Food in Books

[Eleonora]

Hi there!

My book club is going to have a special event in a couple of months: we will celebrate the end of our "bookish season" with a dinner based on books we've read so far.

Being italian, we have plenty of italian fiction books with delicious recipies in them.. food becomes a sort of "character".

So, I was wondering.... have you ever read novels where dishes or recipes were described? Is food important in non italian fiction too?

Edited March 28, 2016 by Eleonora

[Athena]

How nice your book club is doing such a dinner .

 

A recent read of mine that comes to mind is The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry, which is an American book. Most chapters start off with a recipe and recipes and cooking play a big role in the story. I think there are other fiction books who have recipes in them, that I've read, but they don't come to mind right now. I can't remember reading any Dutch books with recipes in them, but I could be wrong.

 

As far as dishes being described goes, that happens in quite a few of the books I read, particularly in fantasy, science-fiction and historical fiction novels, and to a lesser extent in rom-coms ( / chick-lit) and contemporary fiction (literary fiction).

 

An interesting idea for a topic .

[chesilbeach]

There are actually a few threads on food in books:
 
Food centric fiction
Ever tried food after reading about it in a novel?
Food from books
Food fiction

I've read a few novels with recipes in, a few of Jenny Colgan's books are based in bakeries, sweet shops and cupcake shops and they call have some recipes in. I've mentioned in one of the threads that Anthony Cappella often writes novels with a food theme where the particular food or drink is like the main character of the book.

[Eleonora]

Feel free to remove the topic or move it in another part of the forum.. in the meantime, I note your titles down

[chesilbeach]

No, no need to move it, I just wanted to point out a few other threads you might be interested in

[pontalba]

I've read all, or most of the Cat Who books.  They feature a pair of Siamese cats that aid their human in detecting the bad guys.  It's cute. 

Anyhow, they always featured some interesting food choices in the books.  Finally someonewrote a cookbook featuring recipes of said food.  Here is the link. http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Who-Cookbook-Updated/dp/0425207633/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1459183147&sr=1-1&keywords=The+cat+who+cookbook

 

I bet you have some absolutely wonderful recipes concocted for your dinner!  Sounds like a good time.

[Anna Begins]

BBC History Magazine has a section for medieval recipes in each issue.

[Madeleine]

The main one involving food that springs to mind is Joanne Harris's Chocolat.

[Athena]

The main one involving food that springs to mind is Joanne Harris's Chocolat.

Did you like it? I have it on my TBR (the Dutch translation).

[Madeleine]

I enjoyed it Athena, better than the film.

[Athena]

I enjoyed it Athena, better than the film.

Good to know, thanks .

[itsmeagain]

In the kitchen by Monica Ali.

[Eleonora]

Thanks ladies and gentlemen, I took note of every title..

[Kolinahr]

The Hannibal Lecter books by Thomas Harris focus on food a lot (not just people as food, but food in general) and do a great job of exploring both our literal and psychological consumption of food.

[Madeleine]

Donna Leon's novels, set in Venice, tend to feature a lot of food, her main character is always going home or into a bar for a snack or lunch, I think she even brought out a cookbook with some of the recipes from the books.  And they always seem to be eating in Harry Potter.

 

The Little Paris Bookshop also has some recipes at the back.

[bobblybear]

Haruki Murakami often talks about what his characters are eating/cooking in great detail. Even if it's something ordinary like a sandwich.

[MsBooberella]

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell is all about food and there also is a film adaption of it. When I watched the movie I actually got so hungry I had to make myself something to eat 

[itsmeagain]

Check out The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens for constant references to hearty repasts including beef , ham, and potatoes, or a pie , being eaten in great quantities.