I am a nerd who loves both world-building and historical cooking, and well...I've been kinda thinking about this a lot recently. Amid all of the talk of Unbreakable Oaths and Everlasting Darknesses and death and tragedy and war that is the Silmarillion there is, understandably, not much room to talk about what everyone ate. In The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit you get a pretty good idea of what Hobbit meals are like after all, with all those mentions of strawberries and fried fish and taters. Things we're told Sam and Frodo miss on their journey to Mt. Doom, things integrally woven into a hobbits way of life and culture because of their love of simple, good things, like a wonderful meal. And well, it's not just for hobbits that food is an important aspect of culture, I mean *everybody* eats, and I won't stand for the idea that an elf can live on Lembas alone. So yeah, like I said, I've been thinking about this kind of thing a lot lately. So! Some Elvish food headcanons for your reading pleasure:
Among the older generations of elves, Finwë, Olwë, Ingwë, Miríel, and that lot, yeah it'd be rare to see them even touching a tomato or potato. Okay, so basically everything that lives and grows on Middle Earth and the continents beyond (and some things that don't) can be found on Valinor, right? And Middle Earth and Beleriand are supposed to be an alternate pre-history (or rather, lost history?) version of England, therefore you've got tomato and potato plants growing in Yavanna's gardens but nothing of the sort to be found around Cuivienen...except for deadly nightshade. And while I'm sure those first elves to walk upon Valinor's shores received all the assurances from the Valar that “no, we are not trying to feed you poison, you won't die from eating that thing” they could ask for, that visceral association they've grown up with since childhood still holds strong. In the generations that have grown up in Valinor, where the idea of death feels far off and alien to most, let alone the specifics of it like poisoning this isn't nearly as big an issue.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions about Elvish farmers and gardeners bringing seeds back with them to Beleriand, and how exactly potato plants ended up in Middle Earth and eventually in Samwise Gamgee's stew pot
The Teleri eat Garum. Okay so with how much access the elves of Valinor have to basically...whatever they need, I tend to view the foodways of Valinor to be more closely related to those big globe-spanning Empires of the Ancient world and Medieval trade centers where you're getting these things coming in from all over and...well yeah. So, basically the Teleri being a sea-dwelling folk are kinda like those old Mediterranean cultures like Greece or Ancient Rome in my mind. Annd yeah, obviously they eat a lot of other things as well (excellent wines, fantastic produce, and many other creative and delicious ways to prepare seafood being just some of the things Telerin cuisine is known for) but the fermented fish-head sauce is the one that sticks in everyone's mind, annoying as that may be. (and Well...it does tend to be used like salt among the Teleri and just go in *everything*)
Noldorin feasts are *AMAZING.* Alright, so the Medieval feast was pretty much made for spectacle. It was an opportunity for a King to show off his wealth, and for a cook to show of their skill. Sugar and marzipan sculpture; peacocks and swans roasted and then resewn back into their skins -- feathers and all -- before being brought to the table to be served; live blackbirds baked into pies...yeah, this kind of thing was just as much about the show as the food. And you *know* the Noldor would do this. Hell, you *know* the Noldor, being the craftsmen that they are, being the kind of people who throw themselves into everything they do, and who value artistry above all, and who have this pride and this need to just show off would turn all of this up to 11 just because they could. And they make it all taste great too. Basically, all of the best parties are at Finwë's house. Well, the best catered ones, at any rate
Speaking of Noldorin craftsman, cooking is regurded as an art among the Noldor, and there is infact a space located among Aulë's mansions for Noldorin cooks and chefs to discuss and preserve craft knowledge as there is for all other craftsmen. As much as you can hear the clang of the hammer against steel or the chisel against stone in the smithy and the masons' wokshops, if you go out to the bustling rooms just near Yavanna's gardens you can smell the air thick with the scents of cinamon, nutmeg and grains of paradise, roasting meats and baking pies.
The Noldor basically run on coffee. Because of course they do
