Westerosi Thanksgiving

Out of all the holidays in the year, I think Thanksgiving might be the best suited to a Westerosi interpretation. As I started building this list, more and more dishes sprang to mind. Thanksgiving, in many families, is characterized by cold weather, a groaning table laden with an absurd amount of food, and inter-family drama. Sound at all familiar?

The list below includes dishes from the blog and cookbook. Personally, I’d eat the heck out of this meal, but how about you? Are you going to smuggle a couple of dishes into your mainstream family’s spread, or are you taking over the holiday completely with Westerosi fare?

Let me know if there’s a Westerosi dish you think I should include in this list, or other Thanksgiving-friendly fictional dishes and let’s get to scheming!

Game Foods

Stuffed Peppers – Hummus & Pita

Stuffed Grapeleaves* – Finger Fish* – Spicy Wings

To Start

Bread & Salt – Leek Soup – Pemmican

The Spread

White Beans & Bacon* – Cod Cakes

Buttered Beets* – Spiced Squash – Skillet Cranberries

Black Beer Bread – Oatbread – Wheat Sheaf Breadsticks

Honeyed Chicken/Turkey, for a large crowd or Quails drowned in Butter*, for a smaller gathering

Oat Stuffing (forthcoming) – Carrot Lime Relish

Desserts

17th C. Pumpkin Pie – Fig Tarts – Brandy-Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted Quince – Cider Cake

Honeyfingers* – Baked Apples*

Drinks

Mulled Wine – Wassail – Wildling Cider

NB: The * indicates recipes that are in the cookbook. I’ve included them on the list so those of you with the book can consider making those dishes, too! The dishes in italics are forthcoming.

Concord Grape Jam

Thoughts:

Concord grapes are such a fundamental element of my autumns that I simply cannot get enough of them. Perhaps because it is one of those increasingly few foods that is still seasonal, and briefly so, at that. I tend to compulsively buy boxes of them whenever I come across them in the store, because I never know if those might be the last of the season.

This is one of the easiest things to make with Concord grapes, and possibly one of the most delicious. It’s essentially the same grape pie filling I’ve used in other recipes, but reduced down to a thicker, jammier consistency. I’ve dispatched it with great effect on crumpets, biscuits, cheesy crackers, and definitely straight from a spoon. It also freezes well, so you can enjoy it during the rest of the year, too.

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Literature Adds to Reality

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” – C.S. Lewis

Root Soup

“He found Dolorous Edd at the fire, complaining about how difficult it was for him to sleep when people insisted on blowing horns in the woods. Jon gave him something new to complain about. Together they woke Hake, who received the Lord Commander’s orders with a stream of curses, but got up all the same and soon had a dozen brothers cutting roots for a soup.”

Root Soup

Thoughts:

This is a basic soup, meant for sustenance rather than to showcase one’s culinary prowess.

When constructing this recipe, I carefully took several things into consideration. First, that most of these roots would have to be foraged. The Brothers of the Night’s Watch are north of the Wall, which dramatically changes their supplies. They don’t have access to a pantry, and could only cook what they found or had brought with them.

I considered the roots to be foraged, a task I would have loved to experience firsthand, although I foraged mine from a variety of grocery stores instead of a forest. Salt pork is an easy enough thing to travel with, as is a bit of grain, such as barley. I happened to have cracked barley, and used that, figuring it would approximate the condition of barley after traveling in a saddlebag for a long while.

The fun of a recipe like this is that you get to construct it much the same way that the Brothers would. The ingredients list is flexible, so you needn’t stress about finding obscure roots in order to make a perfect copy of my version. Forage among your local markets, in your pantry, or if you’re lucky enough, your own backyard. Or your neighbor’s: I won’t judge.

My finished soup was certainly not a new favorite that I would serve to guests, or even necessarily make again (barring a zompocalypse). It was mild, but flavorful, and very filling, especially when paired with a hunk of bread and a bit of cheese. I liked the adventure of seeing what new combination of roots came up with each spoonful

But it’s all about the experience and mindset. Sipping the mild broth from the comfort of your couch is a vastly different experience than coming inside from the icy winter wind to a steaming bowl of broth and carbs. Make some arctic wind noices. Sit in front of your AC unit. Or wait until winter proper (it’s coming, you know…), and try the soup after shoveling the drive or helping with snow fort construction. I promise that it will dramatically change the way you experience this meal!

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17th C. Historical Pumpkin Pie

17th C. Pumpkin Pie

Thoughts:

This historical pumpkin pie is a different creature than the pies we’re used to around holiday tables.

The filling seizes up enough for the pie to be cut into slices, but stays soft and creamier than modern pumpkin pies. For one batch of mine, I used the puree from making pumpkin juice, which has apple cider in it, and really amped up the pumpkin flavor. I also like the inclusion of the ground almonds, because they add a bit of texture throughout the filling. Perhaps the most notable difference is that this old version doesn’t contain any spices. This allows the earthy pumpkin flavors to really come into their own, but it might not fill that autumnal craving for the modern standard.

Still, I really enjoyed it, and would consider crashing Thanksgiving with a little of this medieval fare.

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A fictional Halloween

Since we’re about a month out from Halloween, I thought I’d make it a little easier to incorporate some wonderful fictional dishes into your holiday fare. Additional suggestions are more than welcome!

Snacks

Meatrolls – Pumpkin Pasties – Mushroom Straws

Desserts

Snow White’s Apples – Coraline Button Cookies

Marzipan Dragonflies – Spice Cake – Apple Custard Pie

Yam Candies – Concord Grape Crumble

Drinks

Pumpkin Juice – Butter Beer

A Westerosi All Hallows

Because our lives are have been centered around Westerosi cuisine for over a year, it seems only natural that we infuse a bit of that flavor onto our holidays. And now, with the autumn harvest coming in, leaves turning to fire on the hillsides, and Halloween approaching, how could we resist a few suggestions for your own festive gatherings?

