302981 Thu Mar 02 14:33:49 -0800 2006 47 33 Food Media and News 0 1700172 I love food in fiction! Some of my favorite passages are from Like Water for Chocolate (Esquivel), Farmer Boy (Wilder), A Christmas Memory (Capote), Babette's Feast (Dinesen), and Fried Green Tomatoes...(Flagg). Love reading a passage that makes my mouth water - in-text recipes are just gravy, so to speak. Any other suggestions? I've found the Food History Books post below, but no fiction yet... Link: http://dailypie.blogspot.com Thu Mar 02 14:33:49 -0800 2006 0 nomadshan 1 1700176 Good list: I agree, "Farmer Boy" is a little-appreciated chow classic! It seems like most of that book is about food (farm breakfasts ("stacked pancakes"!), lunches and dinners; popcorn and milk; making ice cream; eating pie at the county fair; baking potatoes in a bonfire; even searching for wintergreen berries in the snow). Some of my favorite chowish scenes are in "Prince of Tides" (Pat Conroy is definitely a chowhound -- the main character in "Beach Music" is a food/cookbook writer). In particular there's one long sequence where the narrator recounts the summer his mother decided she wanted to create a recipe for the local ladies league cookbook that would win her the admiration (and instant acceptance) of the ladies she aspired to associate with. The lovingly detailed descriptions of her various attempts are mouthwatering (it didn't hurt that the first time I read these passages, I was sitting in a restaurant waiting for a perennially tardy friend to show up for dinner, and was getting hungrier by the minute!). There are also some nice scenes with him eating in top NY restaurants. Thu Mar 02 14:47:41 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Ruth Lafler 2 2788029 Prince of Tides is a great food book. I agree that all the Little House books make my mouth water--they were always tapping trees for their own maple syrup and making balloons out of pig tails. Also Heidi is a really good one for making you want bread and butter. A lot of childrens books detail food memorably. I just reread The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and noticed for the first time how often they stop to have tea in Narnia. And Harriet the Spy always makes me want an egg cream. http://www.howtoeatlikeabird.com/how_to_eat_like_a_bird/good_reading/index.html Thu Jul 26 21:12:42 -0700 2007 1700176 23961 traceybell 1 1700177 they aren't food-centric, but the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian have some wonderful food in them. they're also an excellent read. i believe one of o'brian's kids even published a companion cookbook. Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039306011X/qid=1141328851/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-0877160-5744862?n=507846&s=books&v=glance Thu Mar 02 14:50:50 -0800 2006 1700172 0 mark 1 1700194 off the top of my head: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki, Serving Crazy With Curry by Amulya Malludi Thu Mar 02 17:34:24 -0800 2006 1700172 0 semmel 1 1700206 Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels (about 70 of them) are full of good chow scenes, and there's a Nero Wolfe cookbook that isn't too hard to find. Jim Thu Mar 02 21:54:02 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Jim Washburn 2 1700238 That cookbook is a great read. It has exerpts from the books where the particular dish is discussed, then the recipe follows. For me, having read all of the novels, the cookbook brings back fond memories. Fri Mar 03 13:38:12 -0800 2006 1700206 0 TomSwift 1 1700208 Although not a primary focus, Virginia Woolf makes much of Boeuf au Daube in "To the Lighthouse." Proust's madeleine is iconic. I guess Hansel and Gretel's near- death experience with the oven is neither literature nor very chowish. Thu Mar 02 22:02:19 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Karl 1 1700220 The gourmet detective books by Peter King are a hoot! The author goes way over the top in describing in analytical detail the meals the detective has while pursuing his clues. Lots of food arcana digressions pad out the plots. Paperback trash for chowhounds. Fri Mar 03 05:33:26 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Sharuf 1 1700221 In the Robert Parker "Spenser For Hire" series, Spenser is a bit of a gourmand and likes to cook. In reading the series as a youn'un, it gave me the idea and courage that a guy with an 18 inch like mine could