“The left side of his face was a ruin. His ear had been burned away; there was nothing left but a hole. His eye was still good, but all around it was a twisted mass of scar, slick black flesh hard as leather, pocked with craters and fissured by deep cracks that gleamed red and wet when he moved. Down by his jaw, you could see a hint of bone where the flesh had been seared away.”
The winner of our most recent poll, with 30% of the vote, just barely beat out The Red Viper, who jockeyed for the lead with 29%. It was neck and neck the whole way, but finally The Hound prevailed, leaving his competition in the dust.
So here you go. You chose him, so what would you most like to see for a Hound themed meal? Extra points for creativity and prose, extra demerits for anyone suggesting we cook three kinds of dog.
Ready, GO!
Sandor Clegane is no knight. No Ser, he will not be bothered with pastried doves and pretty delicacies. The hound will rather take something simple but strong, probably washed down with equally strong sour wine.
I think I see him sitting there, at the end of the Kingsguards table, shunned by his brothers: He has grabbed a roasted deerhaunch, a side of salted potatoes and stuffed dornish peppers on his plate and methodically digs into his meal.
Anything as long as it isn’t en flambé! Might freak Sandor out…
Nothing fancy for the Hound – I imagine he doesn’t much care what he eats. How about flame-broiled skewers of steak and onion (flame-broiled to match his face; chunks of some fairly gamy cut of steak because dogs are fed the scraps, onion for his bitterness). A side of salt fish, symbolizing the seaside monastery where he shelters. Add black bread for his black temper, spread with roasted bone marrow instead of butter (since dogs eat bones). Wash down with plenty of bitter beer or sour wine – and finish off with lemon cakes, which he eats to remember Sansa. :D
If going with steak, perhaps a hanger steak (diaphragm)? It’s cheap, must be cooked rare and known for intense flavours.
Seeing as how the Hound is neither an aristocrat nor particularly rich, I can’t picture him having extravagant meals. Moreover, as he doesn’t really have servants of his own, I picture his palette to be along the lines of tavern fare. Lastly, it should be highly calorific to help support his fight-tastic lifestyle. Basically, take this opportunity to show the foods of the ‘working man’ rather than that of the posh snobs and noble knights.
Wit that in mind:
Either boar ribs or a leg of lamb; because a dog needs a bone to gnaw on. ;)
Alternatively, a whole pigeon glazed in honey and bacon drippings; ideally served with a hunting knife embedded in the meat.
Alongside it, a rich, thick stew of leeks, carrots, sausage, scraps from the leavings of yesterday’s meal and (if going with pigeon) shreds of meat from the bird’s legs, wings and giblets; specifically the neck, liver and gizzard. All of which strongly flavoured with garlic to blend the tastes together.
To go with the stew, a loaf of bread – something gritty.
And to wash it down, a flagon of strong, dark Real Ale. Or, for something slightly different, a tankard of mead.
AH! I, to, was picturing him gnawing on large boar ribs!
I think a Veal Tartare nicely embodies the Hound. He likes his meat young, as shown by his infatuation with Sansa, and preparing it raw would be appropriate for his fear of flame. You could do it tartare aller-retour, if you’re not comfortable with totally raw meat. Pair with black and white truffles to express the duality in his nature, and serve with a nice heavy dark beer.
Roast Stuffed Quail – “Roasted Little Birds”
(http://tinyurl.com/7m6fgrl)
“Black Porray” (Spinach and Bacon)
(http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec56.htm)
Carotæ and Pastinacæ: (carrots and parsnips in wine sauce)
(http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/medieval_vegetarian.pdf)
Lots of wine or beer!
Little birds for Sansa, a simple (and meaty) veg dish, and something cooked in alcohol. ;)
I am thinking a whole boar leg wrapped in bacon. A huge piece of crusty bread and a side of beans thick with molasses
“A turkey burger? Is that when you take a carnival roasted turkey leg and wrap it in hamburger? Is so, then ‘Yes.’ I have had a turkey burger.”
