Entry 12: Personal Favorite - Fereldan Rice Bake

Fereldan? Or Ferelden?

For anyone familiar with Dragon Age: Origins, you know Ferelden well. For an entire game, we are immersed in Ferelden culture, politics, food and drink as we travel from Lothering to Redcliffe, Haven to Denerim, and maybe even on to Ameranthine. We stop in various taverns and inns all along a story that builds to a legend. Ferelden is a land of harsh winters and hard-working people, favoring function and reliability in their daily lives over fanciful frilliness and drama. These folks are in many ways unlike those Orlesians on the other side of the Frostback Mountains.

This kind of way of life does not often leave room for decoration or flavor, especially for food. Fereldan food is often considered bland and basic. We perhaps get the best descriptions of meals and common foods from Dragon Age: Origins from banter between Leliana and Alistair.

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If your Warden has Leliana and Alistair in their party while moving about in an area during gameplay, Leliana will ask Alistair about a dinner he made while at camp:

Leliana: What was that... soup you made for supper last night?

Alistair: Ooh, that? That's a traditional Fereldan lamb and pea stew. Did you like it?

Leliana: Oh, so... it was lamb then? It had a certain... texture I don't normally associate with lamb.

Alistair: They didn't make lamb and pea stew for you in Lothering?

Leliana: We ate simple there. Whole grains, made into biscuits or bread, and vegetables from the garden, cooked lightly. No heavy stews.

Alistair: Ah, so the last lamb you had was probably cooked Orlesian style. Food shouldn't be frilly and pretentious like that. Now here in Ferelden, we do things right. We take our ingredients, throw them into the largest pot we can find, and cook them for as long as possible until everything is a uniform grey color. As soon as it looks completely bland and unappetizing, that's when I know it's done.

Leliana: You're having me on.

Alistair: (Laughs) You need to eat in more Fereldan inns.
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I have been to my fair share of inns, dives and campsites serving much the same.

We learn two important points from this dialogue:
1) Ferelden's environments can support a variety of farming, including grains, vegetables, and beans, and
2) The Chantry in Lothering may have been a vegan cloister.

Other popular food favorites across this cold, rugged nation include stews, pies, ales, and cheeses. The Dragon Age Wiki describes the Fereldan Turnip and Barley Stew as a traditional specialty. And Ghil Dirthalen's Nation video on Ferelden states the style is described as "hearty and humble," which is fitting for a nation famous for its harshness and grit.

Much the food of Ferelden reminds me of the cuisine from my real-life home region of the upper midwestern United States. Hearty grains, tough meats, overcooked stews, and bland hotdishes (or casseroles to the rest of the US) are staples I know well. It took me years to learn to make more flavorful and varied dishes for myself, and many more to become the sriracha-loving plant slayer writing this entry today. But part of me yearns for those homestyle favorites like baked rice and mushrooms. And now I have the know-how to add some color to that uniform grey and liven things up with some unique and bold flavors.

This last week I worked on adjusting a vegan rice bake recipe from A Virtual Vegan that I have been excited about since starting this blog a few months ago. And I was rewarded with a humble, hearty, and utterly delicious meal; what I have come to call Fereldan Rice Bake. You can find the full recipe and the original in the sections below.


To start, I arranged my ingredients on my counter: Brown rice, mushrooms, vegetable broth, purple green onions, garlic scapes, dried rosemary, dried thyme, and salt and pepper.

The original recipe calls for garlic cloves and a medium onion, but I picked up some different ingredients. I chopped up garlic scapes and purple green onions. Garlic scapes certainly look different from cloves, but scapes have the same garlic taste. This was my first time cooking with scapes and I think they have a subtler scent compared to cloves, but the flavor it just as distinct. Purple green onions are the same as green onions, only purple. 

To chop garlic scapes, begin by holding the ends together, creating a loop.

Cut in half, arrange, and then chop.

Next, I thoroughly chopped up the purple green onions. I prefer to use the whole onion, from the top of the shoots to the bottom of the bulbs.

That's a lot of shoots.

I decided to take my onions to the next level and add them to my magically wonderful food processor. They only needed to be pulsed a few times to get as fine as I like them.

Magic is meant to serve and never rule.

Once my bulbs were obliterated, I turned my attention to the broth. I used Knorr Vegetable Bouillon.

You need 1 and 3/4 cubes to make 3 1/2 cups of vegetable broth...

Just add boiling water. Or you can use liquid broth. On to the rice - which was the easiest ingredient to deal with during the whole process.

I spread the rice out in my glass baking dish and arranged all my ingredients again.

Now to layer everything evenly: First the garlic and onion, then the seasonings and herbs.

Then stir gently.

Then I added mushrooms...

And finally I slowly poured the broth over everything.

And now for something completely different: aluminum foil! I tightly covered my dish and at this point it was ready for the oven.

And 55 minutes later the kitchen certainly smelled as wholesome as the Gull and Lantern Tavern.

Hungry yet?

It should be noted this dish generates some seriously hot steam under the foil, so just like magic and fire: don't get burned.

Seriously, ouch. Don't get burned.

After a brief stir and a little more time in the oven...

A perfectly baked rice mushroom dish appeared!

Once topped with the shopped purple green onion shoots, this bake is ready for devouring.

Not your Alistair's uniform grey. 

This dish was fun and easy to make and I highly recommend giving it for when you need a warm, hearty and humble meal to share or to enjoy for a few meals yourself. I hope you give it try!

Fereldan Rice Bake

Ingredients:
2 c brown rice
3 1/2 c vegetable broth
5-6 green onions, chopped (or 1/4 of a medium white onion, chopped - food processor optional)
7-9 garlic scapes, chopped (or 5 garlic cloves, chopped)
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
6 c sliced mushrooms

Directions:
Preheat oven to 380℉

Place rice in a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish. (A metal or ceramic dish can be used, but be aware the heat will conduct differently and the cooking time may need to be adjusted.)

Add the onions and garlic, then seasonings and herbs. Stir together, then level out.

Add mushrooms evenly over the top.

Pour the broth over the mushrooms and then cover tightly with aluminum foil or a tight fitting lid.

Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Remove from oven and carefully remove the foil. Check that rice is tender. If not, stir, re-cover and return to oven for another 8-10 minutes.

When rice is tender and liquid evaporated, remove from oven and stir.

Top with green onion shoots and serve immediately.
Or pack up in a tight container and store in your refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Like what you are reading? Great! Come back a new entry on Thursday, June 14. And have a look at my previous entries for other recipes and Dragon Age trivia and oddities! If you try out any of my recipes, please share pics using the hashtag (#)gourmetveganthedas.

Have any friendly suggestions or cool ideas? Please feel free to comment below. You can also email me at foodsofthedas@gmail.com, message me at AGSamuels on Reddit, or tweet me at @GourmetVeganThedas on Twitter.
You can also follow me on Instagram at @gourmetveganthedas.

Walk always in the Maker's light.

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Sources:

Dragon Age Wiki: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Age_Wiki
Dragon Age Wiki, Alistair/Dialogue: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Alistair/Dialogue
Ferelden: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Ferelden

Ghil Dirthalen: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUWYiR2a5iD0cZktuODPoVw
Ghil Dirthalen, Nations of Thedas: Ferelden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuEtTONzMkg&feature=youtu.be&t=8m30s

A Virtual Vegan: https://avirtualvegan.com/
A Virtual Vegan, Oven Baked Garlic Mushroom Rice: https://avirtualvegan.com/oven-baked-garlic-mushroom-rice/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=294139484_8043220_335887

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