Pasta la Feasta, Baby - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
Butchers developed the technique of salting meats to preserve their unsold meats over weekends. The ancient civilizations of China and the Mediterranean basin developed salting techniques for tanning hides and preserving fish, as well as smoking techniques for preserving meats through the winter months.
We know a little bit more about Faramir's meats prepared for travellers. Sam pulls out "a small slip of cured meat" for Frodo and himself in Mordor (along with dried fruit). The "small slip" sounds vaguely like some sort of beef jerky.
The production of foods in Middle-earth seems to be very carefully thought out. There is even a little salt-box that Sam carried with him (mentioned in "The Ring Goes South" as the Company prepares to leave Rivendell). Merry and Pippin found "first-rate salted pork" and "rashers of bacon" in Saruman's stores. The food most likely came from the Shire, since Saruman seems not to have been doing business with Gondor. But where would the Hobbits get their salt?
The answer must be the Dwarves, who in turn had to bring it in from the coastlands. It's doubtful the Dwarves would have concerned themselves with working salt mines, but the Elves probably produced the commodity. If nothing else, it would give them something to trade to the Dwarves, although they probably needed it, too.
Salt production is a tricky thing in coastal areas. It requires a stable environment with plenty of sunshine and warm breezes; Britain was able to produce its own salt during Roman times (in part because sea levels were ideal for that sort of thing). Salt production in Europe dropped off during the Middle Ages because the sea levels began rising, ruining the old salt beds. Tolkien's use of salt is a tribute to the attention he paid to creating a historically credible world.
Middle-earth's economics are difficult to fathom, but it's plain that there must have been quite an export business in the Shire at the end of the Third Age. Saruman had to feed an army, and the Hobbits no doubt would have been glad to sell their surplus crops. But the production and distribution of food also implies that agriculture and food preparation were altogether different matters in Dunland and the Shire. That is, Saruman recruited many Dunlendings into his service, but how much did he rely upon Dunland for supplies? If he was willing to send as far away as the Shire, then he was verging on desperation.
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