Culinary traditions in Middle Earth

[JennyHallu]

Mushrooms. I would guess that dwarves, preferring to live, like Hobbits, underground, would perhaps share their prediliction for musrooms. And perhaps for meat they would stick to smaller livestock animals, like sheep, rather than try to herd cattle, which would be almost four times their size, not to mention they would challenge even their strength. Perhaps they have domesticated rabbits...these could be raised in a cage, and thus within their underground homes. They probably do not use a lot of game meats, because of their weak woodcraft. I would assume freshwater fish like trout and catfish, and perhaps small game, as well as smaller animals that could be domesticated. For grain and vegetables, I think they would probably import. Dale is located so close to Erebor that it is not a stretch to suppose that much of the Dalemen's livelihood is derived from supporting the dwarves, but I doubt they purchase anything too exotic, or prepare anything too complicated, just because their character tends to be sturdy and practical. It always seemed to me that Gimli and the hobbits had by and large a fairly similar worldview.