Hardbread was a type of bread that was eaten in Faerûn.[1]
Description[]
It could be baked in the form of buns,[2] rolls,[3] or loaves,[1] as well as thin-sliced crackers.[1][4]
Usage[]
Hot hardbreads were sold in many typical village taverns,[5][6] often in winter when food became scarce.[7][8][9] One dish was slices of hardbread fried in leek butter, usually served in poor, cheap, or rural places.[10]
Hardbread was also a staple of traveling armies, together with stew, leading to the saying in Common that "armies march on bread and the bowl."[11] Army cooks would bake or buy many rolls of hardbread before setting off.[3]
For sweet dishes, hardbread buns or loaves studded with currants were enjoyed as a morningfeast meal. These were sometimes cut into fingers. It was a growing trend to dip these into the drink known as thrusk in the mid–14th century DR.[12] For a plain dessert, such as found in rural inns and small-town restaurants, hardbread slices could be sprinkled with sugar or spread with jams made from local berries.[10]
Availability[]
Hardbread was known to be eaten as a snack or part of a meal in the following settlements and establishments:
- The Lady Luck Tavern in Daggerford, which served cheese on hardbread.[1]
- The Way Inn on the Trade Way, north of Daggerford, where they baked big oval-shaped loaves of hardbread. They toasted the stale leftovers for their bustard on buns dish.[1]
- The Pleasing Platter, a restaurant in Triboar, usually in winter.[7]
- The Wemic Comes to Westbridge, a restaurant in Westbridge, usually in winter.[8][9]
- The Six Shields, a rooming house in Ashabenford, where a stay included two meals of hardbread, cheese, and milk each day.[13]
- The village of Maskyr's Eye in the Vast, where farm-folk had hardbread spread with bloodlick for meals. For dessert, thin-sliced hardbread was toasted and spread with brambleberry jelly or wild honey when it was available in summer.[4]
- In the city of Uthmere in the Great Dale, where vendors sold hardbread buns containing cold sausage, smoked fish, or cheese with local sauces for a midday meal, or "highbite".[2]
History[]
When prepared Volothamp Geddarm for a visit to Barovia in the Domains of Dread, Elminster gave him a pack of food including hardbread, as well as other supplies and vampire-fighting equipment.[14]
Appendix[]
Background[]
The footnote on Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast page 37 defines "To us, hardbread is a rye cracker—or Scandinavian crispbread."[1] A 2009 comment from Ed Greenwood describes it as like biscotti[12] and a 2019 comment implies it is a rusk.[10] However, other mentions of hardbread imply it is more like a regular bun or loaf, rather than a cracker, suggesting it comes in different varieties. However, for clarity, this article assumes it is distinct from rye bread.
See Also[]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Ed Greenwood (1994). Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. (TSR, Inc), p. 37. ISBN 1-5607-6940-1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ed Greenwood (2005-09-28). Uthmere (Part Three): Daily and Nightly Life in Uthmere. Realmslore. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-01-23. Retrieved on 2021-09-03.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2007-04-26). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2007). Candlekeep Forum. Retrieved on 2023-06-20.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ed Greenwood (January 1991). “The Everwinking Eye: At Home in Maskyr's Eye”. In Jean Rabe ed. Polyhedron #57 (TSR, Inc.), p. 21.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2006-04-05). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2006). Candlekeep Forum. Retrieved on 2023-06-20.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 2012). Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 80. ISBN 0786960345.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 87. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ed Greenwood (1993). Volo's Guide to the North. (TSR, Inc), p. 89. ISBN 1-5607-6678-6.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 slade, et al. (April 1996). “Cities & Civilization”. In James Butler ed. The North: Guide to the Savage Frontier (TSR, Inc.), p. 38. ISBN 0-7869-0391-0.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Ed Greenwood (2019-10-06). Four-course meals of the Realms (Tweet). theedverse. Twitter. Archived from the original on 2019-10-17. Retrieved on 2021-05-16.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2006-05-22). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2006). Candlekeep Forum. Retrieved on 2023-06-20.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Ed Greenwood, The Hooded One (2009-06-03). Questions for Ed Greenwood (2009). Candlekeep Forum. Retrieved on 2020-11-19.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (January 1996). Volo's Guide to the Dalelands. (TSR, Inc), p. 187. ISBN 0-7869-0406-2.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (Feb 2016). Travel Talk: Volo's Visit to Barovia. In Matt Chapman ed. Dragon+ #6. Wizards of the Coast. p. 7. Retrieved on 2017-11-15.