Highgarden strikes me as a likely one of the best regions in Westeros in which to dine.

Seriously.

So when Margaery won the last round of voting for character themed meals, I was more than a little excited. You all were apparently inspired as well, since you had some really fantastic suggestions for this spread. As always, I took some of my favorites and worked them into the finished meal.

I took Josh’s idea of a consomme (a delicate mound of finely diced apple, carrot, leek, and mushroom in the centre of a large bowl, surrounded by fresh edible flowers), but opted for a nice spring lamb, rather than boar. The steaming broth for the soup was served separately, and made the flowers float when it was poured over. The broth, which was clarified with whipped egg whites, was dark and richly flavorful. Plus, as a bonus, the meat that went into making the broth was easily turned into a nice lamb pie.

As sides, in addition to a number of nibbles ideally suited to Margaery and her handmaidens, I served a small salad of summer greens, with fresh fruits and flowers, similar to Sansa’s Salad. I added a cheese plate for the Queen of Thorns, since we know how much she hates being made to wait for her cheese. I also made up a compound butter with parsley and turmeric, so it was the colors of House Tyrell, but I ran out of time to make the bread! Doh! And for a drink, I went with Te Kaihu’s idea of hibiscus flowers in a sparkling wine.

For dessert, we have Jennifer’s suggestion of an Apple Rose Pie, miniaturized, alongside Tanya’s suggestion of sorbet, but instead of orange and rosewater, I chose a peach sorbet in honor of Renly. I would LOVE to make up MellowEnglishGal’s suggestion of a croquembouche, but that’s too much work on top of all the rest of this spread. Soon, hopefully; it’s been on my bucket list for years!

The finished menu:

• lamb consomme
• summer greens salad
• mini apple rose pies
• cheese plate for the Queen of Thorns
• nibbles- almonds, fruits, etc.
• peach sorbets
• compound butter with parsley and turmeric
• hibiscus flowers in sparkling elderflower

So there you have it! This might be my favorite character meal yet, or at least tied for first. It’s simple but interesting, light but satisfying. It’s very much the kind of meal I prefer to enjoy in the heat of summer, so it was perfect as an outdoor picnic of sorts, just as soon as I had the photos I needed. ;)

Honorable Mention:

• Wanda’s suggestion of stuffed pigeons with rose petal sauce
• Rebecca’s idea of dandelion jelly, which she says tastes like honey and chamomile tea
• Erica: steamed whitefish with simple veg and white wine vinaigrette
• MellowEnglishGal’s idea of a croquembouche: filled with different pastry creams, decorated with edible flowers, sugared, honey-roasted or gilded almonds, spun-sugar, fresh strawberries/raspberries. It’s fiddly, rich, delicate and temperamental, ornamental but concealing a lot of complexity, absolutely stunning: Margaery

Peach Sorbet with pea blossoms

Apple Rose with custard and redcurrants

Edible flowers: bean, pea, chamomile, borage, geranium, nasturtium

The Queen of Thorn’s cheese

Prosecco with hibiscus flower

Lamb Consomme

Apple Roses

Turmeric-Parsley Butter

When I polled our Facebook followers a few months back about which character they would most like to have a character themed meal for, the winner was resoundingly our lovely young queen Margaery.

This should be a delightfully tasty meal to create. The weather is warm, fruits are ripening on tree and vine, and there is an abundance of flowers everywhere. It’s a perfect time for some Highgarden fare, instead of the heavy stews from Castle Black that get me through the winter!

Because Highgarden is so rich in edible goods, and the Tyrells wealthy enough to purchase what they cannot grow, we pretty much have our pick of ingredients. I’m thinking the dishes should be lighter fare, not quite as informal as tapas, but not far off, either. Something including floral notes is a must, whether roses or something else. My elderflowers are just coming into bloom, so I think perhaps those will go into a drink.

Grains and fresh fruits are always good. After all, the Tyrells brought wagonloads of bread to distribute amongst the poor of King’s Landing to bolster support for Margaery, so we can guess that a variety of grains are grown in the Reach. Overall, I suspect the meal should be flavorful, interesting, fresh, and healthy.

So, what do you all think? Have any regional favorites that you think are just begging to be included in a Highgarden meal? As always, I’ll pick out my favorite suggestions and incorporate them into the finished meal, so points for creativity. ;)

…and in this case, that man is Jaqen H’gar. It has to be close to three years ago now that you all threw out some wonderful suggestions for this meal, and inspired by a recent episode of the show, I have finally taken full advantage of them. I fear I have not quite done your excellent ideas justice, but a girl has to finish the post eventually, one way or the other. A man, however, eats what he must, and it’s important to keep in mind that Jaqen H’gar is a man who has to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.  