– Ron Swanson
Also:
“I’m not afraid to eat here. When I eat, it is the *food* that is afraid…”
Four kinds of dog?
Whatever the meal, it should be charbroiled, unpretentious, and drowned in a sea of wine.
So maybe a grilled haunch of venison in a red wine reduction sauce, with grilled root vegetables (make sure to include beets, to add a nice bloody color to it all!), a loaf of rough brown peasant bread, and a bottle of a dry red wine with a relatively high acidity, maybe a reasonably-priced Barbera.
And as suggested above, for dessert, lemoncakes, because of Sansa.
No vegetables outside of stews! I think a man like Sandor eats meat (and maybe bread, or porridge if he has to).
I really like the hanger steak / skirt steak idea. Along the same lines offal, giblets and “cheap” cuts of meat would be perfect – like black pudding, head cheese, ox tongue, and bone marrow (all so delicious!). Oh and lard, goose fat and bacon to add to the greatness of cheap meat…
Or how about a cassoulet?
As for fish I would think of Bacalhau…
PS: I’ve not yet found one, but there has to be a stellar recipe for beef heart somewhere out there – so I would love to see something like this for the Hound. Not only because it would fit but also because someone may point me to that amazing recipe I’ve been trying to find.
I see him gnawing on large roasted boar ribs, perhaps basted in honey heavily spiced with with peppers to represent his duality, as Chris Newswanger suggested. Pair this with crusty bread (I love the black bread idea!), a bowl of stew (as previously suggested), a sharp cheese with apple slices, because his words are sharp, but we know he really does care. A little. I think we could round out the meal with a nice cheap sour red, the kind that makes you pucker and gets you drunk fast.
Love this!
From A Storm of Swords,
After the hound kidnaps a girl and the are on the run they sup together on ‘Hard bread, moldy Cheese and smoked sausage’.
I’m thinking since it was a young girl POV the the ‘moldy cheese’ was blue cheese. Yummy!!! Would make a nice picture. :)
[edited for spoilers!]
Sorry, I’m new to the game of food.:)
No worries! I just didn’t want to seem too much like Big Brother… ;)
I agree Sandor’s meal should be simple almost tavern/traveler style food.
Sausage, Venison which he hunted, Crusty bread with bone marrow. Maybe some nuts picked from a tree with some herbs. Maybe smoked in hay?
Continuing with the somewhat Welsh-inspired theme of my previous suggestion (lamb/meat, cawl, ale), perhaps throw in some laverbread (minced boiled seaweed mixed with oatmeal and fried together). Seaweed should be easy to come by both, at Kings Landing and the Quiet Isle. Moreover, it’s really cheap, highly nutritious and looks like something only the bravest men or most pious monks would eat.
Love this. I’m keeping this one in mind for a future themed post. :)
I’ll skip the obvious “blackened __________” and suggest a wine. Several wineries bottle a mix of reds called Black Dog. As a native Virginian, I’m partial to Chateau Morrisette’s ( http://thedogs.com/index.php?pr=blackdog ). Given it’s Sandor we’re catering to, lets make it three bottles. Perhaps on a yellow table cloth?
I like!!
Menu from the inns Sandor would visit:
Pork meat (often peasants were not allowed to hunt for wild big game), so:
– pork chops, slightly beaten, no bone, dipped in egg and than in breadcrumbs and fried in pig fat until done, with side of mashed turnips: (http://www.zjedzto.pl/pliki/przepisy/przepisy/chrupiacy_kotlet_schabowy.jpg);
– pork ribs, stewed in beer with onion and carrots, served with bread for wiping sauce from plates: (http://storage.doradcasmaku.pl/dynamic_image/5/5d6d/d7a7/6957/922d/7a7f/a4b2/8c2c/3b1e/w800_h600_ma_bffffff.jpg) ;
– pork sausages, fried on pan or cooked in water, very juicy and hot, served with bread or beans and some kind of mustard: (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RKcze6zRwMw/TmX-DBDlfLI/AAAAAAAAAU4/OfdGG8cs_4M/s1600/IMGP0119.JPG) (http://x.garnek.pl/ga2993/8bac86583e654a13405971a3/dzisiaj_na_sniadanie_kielbasa_na.jpg) , definitely NOT hot dogs sausages.
