Fictitious Dishes: Hunger Games (District 12)

Goats' Cheese Wrapped in Basil

Food from the Hunger Games series, by Suzanne Collins varies somewhat. We start out with the most basic of foods, then the most lavish of dishes, and then the characters are chucked into an arena where they spend most of the time starving. Repeat as necessary. Later, we see them in a bunker type setting living off simple rations, before eating a lot of canned food.

It's darn near impossible to choose all of the dishes, so I thought for now I would do one of the most basic, but iconic dishes, followed by one of the more extravagant Capitol meals. So, here is how you make goats' cheese wrapped in basil.

Making cheese isn't too hard (oh come on, you didn't think I was just going to show you how to wrap some cheese in some leaves?), but it can smell a little weird and goats' milk can be a little difficult to find. Farm shops may be the way to go, here.

You'll need:
A litre of goat's milk - if all you can find is pasteurised, that's totally fine, but I would also avoid "ultra-pasteurised", it's a little bit weird.
80 mls of fresh lemon juice
A pinch of salt
Several bunches of large-leafed basil

You’ll also need:
A saucepan
A thermometer
Cheesecloth
A colander, strainer, or sieve.
String or an elastic band.
A circular biscuit cutter.

Pour the milk into the saucepan and turn on the heat. With the thermometer, ensure that when it heats to approximately . Turn on the heat, and put the thermometer into the milk. When it’s reached about 82 degrees Celsius, take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice, and salt. Gently stir to combine, and leave the concoction to sit for about 15 minutes.

Stretch the cheese cloth over your colander, sieve or strainer, and set this over another bowl or pot. After your time is up, pour the milk mixture into the cheesecloth, and let the liquid drain into the container below. Gather the cheese cloth together, and secure it with your elastic band. Hang the bundle of cheese over a bowl or sink, and leave it for around two hours, until all of the liquid has drained away. Overnight waiting is fine also. When all of the liquid has drained, your cheese is complete, and you can mold it into a ball or log. You can then use the biscuit cutter to get the perfect round of the cheese, that Gale and Katniss eat in the books.

Finally, wrap the cheese in basil leaves - this can be a little tricky, I advise that you chill the cheese first to avoid it sticking to your fingers, too badly. Then, enjoy! For added authenticity, eat with freshly picked blackberries.

I tried, okay! I know looks can be deceiving (see left) but it was really difficult! On the bright side, the cheese tasted lovely.

Just to confirm, this is not an official Hunger Games recipe, and it may differ from the official Hunger Games recipe. This was just for fun.

Bella Fern xx