The Hunger Games: District Bread Series.

Bread plays an important role in "The Hunger Games" trilogy.  The country's name "Panem" comes from the Latin phrase "panem et circenses"--"bread and circuses", referring to a strategy of keeping the masses distractedly content with an abundance of food and entertainment--and while the Games serve as the circuses, bread itself becomes symbolic of the oppression of the districts.  Amidst the starvation of the districts, bread is crucial for survival.

Suzanne Collins, author of "The Hunger Games" trilogy, makes a point of noting (several times throughout the series) that each district has their own unique traditional bread.  While she only describes five of the twelve (Districts 2, 3, 4, 11, and 12), it's clear that these breads reflect the people and lifestyle of each district.  So I thought it would be an interesting experiment to explore what we know of each district and try to create a bread to represent each one.  Now that I've finally finished the series, I've put together a master list for your convenience--follow the links below to each full recipe.  (Also: I've hidden Easter eggs--references to other fandoms outside of Panem--in each main photo, just for fun!  There are twenty total, from fifteen fandoms.)

If you try any of these, or throw any epic "Hunger Games" parties, I'd love to hear about it!  May the odds be ever in your favor--and let the Games begin! :-)


District 1: Chocoloate Brioche Rolls.
Primary industry: Luxury items for Capitol.

District 2: Cinnamon Oatmeal Scones.
Primary industry: Masonry.  Also supplies Peacekeepers and weaponry.

District 3: Plain Beignets.
Primary industry: Technology, such as general electronics, firearms, and automobiles.

District 4: Seaweed Soft Pretzels.
Primary industry: Fishing.

District 5: Pizza Bread.
Primary industry: Power (electric, solar, wind, etc.).

District 6: Lemon, Rosemary, and Thyme Focaccia.
Primary industry: Transportation (trains and hovercrafts).

District 7: Garlic Herb Cheesy Pull-Apart Bread.
Primary industry: Lumber.

District 8: Garlic Naan.
Primary industry: Textiles.

District 9: Whole Grain Cornbread.
Primary industry: Grain.

District 10: Bacon Cheddar Biscuits.
Primary industry: Livestock.

District 11: Whole Wheat Crescent Rolls.
Primary industry: Agriculture (orchards, grain, cotton, etc.).

District 12: Tessera Drop Biscuits.
Primary industry: Coal mining.

While I've thoroughly enjoyed working on this entire series, there are a few breads that I enjoyed more than others, so here's a quick run-down of what stood out to me:

Favorite: Pizza Bread (District 5).  Soooo. Goooood.  I made it twice that week.  Will definitely make it again.  And again.  And again.

Least favorite:  Lemon, Rosemary, and Thyme Focaccia (District 6).  The bread itself was probably quite good, but I actually hate rosemary, so to me it just tasted like I was eating a Christmas tree.  Blech.

Weirdest: Seaweed Soft Pretzels (District 4).  It was my first time cooking with seaweed, and I'm not sure I'll ever try it again.  But the pretzels turned out surprisingly edible, and even tasted good!

Easiest: Tessera Drop Biscuits (District 12).  Only a few ingredients, thrown together in a single bowl, and baked right away without needing dough to rise.

Hardest: Garlic Naan (District 8).  Though it required two different rising periods (which is a pain to schedule around when you have a narrow window to photograph the finished product--I had to time it just right to be done during my kids' naptime!), it actually wasn't the hardest to prepare...but the logistics of grilling it (outside during naptime) was a pain--and then I got chased off by a bee! *Shudder*. I. Hate. Bees.

Most accurate: Whole Wheat Crescent Rolls (District 11).  Of the five breads that Collins described in the books, I think this was the one that came out exactly how the vast majority of readers would have pictured it.  It was important to me to get this one right, too, since it was Rue's bread.

Thanks for checking out my District Bread series!  I'd love to hear how your own geeky baking adventures go--let me know in the comments! :-)

District 12: Tessera Drop Biscuits.

(Want to start with District 1?)

