We’re dealing with this Wednesday slump by daydreaming about food. Is it any wonder?
Next up in our character themed meals is
Daenerys Targaryen
She’s hot, she’s confident, and she’s a total bad-ass. She embraces each new culture she encounters, folding them into her expanding empire.
Your best suggestions will get incorporated into a meal fit for the mother of dragons. So give it your best shot: What dishes do YOU think typify Daenerys Stormborn?
Out thoughts so far include Mottled Duck Eggs, Sweet Wine with a touch of spice, roasted grapes, and honey cinnamon roasted chickpeas… And no, we’re not serving a stallion’s heart!
You have to include Tyroshi honey fingers because Dani remembered them from the small happy part of her child hood. Other than that, something roasted and spicy to represent her dragons and fiery spirit?
I’m thinking some kind of reptile – alligator, something like that.
For an appetizer i would go for a light goat soup
Horseflesh as a reminder of her time with the Dothraki, i guess.
And I agree with Total Zelanity, something spicy would be good!
AND: Something that is flambéed
–> In Connection with the Dragons :-)
I’d steer clear of honeyed locusts. :)
ooh, probably something involving some exotic fruits, since she travels so much! Plus it would be a light refreshment to set off the spicy meats and fermented horse-milk drinks.
Dragon breath-roasted whole horse, of course!
A banquet befitting Daenerys’ station:
STARTERS:
Cream Cheese & Pecan Stuffed Dates,
Chili Spiced Almonds,
Dukkah,
Artichoke Hummus,
Herb & Lemon Goat Cheese Spread,
White Bean & Pine Nut Spread,
Lots of Pita and Flatbreads for dipping and spreading.
SOUP & SALADS:
Arugula Salad with Dates & Bacon,
Goat Cheese, Arugula & Pomgranate Salad,
Spicy Kale & Red Potato Soup
MAINS:
Spicy Baked Shrimp,
Lamb Biryani,
Game Hens Diablo with Couscous,
Spicy Lamb Kebabs
SIDES:
Grilled Lettuce with Goat Cheese,
Grilled Harissa Rubbed Onions,
Hot & Spicy Cucumbers,
Roasted Asparagus with Olive Oil and Lemon
DESSERTS:
Sweet Wine Sabayon with Berries,
Date & Nut Balls,
Mango with Cumin & Pepper,Cardamom Cookies,
Lavender Panna Cotta,
Rosemary Flatbread with Goat Cheese & Red Grapes
BEVERAGES: (served throughout the meal)
Watermelon Mint Cooler,
Honey & Pear Sangria,
Ice Wine,
Pimento Dram,
Lime & Chili Lager
After this meal Daenerys will be ready to take on the rest of the world she hasn’t already conquered or decide she needs a nap. And of course she shares with her dragons.
This is awesome!! I’m ready to eat it now!!
This is excellent! Definitely inspiring for my table!
Currently re-reading A Dance With Dragons and spotted this: “Her cooks had prepared them a magnificent meal of honeyed lamb, fragrant with crushed mint and served with the small green figs she liked so much.” I think you’ve got to have figs in that meal somewhere!
Some great ideas above. To add to that:
Lebanese “White Coffee” – an herbal tea originating from Beirut, made with orange blossom water, to soothe and hydrate
Cabernet sauvignon – merlot – cabernet franc or syrah blend wine – a big red wine in other words
Churro or Baklava type of sweet thing – light, crispy, cinnamon-y
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Whole milk Greek yogurt with organic honey – because a complicated chick like Dani would appreciate simple things
Steamed Broccoli or Spinach
Baked eggplant stuffed with lamb and prunes (mmmm)
My first thought was to suggest a turducken-style dish based on the other houses’ crests to represent her plans to reconquer the Seven Kingdoms. Then, I realised wolf and lion were a little hard to come by and spears probably didn’t taste all that good, even if it is a good source of iron and fibre!
Then, I figured another possibility would be to make it a trans-cultural affair with a dish from each of the places Daenerys has been or a fusion of them. As for the dragon bit, perhaps preparing a dish of serving shots of Fireball Whisky (which is a cinnamon flavoured liqueur).
If you haven’t already, you might want to check out the menus from Asitane, in Istanbul, they’ve got a bunch of authentic dishes from the 1400 -1800s (mostly from the Sultan’s palace) that are ridiculously delicious and sound straight out of the books. Lamb chuck slowly braised with aromatic vegetables and herbs, blended with sheep brains, served with sour black plum extract, or maybe cored melon stuffed with a blend of minced meat, rice, herbs, almonds, currants and baked in the oven…maybe those are more about me more than Daenarys – it seems that while she’ll try anything, she does prefer simpler things. I’ll second the fig suggestion. Of the commercially available types, maybe Kadota?
Speaking of which, I’ve had some really good Tibetan yak cheese, which might be slightly more readily available than horse milk products (surely you’ve heard of Tibetan Yak Cheese Week?).
Let’s see, she was nostalgic about spicy garlicky pork street sausage in addition to the honey fingers. She wanted to try the sweet Dornish summerwine (vintage port? madeira?) before she was offered the poisoned Arbor red, so not French wines.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with.
I think you need figs in there somewhere! If I recall correctly Dany likes figs.
Have to second the fig idea myself. I also feel she would like spicy things, so make the main course (something roasted, I think, maybe goat?) highly spiced. Otherwise, she seems to like lighter things, so perhaps a selection of cheeses and veggies that can be served raw, with wine and flatbread.
I think some rare meat might work as well – like steak tartare ;)
Hmm, I think honey and pepper roasted goat along with a mint salad and braised veggies in sauce. Would a curry sauce be out of line? Well, it would be delish! :D
She’s gotten better with travel, is complex, and survives exposure to extreme heat.
Sounds like a vintage madeira to me.
I was thinking kumiss, but since fermented horse milk probably isn’t easily acquired outside Mongolia, maybe kefir? It would go well paired with almond stuffed dates or figs.
A whole, grilled snake, stuffed with black pudding. Liven the pudding up with diced birdseye peppers (Blood and Fire). Larger peppers (Fresno or Cayenne can be cored, slit down one side, and uncurled to make wing sections attached to cinnamon stick “bones”.
We had 13-year periodical cicadas in our area last summers, and several ice cream places were serving them deep-fried as a topping until the boring old Health Dept intervened. Perhaps they just needed a very large guy to be the taster/tester first!
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Bacon wrapped figs with herbed goat cheese. Because they’re delicious and also the lamb men. <3
I almost forgot! Roasted red peppers!They’re red and black and charred! so perfect. <3