What does the German word "drachenfutter” refer to?

“Drachenfutter“ is a German word that translates into English as ‘dragon fodder’ or 'dragon food'. It is a term used to describe a gift or a favour given to placate someone, especially a spouse, who would have good reason to be angry with the giver, i.e. feeding the dragon to temper its anger. It is rarely a term used to describe the gift, especially to the latently irate recipient, for obvious reasons. There is no English term that is a direct equivalent, the closest, perhaps, is to "butter someone up".

Its use in a sentence would be as in “Ich bringe Blumen mit mir als Drachenfutter, damit meine Frau nicht böse mit mir ist“, which translates into English as “I’m bringing flowers with me as Drachenfutter, so that my wife doesn’t get angry with me”.