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Saelind
Lorien
Jul 15 2008, 4:05am
Post #1 of 5
(1232 views)
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Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbits Part III
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What’s cooking?
One of the interesting aspects of this chapter is the digressions into plant lore and cooking that are here.
Sam while appreciating the lembas, “had begun to long for a good homely meal, ‘something hot out of the pot’. …Sam had been giving earnest thought to food as they marched. …he did not feel so inclined as his master to take no thought for their livelihood beyond the end of their errand; and anyway it seemed wiser to him to save the waybread of the Elves for worse times ahead. Six days or more had passed since he reckoned that they had only a bare supply for three weeks.”
Ever felt like Sam, longing for a homely meal? Has anyone ever calculated how long the waybread lasted?
“Besides, at the end of a long night-march, and after bathing and drinking, he felt even more hungry than usual. A supper, or a breakfast, by the fire in the old kitchen at Bagshot Row was what he really wanted.”
He sends Gollum on hunting trip. Gollum brings back two small rabbits. Then Sam really gets cranked up.
“Sam, however, had no objection to rabbit at all, and said so. At least not to cooked rabbit. All hobbits, of course, can cook, for they begin to learn the art before their letters (which many never reach); but Sam was a good cook, even by hobbit reckoning, and he had done a good deal of the camp-cooking on their travels, when there was a chance. He still hopefully carried some of his gear in his pack: a small tinder-box, two small shallow pans, the smaller fitting into the large; inside them a wooden spoon, a short two-pronged fork and some skewers were stowed; and hidden at the bottom of the pack in a flat wooden box a dwindling treasure, some salt.” (italics mine)
What do you think of the statement about all hobbits can cook? Are you considered a good cook? What makes a good cook good? Any camp-cooks lurking here? What are some of your favorite things to cook?
Sam gets Gollum to bring back some water as he dresses the coneys and starts a fire. Gollum objects to Sam’s fire and the plan to cook the rabbits.
“’Stew the rabbits!’ squealed Gollum in dismay, ‘spoil beautiful meat Sméagol saved for you , poor hungry Sméagol! What for, silly hobbit? They are young, they are tender, they are nice. Eat them, eat them!’…’Now, now!’ said Sam. ‘Each to his own fashion. Our bread chokes you, and raw coney chokes me.
How long do you think it’s been since Gollum ate cooked food?
“’What a hobbit needs with coney,’ he said to himself, ‘is some herbs and roots, especially taters-not to mention bread. Herbs we can manage, seemingly.’
‘Gollum!’ he called softly. ‘third time pays for all. I want some herbs.’… ‘A few bay leaves, some thyme and sage, will do-before the water boils,’ said Sam.
‘No!’ said Gollum. ‘Sméagol is not pleased. And Sméagol doesn’t like smelly leaves. He doesn’t eat grasses or roots, no precious, not until he’s starving or very sick, poor Sméagol.’
Gollum is a true devotee of the all protein diet. He doesn’t like herbs which have healing properties in addition to providing flavor. He dug for bugs in the Marshes but won’t eat plant material. Why do you think that is?
“’…And I’d make him look for turnips and carrots, and taters too, if I was the time o’ year. I’ll bet there’s all sorts of good things running wild in this country. I’d give a lot for a half a dozen taters.’”
“’Sméagol won’t grub for roots and carrotses and-taters. What’s taters, precious, eh, what’s taters?’”
“’Po-ta-toes,’ said Sam. ‘The Gaffer’s delight, and rare good ballast for an empty belly. But you won’t find any, so you needn’t look. …What’s more, if you turn over a new leaf, and keep it turned, I’ll cook you some taters one of these days. I will: fried fish and chips served by S. Gamgee. You couldn’t say no to that.’
‘Yes, yes we could. Spoiling nice fish, scorching it. Give me fish now, and keep nassty chips!’”
Poor Gollum. He’s never had taters! How do you like your taters? What other foods would you consider “rare good ballast for an empty belly’?
Sam wakes up Frodo with the pans of rabbit stew. He and Frodo share the fork and spoon and “They allowed themselves half a piece of the elvish waybread each. It seemed a feast.”
Do you recall any simple meals that seemed like a feast to you? What are some of your most memorable meals? Anyone else hungry after reading all this food talk?
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ArathornJax
Lorien
Jul 15 2008, 5:23am
Post #2 of 5
(1022 views)
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Ever felt like Sam, longing for a homely meal? Has anyone ever calculated how long the waybread lasted?
I do a lot of hiking now, but back in my teens and twenties I use to do a lot of backpacking, sometimes a couple of weeks or slightly more on the trails for a couple of hikes. I remember being out for about for about 10 days and having four more days to go. At that point I really wanted to just have a home cook meal with all the fixing.