be a decent cook. There has been over the years rumors that Robert Parker would put together a cookbook from the series, alas, that has not happened. But a fan site has done its best to cobble together a list and links to some recipes. Link: http://bullets-and-beer.com/Cookbook.html Fri Mar 03 07:11:28 -0800 2006 1700172 0 P. 2 2768216 I discovered the Spenser (book) series because of the Spenser (TV) series. I always make it a point to try whatever beer Spenser's drinking. Lately, he's been drinking Blue Moon Belgian. Even my wife likes it. Fri Jul 20 10:59:05 -0700 2007 1700221 113176 jmckee 1 1700223 I just finished Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson. The main character fancies himself a gourmet and comes up with the most hilarious recipes: Mussles in Chocolate, Otter with Lobster Sauce, etc. An enjoyable read. Fri Mar 03 09:11:46 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Bruce 2 1700252 Well otter is a protected species now. Do you remember that news article in the midwest about 5 deer plunging off a garage roof? Carcasses given to lucky passerbys. Fri Mar 03 17:26:52 -0800 2006 1700223 0 semmel 1 1700225 Not precicely on topic, but an anecdote I feel compelled to share. In 2001, I was kind of at a dead end in my pursuit of a career in the theatre. I spent most of my time unemployed watching Food TV and reading, then puttering around in the kitchen like a hobby. Soon, I realized I was shaping my day around shopping and preparing food. It was during this period that Thomas Harris released the newest book in the "Silence of the Lambs" storyline- called Hannibal. Though the book was quite good (better than the travesty of a movie it became) I found myself particularly enjoying Harris' (through the character of Hannibal Lechter) sumptous descriptions of cooking. Even though he was talking about cooking PEOPLE. I felt seriously freaked out by that for about half an hour, then realized that It was the descriptions, not the recipes that I loved. I started cooking school in the spring, and worked as a cook, then a chef- and I owe a signigficant amount of credit to Hannibal Lechter. The fact I became a trim butcher during 04-05 not withstanding... Fava beans and a nice Chianti, anyone? Fri Mar 03 09:25:49 -0800 2006 1700172 0 jdherbert 2 2793500 A few years ago, some friends of mine in the resto biz actually had a special one night of calf's liver in a chianti reduction with fava beans. I came in for dinner around 9:30pm, saw the special, and burst out laughing. Apparently, no one up to that point had noticed it, or, didn't react visibly. Sun Jul 29 09:13:02 -0700 2007 1700225 91415 hungry_pangolin 1 1700227 On a signigficantly lighter note, I have been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for the past 10 years. THough there aren't too many recipes mixed into the text, many of the domestic and urban characters make food part of their chracter and their charm. In 2004, Pratchett and one of his commonly used illustrators (paul kidby) released the Nanny Ogg Cookbook. Wonderfully illustrated and full of really approachible recipes with a twist- Dwarf pastries (full of whole grains and seeds as gravel), Pratchett's version of North Africa/the middle east- Klatch, has its own curries, spice blends, and tagine like braises; not to mention the librarians banana, and some off-color pastries... fans of the series may know what I'm talking about. The whole thing is written from the perspective of a mischevious 80 year old witch and footnoted constantly by two frantic editors trying to see that her saucy recipes and off-color comments don't make it into the final printing. Sorry I'm rambling- fighting a cold... Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0739438220/qid=1141396731/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-7258238-1510337?