This post is part of Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking. If you have anything related to food, cookbook reviews, novel or non-fiction book reviews, recipes, movie reviews, etc., head over to Beth Fish Reads and add your post. Or, if you want to read food related posts, head over to read what some interesting people have to say about food.
Since I have writing Weekend Cooking posts, I have become much more aware of food and cooking references in novels. As I read, I think, "oh, that might make a good post." I have been surprised at the number of books I have recently that might fit in this category.
While you might expect a book about a caterer, The Body in the Boudoir, to have some interesting food references, Chris Bojahlian's historical novel The Sandcastle Girls, about the Armenian genocide in 1915 is not one you where you might find one. I learned about Cheese Boureg, a traditional Armenian food, sort of like a pierogi.
The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nicole Bernier is a novel about Kate whose friend Elizabeth died in a plane crash. Elizabeth asked that her journals be given to Kate, with no instructions on what to do with them, which upsets Elizabeth's husband.
Kate is a mom of two young children, and an award-winning pastry chef. She is at a crossroads, not knowing if she should take a great job offer from a well-renowed restauranteur who is opening a new place. In this excerpt she recalls the pleasure of working in a bustling restaurant kitchen:
"She could see herself working there. She could imagine all the aesthetics of a brand-new kitchen: the gleaming surfaces, the stainless-steel ranges and the stretch of metro rack shelving. She could see the spread of ingredients mounded in matching bowls, the crimson of berries in pooled sauces, and her plated finished product, crust peeling in flakes like mica. She could feel the bustle of the kitchen, the brisk efficiency of some of the best professional in the world humming along and occasionally losing control. And when there was yelling and running and burning, she'd be settled in her space making beautiful things. Even the unpredictability was predictable. She missed that control in the eye of the storm."My husband and I owned and operated a fast food restaurant for a few years, and I could relate to the bustle of the kitchen that she described.
I will post my review of The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. soon.
Do you notice food related passages in novels more now than you used to? Let me know in comments.