And if he’d wanted beef, he would get thin cutlets with stalks of sour cucumbers (made with lacto-fermentation, without help of vinegar), fat parts of bacon and chopped onion rolled inside (zrazy), shortly fried and then slow-cooked. Buckwheat on the side, drowned in sauce from cooked meat: (http://lepszysmak.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/zrazy-wolowe.jpg)
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nt62RTmn-Pk/TTSXGTno_aI/AAAAAAAACLM/wVpafIBlQXE/s1600/zrazy1.jpg)
As all this food is pretty fat, for better digestion Clegane would be advised to do a few shots of aqua-vitae aka moonshine And I think pork is best chased with some pale lager, nothing fancy and dark.
And for dessert (if he’s not to drunk yet) he’d get gooseberry pie.
I agree with the posters who have mentioned good beer, hearty stews and crusty bread. I think perhaps he might savor a little roast birdy when he can get it. :)
However, I think only the Brat King would have the nerve to serve him a big old pile of barbecue!
Oh, Sandor….
I second the suggestion of leg of lamb, cooked simply with garlic and maybe rosemary, which I can see Sandor eating Henry VIII style after a long day protecting Stark girls, uh, I mean, being self-serving. Some good crusty bread to go along, and roast autumn vegetables cooked with ale, because I can’t see Sandor eating a salad of his own free will. Absolute gallons of ale to wash it down, natch.
I have this horrible idea about a baked Alaska, first for the irony of a flambe, and second because I’ve seen those sculpted to look like mountains, and I know Sandor would enjoy symbolically demolishing and devouring a Mountain, but really I think our big brute with a soft side would enjoy a quiet lemon cake in honor of his favorite girl (though if anyone asked what he was eating or why he looked so wistful, he’d clock ’em).
I agree with the posters who have recommended more peasant fare–stews, sausages, things that use waste meat and bones. He probably eats pretty well in service, but while growing up and on his own, I think simpler would be better: grilled sausages and onions, jugged hare with juniper and bay (things you could forage–plus I like the hound/rabbit paradigm), apples and hard cheese, maybe oatcakes with honey on the comb for a sweet. I can’t decide if I think including “little bird” dishes is appropriate, or just creepy…
I agree with the more simple, almost peasant fare.
I’d like to add, a la ASOS, a rabbit, roasted over an open fire and split with his bare hands.
A roasted rabbit sounds great. I don’t think they’ve done one here yet, or perhaps I’ve forgotten, and it’s a direct pull from the book
Boop! https://www.innatthecrossroads.com/2011/11/09/spit-roasted-hare/
Unfortunately, our grill seems to be missing from the front porch. It’s either gone walkabout, or someone has stolen it. In either case, no good for grilling… :(
I think for such an agressive and cruel man as Sandor is only fit a simple and rich dish. I think the most suitable food for S. C. is the “Pljeskavica”. It is a very good and tasty food, it’s originned from the Balkan peninsula. I tryed the croatian kind of the dish. Traditional pljeskavica is made from mixture of ground meats. Typically two or more out of lamb, pork, beef or veal grilled with onions and served hot on plate with side dishes. In the countries of the Balkan often eat this food with so called “ajvar”, which is is relish, made principally from red bell peppers, with eggplant, garlic and chili pepper. When I tasted the pljeskavica in croatia the side dish was a special vegetable stew which similar to the hungarian so called “lecsó”
This sounds yummy!
I’m surprised noone has suggested steak tartar yet. Sandor would eat it raw, with mustard and egg yolk (maybe the eggs of little birds, like quails). Crusty bread and dark beer.
Spit Roasted, Harissa Rubbed Game Hens, as an appetizer while everything else cooks.
Beef and Onions Braised in Cider, served in a Black Bread trencher,
(maybe sneak a carrot or two in the mix).
Mixed Grill with Boar Ribs, Venison Sausage, & Rabbit, basted with a Sweet & Spicy Sauce, served with crusty bread for sopping.
