I once read an
historical romance wherein there was a medieval banquet. It was a
helluva feast, too, and each and every dish on the tables was
minutely detailed in the book. I felt like I was reading someone's
grocery list, which was pretty dull. A little color would be great,
but how much detail is necessary, and what is just
plain filler?
I like food in
books. I like to write some into my books, and there's a meal or two
in nearly every one. Ace-High
Flush includes a scene where Ace
gets to eat his first real NY kosher bagel. I didn't lovingly
describe the thickness of the cream cheese, or the color of the lox.
I think we all can imagine cream cheese and smoked salmon without a
reminder of what they are like. But the food was there. Unless you're
writing a cookbook or, like Jeffrey Steingarten, are writing a food
adventure or criticism, there's no need to describe every dish on the
table right down to the salt and pepper. I might say that they're
"eating Chinese food," or "munched on sugary cereal,"
but I'm unlikely to say they ate chateaubriand, medium rare, with
béarnaise sauce and asparagus tips wrapped in a colorful red bell
pepper ribbon, unless I'm trying to make a point that it was
surprising to the character and that every detail was a new
revelation. There has to be a point to the description, otherwise,
"fancy steak dinner" ought to be enough and the plot should
be moving along without getting into the victuals.
Have you ever
been inspired to try a new recipe based upon something you read in a
fiction book? Was the whole recipe written out? I know I've been
struck by, "Hey, yeah! We can have that for dinner tonight!"
when reading, occasionally. But I never expect to find out how to
cook the food, or discover all its ingredients in a romance novel. I
think it's fascinating to read about some of the old "appliances"
used by cooks in historical times, when I read historical romances;
that adds color. But, once again, it would be tedious to hear about
every little detail. If I'm that curious, I have Google.
So how do you feel about food in
fiction? How deep into the weeds (or the cake batter) do you want to
get?
I think it's very interesting especially in historical novels...I've had fun contemporary 'sexy' food banquets in a couple of books...what a great blog post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Elaine. It's a tasty topic. :)
ReplyDeleteLike everything else, food described in detail should be essential to the plot--otherwise just give me the bare bones.
ReplyDeleteWe are in total agreement, Cara. Thanks for your comment.
DeleteI don't usually have a lot of food description in my books (although I must admit when you said medieval banquet, I paused to think if I might have been the culprit. LOL). There is one in a Lisa Kleypas historical that is wonderful, however, as she describes some of the truly awful things the British used to serve at dinner , but the point was to make the American heroine sick just looking at the food and the hero realizes it and comes to her rescue. So yes, food description must have a purpose.
ReplyDeleteOh no, it wasn't you. The bloated banquet was many years ago. I can't even recall the author or the title of the book. In my opinion, anything you go into detail about had better be important to the plot or characterizations. I'm glad you were able to come by and comment, Jenna. Thanks.
Delete