Hillary Manton Lodge | Romancing Foodie Fiction

If you look at fiction in general – and romance in particular – it’s all
about the senses.
Sight, sounds, touch – all of these make regular appearances as a scene is
drawn out.

But taste sometimes gets left behind. What foodie fiction does is make
taste a part of the
whole reading experience. The food becomes a secondary character, and the
flavors help to
augment the scene.

The awareness of the food we consume is something of a recent phenomenon. During the middle of the 20th century, middle-class households streamlined and women began to cook for their families, rather than employ a cook or housekeeper to do it for them. We saw the dual rise of classic cookbooks such as Joy of Cooking and Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking alongside the marketing and availability of convenience foods. As each household added a television, along came cooking shows instructing viewers about technique.

During the seventies, chef and restaurateur Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse
and
spearheaded the idea of using local, seasonal, and organic produce. The
conversation
shifted from technique to ingredients. Alice focused on making simple food
taste like
itself, a revolutionary idea at the time.

And while instructional cooking shows have been around since the 40’s,
they’ve grown in
popularity over the last fifteen years. Even if you weren’t cooking
yourself, you could
watch someone else cook – and their dishes always turned out.

Good food, prepared at home, became aspirational. Romantic. Something to
aspire to in a
perpetually hectic world.

Food writers such as MFK Fisher, Ruth Reichl, and Molly Wizenberg helped to
propel the
recent spate of food memoirs, with the authors examining their own lives
through the lens
of food.

Foodie fiction, I think, grew out of those nonfiction volumes, as well as
the vicarious
experience of television cookery. And why not? Characters can prepare and
consume meals
that might be out of reach of the reader, but no less delicious. If we
travel vicariously
in a novel, why not eat vicariously? Why not surround characters with food
that’s delicious
– and also tells us about that character, and about the world in which they
live.

In Siri Mitchell’s CHATEAU OF ECHOES (which I reread about every year), the protagonist uses the kitchen as a way to control her world, and as a place to hide. In Erica Bauermeister’s THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS, as the students in Lillian’s cooking class learn their way around the kitchen, they also come to greater courage in their own lives. And in Sarah Addison Allen’s GARDEN SPELLS, the food prepared by Claire Waverly has the power to alter people’s behaviors and decisions – everyone but the man next door. In my latest novel, RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, food plays a large part of the characters’ worlds. Partly because it’s their business – the protagonist, Juliette D’Alisa, grew up at her parents’ Portland restaurant. But it’s also her heritage – Italian on her father’s side, French on her mother’s. The family’s interactions, and the way they deal with times of tragedy, all revolve around food.

And in several chapters there are recipes at the end. The reader can
experience Juliette’s
world that much more, and even if the recipes go unprepared, they paint a
more detailed
picture – how much vanilla and orange zest go into something such as a
blueberry buckwheat
cake.

In the end, the purpose of the food in RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, as well as the others in the genre, isn’t to show off or add unnecessary flourishes. Instead, it serves to broaden the reading experience while creating and even more delicious world for the reader to savor.

GIVEAWAY

What do you think about food in fiction? How do you think it adds to the experience?. Leave a comment below and be entered for a chance to win a copy of RESERVATIONS FOR TWO.

About Hillary Manton Lodge

Hillary Manton Lodge is the author of A TABLE BY THE WINDOW, PLAIN JAYNE, and SIMPLY SARA. A graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism, Hillary discovered the world of cuisine during her internship at Northwest Palate Magazine. Her latest novel, RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, will release in April of 2015 from WaterBrook Publishing Group.

In her free time, Hillary enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, attending
indie concerts,
and finding new walking trails. She and her husband make their home in
Portland, Oregon,
with their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Shiloh.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Blog

About RESERVATIONS FOR TWO

Food writer-turned-restaurateur Juliette D’Alisa has more than enough on her plate. While her trip to Provence might have unlocked new answers to her grandmother’s past, it’s also provided new complications in the form of Neil McLaren, the man she can’t give up.

Juliette and Neil find romance simple as they travel through Provence and
Tuscany together,
but life back home presents a different set of challenges. Juliette has a
restaurant to
open, a mother combating serious illness, and a family legacy of secrets to
untangle – how
does Neil, living so far away in Memphis, fit into to her life?

