It's catching up with me

[rabidsamfan]

I think I may have damaged my little finger. (On the left.) It hasn't felt right for days and now it just stays swollen. Not painful most of the time, but with occasional spangs to remind me that I am not invincible.

The new apartment is cold. After all that hot weather, the temps have dropped, and I haven't yet figured out the furnace. Thankgoodness for heated waterbeds. But my nose is sniffly, and my asthma has given me grief all day today. The first meal cooked on the new stove (chorizo, made by a local market) sprayed grease in every possible direction -- including to the ceiling -- and while it tasted good it's revisiting me now.



Rereading the journey south and realizing how very seldom Tolkien gives us any clue about what sort of foods they took along. Except for lembas of course. And so many of the meals were cold ones! I'm thinking deer jerky, pemmican, and whatever they might find in the way of apples and berries. Aragorn and Legolas had to have gone hunting or foraging some of the time. Either that or they had bags of holding. One pony just can't carry a month's worth of food for nine guys who are working very very hard. Especially not when four of them are hobbits -- and we know from the book that hobbits can eat a prodigious amount of food. Its not just a matter of six small meals here...

Does anyone know of a website where someone else might have done the work of researching hobbit/traveling cookery for me? I already have a possible source for hearth/campfire cookery, but I'm looking for what kinds of ingredients I can get away with.

Comments

[shirebound]

That's a fascinating question! Sam had a lot of time in Rivendell to think about the journey, and I'll bet he made sure there was plenty of dried goods along (flour, beans, dried fruits and berries, salted meats, some honey, tea, oatmeal) to supplement whatever Aragorn and Legolas could catch for them, and fresh greens, wild onions, etc. they could gather. When the hobbits and Aragorn met Glorfindel on the Road to Rivendell, and all they had left was stale bread and dried fruit, I'll bet Sam promised himself that Mr. Frodo was never going to go hungry again if he could help it. Some types of jerky and pemmican are great ideas, and fruits/berries/greens are essential if scurvy is to be prevented.

I don't know of any websites, but if I come across anything I'll let you know!

[elanor1013.livejournal.com]

fruits/berries/greens are essential if scurvy is to be prevented.

sounds like an h/c story waiting to be written. :)

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Gah. No, the hobbits can keep their teeth for all of me.

[shirebound]

Ack! I don't think I could inflict anyone with scurvy, but I haven't a doubt someone else could make quite a tale of it!

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Part of the difficulty of course is that they start out in December -- nearly January. And while the weather seems to have been remarkably gentle with them (only one blizzard in all that time?!) it was still cold, and the trees and plants were probably dormant. Not the best berry gathering time, unless you don't mind the hard withered ones. (Rose hips, maybe, since regardless of history there are definitely roses in the Shire.)

[shirebound]

A marvelous resource might be contacting Budgielover. She lived for many years in Alaska, and I know her fics are chock-full of survival techniques and food foraging. She might be thrilled to help you out.

budgielover_fiction@earthlink.net

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

erkk! Well, maybe, if I work up the nerve...

[elanor1013.livejournal.com]

Here's what they said about the food Beorn gave the travellers in The Hobbit:

"...he would lade them with food to last them for weeks with care, and packed so as to be as easy as possible to carry--nuts, flour, sealed jars of dried fruits, and red earthenware pots of honey, and twice-baked cakes that would keep good a long time, and on a little of which they could march far."

Maybe Bilbo picked up packing secrets from Beorn and taught Frodo?

I think the flour could be interesting. I know in the Little House books they would do things with salt pork and flour. Maybe they had salt pork at the beginning of the journey at least.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Well most of the stuff they walked with from Rivendell would have been elven choices, and I suspect Elrond has had a lot of practice in preparing goods for a long trip. But jars and pots are heavy. Still Bilbo was travelling with a lot of dwarves. That would help.

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

Hm... I would vote for dried fruits, nuts, salt meat, honey and twice baken bread. Sounds reasonable, and you can transport it for a longer time.

Get better soon!

*runs to bring a warm blanket*

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

And how does one make twice-baked bread? Or twice baked cakes for that matter?


*huddles into blanket gratefully*
*looks with disbelief at weather report that says it will be hot again today*

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

Twice-baked bread ("Zwieback" here in Germany) is a simple, sweet leavened dough, baked in a box-shaped cake pan. The baked cake has to stand for 24 hours, and then been cut in 6-8 mm thick slices. The slices are roasted until they are golden brown, and then they can be stored für a long time (or taken to a journey - or a ship passage, as sailors did in earlier times)

I hope that was helpful.

They could also have taken dried or smoke-fumed meat with them, and smoke-fumed sausages.

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

Zwieback is twice baked? I know those! Crunchy!

Smoked sausages would be good too, and I suspect that they left the Shire with quite a stock of that sort of thing. But they had more ponies then.

[pippinswolf.livejournal.com]

I have nothing to contribute on the food question, but sorry to hear you aren't well, I hope you are feeling much better soon. All the stress of the last couple weeks must have reduced your immune system (((RSF))))

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

It's warmer today, so I feel better. I also got out and about and bought a shower curtain and a few other bits of necessary (and not so necessary) stuff -- I think I really needed a break from the apartment for a little.

New homes

[luv2hobbits.livejournal.com]

Well, every new place comes with faults. Why else would people sell or rent it? But I do think they should take the liberty of warning the people destined to live inside.
At least the stove ~works~.

*intake of breath* The waterbed is heated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>:)
*jumps on heated waterbed*
*turns on furnace for you*

Re: New homes

[rabidsamfan.livejournal.com]

I don't think they understand the furnace either. The landlady inherited the place from her mother recently, and had never been inside it until March of this year.

You do realize that waterbeds don't bounce very well, don't you?

*provides mop and vinyl repair kit, and wanders away, shaking head*

Re: New homes

[luv2hobbits.livejournal.com]

O.


*repairs waterbed but stupidly begins bouncing again*