During September 25, Frodo, Sam, and Pippin arrived at Farmer Maggot’s, who was the master of Bamfurlong in Marish.
“In a short while fourteen sat down to eat. There was beer in plenty, and a mighty dish of mushrooms and bacon, besides much other solid farmhouse fare. The dogs lay by the fire and gnawed rinds and cracked bones.” – The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 4: A Short Cut to Mushrooms
According to tolkiensociety.org, our requirements for the Feast of Farmer Maggot are beer, mushrooms, and bacon, but we often round out the meal with, say, root vegetables, cheese, or seedcake. September 25 is also the evening on which the conspiracy is unmasked and the hobbits bathe and sing in the house at Crickhollow. An appropriate evening activity for the Feast of Farmer Maggot could be to have a nice hot bath and sing one of Bilbo’s favourite bath songs.
Last year, the meal for Farmer Maggot’s Feast consisted of a delicious lemon poppy seed cake. You can re-read Alice Greenleaf’s recipe over here. This year, I decided to give Farmer Maggot’s Feast a German touch. After much consideration I settled for a North-Hessian bacon quiche, known as ‘Speckkuchen’. The ‘Speckkuchen’ is a popular snack on market days or bakeries. Traditionally, the base for this quiche is a sourdough. However, these days many recipes also use a yeast dough as a basis. Depending on your time, you can chose your own dough recipe. If you are a busy hobbit like me, you can also use a store-bought yeast dough instead of preparing one yourself.
For a serving of 400g (14.1 oz) yeast dough you’ll need:
- 3 Eggs
- Leek
- 200 g (7 oz) Sour Cream
- 250 g (8,8 oz) Bacon, chopped into cubes
- Bread Crumbs
The amount of leek and bread crumps depends on your preference.
At first spread the dough onto a baking tray, then mix the eggs with the Sour Cream. Wash and chop the Leek into slices and add it into the Egg-Sour Cream mix. In a separate bowl, mix the bacon with the bread crumbs.
After that, spread the Leek-Egg-Sour Cream mix evenly onto the dough and then put the bacon-bread crumb mix on top of that. The duration (and heat) of the baking depends on the dough you chose. For me it took approx. 20 minutes at 180°C (350°F).
The ‘Speckkuchen’ is best when served hot! I enjoyed my ‘Speckkuchen’ with the local specialty ‘Ahle Worschd’ (Literally translated as ‘Old Sausage’), made out of pork and bacon, and a beer from the North-Hessian brewery ‘Hütt’. 
Middle-earth News is going to celebrate Feast Week until Sunday the 29th September and there will be fantastic ideas and photos awaiting you each day. Stay tuned!
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