"That does look good..."
-- Nearly Headless Nick, wistfully, watching Harry eat (PS7)
"I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogriff..."
-- Ron Weasley (GF12)
"zis 'eavy 'ogwarts food"
-- Fleur Delacour
People seem to eat well in the wizarding world. At the Burrow, Molly Weasley serves delicious meals using a mixture of magic and cooking skill. The house-elves at Hogwarts cook a wide variety of dishes and bake delicious cakes, pies, and eclairs. There is some magic involved, certainly, but the food is not simply created out of nothing. Anything created in that way does not last, but disappears after an hour or two (SN). The food served at Hogwarts is grown locally (there are vegetable patches near the greenhouses (CS6) and Hagrid raises chickens (CS11)). The various dishes are prepared in the kitchens and magically transported up through the ceilings to the tables above. Normally, the food appears in serving dishes and the students help themselves. For the Yule Ball, however, each person selected a dish from a menu, stated their choice, and it appeared directly on his or her plate (GF23).
Notable food moments…
- a plate of chicken and ham sandwiches that refills itself (CS5)
- Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit the Hogwarts kitchens (GF21)
- visit to Honeydukes (PA10)
- Molly Weasley cooking when she’s angry (CS3, GF5)
- wonderful meals with the Weasleys
- breakfast after a midnight escape (CS3) includes:
- sausages
- fried eggs
- bread and butter
- other food at the Burrow
- sandwiches made by Mrs. Weasley for the trip on the Hogwarts Express, including corned beef, which Ron doesn’t like (PS6)
- in the garden of the Burrow (GF5)
- boiled potatoes
- chicken and ham pie
- creamy sauce pouring out of her wand
- salad
- in the Leaky Cauldron (PA4)
- Harry and Ron became friends over a pile of sweets from the tea trolley on the Hogwarts Express (PS6)
Restaurants, pubs, etc.
- Three Broomsticks Inn (Hogsmeade)
- Leaky Cauldron (Diagon Alley)
- Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor (Diagon Alley)
- The Hog’s Head (pub in Hogsmeade) (PS16, OP16)
- tea trolley on the Hogwarts Express, pushed by a plump, dimpled witch (PS6, PA5, PA22)
- Honeydukes
Drinks
- bottle of some amber liquid which Hagrid carried in his overcoat pocket (PS4)
- butterbeer
- cherry syrup and soda with ice and an umbrella (Flitwick enjoys this) (PA10)
- hot chocolate
- served at the Burrow (CS4)
- and on the Knight Bus (PA3)
- Dumbledore came down in the middle of the night for some, but found the Petrified Colin Creevey instead (CS10)
- when Ginny Weasley was sent to the hospital wing after her ordeal in the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore suggested that she be given a cup of hot chocolate (CS18)
- eggnog (at Christmas) (CS12)
- elderflower wine (served at the Weasleys’) (GF5)
- gillywater (McGonagall’s drink) (PA10) (cf. gillyweed, GF26)
- milk (at breakfast) (CS6)
- mead, mulled (a favorite of Hagrid’s) (PA10)
- nettle tea (Gwenog dropped by Gertie Keddle’s place (c. 1000s) for a cup of this) (QA3)
- nettle wine (one of the potions in Snape’s potion challenge) (PS16)
- Ogden’s Old Firewhisky (CS6, GF10)
- orange juice (at breakfast)
- pumpkin juice (usually served iced, available on the Hogwarts Express and at Hogwarts (GF12, (GF31))
- red currant rum (Cornelius Fudge’s choice of drinks) (PA10)
- sherry served at the Leaky Cauldron (PS5)
- Single Malt Whisky – given to Madame Maxime’s Abraxan winged horses (GF15)
