Food in books anyone?

roguexunited · Post by **roguexunited** » 05 Jun 2014, 16:51

Have you ever read a book where there is a meal or banquet that it is described so beautifully that you can almost taste the flavors in every word?

I have, there are authors that really know how to stimulate the senses, specially when it come to food.
Some of my favorites are: Mark Twain, Salman Rushdie, G.K. Chesterton, Jhumpa Lahiri and Roald Dahl.

Do you guys have favorite authors, books or foodie quotes?

" Then there is the beefsteak. They have it in Europe, but they don't know how to cook it. Neither will they cut it right. It comes on the table in a small, round pewter platter. It lies in the center of this platter, in a bordering bed of grease-soaked potatoes; it is the size, shape, and thickness of a man's hand with the thumb and fingers cut off. It is a little overdone, is rather dry, it tastes pretty insipidly, it rouses no enthusiasm.

Imagine a poor exile contemplating that inert thing; and imagine an angel suddenly sweeping down out of a better land and setting before him a mighty porterhouse steak an inch and a half thick, hot and sputtering from the griddle; dusted with a fragrant pepper; enriched with little melting bits of butter of the most unimpeachable freshness and genuineness; the precious juices of the meat trickling out and joining the gravy, archipelagoed with mushrooms; a township or two of tender, yellowish fat gracing an outlying district of this ample county of beefsteak; the long white bone which divides the sirloin from the tenderloin still in its place; and imagine that the angel also adds a great cup of American home-made coffee, with a cream a-froth on top, some real butter, firm and yellow and fresh, some smoking hot-biscuits, a plate of hot buckwheat cakes, with transparent syrup—could words describe the gratitude of this exile? "
A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain

HSafirah · Post by **HSafirah** » 05 Jun 2014, 21:34

Wow, you do really like food in books! It does make me feel hungry, reading the descriptions above. I'm serious. Now I should go for some snicksnack~ for me, I don't usually encounter books with such detailed information about the food, but I would love to!

roguexunited · Post by **roguexunited** » 05 Jun 2014, 22:19

If you are interested here is a list of authors that write, not specifically about food, but that have great descriptions when it comes to it:
Julian Barnes - The Pedant in the Kitchen
Jack Kerouac - On the road, and most of his road novels
Salman Rushdie - Midnight's Children
Jhumpa Lahiri- Interpreter of Maladies
Terry Pratchett - Witches Abroad
G.R.R. Martin- Game of Thrones
J.R.R. Tolkien- Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
When reading Tolkien those section frustrated me a little because, specially in The Fellowship of the Ring, you had Frodo saying "we must move fast and begin our journey" ... But first a 1 month pause to eat all of the food in the shire so that we can leave after my birthday! Which makes no sense! I thought that the trip was urgent, but can you do? You don't mess with a hobbit and his food.

GKCfan · Post by **GKCfan** » 05 Jun 2014, 22:29

If you want a talented food writer, I highly recommend Clarissa Dickson-Wright, who passed away recently. She was half of the "Two Fat Ladies" cooking team, and her "History of English Food" is marvelous. Anything she writes is interesting. She writes a ton of food history.

roguexunited · Post by **roguexunited** » 05 Jun 2014, 22:38

Thanks, I'll take a look at her work.
I was also thinking that I forgot to put Chaucer on the list, after all the whole point of The Canterbury a Tales is winning the free meal. And maybe Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is another good example, which comes to show that medieval literature takes its food very seriously.

allesha · Post by **allesha** » 23 Jul 2014, 23:00

I loved Interpreter of Maladies!

ghostpixie · Post by **ghostpixie** » 23 Jul 2014, 23:43

All the time. Remember the Redwall books by Brian Jacques? Those would drive me crazy with the food descriptions!!!

Alkalune · Post by **Alkalune** » 24 Jul 2014, 00:57

Francesca Lia Block writes with a lot of flowery, sensual language to describe food. I love it and it makes me want to cook intricate meals.

hasreadit · Post by **hasreadit** » 24 Jul 2014, 07:36

ghostpixie wrote:All the time. Remember the Redwall books by Brian Jacques? Those would drive me crazy with the food descriptions!!!

Yes! Those books always made me feel soo hungry

suzy1124 · Post by **suzy1124** » 24 Jul 2014, 08:39

Try:

M.F.K. Fisher
Julia Child
A.J. Liebling
Ruth Reichel
Gabrielle Hamilton ( first time author NYTimes best seller list ) for her memoir " Blood Bones and Butter )
Lawrence Saunders, Miami crime writer who has his detective preparing the most DELICIOUS Sandwiches EVER!...you'll be SALIVATING...
The Larousse Gastronomique...

HeneryKnox · Post by **HeneryKnox** » 24 Jul 2014, 10:33

I have always enjoyed George R.R. Martins writing about food. I don't know how historically accurate it is but I imagine it was what they ate in medieval times. I can't imagine trying a lamprey pie but if I ever come across something like that I may just need to take a bite.

thenameisZelda · Post by **thenameisZelda** » 25 Jul 2014, 15:03

I like food in books when they include a recipe, or they tell you what it is (and if it's a real thing, you can find the recipe on your own)

Sometimes the descriptions are just so perfect, you have to make it for yourself.

David Dawson · Post by **David Dawson** » 25 Jul 2014, 21:49

HeneryKnox wrote:I have always enjoyed George R.R. Martins writing about food.

Hmmm, I always thought the George R.R. Martin food paragraphs were symptomatic of an author that was too commercially successful for decent editing; there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. Which is not to say they didn't make me hungry...

sahmoun2778 · Post by **sahmoun2778** » 26 Jul 2014, 12:10

I agree about Gabrielle Hamilton. Not only is a good read about her rather unorthodox life, but food descriptions are fantastic.

ipekbunsal · Post by **ipekbunsal** » 27 Jul 2014, 09:23

Ahahah I don't remember reading food descriptions in a book. Or I don't remember it made me hungry.
That must be fun.

-- 27 Jul 2014, 10:23 --

Ahahah I don't remember reading food descriptions in a book. Or I don't remember it made me hungry.
That must be fun.

-- 27 Jul 2014, 10:23 --

Ahahah I don't remember reading food descriptions in a book. Or I don't remember it made me hungry.
That must be fun.