What would fantasy character’s eat?
January 3rd, 2009 by 
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Sometimes technical issues bother me in fantasy writing.
I’ve written about writing realistically before, but today there was a new set of details that were bothering me. Namely, what my characters actually eat.
Originally, in the first draft, I had assumed that three of them ate whatever small animal they caught on the trail, and the fourth survived on a selection of vegetables and fruits that they scavenged from … somewhere.
But that’s not enough in this draft. This time I want more details, not just glossing over facts which may become inconvenient. So, with a few minuted flipping through my shiny, new, Women’s Weekly cook book I compiled a list of foods that they may be able to eat on the road. Unfortunately modern cookbooks don’t have a section for “Heroes to cook around campfires when on the run or far from town that will keep for a good while without tasting funny”. They should, it would be much more convenient.
They can eat (and store for a few weeks in saddlebags):
- Oats for porridge. Milk is a complicating factor though.
- Eggs
- Bread of one description or another. It won’t be good bread, probably.
- Soup or Stew. Pretty much anything can be thrown in here. A touch of flour, all the veggies you can find, and bits of meat or bone… it’s versatile.
- Fish, if they can catch them.
- Potatoes can be boiled or baked, and I’ve yet to meet a person who doesn’t enjoy a bit of potato. A good staple for any meal.
- Beans are also a good staple, high in protein, if you can get them.
- Meat if your character is a good shot and not morally opposed to eating dead animals.
- Preserves like jam, marmalade (I’ll throw honey in here too) can make otherwise bland food a bit more interesting, and the people who have to eat if for a week a bit less suicidal.
And a touch of spice to add some variety and mystical smells.
Now there’s another real problem that must be solved every day and a point of conflict I can add to the story.
| 3.2 |
Posted in Writing |
January 3rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Hmmm…Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions. I’m pretty useless in the fantasy or sci-fi genre. I think fantasy and sci-fi are the hardest ones to write about because they’re completely made up stories. An author has to rely solely on his/her imagination and creativity since there are no real human experiences to base them on.
Good luck with your search. Thanks for having my ad on your blog.
Tasha
January 5th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
This is awesome. I love reading about the detail you consider when writing your characters. Very nice.
January 5th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
what immediately pops into my head is jerky / smoked /treated meats. I can picture them chewing/gnawing on gnarly pieces of treated meats, complaining about the toughness, but at least it’s meat because they just lost their chief hunter in the last battle, LoL!
January 6th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Oats don’t require milk; all you need is water and heat, and you’re good to go.
Depending on the local plants, you might be able to get away with a Middle Ages variant on trail mix–pick a few varieties of nuts, mix in some dried fruit, stick it together with honey if you’re feeling really ambitious.
Depending on the season, there’s foraging. In autumn, if you’re assuming a climate similar to the US Pacific Northwest, you’ll probably get blackberries (the problem isn’t getting the things to grow wild, it’s getting them to stop, and they make an excellent travel hazard the rest of the year. Those thorns HURT!). Sorrel is I think a winter-spring plant; it’s good for a little extra greenery if you’re willing to deal with the taste.
Your bread is likely to be unleavened, as that keeps better; hardtack and journey-cake are the most likely varieties, though you can expect someone to try to come up with something else. They always do.
And there’s seedcakes–you take a bunch of seeds, then stick them together with suet. Sure, it looks like bird food, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work.
And continuing off of the idea of treated meat, jerkying isn’t the only approach to keeping it fresh. Have you ever heard of gravlax? It literally means “buried fish”, because that’s what they did with it–wrapped it in leaves with preservative chemicals (nowadays, we use salt and sugar), then buried it for a while and dug it up later. The chemicals fill the fish and keep it–edible.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:35 am
I remember being very pleased to know that fantasy characters would be able to enjoy scones with jam and cream… if they were in a town. Also if we’re dealing with practical magic I’m sure some young mage somewhere thought of freezing drinks into icy poles XD but these are still musing about more recreational food
January 9th, 2009 at 5:44 pm