Fig Cake, Date Sweetmeats, and Lemon Cakes.
and of course, to wash everything down –
Big Dogs Brewing Co’s ‘Dog’s Bollocks IPA’, ‘Fire Dog Smoked Wheat’, ‘Black Lab Stout’, ‘War Dog Double IPA’ and/or ‘Dirty Dog IPA’.
Even though he isn’t a knight, as the guard(dog) of a prince/king he would have attended quite a few feasts. Not being titled, however means he wouldn’t be sent any choice cuts, maybe things like belly or shank/hock? I think the latter would be more likely, since Joffrey would probablly find it amusing to throw his dog a bone.
Definitely simple tavern-type fare for Sandor. Roasted venison or goat with potatoes, sausages, black bread and beer. He may also be the type to favor a bowl of brown, if he must have vegetables, but I doubt that he would be one to go out of his way for individual veggie dishes.
Given his averision to flame, I’d have to suggest rare steak or maybe even a sun-dried jerky.
I fully agree with suggestions of one-course fat dish. And definetly nothing fancy. Sour cucumbers are great idea, and so is buckwheat. About meat, I think of sausage, maybe black sausage? But black sausage and buckwheat make poor connection, since the first one should be in vast part made of the second… The pork ribs stewed in beer sounds good. All of these with moonshine.
If not the main course, but kind of snack – thick slice of bread spread with lard with pork flakes, salted. And sour cucumber on the top, or on the side. To flush it down – moonshine, again.
Dessert. It is hard to imagine Hound eatin’ lemoncakes…for the moment All that I can think of is slice of bread with the honey, and maybe curd. Or just slice of curd with honey. But I’ll be back with a new park of more original ideas soon… I hope.
I picture Sandor eating a hearty cassoulet, thick with white beans, bacon, sausage, and duck. He’d probably have this with rustic bread and fresh butter, and an ale or hard cider. I don’t picture the dog as much of a dessert eater, but I would want something light after this, like fruit or a lemon tart.
I think if sandor actually eats it is very little and of a less elegant nature.
If he were to actually sit down to feast or sup with others it would be something that was commanded of him and he would try to stay in the shadows of the affair as much as possible while eating very little of what is offered to him but drinking more than a kings share of whatever alcohol is provided.
On a daily basis though, I feel that he would eat things like hard bread and salted meat with hard cheese. You know, very simple, easily acquired, and cheap faire. Possibly even a bowl of good ol’ brown washed down with a much ale as it would take to get the foul taste of revenge, rat and whatever else might be in that pot, out of his mouth. And for a night cap, a flagon of mead (or whatever else was within reach on his way out of the shop and back to the keep) to keep him company while he watches little birdies and searches for the courage to ask for a song.
You know, we brought up lemoncakes as a tribute to his feelings for Sansa, but I was also thinking there should be something as a nod to Arya, as I do believe both Stark girls have had a radical affect on his life and outlook. Perhaps a side of roasted pearl onions with a bit of balsamic vinegar, showcasing the young feisty girl that’s been embittered and changed by war? Not too original, but I thought Arya deserved a shout out, too. :)
I tend to think the Hound eats meals typical of a camp. Meats roasted on a spit, etc. God knows, it’d probably be charred horse meat or pork shank. Maybe a stew with lots of root vegetables and scraps of miscellaneous meat. Black bread with oats and a sour red wine.
Trail-Riders Stew…cooked over a campfire and made with stuff either foraged or gotten off the supply wagon.
1 cup of beef jerky (black pepper jerky is especially yummy) torn in small pieces
3/4 cup of red wine
2 cups of beef or chicken broth. If not available, use water.
Simmer the jerky in the wine and broth (or water), lid on the pot, over low heat for 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
3 medium cubed potatoes
1-1/2 large carrots sliced thick
1 small parsnip sliced thick
2 sliced celery stalks
1 chopped medium yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
Add these ingredients to the pot and simmer for 30 more minutes, or til potatoes are just soft.
Chicken?