Potatoes - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Aganzir · 09-16-2008, 12:16 PM

Well I don't know. Potatoes aren't the only edible roots there are, and while they certainly were cultivated in the Middle-Earth of the Third Age, I don't how easy it would have been to find wild potatoes so far in the north on the First Age. According to Wikipedia, at least one wild potato species is found as far north as Texas, and I bet the climate of Beleriand was colder than that of Texas.

I'd imagine they were probably more like swedes or turnips (which grow wild also in the north), or just some random roots which have no name (that I'd know of). Also, there are many types of breads, and eg. swedes taste a bit like a certain kind of sweet rye bread, so it's hard to figure how the roots actually tasted. Hunter-gatherers have always fed on roots, and hunting and gathering is mostly the way also Mîm & co got their food, so no wonder if they knew things the elves &c. didn't.

09-16-2008, 12:16 PM	#2
Aganzir Woman of Secret Shadow Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: in hollow halls beneath the fells Posts: 4,511	Well I don't know. Potatoes aren't the only edible roots there are, and while they certainly were cultivated in the Middle-Earth of the Third Age, I don't how easy it would have been to find wild potatoes so far in the north on the First Age. According to Wikipedia, at least one wild potato species is found as far north as Texas, and I bet the climate of Beleriand was colder than that of Texas. I'd imagine they were probably more like swedes or turnips (which grow wild also in the north), or just some random roots which have no name (that I'd know of). Also, there are many types of breads, and eg. swedes taste a bit like a certain kind of sweet rye bread, so it's hard to figure how the roots actually tasted. Hunter-gatherers have always fed on roots, and hunting and gathering is mostly the way also Mîm & co got their food, so no wonder if they knew things the elves &c. didn't. __________________ He bit me, and I was not gentle.