food in fiction

Besides mysteries, food plays a role in regular fiction, too. Why am I suddenly feeling so hungry?

One of my fiction food favorites is Chocolat by Joanne Harris--about a chocolate maker in a small French town. Loved the movie, too.

Another such book is Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel. Also made into a movie.

I read one of the Joanne Flukes Hannah Swensen Mysteries and they had a recipe for Cherry Wink cookies. I made them at Christmas....UMM YUMMY!

I have pulled several recipes from Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear series, too. My favorite is the Happy Endings Plum Cake.

One of the very best pieces of fiction about food is Isak Dinesen's story, "Babette's Feast". It was also made into a marvelous movie, one which will drive you straight to the closest (good) restaurant.

And, of course, there's Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café.

Just finished The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella, that and The Food of Love make your mouth water for Italian food.

Oh, Jillian, you have hit my weak spot. Italian Food! I'm going to have to check out The Food of Love.

Just read The Quilter's Kitchen by Jennifer Chiaverini. Short story followed by recipes for seasons and holidays. Not bad. Might try one or two recipes. Seemed like a lot of butter was used!

I just finished Winter Study in the Anna Pigeon series and she was up at Isle Royale in Lake Superior in the dead of winter. It was really strange to read about how the food was prepared and restricted because of the conditions. Makes you appreciate those books that make your mouth water!

Tomorrow(October 15th) is the last day for my giveaway of THE RECIPE CLUB: A TALE OF FOOD AND FRIENDSHIP at Cheli's Shelves. This book has 80+ recipes that are interwoven in the story.

Some of my books about food that aren't cookbooks (but not always quite fiction either):

The Devil's Larder: short stories with a twist, and they are all about food.

La Cucina: The very weird life of a Silician girl with a passion for food, cooking, and one or two other things...

Al Dente: The history of Italy intertwined with local food, even a couple of recipes.

Toast: An autobiography in food. Delicious and disgusting. Sometimes a bit too English.

I loved Toast - it was quite a poignant story with lots of foodie terms and menus sprinkled in.

Nicky Pellegrino combines Italian cuisine with romance in her novels. I've read Delicious - Pellegrino and found the descriptions quite authentic. Her Italian Wedding has a few recipes sprinkled through it. Light, comfort reads.

Ana Gavalda's Hunting and Gathering which is set in Paris, also focuses on food and its preparation. Two of the main characters are Camille, an anorexic who needs to change her eating habits and Franck, a talented chef. This book was a real delight.

I must get my hands on the italian ones.

The Food of Love & The Wedding Officer both by Anthony Capella just make you want to live in Italy and eat all the time

I meant to put a note in earlier about the series by Julie Hyzy set in the kitchen at the White House - the recipes sounded absolutely scrumptious!

I plan to start Julie Hyzy's first one, State of the Onion very soon.

I've recently read Clara Sereni's Casalinghitudine, and copied out several recipes to try!

It's a good book, though some familiarity with Italian culture and politics helps.

I absolutely refuse to read any more of the Three Pines books by Louise Penny. The food she describes is just far too mouth-watering and it's deeply frustrating ...!

Good to know Sophie, it sounds like my kind of book ;)

1) Jasper fforde's earlier books always carried advertisements for Toast

2) Has anyone ever tried a James Hamilton Paterson recipe? - Badger Wellington for example, or Cuckoo Sorbet

Kerry Greenwood has a series of books featuring an accountant turned baker, Corinna Chapman, which has recipes at the ends of the books. I lifted a never-fail cake recipe from one of her books; it is made with cream and white chocolate and is yum!!!

They are mystery books but very light-hearted and much better than her Phryne Fisher books.

... and by the way, there is a recipe book containing recipes from Donna Leon's Brunetti series. It is called A Taste of Venice.

The Cookbook Collector has gorgeous descriptions of food, which isn't surprising, given the title... There are no recipes, as far as I can remember, though!

There are other cookbooks devoted to recipes for food appearing in works of fiction. I have Nanny Ogg's Cookbook(Discworld), Lobscouse and Spotted Dog(the Aubrey/Maturin novels), and now I see that somebody has published a book with recipes derived from A Game of Thrones and the rest of the series. All of these series are set in well-imagined worlds where food is given due attention.