Winter Is Coming, If You Know Where to Look

I've been planning to write about Game of Thrones for months, ever since I read about the food truck which debuted in New York City during the last week in March.  The fact that Tom Colicchio had designed the menu was a clue that HBO was going full-throttle on it.  When I attended Wondercon in San Francisco the weekend of April 1, I got a chance to ask a representative of the agency about plans and discovered the Game of Thrones Food Truck would also be in Los Angeles--but not at the HBO party for Game of Thrones we were invited to  attend.  (The food there was delicious anyway.)

My friend George R.R. Martin is the author of the books upon which HBO based its latest hit series.  I've known George almost 25 years, but my husband has known him even longer. They met through the letters pages of comic books back in the 1960s, and George has the No. 1 badge from the first "comic-con" Len co-created back in New York. George loves to eat, but I'm pretty sure that never in his imagination did he think his television show would be promoted with a food truck. (Apparently, Camelot rushed in to follow suit with turkey legs, a staple of Renaissance Fairs, but totally anachronistic to that production.)

We tracked George down at the food truck on the last day it was in L.A. back in April, at a stop in Venice. That's him in the captain's cap. We got a big kick out of George being surrounded by an entourage, paparazzi, and television cameras--and the show had not even debuted yet. We are so pleased for him that the show became the "water cooler" event of the spring, If you have not seen it, try to catch it on HBO On Demand or in reruns before the next season.

But we did come for the food, and it did not disappoint--except, perhaps, in portion size. Head cheese is not nearly as scary as it sounds--it is something akin to a terrine made of bits of meat boiled off the skull. As long as I didn't have to see the original, I was o.k. with it.  The venison was excellent and is something I grew up with. It is the only red meat I've had in years and was worth the momentary lapse.

The "famous Westeros Lemon Cakes" are delicate and tart cakelettes (in the center of the photo below) that come from one of Tom Colicchio's cookbooks and you can watch a video about them and the food in the video above and here where there's a link to download the recipe.  I'm planning to make them one of these days.  I just wish the rest of the recipes were as easily available on line. I really enjoyed the farro and dried fruits and the baked apple, barley, and cinnamon that accompanied the venison.

 George directed me to a web site where the goal is to recreate every food dish in the Song of Fire and Ice series.  It is off to a good start, and if you have an interest in a look at medieval food adapted for a fantasy book series, you want to take a look at Inn at the Crossroads.