Before the movies, I had never heard of the books, so for me, they were the introduction to this world. It was that trailer that played in the cinemas right before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone started, and by then I couldn’t even imagine how it would take over my heart. “I could eat three of those,” he said.I was just a child when I first heard of Lord of the Rings. I broke off a corner of one of the cakes for myself and my partner, who remarked that he enjoyed the buttery texture and hint of sweetness that gave an otherwise plain cake a touch of character. Armed with just a canister of water and my version of lembas bread, we decided to park ourselves on a bench and take in some sustenance. After about an hour, we found ourselves unexpectedly sweaty.
The weather resembled a spring day in the Shire. We followed the main path, which is part gravel, part dirt and winds around a reservoir that many peaceful ducks call home. While I didn’t have to carry the One Ring, I did have something equally as heavy: My three-month-old daughter strapped to my chest. It’s technically a bird sanctuary, but the swampland vibe is the same as the Dead Marshes, as featured in The Two Towers, except New York City is in the background, and there are more majestic herons than restless spirits. We decided to pack up our lembas bread (wrapped in parchment paper, since I had no leaves on hand) and head to the North Jersey equivalent of the path to Mordor: The Meadowlands. I ended up baking the square cakes for about a half an hour in order to achieve that snap and golden brown color. The dough came together easily enough, but it took some experimentation to get the texture right. The other ingredients include flour, sugar, baking soda, and cream - all things needed for a filling snack that provides some energy. I eventually settled on this recipe I found on Reddit that gets just a touch of sweetness from honey and a drop of vanilla extract. I found recipes online that include orange blossom and almonds, but I also always imagined lembas bread as stale and bland, so I decided to forgo recipes that included these ingredients.
SAM CARRYING FRODO MAJESTIC CRACKER
That’s how I decided my version of lembas bread should look: A cross between shortbread and a cracker that should snap if you break it in half. Sam removes packets of lembas bread from his pack, crumbling and wrapped in leaves, and he laments that it’s all they have left to eat.
In a scene from The Two Towers, an exhausted Frodo and Sam rest on a craggy mountain side. In my quest for answers, I scoured the internet for the recipe that best represents what I pictured lembas bread to be. Pippin replies that he’s already eaten four whole cakes.īut what about for the average human person, who isn’t necessarily planning a years long walk across mountains, swamps, and underground tunnels? Could homemade lembas bread be a suitable snack for a mildly taxing hike, perhaps? In the extended edition of The Two Towers, Legolas warns the hobbits that just a bite of lembas bread will fill the stomach of a grown man. Lembas bread isn’t particularly satisfying for the food obsessed hobbits. In other words, it’s pretty much exactly what the fellowship needs to maintain their vigor as they traverse the treacherous, sometimes barren landscape of Middle Earth - especially when you’re being pursued by murderous orcs and there’s little time to stop for a hot meal.
The cakes will keep sweet for many many days, if they are unbroken and left in their leaf wrappings…One will keep a traveler on his feet for a day of long labour.”
For these things are given to serve you when all else fails. Tolkien writes that lembas bread is “made of meal that was baked a light brown on the outside, and inside was the colour of cream.” The elves of Lórien that give the bread to the fellowship instruct them to, “Eat a little at a time, and only at need. What is lembas bread in Lord of the Rings? Not just to pay homage to a teenage obsession that I frankly have never given up, but to determine if some (non-magical) version of lembas bread really is worth taking along in your pack on your next big outdoor adventure. But a sustaining cake that is both filling and energizing? That, unfortunately, is lacking. Sure, there’s plenty of advice out there on ideal snacks for hikers, food for backcountry skiers, and what backpackers who want to eat more than trail mix should put in their packs. It’s a dream food for anyone who has debated the perfect fuel to take with them on their journeys.
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