Potatoes

[skip spence]

Why not? Considering how important potatoes became for the peoples of Northern Europe it's entirely possible this is a reference to the 'taters Sam loved so much several millennia later. But well, potatoes are not really white or fleshy I guess, nor do they taste like bread. Hm. Maybe not after all.

[Laurinquë]

I think it rather humorous that Arda has things like "taters", seeing as how they came from the New World, as did Tobacco. LotR, Silmarillion, etc. are supposed to be a sort of pre-history of Europe no? Long before all these New World plants could have gotten there.

Just a comment.

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Laurinquë

I think it rather humorous that Arda has things like "taters", seeing as how they came from the New World, as did Tobacco. LotR, Silmarillion, etc. are supposed to be a sort of pre-history of Europe no? Long before all these New World plants could have gotten there.

Just a comment.

During the First Age however I am willing to bet they didn't have tobacco or pipe-weed of sorts. The First Age I can most easily equate with Old Europe... with the Third Age as the colonial power Europe. That's how I've read it after taking a post-colonial class. And yes, going back to taters, I think it kinda fits.

[The Might]

Potatoes are in my opinion and good and at least plausible explanation and it would make sense there were taters in Beleriand.

Talking about climate I took a look at this wonderful book that is The Atlas of M-e by Mrs Fonstad and it appears that in her opinion the region where the outlaws lived, as anyways pretty much all of southern and central Beleriand was a region where west winds blew, much like todays Europe and thinks that a type of Gulf current-like oceanic current brought warmth to Beleriand. This results in mild summers and mild winters and in England, North Central Europe and West Oregon (examples given by Mrs Fonstad).

Now, given these circumstances I don't see any problem why the roots could not have been potatoes.

[Rumil]

Hi all,

Mim's roots, thats an interesting one. I have heard of somthing called a breadfruit, though I believe its tropical so not too likely in Beleriand, and of course a fruit not a root. I guess potatoes can be 'floury' sometimes, but the usual view is that potatoes tomatoes tobacco etc were imported into Middle Earth from The West via Numenor. They could be swedes, turnips etc, or even some species which was unique to Beleriand and died with it.

Anyway I was reminded of the old coffee thread, see here...

coffee thread

[Lalwendë]

If the taters came up when cooked like bread then they were probably King Edwards. The UK's finest floury spud for making big chunky chips, mash, and you can also knock up tater cakes from them - using cold mash and a bit of flour, just mix into a 'dough', roll out and cut into rounds and dry fry them til browned and serve with a big knob of butter. Drrrrrrooooooool.

Aren't chapatis also made from tater flour?

Plus spuds will grow in all kinds of climates. Some of the best are harvested up in Scotland, and of course it's the staple Irish food and the climate there certainly isn't balmy.

Anyway, all this wondering about why they had taters when America hadn't been discovered is a bit of a red herring because it was Arda. It didn't have an America in it, nor a Europe; it was a fantasy world so there's no problem with them having taters, tobacco, tomatoes and coffee in Middle-earth.

I'm not surprised Elves didn't know about taters though. They probably existed on that vile no-carbs Atkins diet, looking at how skinny they were (I wonder if they also had the bad breath?).

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

I'm not surprised Elves didn't know about taters though. They probably existed on that vile no-carbs Atkins diet, looking at how skinny they were (I wonder if they also had the bad breath?).

Come to think of it, what exactly do Elves eat? We can all see that hobbits eat veggies etc that we are familiar with, taters and strawberries with cream. What about Elves?

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

If the taters came up when cooked like bread then they were probably King Edwards. The UK's finest floury spud for making big chunky chips, mash, and you can also knock up tater cakes from them - using cold mash and a bit of flour, just mix into a 'dough', roll out and cut into rounds and dry fry them til browned and serve with a big knob of butter. Drrrrrrooooooool.

Aren't chapatis also made from tater flour?

I'm not surprised Elves didn't know about taters though. They probably existed on that vile no-carbs Atkins diet, looking at how skinny they were (I wonder if they also had the bad breath?).

Are you suggesting that tater cakes could form the staple ingredient in lembas? Or are tater cakes best eaten when hot off the griddle? Or would it just be tater flour in lembas?

[Lindale]

Originally Posted by Rumil

Hi all,

Mim's roots, thats an interesting one. I have heard of somthing called a breadfruit, though I believe its tropical so not too likely in Beleriand, and of course a fruit not a root.

Begging your pardon, breadfruit, (we call it langka here, and it's a personal favorite of mine), it's not like bread at all. It's the farthest thing from bread, for one if it's ripe it's yellowish and soft, if not you have to cook it (usually with coconut milk and ginger) and it results in something soft and chewy--maybe I can compare it to mung bean sprouts when overcooked--and not really bread-ish.

Though guys, being a nativist-when-it-comes-to-food type of person, who has no great liking of stepping foot in non-Filipino or Chinese pr Japanese restaurants, I have no idea of what an oatcake tastes like.