Last Saturday night, Carleton held its third annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Potluck feast. Each year, this event is hosted by a conjuction of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Alliance and Benton House. Students headed to the Benton lounge for fantasy-themed sustenance before dancing the night away at Midwinter Ball.
The Fantasy Feast was cooked up in the winter of 2008 by Benton House seniors who wanted to put on a Carleton event that was sure to be original. Works of science fiction and fantasy take us to exotic worlds where they have two-headed monsters, space travel, or even slightly different laws of physics. It stands to reason that the food is going to be different there, too. But haven’t you ever wondered what Romulan Ale or Fizzing Whizzbees actually taste like? Sadly, we can’t buy a ticket to board the Enterprise, but the Fantasy Feast does its best to recreate real-world counterparts to these fantastical foods.
This year’s Fantasy Feast was larger and more organized than ever before. Benton House residents got up early Saturday morning to do the baking: Scarborough Fair rolls, Redwall Scones, Quick After-Battle Chocolate Cake, and possibly the most famous fantasy food of all, lembas. Later on in the afternoon, they brought in Samwise Gamgee’s po-ta-to stew (albeit with beef instead of conies), Deeper ‘n’ Ever Turnip ‘n’ Tater ‘n’ Beetroot Pie, and watercress salad. The potluck side of the event saw the arrival of butterbeer … and seven-layer bars. If people in fantasy worlds could make seven-layer bars, they would, wouldn’t they?
For some real nerd cred, the potluck also boasted Gelatinous Cubes.