Just wait for our Thanksgiving and Christmas posts! ;)

Mundane

Spiced Squash – Pumpkin Soup*

Grape Pie – 17th C. Pumpkin Pie – Baked Apples*

Spooky

Tea Eggs (deviled) – Blood Pies – Tears of Lys

Chilling

Sugar Skulls – Fondant Hearts – Weirwood Cake

Spiced Locusts – Mock Dormice – Rats on a Stick

To Drink

Wassail – Mulled Wine

NB: The * indicates recipes that are in the cookbook. I’ve included them on the list so those of you with the book can consider making those dishes, too! The dishes in italics are forthcoming.

Violatium

“I’d give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” -Ophelia, Hamlet

Violatium

Thoughts:

So get this: The Ancient Romans actually made this beverage where they immersed violet blossoms in wine. Naturally, I had to try it.

The finished product is quirky. As the mixture ages, the color leaches out of the violets, leaving them looking sort of like wispy ghost-flowers.

The flavor, when all is said and done, is… quirky. It was described by our tasters as a combination of vegetal, green, and like a cheap rose with floral overtones. A smidge of wildflower honey compliments the hint of violets quite nicely. Really, though, the big appeal is in the appearance and uniqueness.

Were I to try it again (which I probably will), I’d pick off the green parts, and mix in the honey from the beginning.

Why it should be in the Next Book:

Doesn’t it just sound like something from a GRRM book? I mean, come on.

Violatium.

It’s got all the inherent threat of sinister syllables, and the exotic flair of being made with flowers. It’s a recipe from Ancient Rome, a culture fabulously known for their decadent fare. I imagine it being served across the Narrow Sea, where they have other exotic fare such as persimmon wine and honeyed locusts.

Get the recipe on the brew blog, Game of Brews.

A Flight of Sorrows

For those of you biding your time until the next season of Game of Thrones, I’ve got a great snack to help keep your appetite whetted. It’s a collection of essays revolving around A Song of Ice and Fire, and the topics range from adultery, to prophecy, to power, and many things in between.

And I’m honored to have been asked to write the afterword!

Since Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows is coming out a month from today, I can let you in on a little secret: the book’s complete lineup, which includes many friendly faces from the Ice and Fire community.

A Flight of Sorrows

Foreword – Phil Bicking, editor-in-chief of WinterIsComing.net

Introduction – Marc N. Kleinhenz, editor
All along the Watchtower

“Under the Bleeding Star” – Stefan Sasse, essayist at Tower of the Hand and co-host of the Boiled Leather Audio Hour
On the role of prophecy in songs of ice and fire

“Daggers in the Dark” – Miles Schneiderman, essayist at Tower of the Hand
The ultimate fates of protagonists, from A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragons

“The Prince That Illyrio Promised” – Alexander Smith, co-founder of Tower of the Hand
Exploring the identity of – and the aim of the conspiracy around – Aegon Targaryen

“A Game of Beds” – Amin Javadi, co-host of A Podcast of Ice and Fire
Marital infidelity, adultery, and fandom theories in A Song of Ice and Fire

“Every Case Is Different, Every Case Is Alike” – John Jasmin, co-founder of Tower of the Hand
Investigating murder investigations in Westeros

“You Win or You Sit the Bench” – Douglas Cohen, author and former editor of Realms of Fantasy magazine
Power ranking – NFL style – the top contenders in the game of thrones

“The Narratives of Winter” – Marc N. Kleinhenz, editor
Discerning the structure of Martin’s saga and teasing out its final act

“The Telltale Knight” – Mimi Hoshut, co-host of A Podcast of Ice and Fire
The narrative parallels and foreshadowing of the Tales of Dunk and Egg

Afterword – Chelsea Monroe-Cassel, co-author of InnattheCrossroads.com and A Feast of Ice and Fire
Just Desserts

Appendix I: What’s a Game of Thrones without the Tower of the Hand?
Appendix II: The Creaking Door of House Manwoody

As you can see, it’s a packed house, and we’re excited to squeeze you into the nerdfest, as well.

(Note: the two appendices are previously published material – one at Corona’s Coming Attractions, the other at Tower of the Hand itself – that interviews the respective braintrusts behind TOTH and A Podcast of Ice and Fire. It’s collected here to heighten the reader’s enjoyment of these two wacky-but-popular ASOIAF staples.)

A Flight of Sorrows goes on sale on October 13th, exclusively at Amazon, for $5.99.

Mutton Chops sauced with Honey and Cloves

“Such food Bran had never seen; course after course after course, so much that he could not manage more than a bite or two of each dish. There were great joints of aurochs roasted with leeks, venison pies chunky with carrots, bacon, and mushrooms, mutton chops sauced in honey and cloves…” -A Clash of Kings

Lamb Chops sauced with Honey and Cloves

Thoughts:

I sort of winged this particular dish. Having such great results with the mead marinade that I used for the Robert Baratheon meal, I decided to try a similar approach with this dish.

Sometimes a dish doesn’t quite live up to my expectations.

The results, while tasty, were not as mind-boggling as the former instance. The sauce was nice, but lacked a really strong honey-clove flavor. A variation on this sauce, perhaps with some butter and white wine instead of the mead, could be lovely, and is something I’ll probably try: I hate being defeated by a meal.

Honestly, I think that literally pouring some good honey and ground cloves over a nice cut of lamb will give you as rewarding a dish as any more complicated version. Keep the pinch of cinnamon, though: it helps bring out the bite of the clove.

Any suggestions?

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