[HPforGrownups] Magical Metabolism

[Janet Anderson]

No: HPFGUIDX 97729

Caesian pointed out:

*snips discussion of really good essay on food and drink in the wizarding 
world and of wizard body types*

A few other things about this essay:

1.  Growing school children (wizard or otherwise) need protein with which to 
grow. An old-fashioned place like the wizarding world will provide 
old-fashioned protein (meat, eggs, milk, cheese) and will have little or no 
use for yoghurt or tofu.  (I suspect that if we ever visit another wizard 
school the cuisine will reflect local preferences -- Beauxbatons food 
probably is lighter, more elaborate, etc. than Hogwarts food. I bet the 
Asian wizard schools *do* serve tofo and very little meat.)

2.  Until fairly recently, fruit and vegetables were available only on a 
seasonal basis.  The wizarding world probably still does it that way -- 
although they can transport themselves instantaneously, they probably still 
get their farm produce from local farms.

3.  In real life castles, the moat, lake, or pond nearby was the source of 
fresh fish for the inhabitants if they didn't live near a river or ocean.  I 
can only assume that the Hogwarts lake doesn't have any fish, either because 
of the giant squid, because of the mer-people, or because of their habit of 
emptying their plumbing into it (yich).  If there were any, Hagrid, 
outdoorsman that he is, would probably bring it to the Hogwarts kitchens.

4.  I think a great deal of the food descriptions in the books is symbolic 
of the contrast between Hogwarts and the wizarding world, in which Harry is 
fed in body, mind, heart, and soul, and Privet Drive, where he is starved 
physically, told not to ask questions, and denied all love, friendship, or 
family solidarity.


Janet Anderson

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