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The description of food in the Narnia books always got my mouth watering! What meal or food item described in the books would you most like to try?

I was so curious about Turkish Delight. I first read LWW in school, and our teacher brought us some after we were done. I didn't like it at the time, but when I had it again a couple of years later I liked it a lot! Now I have it every Christmas (while watching the moves and/or rereading LWW).

I always lingered on the passages describing the children's meal with the beavers in LWW -- and I don't even like fish that much!

I had the exact experience with Turkish Delight! When I first read about it in LWW, I still didn't realize what kind of sweet it was, but it stimulated my taste buds. Now whenever I eat that I remember Edmund, and it only makes the Turkish Delight sweeter

I still need to try Turkish Delight, although so many people who have tried it say it isn't delightful at all.

Lewis was amazing with describing food. Although I suppose it's not really food for humans, one of my favorite descriptions was what the dryads drank instead of wine at the end of Prince Caspian: "for the most part they quenched their thirst with deep drafts of mingled dew and rain, flavored with forest flowers and the airy taste of the thinnest clouds." I want to taste that!

Korliyon, yes! I think I enjoy turkish delight even more because of the book reference

Rose-Tree Dryad, wow, I totally missed that piece of description. It does sound delicious I wonder how Lewis came up with something that -- the equivalent of wine for trees!

I think that perhaps the best description is in The Horse and His Boy, where Shasta, weak with hunger after coming through the pass in the night, falls in with Rogin, Bricklethumb and Duffle. Lewis describes a smell that Shasta had never smelled before, but that he very much hopes that his readers have. I'm talking of course about Bacon and Eggs and Mushrooms all in a frying pan.

I've read about this recipe online (and in the Narnia Cookbook) and it involves frying the bacon enough to get some of the grease from it and then frying the mushrooms in the grease. The eggs are added last and are cooked in the grease that is now seasoned with bacon and mushroom.

Terribly unhealthy. . . but probably so good.

DiGoRyKiRkE wrote:I think that perhaps the best description is in The Horse and His Boy, where Shasta, weak with hunger after coming through the pass in the night, falls in with Rogin, Bricklethumb and Duffle. Lewis describes a smell that Shasta had never smelled before, but that he very much hopes that his readers have. I'm talking of course about Bacon and Eggs and Mushrooms all in a frying pan.

I've read about this recipe online (and in the Narnia Cookbook) and it involves frying the bacon enough to get some of the grease from it and then frying the mushrooms in the grease. The eggs are added last and are cooked in the grease that is now seasoned with bacon and mushroom.

Terribly unhealthy. . . but probably so good.

Yes!! I remember stopping and rereading that passage again the first time I read the book

That book sounds great! Would it be worth buying, in your opinion DigoryKirke?

Valiant_Nymph wrote:That book sounds great! Would it be worth buying, in your opinion DigoryKirke?

The Narnia Cookbook? It's lovely. The hardcover book only had one edition printed, so copies are rather pricey, but I believe Gresham had the book released as an e-book downloadable through Kindle (I think) so that people can peruse all of the wonderful foods Narnia has to offer.

I have to ditto what DiGoRyKiRkE said. The breakfast scene from The Horse and His Boy always makes me hungry when ever I re-read that part of the book. I've never had bacon, egg, and mushrooms for breakfast but it sound delicious I'll have to actually try it some time.

The only Narnian food I've never tried is oatcakes. There basically like sweetened biscuits, there pretty good, but not something I'd eat vary often.

EDIT: Oops, I just noticed I wrote "never" when I meant "ever" I need to turn off autocorrect.

Thanks DiGoRyKiRkE!

And Narnia Fan 7: I don't think I've had oatcakes either

Have to say, Turkish Delight caught my attention too. I probably don't like it as much as Edmund, but I do like it

I like the description of the meal with the beavers as well. I was kind of disappointed they didn't capture that in the film, but maybe it wouldn't have made sense, pacing-wise, to depict a delicious, leisurely meal.

JillPoleFriend, I didn't notice this until years later, but the film version of LWW had the beavers serve fish and chips with wood chips! I would have much preferred the meal described by Lewis as well, but I guess you are right about the fact that they didn't have time to depict a nice meal. And I guess they wanted to get a joke in too.

Does anyone know if the Unofficial Narnia Cookbook has different recipes or different foods than the Official Narnia Cookbook?

I have the Unofficial cookbook right now and I wanted to know if it was worth it buying both?

I have liked the recipes so far I have tried mostly the desserts. I tried Turkish Delight twice in my life. I liked it as much as I can remember but I haven't tried it in a while. My family says in general they prefer Aplets and Cotlets(A variant of Turkish Delights as far as I can tell.) to Turkish Delight.

The first time I ate it, I made it, and the second time, my brother went to Turkey a few years ago and bought some Turkish Delight and brought some over.

Yes, Eustace, the recipes are different in them. The new "Unofficial Narnia Cookbook" reminds me a very mass-market stock book. The Narnia Cookbook had a very limited release; it was released with the knowledge that it was just going to be enjoyed by fans.

It's pricier for sure. . . but so worth it.

Wow I didn't know there were TWO Narnia cooking books

Does New Narnia count? If it does, my imagination has always been caught by the fruit near the stable door (to the point that the description sometimes comes to my mind even after so many years, while eating pears or grapes!). The way Lewis uses the fruit of the real world to make a point about the taste and feeling of those fruits is really great, and I'd love to try them!

If the question was about the ordinary Narnia, I'd have to say either the food at the celebration at the end of PC or the food at the end of SC as the travellers finally reach Narnia again. In both cases it's not just the food but the feeling of the meal.

I, too, was curious about the Turkish Delight, but it wasn't quite as delicius as it sounded like. Nice, but not something to betray everyone for.

Mehinen wrote:Does New Narnia count? If it does, my imagination has always been caught by the fruit near the stable door (to the point that the description sometimes comes to my mind even after so many years, while eating pears or grapes!). The way Lewis uses the fruit of the real world to make a point about the taste and feeling of those fruits is really great, and I'd love to try them!

Your post made me realize how often I think about this description as well, especially when eating a piece of fruit! It's a bit of a pity, really—eating an especially delicious peach, for instance, only makes me want to taste the really delicious peaches in Aslan's Country!