The Lord of the Rings trilogy isn’t known for its culinary highlights, but when Nate Crowley sat down to watch the extended cuts of his favourite franchise, he decided to give it a fine dining twist.
To honour the film that his father had loved, exactly a year after he died, science fiction author Nate from Walsall, and his girlfriend Ashleigh, created a 14-course meal reflecting the food eaten in the three films to accompany their movie marathon.
So at 6am, @Glitter_brawl & I are going to start a back to back marathon of the 3 LOTR films (long versions), and I’ve prepared a 14 course ‘meal’ to reflect what gets eaten on screen. Dad died a year ago, and this seemed by far the most reasonable way to commemorate that.
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
His mother had died before Christmas, and the couple were going to be clearing out her house in Norfolk on the anniversary of his father’s death.
“So we thought we would do a Lord of the Rings marathon as a sort of memorial,” Nate, 33, told the Press Association, “because both my parents really loved those films, and I used to watch them with them.”
But you can’t go into an 11-and-a-half-hour movie marathon without a little preparation, so Nate pre-planned a menu.
Here’s the menu, which is based entirely of my rough memory of the key eating scenes in LOTR. Feel free to follow along if you like. LET’S GO pic.twitter.com/IDAbJtdy9V
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
They started with some tea and cake, as the always-hungry hobbits scoffed it in the first film.
We just saw a hobbit scarf a cake onscreen, so it’s time to begin breakfast pic.twitter.com/ymffGcCKYQ
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
And then of course, there’s second breakfast.
What about second breakfast?
Nailed it. pic.twitter.com/GEuWDMPwYH
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
Not all the meal choices could be so literal.
Bit metaphysical, this one – scene 1 of two towers starts with Sam bigging up some salt he brought in case they roast a chicken, so we’re having a little taste of rock salt while imagining we’re eating this chicken pic.twitter.com/toHc5TBEhQ
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
Then came one of the most famous (and food-related) lines of the Two Towers film.
L O O K S L I K E M E A T ‘ S B A C K O N T H E M E N U B O Y S pic.twitter.com/fFWUj8wvUe
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
This was the couple’s “most elaborate” meal – an orc, complete with pine needle tusks.
“I made a replica of an orc rib cage out of dry-rub ribs and chipolatas,” Nate said.
“But those ribs were incredible, so it was worth it.”
But it wasn’t all meat and crackers. Eowyn’s disgusting fish stew was a necessary part of the snack marathon.
Oh good grief. This is the low point of the endeavour. 6am with banana bread and hot tea feels so long ago. I’m sorry, father.
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
“It came after a fair few food scenes so we weren’t too hungry, and actually required a recipe that was really horrible,” Nate said.
“And so I made a horrible sardine broth and we tried a bit and pretended to enjoy it, before taking Aragorn’s advice and tipping it in the garden.”
We did it for art. Ok, back to the movie. Helm’s deep awaits! pic.twitter.com/bMsO6VFYNw
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
Sometimes the movie meals weren’t feasible, so they improvised.
Couldn’t do raw trout as @Glitter_brawl is pregnant and all, but we could sure as heck manage wriggling: pic.twitter.com/8g4sksMevY
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
And the best movie snack?
“Probably the Isengard storeroom meal, which was salty gammon and loads of different pickles,” Nate said.
Salt pork with preserved vegetables and rye bread, courtesy of Isengard Kingdom Brunel’s storehouse. Gimli bangs on about this one a lot. pic.twitter.com/PcM4e5y4qJ
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
“After a solid ten hours plus on the go, a plate of cold pickled vegetables was really cleansing.”
Their marathon ended much as it had begun, with tea and cake in the shire with the hobbits.
And there we are. After 15 hours and 21 courses, we’ve been there and back again, and are finishing the way we started at 6am – with cake and tea in the shire. pic.twitter.com/2PgStCW1J4
— Regular Frog (@FrogCroakley) February 18, 2018
Having a Lord of the Rings food marathon in his parents’ old house certainly felt like a fitting tribute.
“It would have really made dad laugh, certainly,” Nate said.
“The fact we were up at 6am in their old house, watching his and my favourite movies together with a kitchen full of treats, would have really made them both smile.”
