A friend is looking for book passages that would make people hungry or think of food, like stories where characters are really hungry and finally get to eat.
Any suggestions?
my corner of nowhere particular
A friend is looking for book passages that would make people hungry or think of food, like stories where characters are really hungry and finally get to eat.
Any suggestions?
Not sure if it qualifies, but the TV show How I Met Your Mother has an excellent burger monologue:
“Just a Burger? Just a burger. Robin, it’s so much more than “just a burger.” I mean…that first bite—oh, what heaven that first bite is. The bun, like a sesame freckled breast of an angel, resting gently on the ketchup and mustard below, flavors mingling in a seductive pas de deux. And then…a pickle! The most playful little pickle! Then a slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce and a…a patty of ground beef so exquisite, swirling in your mouth, breaking apart, and combining again in a fugue of sweets and savor so delightful. This is no mere sandwich of grilled meat and toasted bread, Robin. This is God, speaking to us in food.”
Food! I just read My Life in France by Julia Child. The opening pages talk about her first meal in France and she goes into great detail about all the smells, sounds and taste of that experience. The entire book made me ravenous, but that passage was particularly potent.
I believe what you’re after here is “food porn.” Heartburn (I think), by Nora Ephron even has recipes in it- food porn is kind of a genre unto itself.
The Grapes of Wrath sound pretty delicious.
If you’re looking for fruit based temptations, last night I read “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti and it’s pretty convincing that you want to gorge yourself on goblin grub (it’s actually a lot more delectable than it sounds).
I remember the big feast parts in the “Redwall” books by Brian Jaques made all the food sound awesome – enough for me to remember it 10 years after reading it.
I’ve read a lot of Ruth Reichl recently. She’s been a food critic in LA and NYC and a chef herself. The way she writes about food will make your mouth water. I tried to read one of her books while I was experimenting with vegetarianism and it was almost painful. My favorite so far has been Garlic and Sapphires which is about her time as the food critic for the NYTimes.