The final district under the Capitol's rule, District 12's primary industry is coal mining.  As the home of Katniss, it's the district we get to know best in the books.  Extremely impoverished, most of the district's residents claim "tesserae", a year's worth of grain and oil per person in exchange for additional entries into the annual reaping for the Games.  Katniss describes the District 12 bread as "ugly drop biscuits" made from the tessera ration grain.

District 12: Tessera Drop Biscuits.

I made changes to this recipe.

You'll need:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) + 2 Tbsp butter, melted (separately)
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt

Preheat your oven to 400*F.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and stick of melted butter:

Mix until thoroughly moistened:

Grease a baking sheet with butter (or with cooking spray):

With a spoon, "drop" mounds of dough onto the baking sheet:

(I used a second spoon to scrape each spoonful off more easily.)

Bake at 400*F for ten minutes:

While the biscuits bake, melt the other 2 Tbsp of butter, and add the oregano and garlic salt:

Mix well:

Remove the biscuits from the oven...

...and brush them with the oregano mixture:

Bake the biscuits for another 8-10 minutes:

Remove when edges turn golden brown:

Serve warm:

I think these drop biscuits were a great bread to end this series on--not only were they gloriously easy to make (I didn't have to set aside an entire day to schedule waiting for dough to rise to perfectly coincide with being able to photograph the finished bread during my kids' naptime!!), but they were quite yummy, too (I haven't always liked the others).  They might have been more book-accurate if I'd kept them plain instead of adding the oregano topping, or if I'd used darker whole grain flour, but I wanted to end with something I'd actually want to eat myself, yet without contradicting Suzanne Collins' description in the books.  I think I did all right. :-)

And for your cut-and-paste convenience:

Drop Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) + 2 Tbsp butter, melted (separately)
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 400*F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, milk, and stick of butter; mix well.
3. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased baking sheet.
4. Bake 10 minutes.
5. Combine 2 Tbsp melted butter, oregano, and garlic salt.  Brush onto biscuits.
6. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes.

Easter Eggs

This final post contains one last Easter egg in the main photo.  Find it yet?

District 12: Tessera Drop Biscuits.  Can you spot the Easter egg?

Hint: It's not the Mockingjay pin--like the rest, it's from a different fandom!  If you want to spot it yourself, don't scroll too far...since this is the last post in the series, I'm including the District 12 reveal at the end of the post (after the District 11 reveal, below)!

Were you able to "detect" the District 11 Easter egg?  Here's the reveal:

District 11: Easter egg reveal.

The "I O U" carved/bitten into the apple is a reference to Moriarty's apple in BBC's "Sherlock".  I know at least one reader caught it, and commented! :-)

And, since this is the final post in my "Hunger Games" district bread series, it'd hardly be fair to keep you waiting for the District 12 reveal--so here it is:

District 12: Easter egg reveal.

That's the One Ring (Lord of the Rings) tucked between the plate and the coal.

Thanks for tagging along with me through this district bread series--I've had so much fun finding and baking new breads to represent each district, and it's been a blast staging photographs that both reflect the districts and, through the Easter eggs, pay homage to some of the other fantastic fandoms that so many of us share beyond Panem.  If you try any of the district breads for yourself, or throw any epic "Hunger Games" parties, I'd love to hear about it!  And, as always: May the odds be ever in your favor! :-)

District 11: Whole Wheat Crescent Rolls.

(Want to start with District 1?)

District 11.  Primary industry: agriculture.

Rue's home.

I cried when Katniss visited District 11 in the second book.  I loved her relationship with Rue in the arena, and the way Rue's district sort of adopted Katniss for what she did for Rue, sending her the bread they'd meant for Rue even after their own tribute had died.  For a starving people, it was no small gift, and Katniss noted that it was a first--a district gift to a tribute other than their own.  So I really wanted to get this bread, perhaps the most iconic in the series, right, and keep it accurate to Suzanne Collins' description--"made of dark ration grain and shaped in a crescent, sprinkled with seeds"--in the book.

District 11: Whole Wheat Crescent Rolls.

I made alterations to this recipe.