The prevailing thoughts about this meal included Venetian-inspired spicy seafood from Braavos, as well as smaller, easily transported foods, some of which could be foraged. I also loved the idea of incorporating some food trickery, and after looking into it just a bit, discovered that it was a medieval practice. There were historical recipes for making meat look spoiled, presumably to keep unwelcome guests from over-taxing one’s food stores. This would probably fall under a subcategory of Subtleties, or showpiece dishes (more on those later). In this case, the duplicity of such a dish would fit well with a faceless man’s meal. 

So in the end, I used a lot of your ideas to create a two-sided meal. For the man-on-the-go half, I took Juli’s idea of foraged quail eggs and paired it with some fruits, roots, and meats. A man would eat whatever he could come by in the wilderness, and might not be able to risk a fire for fear of discovery. A man might eat eggs raw, but I boiled mine.

For the more cultured Braavosi half of the meal, I agreed with Marianna about the Venetian connection, and went with a spicy squid ink pasta and scallops with a dash of caviar. Notice that black and white color palette of the main course? Yes, it was intentional. 

My relatively simple meal included:

• scallops on a bed of purple cabbage and fennel, served on endives (very pretty!)
• squid ink pasta with spicy cream sauce and mixed seafood
• quail eggs, fruits, nuts, cured meats
• mock-Sahlep, a thick spiced drink sold on the streets (recipe)

Honorable (and comedic) Mentions:

• Kate Quinn – all Black and White foods
• John Billburg- molecular gastronomy, for some ‘magic’
• @forkspoonknife – chameleons!
• B Lolly – a delicious sounding array of specific Venetian dishes

 One thing I really wish I could have incorporated is a deceptive sort of food, to represent the faceless man’s changeable nature and capacity for deception. Instead, I hope to do an entire post that looks at medieval subtleties. Let me tell you, there were some amazing ones back in the day!

I also loved the idea of doing those black/white half moon cookies, although they definitely wouldn’t be eaten in that fictional setting. I might still have to do that, although I’d make them rectangular, to better imitate the doors on the House of Black and White. 

…and in this case, that man is Jaqen H’gar. It has to be close to three years ago now that you all threw out some wonderful suggestions for this meal, and inspired by a recent episode of the show, I have finally taken full advantage of them. I fear I have not quite done your excellent ideas justice, but a girl has to finish the post eventually, one way or the other. A man, however, eats what he must, and it’s important to keep in mind that Jaqen H’gar is a man who has to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.  

The prevailing thoughts about this meal included Venetian-inspired spicy seafood from Braavos, as well as smaller, easily transported foods, some of which could be foraged. I also loved the idea of incorporating some food trickery, and after looking into it just a bit, discovered that it was a medieval practice. There were historical recipes for making meat look spoiled, presumably to keep unwelcome guests from over-taxing one’s food stores. This would probably fall under a subcategory of Subtleties, or showpiece dishes (more on those later). In this case, the duplicity of such a dish would fit well with a faceless man’s meal. 

So in the end, I used a lot of your ideas to create a two-sided meal. For the man-on-the-go half, I took Juli’s idea of foraged quail eggs and paired it with some fruits, roots, and meats. A man would eat whatever he could come by in the wilderness, and might not be able to risk a fire for fear of discovery. A man might eat eggs raw, but I boiled mine.

For the more cultured Braavosi half of the meal, I agreed with Marianna about the Venetian connection, and went with a spicy squid ink pasta and scallops with a dash of caviar. Notice that black and white color palette of the main course? Yes, it was intentional. 

My relatively simple meal included:

• scallops on a bed of purple cabbage and fennel, served on endives (very pretty!)
• squid ink pasta with spicy cream sauce and mixed seafood
• quail eggs, fruits, nuts, cured meats
• mock-Sahlep, a thick spiced drink sold on the streets (recipe)

Honorable (and comedic) Mentions:

• Kate Quinn – all Black and White foods
• John Billburg- molecular gastronomy, for some ‘magic’
• @forkspoonknife – chameleons!
• B Lolly – a delicious sounding array of specific Venetian dishes

 One thing I really wish I could have incorporated is a deceptive sort of food, to represent the faceless man’s changeable nature and capacity for deception. Instead, I hope to do an entire post that looks at medieval subtleties. Let me tell you, there were some amazing ones back in the day!

I also loved the idea of doing those black/white half moon cookies, although they definitely wouldn’t be eaten in that fictional setting. I might still have to do that, although I’d make them rectangular, to better imitate the doors on the House of Black and White.