The Fantastical Foods of the Fae
by Lady Gyngere f the Grove
It is a well-documented fact that the way to a fairy's heart is through cakecake will not only attract the fey to your environs, but will also keep them content as they perform little services for you from day to day. In fact, in nearly every country fairies are known to reside, they are said to be given to feasting and gala processions. (The lone exception is the emaciated fairy Far Gorta, or "man of hunger," who roamed the Emerald Isle after the famines begging for food. To this day, anyone who generously shares his or her table will be rewarded with Far Gorta's blessing.)
The admonition against crying over spilt milk also harkens back to fairy lore. Supposedly any milk that spilled over the sides of a milkmaid's pail was thought to be happily lapped up by fairies. Since these ethereal beings considered this milk their property, grousing about its loss insulted them.
But dwarfs were more drawn to John Barleycorn. One tale recounts how a dwarf woman appealed to a mortal woman for ale, and was subsequently given a barrel. Several nights later, the dwarf returned with a barrel and said that the cask "would prove most bountiful" if she did not look inside it. As predicted, the barrel yielded an unending supply of ale, until finally, curiosity got the better of the woman and she opened it. It was empty and, true to the dwarf's prediction, never yielded more ale.
For a celebratory libation, fairies often imbibed elderberry wine, which protected them from negative spirits. Thus, mortals seeking the company of the Good Folk should offer them thimbles full of homemade elderberry wine, or throw some of the berries on a ritual fire. This concoction is considered so supernaturally potent that mortals who drink it swear they see fairies, and those lucky enough to sip from the same chalice as One from the Other Realm will retain this ability forever.
Apples also can send a believer to the fairy realm, as mystical creatures have long been affiliated with the magical Isle of Apples, or Avalon. Apple bark thrown on a Midsummer Night's ritual fire honors the winged pixies, while the fruit can be used in fairy love spells. Similarly, poppies can invoke fairies into dreams. Other horticulture that attracts fairies to a garden includes thyme, clover, and roses. Thyme corsages enhance the ability to see fairies, and sprigs sprinkled at the base of the front door or on windowsills will lure the fey folk to one's home.
On the other hand, dwarf cuisine is not unlike that of mortals. For instance, Swiss dwarfs herd flocks of chamois, from whose milk they make a hard, fragrant cheese, and dwarf women bake bread underground in ovens identical to those of mortal housewives. A Danish tale recounts how a plowman and an ox driver found the broken bread shovel of a dwarf while plowing a field. Smelling the bread, they surmised it had broken while she was trying to use it. The ox driver fixed it and set it back where they had found it. Later in the day, they discovered two tiny loaves of bread in the spot where the shovel had been. The ox driver happily ate his, but the plowman was suspicious of the bread. At the end of the day, he ridiculed his companion for trusting a dwarf and, that night, he died.
As the story illustrates, refusing food offered in gratitude for services rendered is likely to raise the fury of the fae folk. Yet it is a foolhardy mortal who partakes of sustenance offered without such a motive behind ita lesson that Herla, King of the Britons, learned the hard way. After accepting a goblet of wine from a Dwarf King, Herla was tricked into promising that the two would attend each other's weddings. The Dwarf King kept his promise when Herla married within the year, as Herla did a year later at the Dwarf King's wedding. Herla and his retinue attended the dwarf wedding, staying for three days. But when they returned to the mortal world, 300 years had passed.
Here are some delicacies that would make a fairy's mouth water, as well, as perhaps, your own!
Afternoon Fairy Repast
4 ounces butter
6 ounces brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
8-ounce ripe banana, mashed
8 ounces self-rising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
Optional cup each: sultanas,
apple, or pear, peeled and diced
Preheat oven to 350· F. In large bowl, mix cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, then add eggs and milk, and beat. In a separate bowl, sift/mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. Add dry ingredients to eggs and milk and then mix with an electric mixer. Add mashed bananas. Mix until bananas are pureed, then stir in optional fruit by hand.
Transfer into a non-stick loaf tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown and a toothpick test comes out clean. Once cooled, serve with butter and jam.
Yield: 1 loaf
Fairy beverage of choice: milk.
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Dwarf Dandies
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups dates; chopped
1/2 cup candied cherries; diced
2/3 cup flour
powdered sugar
Pre-heat oven to 350· F. In large mixing bowl, blend shortening and sugar, then beat in eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix together by hand. Spread mixture in a nine-inch non-stick pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cut into squares while still warm and roll in powdered sugar.
Yield: 6 servings
Dwarf beverage of choice: wildflower infused tea or a John Barleycorn brew.
Forest Footstools
20 large white mushrooms, brushed clean
1 medium onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery stalks, finely minced
1/4 cup wine for sauteing
2 tablespoons carrot, finely shredded
1-1/2 teaspoons salad herbs (i.e. parsley, marjoram)
2 cups bread crumbs
salt/pepper to taste
Remove mushroom stems, put mushroom caps aside, then chop and reserve stems. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add mushroom caps to boiling water. Cook for several minutes or until mushrooms begin to shrink. Drain boiling water (do not remove mushrooms) and fill pot with cold water to halt the cooking process. Drain water, then reserve mushroom caps.
Preheat oven to 350· F. In a large non-stick saute pan, saute in the wine the onions, reserved mushroom stems, garlic, and celery. When vegetables are tender, add the carrot and herbs, and then add bread crumbs and mix well. Add salt/pepper to taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Fill mushrooms with a heaping tablespoon of the mixture, place on a lightly greased baking sheet, and cook for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
Serve hot..
Pixies particularly enjoy Forest Footstools accompanied by chilled asparagus spears and orange sections.