From The Hunger Games · 2012 · Reconstructed
Lamb Stew with Dried Plums
Serve when
Serve it over wild rice, rich and deeply savory-sweet — the Capitol dish Katniss says she could eat by the bucketful.
In the movie
Theatrical
- ~01:47:00 Amid the Capitol's obscene abundance, one dish becomes Katniss's touchstone: a lamb stew with dried plums on wild rice. She names it as the food she'd eat forever — a small, human anchor in a place built to overwhelm her.
Food in The Hunger Games is politics: the Capitol's feasts are a weapon of contrast against District 12's near-starvation. That's what makes Katniss's fixation on the lamb stew so telling — in a world where food is power, the thing she wants is simply to be warm and fed. It's the most human wish in the whole arena.
Ingredients
Method
- Season and brown the lamb hard on all sides, then set aside.
- Soften the onion, garlic, and carrot in the same pot.
- Return the lamb with the stock, wine, cinnamon, and rosemary. Simmer low and slow, about 1½ hours, until the lamb is spoon-tender.
- Add the dried plums for the last 30 minutes so they melt into the sauce and turn it glossy and savory-sweet.
- Serve over wild rice — the exact combination Katniss can't get out of her head.