There have been a number of strange combinations of ingredients throughout the book and blogging process. With medieval conceptions of sweet and savoury so different to ours, what are some of the stranger combinations you come across in your research? Some of the outlandish dishes in that book included spiny grubs, lacquered ducks, roasted larks, singing squid, and so on. Some blog readers joke that Martin was throwing down the gauntlet with some of his dishes in the most recent book, A Dance with Dragons. Horse meat is illegal in the US, but common in many other countries. Swan, for example, is prohibitively expensive where I live, but can be hunted in other parts of the States. One interesting thing I learned from this is how widely opinions and laws differ from region to region and country to country. In most cases, this was due to the outrageous expense or illegality of the ingredients. There were a number of dishes that we couldnвЂ™t make. Is there any food from a Song of Ice and Fire that defeated you? Suckling pig in plum sauce, stuffed with chestnuts and white truffles.

ThereвЂ™s a lot of recipe testing that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that the recipes work and are tasty no recipe goes online that IвЂ™m not happy with, which can mean a long period of perfecting them! вЂњCook until doneвЂќ is a popular and frustrating phrase. The medieval recipes can be especially challenging to work with because they often leave out information that is important for modern cooks, such as cooking time and temperatures. In terms of the actual recipes, most of the dishes in the cookbook and the blog are two part- a medieval recipe and a modern one. Likewise, because he specifically mentions corn on the cob and spicy peppers, both of which are вЂњnew worldвЂќ ingredients, I include them in recipes. However, what he says is canon: since he never mentions tomatoes, I donвЂ™t add them to anything. Because MartinвЂ™s world is grounded in a kind of reality, I think itвЂ™s important to approach the food in a similar way. The kitchens at Winterfell have a vastly different selection of ingredients than a kitchen in Dorne or Meereen, while KingвЂ™s Landing is a central hub of trade, so it can have a bit of everything. I take into account climate, culture, and even trade routes. My next step is to look at where in Westeros the dish is being eaten or prepared.

Because of his description, I knew it had to include crab, fish, saffron, pepper, and barley, among other things. The Sisters Stew is a great example of that. How do you go about trying to replicate it?ДЇirst, I look at all the information in the original passage sometimes itвЂ™s just a very brief description, like вЂњsteak and kidney pieвЂќ, but other times, Martin lists a number of the ingredients, which is incredibly helpful. You take food featured in the Song of Ice and Fire books and create a modern recipe. We were surprised and delighted when it took off, and itвЂ™s been growing ever since! Although we werenвЂ™t quite happy with that first effort, the fact that we couldnвЂ™t find any Game of Thrones recipes online inspired us to start a blog of our own to share our experiments and progress. All of the descriptions in GRRMвЂ™s books sound so amazing that it inspired us to try making some, starting with what might be the most popular and well known food in the series. Since we both have a sweet tooth, we started with dessert: Lemoncakes. One night, we were trying to decide what to make for dinner. Sariann and I started the blog almost by accident. Why did you decide to start Game of Thrones themed food blog? вЂњby then Sansa was so stuffed that she could not manage more than two little lemon cakes, as much as she loved themвЂќ We spoke to co-author Chelsea Monroe-Cassel about pesky pastries, singing squids and planning a Game of Thrones party (but not Walder Frey-style). Now The Inn at The Crossroads has gone from a foodie blog run by two fans to the home of the official Game of Thrones cookbook, A Feast of Ice and Fire. George of course, likes his food, and he did notice. When Chelsea and Sariann started experimenting with recipes inspired from their favourite book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, they were probably not expecting George RR Martin to take any notice.

вЂњThere was much more than sheвЂ™d asked for: hot bread, butter and honey and blackberry preserves, a rasher of bacon and a soft-boiled egg, a wedge of cheese, a pot of mint teaвЂќ

Crossroads inn game of thrones