No, the Volk/Watsons aren’t all pop culture junkies…some of us (mom) just really, really like Star Wars. Thus the annual family Christmas party coming up next week will be Christmas themed.
But don’t expect cheap frosted cakes with “Use the Force!” in neon pink icing. Instead, we’re going authentic, with some deep with some investigative food journalism.
Well, as deep as you can get into the traditional food cultures of Tatooine and Dagobah.
Here’s the menu:
Drinks
Bantha Milk – light blue milk to grow up strong on Tatooine
How to recreate it: Almond milk with frozen blueberries soaked in it to dye it (blended if needed), then sieved.
Also served at Dex’s diner
Jawa Juice – a bitter, alcoholic drink made from fermented grains and bantha hide.
This is offered at the Diner by a friendly diner droid. Technically named “ardees.”
How to recreate it: Alcoholic version with saké, aperol, club soda and cherries.
Non-alcoholic version: tonic water, grapefruit juice, frozen cherries and basil-grapefruit simple syrup
The Cantina ”Special”
The Mos Eisley cantina where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first meet Han Solo and Chewbacca has “strong drinks, hot tunes, and occasional outbreaks of shocking violence.” According to a short story from the expanded universe, we learn that after Sol shot and killed the bounty hunter Greedo, the bartender of Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina took the hapless Rodian’s corpse and used it to infuse a liqueur. In other words, don’t order the special at the Mos Eisley cantina.
How to recreate it: Lychee-vanilla-infused dark Cruzan or Gosling rum with Perrier or lychee juice
Cold Appetizers
Ration Boxes
Luke has a ration box of long-storage foods.
How to recreate it: Nuts, crackers, roasted sweet potato chips, kale chips, zucchini chips, homemade energy bars (test recipes), biscotti, and chocolate Christmas treats
Klatooine Paddy Frogs – Juicy amphibians fresh from the fishbowl eaten by Jabba the hut.
How to recreate it: Pickled mussels or clams. Steamed then submerged in basic pickling brine. Served with rice crackers, sweet pea purée. Garnish with decorative greens.
Hot Appetizers
Frogs legs in butter and brandy
Jabba’s chef keeps them preserved in brandy. This will be a hot, cooked version with scallops and chicken wings (it’s surprisingly hard to source quality scallops in Newfoundland at Christmastime). Garnish with parsley. Serve on bed of lettuce.
Mains
Rootleaf stew
Yoda brings Luke back to his home and tells him to eat this stew made from “yarum seeds, mushroom spores, galla seeds, and sohli bark” that he sourced from the bogs near his humble Dagobah home.
How to recreate it: Mild Indian vegetarian curry with white beans (accompanied by Basmati rice)
Womp rat stew
Luke talks about bullseyeing them
Food writer Craig Claiborne came up with recipe in 1983 when The Empire Strikes Back came out.
How to recreate it: Slow-Cooker Lamb stew with parsnip, ginger and spinach
Dessert
Death Star watermelon
http://www.odditycentral.com/…/death-star-watermelon-and-ca…
How to recreate it: Pen knife. Watermelon.
Exotic fruit from Barab I
Papaya, lychee, rambutan, jackfruit, pineapple, melon
I know I wrote that there wouldn’t be anything punny and kitsch, but…
Leia cinnamon buns
how to recreate it: http://www.forkandbeans.com/…/best-gluten-free-vegan-cinna…/
And there’ll be a cutlery dish with the sign: ”Use the forks, Luke!”
So far I’ve made cranberry-almond biscotti (great) and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Bummer Bars (for the ration boxes – the recipe is very crumbly and resulted in half a tray of granola and half oddly shaped squares. Bummer, indeed…).
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