an imitation of a northern tribes at certain historical setting, who revered meat so much, as it wasn't in their daily diet (and the other sources of nutrition were thin indeed: berries, mushroom, roots, ...)?

It's funny, anyhow, how the lore of the northern people do concentrate on the wild beasts; bears, elk etc. (and the swans here around Finland!) - like the cultures of Aurignac etc. (bisons, horses...) far south of them. Was it, that they were revered as sacred, or that they were the Big Macs' of their time?

[JennyHallu]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Whether the Middle Earth has anything to do with Europe in the first place, that's also another question to be asked? But clearly, it's our only way to go: early twentieth century Europe. That was Tolkien's world from which he wrote from.

Personally, I am all for this. This means, as an American, I am from the Uttermost West! When I return to Middle-Earth to discuss things with you all, then what I say has WEIGHT! You must LISTEN and OBEY! As you would ANY of the Istarii! (We are ignoring the fact for now that my ancestors were European.)


Back on topic:

Tolkien kind of implied that Beornings' vegetarianism was due to the unique viewpoint afforded them by their shape-shifting. So perhaps the vegetarianism wasn't so much a reflection of a RL culture, but a way of setting the Beornings apart, both from RL Nordic traditions, and from other ME cultures with Nordic roots.

[eowyntje]

Originally Posted by JennyHallu

Perhaps Tolkien decided that potatoes, in the 450 some odd years since their introduction in Europe, had become such an integral part of the culture and cuisine of the British Isles he could not separate them. Or maybe it didn't occur to him to try. Sometimes I fear we read too much into the tale...As my husband would say, "Sometimes a red car is just a red car," signifying nothing beyond the idea that perhaps Tolkien had a soft spot for fish and chips, or for tobacco.

Good of you to point out that. Maybe we were digging to deep. Tolkien couldn't possibly have thoughts of everything, including the origin of every plant in the Shire. Maybe we should just be happy knowing that wherever patatoes came from, hobbits grew them.

I defenitely think hobbit's ate fish, fish makes sence.
I haven't had any time to do any more research on hobbit eating behaviour, I'll let you know if IU find any mentionings of fish in the books.

[Nogrod]

This recipe calls for strips of bacon as it comes from Hobbitton kitchen but vegetarians may just as well leave them out. Late summer – early fall is the time for mushrooms and the taste of earth!

1 ltr. of chanterells
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
(2 small shallots, finely chopped)
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped (not crushed)
salt and pepper
a bunch of chives, chopped nicely
a pinch of tarragon
1 ltr. milk (you can substitute a part of the milk with cream)
a pinch of nutmeg
100g. processed cheese / cheese spread
4-5 strips of bacon, cut in small pieces
butter

1. Chop the onions and the garlic. Put some butter into the pot with medium heat. Cook the onions & garlic about five minutes until soft but not browned.

2. Meanwhile chop most of the chanterelles to small pieces. Leave a handful of nice and small ones aside whole.

3. Add the cut chanterelles to the onions and braise about ten minutes or until the chanterells are getting soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add chives and tarragon (leave some cut chives to decorate the soup in the end).

4. Meanwhile warm the milk / milk-cream mixture in a separate pan and season it with a pinch of grated nutmeg. Do not let it boil.

5. Add the hot milk / milk-cream mixture to the onions and chanterelles and bring to a gentle boil. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes carefully seeing the milk doesn’t get burned.

6. Meanwhile cut the bacon-strips in small dices. Heat a pan and fry the bacon. Just before the bacon is getting crisp add the reserved whole chanterelles and reduce the heat so that the chanterells will fry but the bacon will not get charred. Drain the bacon and the whole chanterelles on a paper towel to get rid of the surplus grease.

7. Process the soup in a mixer and then press it through a sieve to another pot – or if you want to make this in an original Hobbit style, just press it through the sieve. Bring the puréed soup back to heat but do not let it boil.

8. Add the processed cheese / cheese spread over a medium heat in small pieces stirring the soup as you add them and let them melt before adding more. When all the cheese has melted in the soup add the fried bacon and the whole chanterelles.

