Friday 23 June 2017

Feast

SM Stirling, The Sword Of The Lady (New York, 2009), Chapter Twelve.

It has become a habit to summarize Mr Stirling's descriptions of food although I am thinking that I might take a break from it. It might become:

"A custom more honoured in the breach than the observance..." (see here)

However, here is a feast indeed:

onion, cheese and beer soup, cooked to a family recipe;
bratwurst simmered in beer broth with onions, then grilled, served with buttered crusty rolls, sauerkraut and sauteed onions;
honey-glazed chicken breasts;
steaks with garlic;
pork cops;
racks of ribs;
skewers of venison, lamb and onions;
potatoes with bacon, topped with grated cheese;
beer;
cider;
applejack;
cherry brandy;
peach brandy;
whiskey;
vodka;
pumpkin, apple, peach, cherry or rhubarb pies with thick whipped cream sweetened with maple sugar or honey.

6 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Again, I reflect sadly how such a munificent banquet is more likely to DO me in than anything else! (Smiles)

Only Nicholas van Rijn could get away with eating such a repast!

Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

That's a regional feast, btw. Midwestern, specifically southwestern Wisconsin, heavily influenced by German and Scandinavian cuisine, with a dash of Polish.

"Cheesehead" is a local nickname for people from Wisconsin, btw., because Wisconsin produces a -lot- of cheese.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Mr Stirling,
I noticed that cheese was emphasized. It is good to discuss food as well as fighting and philosophy.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Dear Mr. Stirling,

Some discussion of food makes for a welcome change of pace from (upper case stressed) SERIOUS MATTERS.

Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Hence the bit where one of the Questers asks a local if, despite the cheese being very good, they ever get a little tired of cheese on everything.

The local looks at them and asks: "Tired of -food-?"

Food is no light matter, though; we tend to take it for granted, but I saw people die of starvation when I was younger. In the post-Change world, emerging from the worst mass famine ever, nobody treats it casually.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Dear Mr. Stirling,

Good points, it will take generations, post-Change, before food is taken casually.

Sean