Have you wrung all the fun you can out of your marathon viewings of Lord of the Rings Trilogy?  The Middle-earth Foodie is here to tell you that you have definitely NOT — not yet!   So prepare your guest list and fire up the stove for a “Gorge of the Rings” party — a marathon viewing in which you immerse yourself in the story by EATING ALONG with the movie!  

We have been given an unexpected gift:  A list of the foods shown in the movies and the timing of their arrival on the DVDs.   

This list was submitted to The Middle-earth Foodie (to keep it safe, but not secret!) by Linda Holman of San Francisco. Linda created a buffet of foods shown in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King, for a fellowship of twelve at a private home theater viewing.   After searching the interwebs in vain for a list, she watched the entire Trilogy – extended editions –  and recorded the foods depicted and the timing of their arrival in the films! 

Her friends were so impressed that they encouraged Linda to post the list somewhere on the w-w-w.   Which is how she found this blog.  Linda concedes she may have missed something, and that she left out some things on purpose — like the raw fish that Gollum eats in Two Towers (so juicy SWEET!) or the earthworm from the opening minutes of Return of the King.  She found them just “too yucky.”  May I suggest we substitute Sushi and gummy worms?  While Sushi is raw it is not wiggling — which is a GOOD thing, in my estimation.  I have added a few links to Middle-earth Recipes that are not necessarily posted yet on Middle-earth Foodie.  There are many fine possibilities there.

I recommend you add a SLEEP ALONG, and then an EPIC RUN ALONG to your Trilogy party.  You must not be caught off guard by the cunning White Wizard or a band of Warg-riding Orcs because you are sleep deprived or too full to move!

All of you purists and nit-pickers are welcome to watch the movies again to find more examples to add to this list.  Please do post them if you find them!  Linda looked all over the Googlesphere and could not find exactly what she had in mind, so if you DO find a published list, please send us the links.

Who is up for creating the grocery list when “An Unexpected Journey” comes out on DVD?

List of which foods appear in the Lord of the Rings extended edition movies, with timing data:
Fellowship of the Ring (disc 1)
time:  scene:  foods:
0:10  Hobbit intro:  yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting
0:15  Gandalf at Bilbo’s:  tea, cold chicken, cheeses, jam, eggs, bread, muffins  Bag End Apple Bread
0:20  Party:   Bilbo’s birthday cake  Doc’s Carrot Cake Recipe or  Dwarven Women’s Pumpkin Cake
0:37  Hiking in the wild: apples
1:11  Weathertop:  tomatoes, sausages, bacon
1:45  (end of disc 1)
Fellowship of the Ring (disc 2)
0:05  Gap of Rohan:  sausages, bread  Rosie’s Bread
1:02  leaving Lothlorien:  lembas bread introduced  Elven Lembas Bread
1:35  (end of movie, credits roll for 10 more minutes)
Two Towers (disc 1)
1:41  in Mordor  rabbits, stew, (also mentioned- potatoes, fish)
1:45  (end of disc 1)
Two Towers (disc 2)
0:01  road to Helms Deep yucky, fatty soup (fish soup)
0:15  in Helms Deep (provisions for later- potatoes, garlic)
1:39  Isengard store room apples, turkeys, smoked meats, ham, carrots, squash, greens, cauliflower, cabbage, many pickled & preserved foods
1:48  (end of movie, credits roll for 10 more minutes)
Return of the King (disc 1)
0:10  Isengard  Store Room: beer, bread, salted pork
0:19  Rohan:  celebration beer drinking contest, cheese, meats, bread  Merry’s Mulled Cider
1:31  Denethor’s Dinner: chicken, tomatoes, bread, wine (don’t eat during this scene unless your heart is made of stone)
2:05  (end of disc 1)
Return of the King (disc 2)
Aragorn’s Athelas Tea (could also be served after Frodo is stabbed at Weathertop)
1:32  (the many endings start here- great time for dessert)
1:41  Back at the Shire:  beer, pumpkin  Stuffed Pumpkin
1:54  (end of movie, credits roll for 10 more minutes)  Into the West Seashell Salad

Linda’s Notes:

This list is not perfect, I’ve almost certainly missed some things.

I only mention lembas the first time, although they eat it many times.

I also skipped Gollum eating raw fish of times. Yuk.

Here is Linda’s easy Buffet menu, with timing:
 
I’m not a great cook (at least I’m sort of lazy), and I also wanted to watch a good amount of the movies, so here’s what I served:
I prepped a lot in advance or bought pre-made items from the store when possible. We tried to stick to this viewing schedule, with moderate success. Fellowship started promptly at 10 am, Two Towers at 2 pm, Return of the King at 6 pm.
9:30    Breakfast:  Tea, rustic breads, muffins, jams, butter, bacon, various cheeses, fig & nut preserves
10:37  2nd Breakfast:  Apples (passed around in theater room as Strider tosses them to the Hobbits)
1:00    Lembas: Shortbread cookies (passed around in theater when lembas is introduced)
1:30    Lunch: Beer, root beer, bratwurst & bockwurst sausages, mustard, mashed potatoes, broiled tomatoes, carrots, pickles, barley vegetable soup
5:30    Dinner:  Beer, wine, ham, chicken drumsticks (smoked turkey legs would also be great), roasted squash & cauliflower, wedge salad w/ apples & bleu cheese, date nut log, bread/rolls, cheeses
6:10    Drinking: Beer and more beer (passed around in theater)
9:35    Dessert: Pumpkin pie with whipped cream (passed around in theater  while endings go on and on)