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:
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
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.
Mr Stirling,
I noticed that cheese was emphasized. It is good to discuss food as well as fighting and philosophy.
Paul.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Some discussion of food makes for a welcome change of pace from (upper case stressed) SERIOUS MATTERS.
Sean
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.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Good points, it will take generations, post-Change, before food is taken casually.
Sean
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