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 Fri Mar 03 09:41:54 -0800 2006 1700172 0 jdherbert 1 1700231 The Joy Luck Club Fri Mar 03 10:54:57 -0800 2006 1700172 0 wild child 1 1700234 Georges Simenon's Maigret mysteries, especially when Maigret gets out of Paris and into the provinces. Fri Mar 03 12:16:14 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Aromatherapy 1 1700236 A funny and disquiteing moment in one of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books when Tom Ripley (a serial killer) gets squemish when he walks into the kitchen to find his cook dropping a live lobster into a pot of boiling water. This murder he doesn't have the stomach for. Fri Mar 03 13:13:35 -0800 2006 1700172 0 micki 1 1700243 Ah, food & fiction: two of my biggest passions! Here are a few I've read in no particular order... My Year of Meats AND All Over Creation both by Ruth Ozeki. One focuses on the beef industry and the other on potato farming with a bent towards the ethical/political issues involved. Secrets of the Tsil Café by Thomas Fox Averill-- the story of a family where the mother owns a catering company and the father is a chef with a penchant for hot peppers. The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester-- an unsettling novel to say the least. Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech -- cute young adult book about an Italian grandmother and her grandson making soup while she imparts her tales and wisdom upon him. The Food Chain by Geoff Nicholson --- a very bizarre and unsettling novel about a secretive dinner club. Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber -- the main character is a chef in a Lebanese restaurant and there are multiple scenes of her preparing food. Little Indiscretions : A Delectable Mystery by Carmen Posadas-- murder mystery where the victim is a chef I've read the following but it wasn't quite my cup of tea: Death Dines In by Claudia Bishop, Dean James --- a collection of food-centric mystery stories. And lastly, some I've been meaning to read: La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture by Lily Prior Love and Meatballs by Susan Volland The Book of Salt by Monique Truong Chocolat by Joanne Harris Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris Eating Crow : A Novel of Apology by Jay Rayner Serving Crazy with Curry by Amulya Malladi Liquor : A Novel by Poppy Z. Brite Pastries : A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries by Bharti Kirchner Fri Mar 03 15:00:16 -0800 2006 1700172 0 mangorita 2 1700253 serving crazy is not great, but an enjoyable read. I'm even more of a critic of books than food. Can I morph into movies? Tom Jones, Gregory's Girl, The coca-cola kid. Attack of the Cannibal Women of the Avocado Jungle. Fri Mar 03 17:35:44 -0800 2006 1700243 0 semmel 3 2760552 Pickled onions and dates don't mix, Gregory! Wed Jul 18 08:18:54 -0700 2007 1700253 46777 ctscorp 2 2803880 I'm surprised no one mentioned the Joanne Harris books yet (there's also one with a title like 'Two Thirds of an Orange' - all about torturing someone with food allergies!). Chocolat was definitely the best; I want chocolate just thinking about it. Wed Aug 01 11:53:53 -0700 2007 1700243 10431 Gooseberry 1 1700249 I'm so glad to hear someone else loves the descriptions of food in "Farmer Boy"! :-) Mmmm....fried apples 'n' onions! Fri Mar 03 16:24:19 -0800 2006 1700172 0 neighbor 1 1700269 I didn't realize there were so many murder mysteries involving chefs! My aunt had sent me a set of three books by Cecile Lamalle, who lives near her in upstate NY. I read all three without hardly getting up. And I am not a mystery fan (except Mystery Science Theatre, that's another story). The titles are Glutton for Punishment, Appetite for Murder and Prepared for Murder. The owner/chef of an upstate French restaurant, who is French himself, keeps getting involved in local murder investigations. The best is, my aunt told me what local restaurants everything was supposedly based on, which made it even more fun. Link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/002-7937748-5710425?url=index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=cecile+lamalle&Go.x=9&Go.y=11 Sat Mar 04 08:02:06 -0800 2006 1700172 0 coll 1 1700270 Two other mystery writers full of food and recipes are Diane Mott Davisdon's "Goldy Schultz" books and Phillip Craig "Martha's Vineyard" series. Sat Mar 04 10:39:31 -0800 2006 1700172 0 babs 2 2794769 I love the Diane Mott Davidson books. One of them, "Sticks and Scones," has awesome baking recipes (I'm sure the recipes in the others are just as good, I just haven't tested them out). One of my fave chick lit authors, Jennifer Crusie, worked chicken marsala and Krispy Kremes into the plot of her novel "Bet Me". It's a great read, and it'll make you crave carbs like crazy. Sun Jul 29 19:11:54 -0700 2007 1700270 10681 piccola 1 1700277 Here's one I've thought of every time I've screwed up something in the kitchen. It's from "Jane Eyre" when the morning oatmeal porridge