A Day of Fallen Night Charcuterie Board

One of the highlights of any high fantasy book for me is the food descriptions. Give me a feast full of roast meats, honeyed fruits, and exotic wines for a whole chapter, and I’ll be content. Samantha Shannon has an amazing skill for making everything sound delicious. Immediately after diving back into the universe of The Roots of Chaos I started craving goat cheese, flatbread, and figs. Have I ever eaten a single fig? No, I haven’t. But A Day of Fallen Night convinced me that I already loved them.

Food and books are better together, and I usually find myself dreaming up different culinary experiments based on what I’m reading. While I considered doing a baking project inspired by this book, in the end I felt like the range of food was just too massive and diverse to condense into one tiny dish. A pastry wasn’t going to cut it this time. So, pretty early into my journey with this book I started planning a charcuterie board worthy of a feast…or a really extravagant book club meeting.

I think every great board has the same basic elements, and I definitely used them as a jumping off point for this fantasy inspired board.

You’ll need:

1. CHEESE. If you can’t tell from the all caps or the placement on this list…this is the most important part for me. I usually go with at least one soft cheese and one hard cheese. I chose an orange blossom and honey goat cheese, and a Manchego.

2. Meats. You could go for the cured meat classics (think prosciutto) but I thought some big old roast meats were appropriate for the rustic world of this read. For meats I opted for a chicken apple sausage and a whole roast chicken- I skipped the baked swan. (Although I will admit to spending thirty minutes researching why we don’t eat swans after it appeared on the table at the feast in Inys).

3. Nuts. Roasted pine nuts were perfect for this board. Although I did make the mistake of serving them loose on the board instead of contained in some type of bowl. They are very small and very rolly and I cleaned A LOT of pine nuts off the ground afterward.

4. Fruits. Everyone is always having some kind of delicious buttery roasted fruits in the book, but I went the simple route. I got a few plums, quartered them, and sprinkled a generous amount of raw sugar over the top of them. I also, obviously, included some figs.

5. A dipable something. Usually I would go for a cracker assortment, but flat bread felt much more appropriate this go around. Also, tiny flatbreads are very cute.

6. A fancy spread. This time I went for a French grape spread. What makes it fancy and not just grape jelly? It says French on the label, DUH.

7. Garnish galore. I used some leftover parsley to fill in the gaps here.

Side note: Turkish figs look terrifying - like the brain of a tiny animal. Or a weird blob that you would find washed up on the beach. But Samantha made me believe figs are delicious. So, I guess this is the path we are on.

Side note to the side note: I sliced these and soaked them in some raw honey for a few hours before plating, and we ate every single one of them. She was right. Figs are incredible. Point, Samantha.

You could definitely pair this with your favorite wine (Saint knows, the characters in this book have had a glass or two…hundred) but it’s currently summer, and I always crave a sparkly cocktail when it’s hot.

I used one part elderflower tonic water, one half part gin, and topped with orange peels. It was the perfect light and refreshing accompaniment. I’m calling it, in my house at least, the Priory Gin and Tonic.

Minimalism and I do not vibe. Visually, I subscribe to the more is more school of thought. Cupcakes looking weird? More sprinkles. Craft project a little rough? More glitter. Charcuterie board kind of sparse? More herbs. I for sure would have used even more if I had them.

The cutting board that I served this on might be pretty, but that doesn’t mean I want to see it.

The idea of having a big centerpiece really appealed to me…and honestly what else was I going to do with an entire chicken…so I placed my meats front and center. As much as I love a good plan, I firmly believe that a charcuterie board should be filled in with your heart. I usually slice everything up, and then collect all of the little decorative bowls and plates that I can find in the cabinet. After that, the rest of my strategy is vibes and a prayer, baby.

Cards on the table, I am not part of a super cool book club with themed snacks, so my husband and I just grazed on this board for dinner on a random Tuesday night while watching Fargo. But hey, it made an ordinary week night a bit more magical, and just a bit more magic is always what I’m going for.

Have you ever made a themed charcuterie board? Do you have complicated feelings about figs? I’d love to hear more about your literary bakes in the comments!