Just a quick note to let you know that I've been asked to speak on a writers panel: Moonee Valley Libraries hosts an annual writers panel and this year’s panel, "Food on the Page", is about food and writing. The discussion will be about "what constitutes good food writing and what skills it takes to translate the physicality and sensuality of cooking and eating into words and ideas." The panel will include (real authors) Rita Erlich and Charmaine O'Brien, plus me. Eeeek!
It's on at 2pm on Saturday 14 May at the Sam Merrifield Library in Moonee Ponds, the event is free but bookings are necessary (call 8325 1950 - further details on the library website). If any of you would like to come along it'd be great to have you there - maybe we can kick back over a muggins of tea, coffee or gin & tonic afterwards.
One of the things I've been asked by the library to provide is a list of my top 5 favourite books. As I've been compiling my list, I've been reflecting on how books about food fit into my top 5. Do any books about food make yours?
3 comments:
Glad to hear you'll be heading up to the . RE: books, Chocolat and Five quarters of the Orange would definitely be in my top 10. Top 5 is too hard. But then I have Joanne Harris' cookbook The French Kitchen and rarely use it. Wierd.
Oh wow, good luck on speaking on the panel! I live in Moonee Valley, will definitely be there :) As Jane's mentioned, I've read Joanne Harris' books as well, and I think Five quarters of an Orange was brilliant. But didn't really feature food that much, I don't think.
Alex Miller's Lovesong, whilst not entirely about food, really featured food I think. I loved the book, and liked how the use of culture and cuisine lent the story some depth and sensuality. I could really picture the cafe in Paris, and the patisserie too.
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Oh, congrats on the panel, that sounds great!
I often fall in love with books due to their food descriptions - my favourite is Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, particularly Little House in the Big Woods, with it's pig butchering scene. Mmmm, I can almost smell that freshly roasted pig's tail now...
I also love a short story by Margaret Mahy, which is about a fruit cake a mother makes for her son, who is coming home for his birthday. The description of her making the cake, by moonlight is beautiful. She puts the iced cake in the window to mature, and it's so pretty, she gets a request to put it in an art gallery. The story is just lovely, although I can't remember the name of it. But it's part of a collection called The Door in the Air. All the stories in that collection are lovely, come to think of it!
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