Food Memories from Books

[woo me with science]

Okay, I think the New Years diet is getting to me.

Blogslut's poem about buttered toast reminded me of reading Mary Poppins, and the description of her as always smelling faintly of buttered toast.

Then I started thinking about the food memories I have from other books...descriptions of food that stood out and never left my consciousness. Many of them are from childhood....I must have been hungry a lot. :)

My favorite literary food:

Mary Poppins and buttered toast

Ma's cooking in the Little House on the Prairie books...I remember her making blackbird pie with wonderful gravy and meat so tender it slipped from the bones (although I kept wondering who puts bones in pie...).

That wonderful scene in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man when he is starving and comes across someone selling baked yellow yams on the street. The description of that crispy, sweet, hot, buttery yam by a desperately hungry man has stayed with me ever since and is always in my mind when I eat a steaming hot buttered yam or sweet potato on a cold winter night.

Charles Wallace's liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches in A Wrinkle in Time and Harriet the Spy's tomato sandwiches.

[blogslut]

1. No book-food memories off the top of my head

I'm sure I have them, just ca;'t think of any right now. :(

Still, I do love food in films. My favorite is when I see eggs-in-the-basket being made (toast!). Olympia Dukakis made them in Moonstruck and both "V" and Stephen Frye made them in V for Vendetta.

[woo me with science]

5. Your posts definitely have a theme today.....

I have not seen either movie so can't comment.

But...I think you should just stop resisting...

[spinbaby]

2. Tins

I read a lot of British stories from the early part of the 20th century--mainly Edith Blyton--and was fascinated by "tinned" food. I always imagined a tin was a flat can like sardines come in and only much later realized they meant cans in general. I'm still not sure what a tinned biscuit is. There was also other strange and exotic foodstuff like ginger beer and tongue.

[woo me with science]

6. Oh yes!

I can certainly see being intrigued by that. I loved British boarding school stories. You just reminded me of reading A Little Princess and loving the descriptions of the "hampers" of food sent to a boarding school student, and how she shared her meat pies and bonbons with the others. :)

[MiddleFingerMom]

9. Tinned biscuits

.
I think in the UK, "tinned biscuits" would be possibly canned cookies, although
more likely canned crackers, which we used to get in C-rations and you can still
get in those little tuna/ham/chicken salad kits from just about any supermarket
or dollar store.
.
BTW, those are EXCELLENT for handing out to homeless people spare-changing in an
intersection, if your area allows that. More conservative acquaintances would
scoff at that idea when I've mentioned it, saying, "They just want money and
will just throw the food back in your face. I've never had any reaction except,
"Cool... a snack!!!"
.

.

[BlueMTexpat]

11. Ginger beer is great!

Think of ginger ale, but with a bit more zip.

[Chan790]

3. Proust's Madeleine and tea.

The triggering event of an entire book of Remembrances of Things Past...if it was not for petit French cakes and tea we would never hear the story of Charles Swann at all.

[woo me with science]

7. This is wonderful.

I didn't think of that. Thank you. :)

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Two come to mind......

.
Both bad. One from reading "Hannibal" by Thomas Harris and
the other from reading Stephen King's "Thinner" -- the
preparation of the brains and the presentation of the
"strawberry" pie both gave me difficulties for the next few
days with a loss of appetite (and MiddleFingerMom don't miss
no meals).
.
When I eventually saw those respective movies, those scenes
didn't affect me badly (as I had feared they would). I don't
know whether it was the POWER of the written word or whether
I had just become immune through experience.
.

[woo me with science]

8. Oh, dear, that's disturbing.

It is amazing how words can be stronger than pictures even...

[bookworm65t]

10. Pork

I tend to think of The Lord Of The Flies. Not precise here; I haven't read it in a long time.