9. Add the last chives on top of the soup and serve immediately with crusted bread and dry white wine.

[Nogrod]

Now this is a fairly nice one as well. The herbs get rich as the summer goes by and the taste of them is just overwhelming! You may use any herbs you have at your disposal but this is the basic recipe... The oven-pan you should use should end up with about 2 centimeters thick omelette - otherwise you should adsjust the cooking time.

6 eggs, shaken and stirred
salt and pepper (black and white pepper both)
250g. of spinach
1 clove of garlic, diced (not crushed)
1 medium-sized leek diced very small
(1-2 shallots cut in small pieces)
a handful of coriander, cut into small pieces
a handful of parsley, cut into small pieces
a handful of chives, cut into small pieces
a handful of mint, cut into small pieces
a handful of tarragon, cut into small pieces
a nahdful of Dill-weed, cut into small pieces
(you can substitute any one of the herbs with dried ones by changing the amount from a "handful" to a "spoonful"... not to say that the fresh ones are 100 times better than the dried ones here - but you have the choice here: use as many herbs you wish and whichever you have)
Butter and olive 0il
(a handful of pine nuts)

1. Put on the oven into 170C (about 350F). Melt a piece of butter and some olive oil in a pan and sautée the garlic, the leek and the shallots in medium heat for about five minutes- until soft but not browned.

2. Wash and trim the spinach by cutting the stalks from them and then cutting them into stripes. Add the spinach to the onions and fry for five minutes more or until the spinach is getting soft.

3. Meanwhile break the eggs into a bowl and stir them lightly. Add salt and the peppers. Chop the herbs and add them to the eggs as well. The following stuff should be kind of like half herbs, half egg... so not like a traditional omelette but really thick with the herbs.

4. Add the onions and spinach to the bowl of eggs and herbs and transform the stuff to an oven dish. (Dry the pan and heat the pine nuts until lightly browned. Add to the eggs...) Stir gently and put in to the oven. Let the Eggah cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Let cool for ten minutes before slicing it to pieces and serving as a meal with salad, tomato & cucumber (dressed with mint) and fresh white bread or as a side dish to any meats.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

One thing to point out, I do not eat pork, so what my family does for "bacon"... My mom is a vegetarian so she eats veggie bacon and my dad is not so he eats turkey bacon or beef bacon... so if you don't eat bacon you can still have a nice hobbit meal with vegetable "bacon" or "bacon" made with other meats, there is other options.

And also didn't in RotK it said that in the summer of 1420 the hobbit children were practically swimming in strawberries and creme? So wouldn't that mean that hobbits eat strawberries?

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

They could have salmon in The Shire - the Brandywine is a long river, and I imagine if there were Salmon in Middle earth then they might swim up it. they could be caught at weirs, or even with nets strung across the river. Maybe Brandybucks liked a spot of fly fishing?

I can imagine Eels would have been eaten too, caught from small streams.

The Beornings must have been vegetarian, not vegan, as they ate honey didn't they?

I have to agree with Lalwendë on this one because in Alaska (where I live) the Salmon swim up into the rivers from the ocean to mate and die and usually people go to rivers during that season to find salmon. The Brandybucks could also have gone fishing on boats because it is said in numerous places in the books that some times Brandybucks go out on boats.

[Finduilas]

Note on Nogrod's recipe, "coriander" is commonly known as "cilantro", so if you were confused... Just had to say that since I have put coriander on a grocery list, and my dad was unable to find it, though he knows what cilantro is.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Thanks Finduilas, Agood tip, because I didn't know what coriander was until you said that.

eowyntje said:

I defenitely think hobbit's ate fish, fish makes sence.
I haven't had any time to do any more research on hobbit eating behaviour, I'll let you know if IU find any mentionings of fish in the books.

Sam Gamgee extolled the delights of "fried fish and chips" to Gollum; while cooking rabbits in Ithilien.
JRRT removed the reference to "tomatoes" early in TH, replacing it with "pickles" (right after "cold chicken and"). But he left 'taters in Middle-earth.