They left Lorien on the 16th of February, and on the 26th the Fellowship was broken and Sam and Frodo departed. We know the Ring was destroyed on the 25th of March, and on the 23rd after casting aside their Orc armor and raiments, Sam kept the only remnants of the waybread that were left. I looked quickly through the text and found no mention on the 24th that they ate their remnants, but I think we have to assume that they did. So using the 26th of February (the breaking of the Fellowship) to the 24th of March, the lembas lasted them 28 days from the breaking of the Fellowship.
What do you think of the statement about all hobbits can cook? Are you considered a good cook? What makes a good cook good? Any camp-cooks lurking here? What are some of your favorite things to cook?
Hobbits love food and to eat, thus it is seen as something more important in their culture than even learning their "letters." Am I a good cook? Yes, if I have a recipe or I am modifying a recipe that I know already. In terms of what makes a cook good I think it is one that is able to bring most the senses into play; the ability of course to use smell and taste, while also making an appeasing visual representation of the food. I love cooking the usual, chicken, vegetables, rice etc. Having just been diagnosed with celiac disease, I am having to relearn what my favorite things are too cook. One that hasn't changed though is making salads from the items that grow in our garden. Nothing like a home grown, home made salad or cooked vegetables.
Poor Gollum. He’s never had taters! How do uo like your taters? What other foods would you consider “rare good ballast for an empty belly’?
We found a new recipe for potatoes that is easy, but they taste so good! You boil either yellow or red potatoes, and then drizzle a cookie sheet with olive oil and then place the potatoes on the pan (skins still on). Then using a fork, you open the top of the potato and then using the bottom of a glass or the fork, you gently push the potato down until it is open and flatter than normal, but not too flat. Then we drizzle some more oliver oil over them, season using whatever you want to season em with (salt and pepper work good, and we usually add a fresh herb as well) and then you cook for 25 minutes at 375 degrees.
My foods have changed but a good hearty vegetable soup in the fall and winter is good ballast food as is pasta with vegetables and chicken.
How long do you think it’s been since Gollum ate cooked food?
In Appendix A it says that Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring and is murdered by Smeagol. We know also that in or around 2470 Appendix A states that Gollum took the ring under the Misty Mountains. Prior to going under the Mountains we know from Gandalf in the chapter The Shadow of the Past that Smeagol/Gollum wandered in loneliness until he found a stream and followed up towards the mountains catching and eating his fish raw. So I think we have to say around 2469 Gollum had begun to be on a raw diet and that lasted until his death in 3019, a period of around 550 years.
" . . . (we are ) too engrossed in thinking of everything as a preparation or training or making one fit -- for what? At any minute it is what we are and are doing, not what we plan to be and do that counts."
J.R.R. Tolkien in his 6 October 1940 letter to his son Michael Tolkien.
Come over to the LOTR Movie Thread and discuss the 1981 BBC Adaptation of the LOTR.
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FarFromHome
Valinor
Jul 15 2008, 8:42am
Post #3 of 5
(869 views)
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Ever felt like Sam, longing for a homely meal?
Have I ever! It doesn't take long, when I'm on holiday, before I get fed up with big restaurant meals and just want the simple food I eat at home.
Has anyone ever calculated how long the waybread lasted?
They still have some left on Mount Doom, as I recall. They can't eat it because without water their mouths are too parched. They've eked it out though, and Faramir gives them extra food to take along when they leave him too.
What do you think of the statement about all hobbits can cook?
Bilbo was obviously a good cook, to judge from the start of The Hobbit - making his own cakes and all. Hobbits love to eat, and they seem to love good, wholesome, freshly-prepared food, and I suppose the best way to get that is to make it yourself!
Are you considered a good cook?
My kids seem the think so - or at least, they're always messaging me or texting me to get the recipe for some childhood favourite that they want to make themselves...
What makes a good cook good?
Good ingredients! And the willingness to suit the recipe to the fresh ingredients you have at hand, rather than starting with the recipe and making the ingredients secondary to that.
Any camp-cooks lurking here? What are some of your favorite things to cook?
I've never done any camp cooking. I've done lots of self-catering holiday cooking, where you go to the local market and bakery, and then improvise a meal out of all the stuff you found. Some nice memories there....
How long do you think it’s been since Gollum ate cooked food?
Not since he's had the Ring, at least. He seems to be afraid of the "red tongues", so he's probably never made fire himself. Fire is a source of light, and he's afraid of light (like the Nazgul in this respect).
Gollum is a true devotee of the all protein diet. He doesn’t like herbs which have healing properties in addition to providing flavor. He dug for bugs in the Marshes but won’t eat plant material. Why do you think that is?
