I don’t know about you all, but I literally gasped out loud when I saw this scene from The Force Awakens for the first time:
Seriously, nothing beats practical effects, and a team apparently spent around three months (!) getting that effect just right. As far as I’m concerned, they nailed it, as it’s one of the most memorable parts of the film for me.
Some cool tidbits about this bread… The mixture comes from Unkar Plutt, who is profiting wildly off the remoteness of that trading station on Jakku. You have to figure that he obtained the ration packs for as little as possible, and because he also sells the water necessary for making it, he’s got a slice of all the profit to be made out of folks just trying to survive.
Life can be tough for a scavenger like Rey, especially on desert planets like Jakku and Tatooine. Where eating is more necessity than pleasure, one often lives hand to mouth, scraping by with traded salvage for rations such as these, which likely were themselves salvaged from military supplies:
This recipe, while not quite so aesthetically impressive as the film version, does puff up when made, in under a minute. The ingredients were selected for basic nutritional content rather than tastiness factor; Rey’s eating to survive. But let me tell you: if you imagine you’ve just come back from a long day of salvaging parts in the dry heat of Jakku, just about anything made of food will start to taste great!
Update: I’ve added this recipe to the lineup for Fictional Foodies’ May Star Wars lineup. Check out the other cool recipes folks have submitted here.
Polystarch Puffbread Recipe
Location: Jakku, and throughout the Galaxy
Makes: 1 small serving
Prep: 5 minutes – Cooking: 45 seconds
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 4 Tbs. wheat flour
- 1 Tbs. instant oats
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. thin flakes dry seaweed
- pinch each of salt, ground pepper, cinnamon
- ~2 tablespoons water
Lightly grease a 6″ ramekin or small bowl with the oil. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, followed by just enough water to hold it all together. Quickly form into a rough ball, and place in the center of the ramekin. Place the ramekin in the microwave, and cook for 45 seconds, during which time the bread should puff up somewhat. Allow to cool slightly before eating.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any suggestions on a substitute for the oats?
I’m allergic to them in any state other than Cheerios and Guinness, probably due to to fact they’re processed, and not raw, for lack of a better term.
Thanks :)
The oats are mostly to give it a little body, so if you swapped in some really coarse meal flour, that should do the trick.
At least you still have Guinness and Cheerios!! ;)
Sweet, thank you for the input! I’ll definitely give it a try :)
Thank glob for little mercies!!
You might also consider quick-cooking barley, if you can handle it; Mother’s, whose grains are smaller and less regular, is probably preferable to Quaker’s for this recipe.
Omg! I thought I was the only one who fixated on this part of the movie! I audibly gasped (more like girlishly squealed) when I saw it the first time as well Thanks for another great recipe!
Tried two batches for the first time today as I wanted desperately to do something Star Wars based. The first wasn’t so great, very dense but the second was better (especially with some honey). Mine didn’t look as “rough” and therefore accurate as yours. Any tips?
Hey, I’ve got a question here. The texture on my “rolls” is coming out really gummy. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?