Sausages and Pears in Oil – The Lies of Locke Lamora

“You two have just volunteered to cook dinner. Pears and sausage in oil, and a double portion for your new little brother…”

-The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

Thoughts:

The Lies of Locke Lamora bursts with lavish settings, appealing to the senses with descriptions of the sights and smells of bustling Camorr. Set in a fantastic world of alchemy and clockwork, it also contains accounts of glorious, glorious food. This dish is one of four in a given meal when young Locke is first welcomed into the fold by the Gentlemen Bastards.

This is a tasty, if unexpected, pairing. The pears pick up the spiciness of the sausage, holding a slight crisp bite in their skins. The sausages, on their own, are delicious. However, when taken with a bite of the pear, the textures and flavors complement one another very nicely. The addition of balsamic tones down the oil somewhat, and rounds out all of the flavors brilliantly.

I recommend it as an Autumnal dish, as the spices and roasting will warm both you and your kitchen.

Stay tuned for the other elements of this same meal: black bean salad in mustard-wine sauce, fried chicken dumplings in gingery orange sauce, and red peppers stuffed with almond paste and spinach.

Recipe for Sausages and Pears in Oil

Serves 4

Prep: 15 minutes Cooking: 15 minutes

Cook’s Notes: As I sadly don’t have an alchemical hearthstone, I’ve had to make do. As a result, the sausages and pears are first seared in oil, then roasted in the oven to finish them off.

Ingredients

6 spicy pre-cooked sausages (chorizo, linguica, or hot Italian are all good choices), split in half lengthwise
4 firm pears, quartered and cored
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for serving
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, plus more for serving

Drizzle grill pan with 2 Tbs. olive oil. Sear the sausages and pears in for about 30 seconds each side. Lay the sausages in a pan, add the pears on top, and drizzle with the oil and balsamic vinegar.

Roast in the oven at 450 for about 15 minutes.

For an elegant presentation, spread an even, thin layer of olive oil on the plates. Onto this, carefully let fall droplets of balsamic vinegar until the plate is decorated. Arrange the sausage and pears to your liking, and serve.

Breakfast with Jon Snow

“Dolorous Edd made the trek to the kitchens and soon was back with a tankard of brown ale and a covered platter. Under the lid Jon discovered three duck’s eggs fried in drippings, a strip of bacon, two sausages, a blood pudding, and half a loaf of bread still warm from the oven.” (Dance with Dragons)

Jon Snow’s Breakfast

Our Thoughts:

Duck Eggs are delightful.

This is a fairly straightforward breakfast, but one that is unmistakably Northern. Each element of the meal, from the black pudding to the dark ale is heavy, packed with the calories necessary to keep warm and alive on The Wall. The duck eggs are gooey and rich, pairing especially well with the bacon and black pudding, such that despite not being brothers of the Night’s Watch, we cleaned our plates completely.

All in all, we vote this an ideal breakfast if you have planned a day of snowshoeing, winter lumberjacking, or sword fighting in the snow for several hours on end.

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Scotch Eggs

“Although I cannot lay an egg, I am a very good judge of omelettes.” -George Bernard Shaw

Scotch Eggs

Our Thoughts

Being great fans of British food, we absolutely love Scotch Eggs. I mean, hardboiled egg, wrapped in sausage, and fried? YES. And when you can use any size egg for these, the options widen considerably. We made bite-sized versions with quail eggs, and nearly ate them all before we got the photographs taken. For an amazing variation, try using white or black pudding instead of regular sausage meat.

Why it should be in the Next Book:

Because it’s decadent, delicious, and entirely in keeping with the food aesthetic in A Song of Ice and Fire. They would be best suited to one of the Northern regions, although now that winter really is coming, they could be tasty anywhere in Westeros.

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Breakfast in Mereen

“Dany broke her fast under the persimmon tree that grew in the terrace garden… Missandei served her duck eggs and dog sausage, and half a cup of sweetened wine mixed with the juice of a lime. The honey drew flies, but a scented candle drove them off.”

-A Storm of Swords

Breakfast in Mereen

Our Thoughts:

We need a duck. To lay eggs. For us to eat. Because this was one of the most decadent breakfasts we’ve ever encountered. The yolks of these eggs stay creamy even after being hard boiled, and the texture combined with the subtle flavors imparted by its tea-immersion is just wonderful. Then you take a bite of the sausage and get an explosion of meaty, spiced nomminess.

Not feeling all that keen to search out dog sausage, let alone actually eat it, we swapped in some delicious lamb sausage instead. Lamb seems to be nearly everywhere in Westeros and Essos, so it is a reasonable substitute. We wanted the eggs to look exotic, so we used a Chinese technique for tea staining them.

The honey-sweetened wine is a variation on Ancient Roman Mulsum, and is very refreshing and very drinkable on a warm summer morning. The crispness of the drink counters the heaviness of the other elements of the meal, as does the fresh fruit.

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