You'll need:

• 1/3 cup water, 110-115*F
• 2 1/4 tsp (one packet) active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp + 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk, 110-115*F
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• Poppy seeds, to taste

First, start with the warm water...

...and add the yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar:

Whisk to dissolve.  Let it stand 5-10 minutes until it foams on top.

Warm up the milk, by heating it in a small saucepan or microwaving it in 30-second intervals (stirring before taking temperature):

In your mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture, warmed milk, rest of sugar, egg, salt, and 5 Tbsp of softened butter:

Whisk thoroughly to mix well:

Add two cups of flour:

Mix:

Continue adding flour in 1/2 cup increments, mixing well...

...until the dough is smooth and elastic, and slightly sticky to the touch:

Grease a bowl with a little bit of butter (using the end of a cold stick is easiest):

Transfer the dough into the buttered bowl:

Cover, and let rise 1 1/2 hours (until doubled in size):

Once it's doubled...

...punch it down:

(Confession: I love seeing "punch it down" in a recipe I'm about to do...punching things is fun!)

Divide the dough in half, and, one at a time, form a ball (...ish) with each half:

On a floured surface, roll it out into a large circle (approximately 12"-14"):

Spread with 2 Tbsp of softened butter (each circle):

Cut it into twelve slices (pizza cutter works well):

Roll each wedge up, starting from the wide end, to form crescents:

Butter two baking sheets (or grease with cooking spray):

Arrange crescents on the trays:

Cover; let rise an hour to double in size:

After rising:

Preheat your oven to 375*F.

Here, I experimented with when to add the poppy seeds--I melted the rest of the butter, brushed half of it onto the uncooked rolls, and sprinkled the rolls with poppy seeds, before baking:

Bake 13-15 minutes (until golden brown):

(With two trays, I rotated them, top to bottom and vice versa, halfway through.)

Fresh out of the oven:

Here are the poppy-ed rolls:

And the plain rolls:

...which I buttered (with the other half of the melted butter) and sprinkled with poppy seeds:

I liked the poppy-seeds-after-baking version better, both in look and taste.  Freshly buttered always tastes better, and I liked the shine the butter gave them, too.

I think they came out perfectly!  Just like Rue would have eaten...

And for your cut-and-paste convenience:

Whole Wheat Crescent Rolls

• 1/3 cup water, 110-115*F
• 2 1/4 tsp (one packet) active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp + 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cups whole milk, 110-115*F
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• Poppy seeds, to taste

1. Dissolve yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar in warm water.  Let stand 5-10 minutes until foamy.
2. In mixing bowl, combine yeast mixture, warm milk, egg, salt, and 5 Tbsp butter.  Whisk well.
3. Add 2 cups of flour; mix well.  Continue adding flour in 1/2 cup increments, mixing well, until dough is smooth and elastic, but still sticky to the touch.
4. Transfer dough into buttered bowl; cover; let rise 1 1/2 hours (until doubled in size).
5. Punch dough down.  Divide in half, forming balls of each half.
6. On a floured surface, roll out each ball, one at a time, into a large circle (~12"-14").  Spread with 2 Tbsp of butter (each circle).  Cut into 12 slices, like pizza.
7. Roll each wedge, starting at wide end, into a crescent shape.  Arrange crescents on buttered baking sheets.  Cover; let rise one hour, until doubled in size.
8. Preheat oven to 375*F.  Bake 13-15 minutes, until golden.  Melt remaining butter; brush rolls with butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Easter Eggs

As usual, I've hidden an Easter egg--a reference to another fandom--in the main photo!

Let me know in the comments if you catch it! :-)

Ready for the District 10 reveal?

That's a Ringwraith on horseback (The Lord of the Rings).  I'm afraid he doesn't blend in very well....this was one of those weeks that it was tough to come up with what to hide (on my very tight budget, anyway!).  Ha!  Ash nazg gimbatul....

Let me know in the comments if you spot the Easter egg this time, or if you try making your own District 11 bread!  May the odds be ever in your favor! :-)

(Ready for District 12?)