He's become a carnivore. He can't be satisfied by simple, wholesome foods any more - just raw fish and meat, and even bugs rather than berries or herbs. Maybe this is another hint about Gollum's tendency to cannibalism.
Poor Gollum. He’s never had taters! How do you like your taters? What other foods would you consider “rare good ballast for an empty belly’?
Can't have too many taters! I remember the first time our Canadian-raised son visited us after we moved to Ireland. We went out for a meal at a local pub, served buffet-style. He piled his plate with roast potatoes, new potatoes, mashed potatoes - then the server asked if he wanted chips (meaning French fries, of course) as well. No, said my son, but he'd like some salad if they had any. They did - potato salad!
Do you recall any simple meals that seemed like a feast to you?
One year when we were living in France, we drove to visit family in the North of England for Christmas. It was a cold, dark evening, and when we came to a small town somewhere in the Midlands we went looking for a place to have supper. All we could find there was a fish and chip shop, one of the old fashioned kind that used lovely fresh fish but had no restaurant facilities. So we ended up sitting outdoors in the cold and dark, eating this tender fish and hot, perfect chips out of the paper, using our fingers. I've never had anything that tasted so good!
What are some of your most memorable meals?
We have friends in Britanny who invited us to stay with them one summer. They went and bought whatever was fresh that day at the fishmongers and the market, and barbecued something different each night. The most memorable for me was the night we had fresh sardines. I'd never had barbecued sardines before, and they were delicious! It has a lot to do with the company you're with too, of course, and the location - this was a small, airy, country house close to the sea. But even if you don't have the comforts of home, comforting food can take you there, as Sam finds in this chapter.
Anyone else hungry after reading all this food talk?
Well, luckily, I've just had breakfast. But a little second breakfast might be nice right around now, now you come to mention it....
...and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew,
and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth;
and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore
glimmered and was lost.
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weaver
Half-elven
Jul 15 2008, 7:56pm
Post #4 of 5
(861 views)
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Ever felt like Sam, longing for a homely meal? Has anyone ever calculated how long the waybread lasted?
In my home, my husband and oldest son are both great cooks and really long for certain types of food. My middle kid can live on pretzels for days, if he's focused on something, and that's true for me as well -- well, you'd have to substitute coffee for pretzels....so now you have me wondering if there is a genetic basis for food appreciation, like there is for music or dancing or art.
What do you think of the statement about all hobbits can cook? Are you considered a good cook? What makes a good cook good? Any camp-cooks lurking here? What are some of your favorite things to cook?
I think all hobbits can cook because it's something they are exposed to at a young age and it's a big part of their culture. -- kind of like a tribe in Africa I read about where everyone can sing, or run, just because the assumption is everyone "can" do those things.
I'm a very lousy cook -- have actually given myself food poisoning. My mom hated to cook, too, so no positive role model there. My husband, on the other hand, had a mom who was a great cook and just being around her I think has a lot to do with his interest/talents in that area.
There's only one day a year I cook now -- New Year's Day. I start planning in October!
How long do you think it’s been since Gollum ate cooked food?
Gollum has a great memory for some things -- the wrongs done him, or how to find his way around Mordor. So it must be a very long time if he can't remember the last time he had cooked food.
Gollum is a true devotee of the all protein diet. He doesn’t like herbs which have healing properties in addition to providing flavor. He dug for bugs in the Marshes but won’t eat plant material. Why do you think that is?
Well, if "you are what you eat" then Gollum is eating the right stuff for him!
Poor Gollum. He’s never had taters! How do you like your taters? What other foods would you consider “rare good ballast for an empty belly’?
Not a big tater fan, sorry! Homemade soup and homemade bread are what I'd be longing for if I was Sam.
Do you recall any simple meals that seemed like a feast to you? What are some of your most memorable meals? Anyone else hungry after reading all this food talk?
At one point, my husband had a job opportunity in Alaska and we flew out there for the interview. The area we visited was very unspoiled, no big cities, no pollution, etc. The air, the water, and the food all smelled and tasted so much better there -- it made me realize how much more contaminated the place I live now must be, and how I had just gotten used to everything being dulled down. I might have turned into a hobbit in terms of food appreciation had I stayed there!
Fun questions, thanks -- this is the first time I've had to wander over here in awhile so it was nice to stumble onto this post first!
Weaver
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 19 2008, 6:23pm
Post #5 of 5
(835 views)
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Good point about Gollum and his eating habits! Raw meat and no "green stuff": Gollum has regressed to a carnivorous diet.
Interesting that he "doesn't eat grasses or roots...not until he's starving or very sick". Reminds me of the dogs and cats I've had, that eat grass when they're not feeling well.
(Except for my current cat, who stole a piece of cooked broccoli off the table after dinner one evening, and ate it with great relish.)
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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