Of course, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli had a solution: Lembas, the elven Waybread of Lothlórien.
It's generally recognized to be a type of hard-tack or biscuit, but while one can survive on such fare, it hardly fits the description of Lembas in the books:
So true Lembas should taste good and have a lot of nutritional value--two things hard tack does not. A tall order, but thankfully we're replicating elven magic, not period authentic, pre-columbian ingredients and techniques, so let's see what we can do....more strengthening than any food made by Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts...better than the honeycakes of the Beornings, and that is great praise, for the Beornings are the best bakers that I know of...One will keep a traveller on his feet for a day of long labour, even if he be one of the tall Men of Minas Tirith.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C
4oz/ ½Cup/ 113g whey or soy protein powder
2¼oz/ ½Cup/ 64g rolled oats
¾oz/ ¼Cup/ 20g chia or flax seeds
2¾oz/ ½Cup/ 78g whole wheat flour
4oz/ ½Cup/ 113g brown sugar
2 eggs
12oz/ 340g pumpkin puree
6oz/ â…”Cup/ 175g peanut or other nut butter
½Cup/ 125ml apple juice, cider or sauce
Mix the wet ingredients together. Mix the dry ingredients together.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.
Spread into an oiled 9"x13" (approx. 23x33cm) cake pan. Bake at 350°F/175°C for 35 minutes.
This recipe is based on Alton Brown's protein bars, but with a few common substitutions made for uncommon ingredients and a whole host of assorted dried fruit left out. The dried fruit is a little faster-burning in its carbohydrate mix than necessary, there's no mention of fruit in Lembas, and it's a pain to gather and prepare all the varieties he stipulates. If you want fruit, add up to 8.5oz of whatever varieties you like, finely chopped.
One of the biggest substitutions is pumpkin puree for tofu. I've made this recipe with both, and while the tofu is much higher in protein, it makes a more bitter, chalky-tasting bread, and leaving out the dried fruit gives us plenty of wiggle room on carbs from the pumpkin.
Ultimately, this recipe makes about one moderately exertional day's worth of food for a tall man of Minas Tirith, at 2800 kcalories. It's got 126g fat, 220g protein, and only 202g carbs (without the fruit). It comes out to about 3kcal/g, which puts it around dried fruit and honey in terms of energy density.
It's not the right color, and not 'crisp' the way lembas is described, but it is a lot more sustaining than hard tack.
For the leaf wrappings, I used grape leaves. Banana leaves are also apparently a good bet.