Food and Writing

My friend & I cook together.  We make a lot of Indian dishes, which made me think about my novel & the use of food in it.  Of course, there’s the most obvious connection, that of the “Morning Glory Cafe”, which is a common meeting place for all of the characters.  But I also began to think about many of the other food in my book & was truly amazed at how often I used it.  There are several BBQ scenes for Fourth of July celebrations, which serve the traditional ideas & values of women nurturing men with food.  There is a scene where food is used to delight & seduce others, such as an African meal that is served alongside hashish & wine.  There’s another dinner where food is used to impress some while alienating another.  And there is still another meal that is used as a juxtaposition to religious ideas (touting the glories of Christianity in a vegetarian Thai restaurant, which would be consistent with Hinduism).  Food does so much more than quell our hunger & I am glad that I included so many references to it in my novel.