at the orphanage is so scorched that the children can't eat it: "Breakfast was over, but none had breakfasted". Sat Mar 04 20:16:51 -0800 2006 1700172 0 N Tocus 1 1700296 Zola's "The Belly of Paris" (Le Ventre de Paris) is about life in Les Halles, the Paris food markets in the second half of the 19th century. Zola gives detailed descriptions of the products and the preparation and the characters involved in them. It's an excellent novel, as are many of Zola's works. Sun Mar 05 17:41:33 -0800 2006 1700172 0 personne 1 1700342 These are pretty incidental but a quite a few P.G. Wodehouse novels and short stories involving Bertie Wooster have mentions of food, particularly those where the services of Anatole, Aunt Dahlia's superb French chef, are at risk. My Search for Warren Harding (I don't remember the author) is hilarious and has one footnote, a recipe for coffee cake that, as I recall, the narrator says he is including on the advice of his editor. A friend made the coffee cake and said it was very good. Mon Mar 06 19:18:10 -0800 2006 1700172 0 Timowitz 1 1700480 Thank you thank you thank you!! Every one of you gave me a great suggestion - I can't wait to scour the library for these books. FYI - I blog my food-in-fiction favorites on Thursdays (link below). Your suggestions will keep Thursday Pie Lit posts coming for months! Thanks!! Link: http://dailypie.blogspot.com Sat Mar 11 16:08:34 -0800 2006 1700172 0 nomadshan 1 2760320 The Patrick O'Brien novels: Master and Commander, et al. Captain Aubrey is quite the dedicated food fan, so much so that the books actually generated a cookbook. Many are 'period' foods, none are cholesterol-free, some are funny, and many are from the annals of the British Navy. Wed Jul 18 07:04:07 -0700 2007 1700172 109581 dragonfare 1 2760534 Very interesting thread to read. I'll have to make a list for myself! I just wanted to throw out there “Boogaloo on 2nd Avenue: a novel of pastry, guilt and music” by Mark Kurlansky. A very new york eclectic mix of food. I loved it. Wed Jul 18 08:15:44 -0700 2007 1700172 104084 LNG212 2 2760578 Proust's madeleines from Remembrance of Things Past are very famous: "She (Marcel's mother) sent for one of those squat plump little cakes called "petites madeleines," which look as though they had been molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell … I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure invaded my senses … " Wed Jul 18 08:25:32 -0700 2007 2760534 66022 bronwen 1 2766812 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is filled with food and drink images. It's the first book I was assigned to read in High School that I actually liked reading. So delicious. Thu Jul 19 21:51:32 -0700 2007 1700172 16301 Non Cognomina 1 2772601 I just remembered about the Harry Potter books. They always contain descriptions of the school banquets, and references to interesting foods--real and "imaginary." Treacle tart, which is Harry's favorite dessert, is a real and traditional british dessert. Things like Pumpkin Juice are made up, but it's amazing that you can now find recipes for it on the internet. Also intersting is how the concept of "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean" has been picked up by the Jelly Belly company. Sun Jul 22 11:49:20 -0700 2007 1700172 16301 Non Cognomina 2 2790239 It was really cool in the very first book, at the opening banquet, when Harry--who has never in his life, it seems, gotten enough to eat--sits down and this huge abundance and variety of food magically appears on the tables. Fri Jul 27 15:04:37 -0700 2007 2772601 32586 revsharkie 1 2788013 The Redwall books by Brian Jacques all have charming feast scenes. I usually end up in the kitchen after reading them. Thu Jul 26 20:58:55 -0700 2007 1700172 77993 garlicvampire 1 2795090 Peter Mayle's works seem obvious: http://www.petermayle.com/works.php Sun Jul 29 21:35:48 -0700 2007 1700172 15036 tastyjon 1 2795107 Patricia Cornwell's heroine Kay Scarpetta is always relaxing after a hard days sleuthing and autopsy-ing by hand making parpadelle or whipping up a quick reggiano souffle... She's even published her own cook book: "In Food to Die For, Patricia Cornwell reveals another side of Chief Medical Examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta, in a cookery book that celebrates her passion for great food and cooking for friends. Fans of Kay Scarpetta know that she likes nothing better than to