- tea (naturally)
- Lupin makes tea with tea bags, for which he apologizes; he heats his kettle with a tap of his wand. (PS8)
Hogwarts Cuisine
- Breakfast at Hogwarts
- Main dishes at Hogwarts
- bacon and steak (PS7)
- beef casserole (GF13)
- black pudding (GF16)
- “some kind of strange blancmange” (during Beauxbatons visit) (GF16)
- bouillabaisse (during Beauxbatons visit) (GF16)
- Cornish pasties (GF31)
- lamb chops (PS7, GF13)
- pork chops (PS7, GF23)
- roast beef (PS7)
- roast chicken (PS7)
- sandwiches (chicken and ham, for Harry and Ron in CS5)
- sausages (PS7, GF12)
- shepherd’s pie (CS7)
- sprouts (GF13)
- steak (PS7)
- steak and kidney pudding (GF16)
- stew (GF23)
- tripe (which McGonagall ironically offers Trelawney in PA11)
- Yorkshire Pudding (GF12)
- casserole
- steak and kidney pie
- fried sausages
- Vegetables
- carrots (PS7)
- chips (french fries) (PS7)
- peas (PS7)
- baked pumpkin (at Halloween)
- boiled potatoes (PS7)
- jacket potatoes
- mashed potatoes (GF12)
- roast potatoes
- sprouts
- fried tomatoes (PA6)
- turkey (roasted) (PS12, GF23)
- turkey sandwiches (for tea)
- thick rich gravy (PS12)
- Condiments, sauces, etc.
- Desserts, snacks, & sweets at Hogwarts
- apple pies (PS7)
- chocolate éclairs (PS7)
- chocolate gateau (GF12)
- custard tart
- ice cream
- jam doughnuts (PS7)
- jelly (PS7)
- marshmallows and crumpets (Harry and Ron roast them over the Common Room fire during the Christmas holidays) (PS12)
- mint humbugs (PS7)
- rice pudding (PS7)
- Spotted Dick (GF12)
- strawberries (PS7)
- treacle tart (PS7, GF12)
- trifle (Welcoming Feast PS7, CS12)
- Christmas treats
- food at Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party (CS8)
- rotten fish laid on handsome silver platters
- cakes burned charcoal black
- maggoty haggis
- slab of cheese covered in green mold
- enormous gray cake in the shape of a tombstone, tar-like icing
- peanuts covered in fungus
Hogwarts Feasts
- start-of-term welcoming feast (PS7, CS5, PA5, GF12, OP11, HBP8)
- Halloween feast (PS10, CS8, PA8, GF16)
- Christmas feast (PS12, CS12, PA11, GF23)
- end-of-term leaving feast (PS17, PA22, GF37, OP38)
Molly Weasley’s cookery:
- cauliflower
- chicken and ham pie
- Christmas cake
- home made fudge
- home baked mince pies
- nut brittle
- boiled potatoes
- salad
- Sauce Béchamel
- homemade strawberry ice cream
Hagrid’s cooking, etc.
- Bath buns
- alleged beef casserole (containing a large talon) (GF16)
- rock cakes (GF2)
- stoat sandwiches
- treacle fudge (CS7)
- food among the items in the pockets of Hagrid’s black overcoat (PS4)
- amber liquid, bottle of some
- a birthday cake with green icing saying “Happy Birthday Harry”
- peppermint humbugs
- sausages, squashy package of
- tea things
Growing in the vegetable patches:
- cabbages
- pumpkins
Commentary
Notes
There is some magic involved, however. Molly Weasley is seen pouring sauces out of her wand, for example (GF5). It is possible that while the main ingredients are not conjured, some of the sauces or other flavorings are. This would seem to be a great benefit for those watching their weight, since the heavy sauces would simply vanish after a while, giving all of the flavor but not the calories. But on the other hand, if that were true, why would Fleur complain so about how Hogwarts food would make her fat?
JKR on Hagrid's cooking (CR):
Q. Is Hagrid EVER going to get cooking lessons?
A. Hee hee hee no, Hagrid LIKES what he cooks he can't see any room for improvement. He likes stoat sandwiches, bless him.