# What do Hobbits eat: List of Hobbit meals



## 1stvermont (Feb 8, 2018)

I am looking to eat food that hobbits ate in the books. Does anyone have a list off foods of the shire or eaten by hobbits in the hobbit and LOTR?


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## Starbrow (Feb 8, 2018)

Bilbo served the dwarves cakes, seed-cakes, buttered scones, raspberry jam, apple-tart, mince-pies, cheese, pork-pie, salad, eggs, cold chicken, pickles, tea, coffee, beer, ale, and red wine at the unexpected party. That would be a good list to start with.


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## Elthir (Feb 9, 2018)

Do they have mushrooms in Vermont?

But be careful, some can trick you into thinking they taste good, some are grown by orks,
and some are guarded by big dogs (especially if you're Hobbit size)!


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## 1stvermont (Feb 9, 2018)

Does anyone have a list of domesticated animals in the shire?

what about farmer maggot? what was stolen from his farm by merry and pip? dident they eat a meal at his house? anyone remember what they eat?


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## Thistle Bunce (Sep 11, 2018)

All from _The Hobbit, _and by no means an exhaustive list: (and in addition to the dwarven party feast listed above)

Bilbo ate bread, cheese, bacon and ale from the troll-hoard.
Upon entering Rivendell, the elves informed the party that 'bannocks' were baking, and that Bilbo should not eat all the cakes.
Bilbo longs for blackberries while climbing the mountains out of Rivendell.
He ate cold mutton and rabbit while with the eagles.
Beorn provided bread, clotted cream, honey and mead, and sent them off with nuts, dried fruits, twice-baked cakes, flour and honey.
The black squirrel shot in Mirkwood proved to be inedible, so black squirrel must be off the menu.
Once free from his barrel ride, he stole bread, a bottle of wine and a pie for dinner.
Bilbo also ate a good deal of cram while the dwarves fortified the Front Gate.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Sep 11, 2018)

1stvermont said:


> what about farmer maggot? what was stolen from his farm by merry and pip? dident they eat a meal at his house? anyone remember what they eat?



It was Frodo who used to steal mushrooms from Farmer Maggot, when he was growing up in Brandy Hall; hence his trepidation at finding himself back there.

As for the dinner, there was "a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon", but other than beer, the rest is just "other solid farmhouse fare in plenty".

I don't know if this counts, but at the house of Tom Bombadil they have

_'. . .yellow cream and honeycomb, and white bread and butter: milk, cheese, and green herbs and ripe berries gathered.'
_
And at the Pony, they are given:

_. . .hot soup, cold meats, a blackberry tart, new loaves, slabs of butter, and half a ripe cheese.
_
Of course, there are also the "good deep mugs of beer"!

Barliman, at any rate, would know what foods hobbits liked.

Speaking of Farmer Maggot in connection with food always reminds me of the dinner given by Tolkien's Dutch publishers in Rotterdam, where the menu included "Maggot Soup".


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## Barliman (Sep 11, 2018)

I would suggest traditional English fare one might find on a farmer's table or in a simple pub (meaning not JD Wetherspoon). Odds are good you wouldn't go wrong.
Don't forget where Tolkien lived.


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## Thistle Bunce (Sep 12, 2018)

And that brings us to the question of domesticated 'animals' in the Shire. Ponies, dogs, cats, cattle, chickens (fowls), swine, sheep, bees...any more?


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## Barliman (Sep 12, 2018)

Great, I might as well pull out _Flora and Fauna of Middle Earth._
But not tonight.

Am I remembering goats or just thinking it makes sense?
mmmm goat milk


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## Desert Loon (Sep 20, 2018)

Well this was the first thread I gravitated to after registering. For a while now I've been thinking I'd like to make a bannock again (the elves mention them in their welcome song to Rivendell). I have a nice recipe for it that combines whole wheat and oat flour, and you cook it on a flat surface (I use a cast iron comal) one side at a time. I like to add rosemary and sage to it, because I've found that they go wonderfully well with oats.

One nice way to eat like a hobbit is to take advantage of local fruit in season. Peach season is just about done in Utah, and I've eaten enough of those delicious things to make quite a heap of pits. I also am blessed with an apple tree in my back yard, and soon they'll be ripe.

I'd say that eating like a hobbit is less about specific recipes and more about a lifestyle. I think it's pretty much what the Slow Food movement is about: taking a pride and joy in what you eat, taking the time to make it and make it well, using fresh local ingredients, continuing to honor the well established ways of preparing and preserving them (like salting and drying).


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