What are some of your favorite fictional meals?

It’s no secret that I’m a foodie. Eating and cooking bring a great deal of joy to my life, and that extends to enjoying meals in the media I consume. For many years I’ve hungered for the casserole of mushrooms and bacon, fed to hungry Hobbits at the table of Farmer and Mrs. Maggot, featured in The Fellowship of the Ring:

“The kitchen was lit with candles and the fire was mended. Mrs. Maggot bustled in and out. One or two other hobbits belonging to the farm household came in. In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer a plenty and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, beside much other farmhouse fare.”

I haven’t recreated it because nothing I’ve thought of sounds right. Bacon in the United Kingdom is not the same as bacon in the United States — it’s apparently a different cut altogether, unless it’s called “streaky bacon.” So, I reckon any version I’d cook would need to accommodate that difference.

There’s also the delicious food depicted in Japanese anime and movies: The simple breakfast of eggs on toast in Castle in the Sky, the gluttonous feast that entraps Chihiro’s parents in Spirited Away, too many meals to count in Tampopo.

This extends to World of Warcraft as well — I have a wealth of screenshots showcasing food that catches my attention in taverns and camps. The meals at dockside tables in Boralus in Battle for Azeroth look quite toothsome. There are some tables full of attractive comestibles in the Alliance garrison from Warlords of Draenor that I’d love to sit at for a spell. And plenty more throughout Azeroth (and beyond) that I wouldn’t mind a bite of.

So how about you? Are there any foods from fiction that are especially memorable for you? Do you pay attention to table settings in the video games you play? Let us know in the comments.