As she confronts an uncertain future, Juliette can’t help but wish that life could be as straightforward as her chocolate chip cookie recipe. Can her French grandmother’s letters from the 1940’s provide wisdom to guide her present? Or will every new insight create a fresh batch of mysteries?

Comments

24 comments posted.

Re: Hillary Manton Lodge | Romancing Foodie Fiction

Sometimes I crave the food even when it kills people ~
(Marissa Yip-Young 5:45am September 11, 2015)

Looking at food in fiction gives you a birds'-eye view
into the way people ate from centuries ago, into
present time. Perhaps not all the dishes would be
pleasing to your own personal palate, but they do give
you a starting point on which to tweak a recipe
slightly to make it more pleasing to your own taste.
I personally enjoy looking at them, to see what other
people eat, or have eaten in the past, and almost
forgot that there's sometimes recipes from other
Countries that are sometimes thrown in for good
measure (no pun intended). Congratulations on your
latest book. It sounds like an intriguing read, and
I'll be putting it on my TBR list.
(Peggy Roberson 8:41am September 11, 2015)

Working in a restaurant you can hear all kinds of stories , like murders , affairs ,missing persons and etc . All kinds of good stories there.
(Joan Thrasher 8:42am September 11, 2015)

Food in romance books can be very sexy. In how they use the
food 😉
(Emily Stemp 10:39am September 11, 2015)

Food in fiction is delectable, desirable, seductive and
fascinating since we all enjoy food and want to read and savor
every snack, meal and treat.
(Sharon Berger 10:56am September 11, 2015)

Reading the summary of this book brings back wonderful
memories of taking a cooking class in Tuscany many years
ago with Stephania. I'd love to read this!
(Sharon Shirlen 11:31am September 11, 2015)

Food in fiction always adds a little extra depth and makes me hungry. No wonder I'm always snack hungry while reading.
(Maria Smith 12:31pm September 11, 2015)

Descriptions of anything, whether it be food, fashion,
scenery, etc. help flesh out the story and allow the
reader to engage more in the story and use their own
imagination.
(Irene Menge 2:09pm September 11, 2015)

It can really add to some stories.
(Nancy Luebke 5:11pm September 11, 2015)

Food in a story- or any description especially if it is very detailed- adds to the story in my imagination and makes it more real to me
(Amanda Ray 5:41pm September 11, 2015)

Food adds more flavour and spice to the story :)
(Holly Loch 9:41pm September 11, 2015)

Food and love. Can it get better than that? I love food in
fiction. The choices of what a character wants to eat can say
much about the background of the individual, food can put you
into the setting of a location, and as a reader I can
vicariously enjoy all of the wonderful dishes.
(G. Bisbjerg 4:19am September 12, 2015)

Sometimes food can add to the story if it does (like a dessert) then I like to see the recipe too!
(Bonnie Capuano 10:05am September 12, 2015)

Think I found a tresure when I also find the recipe
included.
(Mary Hay 11:21am September 12, 2015)

I love having food as a theme in a fictional book. Most events in people's lives revolve around eating so it really seems like food should also be a central part of a storyline. I can't imagine a personal celebratory or sad event where food didn't come into play.
(Flora Presley 3:47pm September 12, 2015)

I love food in a fictional book. Life revolves around
food, doesn't it? Having food in a fictional book makes it
so much more real!
(Amy Morgan 8:47pm September 12, 2015)

Foods in fictional book are fabulous. When I read what is being served, I often want to get the recipe so I can try and make it myself.
(Kai Wong 3:27am September 13, 2015)

I've tried some of the recipes I find in books.
(Wilma Frana 4:41pm September 13, 2015)

I think food in fiction is a connection for readers to our
lives.. I love when an author includes recipes, especially if
it is something I can make easily.
(Kimberley Coover 6:37pm September 13, 2015)

sound like a great book to read
(Ann Unger 11:08pm September 13, 2015)

I agree that describing food adds that missing piece of the
puzzle. We all have to eat. Leaving meals out of
characters' lives means readers miss the opportunity to share
a common experience.
(Donna Mortensen 12:46pm September 14, 2015)

I love books with food in them. Especially bakeries or eating
establishments. I am very fond of mysteries.
(Denise Austin 4:03pm September 14, 2015)

Food in fiction really delights the senses and makes for a more interesting story.
(Heidi Ingalls 10:23pm September 14, 2015)

Food in books often makes me curious.
(Laura Gullickson 10:27pm September 14, 2015)

Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!