unwind and recharge in the kitchen. After a heroic day on the job, Kay often escapes home to delicious food and wine with family and friends. Inspired by the dozens of food scenes in Kay's kitchen and favourite restaurants, Food to Die For is a cookery book tailor-made for Scarpetta fans. Among the criminally good recipes are: • Miami-Style Chilli with Beer (All That Remains) • Grilled Grouper with Butter and Key Lime Juice (Cruel and Unusual) • Jack Daniel's Chocolate-Pecan Pie (The Body Farm) • Lasagne with Marinara Sauce and Porcini Mushrooms (Cause of Death) • Bev's Lump Crab Cakes (Unnatural Exposure) • Kay's Grilled Pizza with Sausage, Pepperoni and Three Cheeses (Black Notice) • Also recipes from Lucy, Marino and Rose, as well as from restaurants in Virginia, Washington DC, New York, London and Paris. Brimming with full-colour photographs of Scarpetta-inspired culinary creations, Food to Die For offers the perfect accompaniment to the Bogs that keep you reading through the night" I have a copy of "Scarpetta's Winter Table", but I haven't actually made any recipes out of it. Sun Jul 29 21:44:06 -0700 2007 1700172 86137 purple goddess 1 2795126 James Joyce's "Ulysses" is undoubtedly one of the foodiest novels of all time, especially when Leopold Bloom is gracing its pages: "Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods' roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine." And let's not forget Nicole Mones' recent "The Last Chinese Chef": http://www.nicolemones.com/the-last-chinese-chef-excerpt.html Sun Jul 29 21:54:32 -0700 2007 1700172 10255 Gary Soup 1 2796085 I really enjoyed Jim Crace's The Devil's Larder, a bok of short stories, each of which relates somehow to food. Mon Jul 30 09:25:01 -0700 2007 1700172 88335 ashes 1 2803671 My post seems to have not made it -- here it is again. Steven Brust has a fantasy series about humans living in a land of long-lived tall human-types called Dragerians. The main protagonist is Vlad Taltos. Vlad is definitely a CHer. He loves to cook, although he claims to only be a good cook. He *loves* good food, and there is always something about food, Inns, etc. Brust has a very strong Hungarian backgroound, seen in his descriptions. Much of the food, plants, and animals are real, and many made up. (Longfish, kethra.) It's fun to guess what the madeup ones are like. The beginning of each chapter of his latest in the series -- Dzur -- is a great read for CHers. Each one starts in a flashback of one long scene in his favorite restaurant, Valabar's. His descriptions of the food, the servers, etc. -- including that of a dining companion discovering just how good food can be -- are priceless. Whether or not you're a fan of sci-fi/fantasy I heartily recommend it. Wed Aug 01 11:01:42 -0700 2007 1700172 95291 Richard 16 1 2803769 It's not quite about food, but spices. Mistress of Spices by Chitra Divakaruni. Wed Aug 01 11:26:45 -0700 2007 1700172 114726 minyming 2 2803887 I'd say it's very much about food. At least, it qualifies, because it made me crave curry! Wed Aug 01 11:56:13 -0700 2007 2803769 10431 Gooseberry 1 3299325 Hey all, I wanted to share this little "10" story I did for CHOW on the topic of food in fiction (and non). I loved reading your suggestions and included this post in the story! http://www.chow.com/stories/10887 I especially loved the Patricia Highsmith suggestion--she's a favorite of mine. Meredith of CHOW Tue Jan 15 18:19:58 -0800 2008 1700172 10095 mudaba 1 3311457 I'm reading John Grisham's "PLaying for Pizza" right now. It has some pretty good descriptions of all the Italian restaurants the main character and the team go to. There's also a murder mystery writer Lawrence Sanders who always includes descriptions of the sandwiches he makes. Sat Jan 19 08:32:19 -0800 2008 1700172 27357 PDeveaux 2 3312421 Digging to America by Anne Tyler has some good food scenes in it. I read a bunch of the Diane Mott Davidson mysteries, and enjoyed the food parts, but not the "mystery" itself. I loved the Lawrence Sanders sandwich descriptions, especially the "wet ones" that he would have to eat over the sink! Now does everyone else get aggravated when reading a book and they are sitting down to a meal and they don't describe the food?? Sometimes there will be a big setup to a restaurant meal or a party, and then...nothing! Not a single morsel of food is mentioned...so sad! Sat Jan 19 14:41:52 -0800 2008 3311457 142362 sibeats