Foods in the Harry Potter Series
Hello everyone! For this blog rotation I decided to turn to some of the classics, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. But, I wanted to focus on an entirely different aspect of these books: the FOOD (because that is obviously the best part). I'm pretty sure you are all aware of the mouthwatering feasts and delights in the Hogwarts world. However, for me personally I was left baffled at some of the foods. Like, what are Yorkshire puddings or Cornish pasties or kippers? I decided to do some research on the foods that I was not familiar with, and here it is!
YORKSHIRE PUDDING
Yorkshire pudding is a dish served at many of the feasts at Hogwarts; specifically mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It is an English side dish, served traditionally in Sunday English roasts. Yorkshire pudding resembles a dinner roll or popover that is primarily used to soak up gravy. The batter is rather simple, composed of milk, eggs, flour, and salt. Yorkshire pudding follows the same principles of the French pâte a choux, relying on steam to puff and rise the high-moisture dough. Traditional recipes include using some of the meat drippings and putting it in the batter.
TREACLE TART
Treacle tart is one of the desserts mentioned in almost all of the Harry Potter books, and it is Harry's favorite. It is a traditional British dessert, with a shortcrust base and a filling composed of treacle, breadcrumbs, and lemon zest. Treacle is a golden syrup that is used for a multitude of traditional British recipes, and is made out of sugar, water, and citric acid. Mary Jewry's cookbook dating back to the 19th century is believed to have the first mention of a treacle tart.
BLACK PUDDING
Black pudding is a dish mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Black pudding is made from animal blood, usually from pigs. The blood is mixed with fat and oatmeal, and then packed into casing. Black pudding is used for mash, seasoning, as stuffing, in potato cakes, and more.
CORNISH PASTIES
Pasties are British baked pastries. Different pasties including Cornish pasties and pumpkin pasties are mentioned throughout the series. Cornish pasties are the national dish of Cornwall, England and they are one of the most famous British dishes. The crust is traditionally a shortcrust, and is often filled with meats and vegetables. Cornish pasties were originally developed for Cornish miners. The miners needed a lunch that would be filling and also meet the high demands of working underground. The thick crust and dense filling easily stayed warm for hours, making pasties an effective and substantial meal.
KIPPERS
Kippers are whole herrings that are sliced in half, gutted, salted or pickled, and then smoked. This process is also known as "kippering." Kippers are known for being an oily, plump, and quite pungent fish. They are usually served during breakfast, but also during high tea or supper time. Kippers were most popular during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and then fell out of the scene during the 1970s. The dish is mentioned in many books of the Harry Potter series, specifically during the breakfast times.
TRIFLE
Trifle is an English dessert composed of many layers; the main components being alcohol-soaked sponge cake, fruit of some sort, whipped cream, sponge/lady fingers, and custard. Trifle is always made and served in a large round bowl. The dessert originated in the 18th century, with the name coming from "the Old French trufle." Trifle is found during the Welcoming Feast in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and also Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Those are all of the foods that I decided to cover today! I hope you enjoyed my attempt at doing a slightly different blog post than usual.
-Maddie :D
Resources:
https://www.foodrepublic.com/2013/10/29/what-is-yorkshire-pudding-plus-a-super-easy-recipe-to-make-at-home/
https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/12/food-lab-yorkshire-pudding-popover-best-method-science.html
https://www.hp-lexicon.org/thing/food-and-drink/
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/all-you-need-know-about-black-pudding
https://www.daringgourmet.com/authentic-cornish-pasty-recipe/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/07/food-kippers-smoked-fish-sales-revival
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/what-is-a-trifle/
The research you did is really interesting! I never really thought about the foods while reading Harry Potter because I was so immersed in the story, but the foods all look really good.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! The great hall was always one of my favorite locations in Harry Potter. The celling was always so pretty and the food always looked delicious! The trifle you mentioned sounds especially good, might have to try it out :P
ReplyDeleteThis is such a creative post! The foods look so good, and you're descriptions were really interesting. The explanations of the context where the food would be eaten were also really helpful. I like how you also included when they were mentioned in the books. I kind of want to make the trifle or treacle tart :P Nice job!
ReplyDeleteBooks always describe foods to be so amazing, but half the time I'm not even sure what they're eating. This was a really interesting post, and you descriptions of the food were really good! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI always assumed the foods I wasn't familiar with in the Harry Potter world were fiction, like Butterbeer or the chocolate frog thingies. I'm very surprised and fascinated to learn that that's not the case! Kippers seem kind of gross but everything else you mentioned looks really good! Really interesting and fun post :)
ReplyDeleteAh, what a lovely example of someone examining a very otherworldly setting - in this case, the magical world of Harry Potter - from a very familiar angle. I admire your attention to detail as you explore and describe these various treats, and your inclusion of images provides a much-needed element of immersion to your post. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you took the time to truly analyze and research this aspect of a fictional world, I liked this post and found it interesting.
ReplyDeleteWoah, nice! I was also unfamiliar with the foods, but I skipped over them because, well, I was in elementary school and didn't really care. I've had trifle before, but I had no idea what anything else was, and seeing the research you put into this is really cool.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely changed the way I imagine the foods when I read the books. My mental image of the things I don't understand in books is often very different than the actual thing itself. It's cool that you did the research on this!
ReplyDeleteWow! It must have taken a while to find all of the foods. from the books. There's actually a cookbook specifically for foods from Harry Potter (I think its called The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook) that has recipes for most of these foods.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't really considered that some of these foods actually existed when I was reading the books- the names for them really fit in with the whimsical nature of the series! It's also cool how some of the foods/drinks in the series didn't exist before it and were brought into real life as a result of it (example my favorite, butterbeer :) )
ReplyDelete