Do you know what we haven’t talked about yet?
Favorite foods!
I love learning about delicious foods in fun books! Here are three of my favorites. What are yours?
3. Lembas Bread: Used by the elves in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit to
give travelers long-lasting energy, Lembas Bread is more like unleavened bread
or dense crackers. My daughter actually got to try making this in her Food and
Nutrition class last year! They made their bread with
banana, but what else could you use? Thanks to her amazingly creative teacher, the class
actually wrapped them in fancy, green, leaf-like papers.
2. Butterbeer: Okay, not technically a food, but still
one of my favorite fantasy concoctions. A Harry Potter favorite, butterbeer is
a bit like butterscotch flavored root beer, but smoother, richer and not quite
as fizzy. Recipes found online vary from site to site because butterbeer was
actually imagined into being by J.K. Rowling. I was always a huge fan of the fuzzy,
butterscotch candies my grandpa used to keep in his pocket. He’d use them to
bribe us into going out for a walk with him, in order to give my grandma a bit
of peace and quiet. Imagine: Rootbeer float meets butterscotch candy.
Delicious! Let us know if you find a promising recipe! 
1. Turkish Delight: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Growing up in America, I had no idea what
Turkish Delight was. I think, each time I read C.S. Lewis’ magical book (at
least once a year), I would imagine Turkish Delight as something new. Divinely
melting chocolate, savory beef stew, or perhaps delicate, snowflake-shaped ice
candies. Years later, my mother-in-law bought Turkish Delight from a specialty
shop. Similar to gumdrops, but square, dusted with powdered sugar, and slightly
chewier, Turkish Delight wasn’t quite as delicious as I imagined. However, it
is still worth trying, and a fun addition to any Christmas party.
What did you think Turkish Delight was the first
time you read The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe?
Attributions:
https://pixabay.com/en/flat-bread-salad-baguette-sandwich-617241/
https://pixabay.com/en/photos/?image_type=&cat=&min_width=&min_height=&q=milkshake&order=popular
https://pixabay.com/en/turkish-delight-map-tradition-sweet-1040790/
Lembas bread is my favorite fantasy food- by far. Unless mushrooms count. :)They would win by a tiny bit. Least favorite- cram, from the hobbit, which is what Pippin (or was it Merry? Haven't read the book in a while) thought lembas was when he first saw it. Cram, as I understand it, is a form of hardtack.
ReplyDeleteBrenna
: ) I like mushrooms, too! But I think Lembas bread is delicious!
DeleteActually, I always imagined lembas as more of a shortbread-type thing, not a flatbread. :) But I have a feeling shortbread would not be the optimal food on a taxing journey!
DeleteI love this, Erin, what a creative idea for a post! And good call on butterbeer - I'm typically not a beer drinker, but I think that one I would have to try :) I honestly don't remember what I imagined Turkish delights to be, but I had no idea they were a real thing! You ladies are teaching me so much :)
ReplyDelete: ) I thought it was fun that J. K. Rowling stipulated that butterbeer NOT include alcohol at Harry Potter World at Universal Studios. : )
DeleteGoodness, Erin. You're making me hungry ;) Turkish delight was always one of my favorite fantasy foods too. They make it look SO good.
ReplyDeleteThey have so many flavors, too. . . lemon, rose, lavendar. They are a very pretty addition to a dessert tray!
DeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteI really like all three of these things! I think I always imagined Turkish Delight as what it was because I asked my parents about it when I was little. :) I got to have butterbeer when we went to Universal Studios to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was amazing!
Being half-Chinese, I grew up eating something called tuungmai (no idea how to spell that in English). I always thought that Lembas would taste a bit like tuungmai, only it would be made with a different base grain. Tuungmai is made in sheets, then cut into squares or rectangles. It's rather hard and dry, and keeps for months. It has a rice base and tastes like honey, candied ginger, and nuts. It's kinda like a non-perishable Chinese version of baklava.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about foods in books. :) When I was little, I think I imagined Turkish Delight as being something involving turkey, lol. But like you, I imagined something a bit different each time I read the book.
Yum! I like how your Chinese version of lembas bread sounds! Turkey pot pie? Turkey pasties? : ) I can see that!~
ReplyDelete