The ultimate Game of Thrones feast

GETTING excited for Season 6 of Game of Thrones this long weekend? What better way to celebrate than with the most incredible food from the series.

As a baker, Hot Pie does not live up to his name. Picture: Tristan Lutze

PART of Game of Thrones’ global appeal is that the world in which it takes place, Westeros, feels so real. Houses battle each other for ultimate control against a backdrop that contains so many intricate details, it gives the impression of a dense, lived-in place that stretches far beyond what we’ve seen on the show.

One of the key ways in which author George R.R. Martin has made his epic fantasy realm feel so real in the books is through the use of food, and HBO have followed suit with the series.

On the eve of the premiere of Season 6, GeekPlate’s Tristan Lutze has recreated the top six food moments from the Game of Thrones TV series, with recipes included so you can recreate Westeros in your very own home.

As a baker, Hot Pie does not live up to his name. Picture: Tristan Lutze

HOT PIE’S DIREWOLF BREAD

Despite his having worked as a baker’s apprentice in King’s Landing, the direwolf-shaped loaf of bread Hot Pie makes for Arya Stark in season three leaves a lot to be desired. Still, the folk in the Inn of the Crossroads thinks it’s the best bread they’ve ever tasted, so who are we to argue?

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

½ cup water

Preheat oven to 180C.

Mix the ingredients in a bowl until a rough dough forms, adding more water if necessary.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes.

Roll out and form into rough direwolf shape. Place on a baking paper lined ovenproof tray.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until starting to brown on top. Serve warm with butter.

For a season four variation, create Hot Pie’s improved version below, brushed with a beaten egg before baking.

Amazing the difference only one season can make. Picture: Tristan Lutze

Lemon cakes in King’s Landing at dusk aren’t quite as delicious when your whole family is dead. Picture: Tristan Lutze

SANSA’S LEMON CAKES

Her family decimated and a marriage to Tyrion Lannister forced upon her, Sansa Stark has plenty to be upset about. You know things are truly bad when even your favourite lemon cakes can’t help cheer you up.

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups self-raising flour, sifted

½ tsp salt

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lemon zest, freshly grated

1 cup milk

2½ tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Dried edible rose petals for decoration

Preheat oven to 180C, and spray a friand tin with non-stick spray.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on high until lightly coloured and creamy. Add the vanilla, beating a little more, then the eggs, beating between each until incorporated, then the lemon zest.

Gently stir in half the flour and salt, then half the milk and lemon juice. Repeat with the last of the flour and salt, then the remaining milk and lemon juice.

Spoon the batter into the friand moulds, filling each only 1/3 of the way. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and sprinkle with dried rose petals while still warm.

Go ahead, Joffrey, take another sip of wine ... Picture: Tristan Lutze

JOFFREY’S WEDDING PIE

Nothing caps off a King’s Landing wedding feast like a giant pigeon pie filled with live pigeons, and nothing cuts through a giant pie like a brand new Valyrian steel sword. If you’re King Joffrey, wash it down with a nice cup of wine that definitely doesn’t have poison in it.

Ingredients

500g chicken thighs (or pigeon, if you prefer), cut into 5cm pieces

3 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces

8 button mushrooms, diced

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp plain flour

1 cup milk

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, picked

1 tbsp white wine

2 sheets puff pastry

1 egg, beaten and diluted with a little water

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a pot of lightly salted water, boil the potatoes until tender.

In a lightly oiled pan, fry the chicken pieces until brown, then add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Stir through the mustard and thyme leaves.

Melt the butter over a medium heat in a separate pot, then add the flour. Cook the paste until it begins to darken, then add the milk slowly, whisking as you do. Simmer, stirring continually, until the mix thickens. Add the wine and season to taste.

Drain the potatoes and add to the white sauce, then add the chicken and mushroom mix. Stir gently until combined.

Transfer to a greased ceramic pie dish. Cover with a sheet of puff pastry, and trim it to fit with a slight overlap. Using the extra pastry, cut intricate patterns worthy of a royal wedding and stick them to the pastry lid.

Carefully brush the pastry with the diluted egg wash, and bake until the pastry is golden.

A dinner so awkward, it’s torture. Picture: Tristan Lutze

A BOLTON FAMILY DINNER IN WINTERFELL

Betrothed to the psychotic Ramsay Bolton whose family has taken over the Northern stronghold, Sansa Stark finally returned to her home of Winterfell in season five. Over a meal of roast bird and emasculating sausages, Ramsay forced Sansa’s childhood friend Theon Greyjoy, now the castrated servant Reek, to apologise to her for “killing” her brothers. And we thought our family dinners were bad …

Ingredients:

1 duck

2 granny smith apples, quartered with core removed

2 red onions, peeled and quartered (like a House Bolton informant)

4 beef sausages

Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 170C.

Rinse out the cavity of the duck, and pat dry. Stuff with apples and red onions, then tie legs together to close the cavity.

Season with salt and pepper and lay into large roasting tray.

Roast for 80 minutes, then add sausages to the pan. Roast for a further 20 minutes until sausages are cooked. Rest duck for 15 minutes before carving.

The Many-Faced God loves his shellfish. Picture: Tristan Lutze

ARYA’S OYSTER CART

To appease the Many-Faced God, a girl must pose as Lanna the shellfish merchant. A girl must give a “gift” to The Thin Man, who prefers his oysters with a dash of vinegar. A girl has the best oysters in the city.

Ingredients:

Fresh oysters

White wine vinegar

Drizzle the freshly-shucked oysters with a few splashes of the vinegar. Valar morghulis.

Remember, the ritual only works if you keep the whole thing down. Picture: Tristan Lutze

DAENERYS’ DOTHRAKI HEART-EATING RITUAL

Carrying the prophesied chosen one of the Dothraki people in your womb? Want to guarantee he’s “vezh fin saja rhaesheseres” (the stallion that mounts the world)? Just eat a whole stallion’s heart! Simple AND delicious!

Ingredients:

A heart (we couldn’t find stallion, so we used lamb)

Eat the heart, preferably accompanied by the chants of a Dothraki coven*.

*Should only be attempted by the Mother of Dragons. Consumption of uncooked organs by non-dragonborns can be dangerous.

Yeah, let’s save this one for Khalesi. Picture: HBO

Tristan Lutze is a food writer and photographer, and creator of geekplate.com. Follow him on Instagram: @geekplate and @tristangled