Greasy Sae

"Once it's in the soup, I'll call it beef."

- Greasy Sae to Katniss and Gale on the trade of a wild dog Greasy Sae is a bony old woman who sells bowls of hot soup from a large kettle at The Hob in District 12. Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne traded with her often, and made a conscious effort to keep on good terms with her as she could consistently be counted on to buy wild dog as most of their other customers could afford to be more picky.

Greasy Sae seems to make just about anything edible. Katniss mentions a Winter specialty of Greasy Sae's that includes mice meat, pig entrails, and tree bark. She also mentions in passing a wild dog and rhubarb stew.

She also has a granddaughter that Katniss describes as "not quite right" who wanders the Hob, and is generally treated as sort of a pet by people in the Hob, who give her scraps of food from their stands.

Greasy Sae is not directly mentioned in the Hunger Games movie, but a character who is presumably her is seen dealing with Katniss. She gives the mockingjay pin to Katniss in the movie, although in the book, it was given to her by Madge.

Catching Fire
Katniss reveals that Gale told her that it was Greasy Sae who started up a collection in the Hob to help sponsor Katniss and Peeta during the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss helps repay that kindness by continuing to shop in the Hob and making it a point to visit as many vendors as possible. Greasy Sae also reminds Katniss that during her participation in the 74th Hunger Games, Gale was considered her cousin.

Mockingjay
Greasy Sae is among the 800 survivors evacuated after District 12 is incinerated by the Capitol following the end of the Quarter Quell. In District 13, Greasy Sae works in the kitchen, which she likes well enough, but notes that the cooks are lacking in imagination. She is happy to receive real beef from District 10, noting that it's not the wild dog that Gale and Katniss used to provide her with.

During Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta's wedding, she got up and starting dancing with Gale.

At the end of the book, Greasy Sae is one of the few hundred people to return to District 12 following the war. When Katniss returns to District 12 after the war, Greasy Sae comes over in the morning and evening to cook and do light housekeeping, with her granddaughter, who Katniss says "lives in her own world." Whether this was because she was being neighborly or because she's been paid to do it, Katniss is not sure. It is not known how long she keeps up this arrangement once Peeta returns to District 12.

Greasy Sae