Come to the Table: Recipes For a More Perfect Union

 LUCY BURDETTE: I'm delighted to bring Leslie Karst back to the Reds--I loved her first culinary mystery and I'm salivating to read the second. When she chose inauguration day as the date for her post, I had some misgivings...but I love the idea of the country coming together over food. See what you think...and we'd like to hear your suggestions about healing the rifts in our country too!

LESLIE KARST: Today is inauguration day and across the country emotions are running high.

But they are not merely elevated: Right now—more than at any time since the 1960s—those emotions seem to be at polar opposites, with half the population experiencing euphoric ecstasy, the other half misery and despair. Whether you support our new president or not, one thing that cannot be disputed is that we have become a nation divided.

can the hamburger heal our nation’s divide?

And this makes me sad. Because I believe that we, as a country, are truly more connected than we are divided. The culture we share runs deep, whether we’re from Macon, Georgia or from San Francisco, California. But largely as a result of this bitter, divisive election we’ve just experienced—and the compounding effects of social, print, and televised media—we have come out of the event focused on our differences, rather than our similarities.

I’ve therefore been pondering the question, what can we do to heal this division? How do we encourage one another to instead focus once more on those customs and traditions which connect us, unite us, as Americans?

united we stand

Let me mention here that mystery readers and writers seem to be one group of people who, though we run the gamut of the political spectrum, are nevertheless united by our love of crimes, clues, clever sleuths, and the spinning of a good yarn. And this sense of solidarity across party lines is one of the things I love most about our community. But for the rest of the country, how can we heal this rift?

Well, I write culinary cozy mysteries, so my thoughts are never far from food and cooking. Not surprisingly, then, it came to me that what we eat connects us as a nation, perhaps more than any other activity. San Franciscans adore southern barbecue and Georgians love sourdough bread. And Americans across the country—no matter our race, religion, political party, sexual orientation, or cultural background—sit down together each Thanksgiving to share turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, and pumpkin pie.

(Okay, so there may be some disagreement over whether it should be green beans sautéed in olive oil and garlic or green bean casserole topped with fried onions, but that’s the kind of spat I can live with.)

It has long been my belief that coming together at mealtimes to sip some wine, swap stories, and learn what’s been going on in each others’ lives, is an essential part of what it is that makes us human. From the time of the stone age, early Homo Sapiens would gather about the communal fire each night for safety, stories, and food. And although this now often takes the form of a pizza night in front of the TV, we still find comfort in our shared breaking of bread.

So here’s my idea: Form an online group (such as a community Facebook page) called “COME TO THE TABLE: RECIPES FOR A MORE PERFECT UNION.” Readers would submit stories, photos, and recipes demonstrating how much we share as a nation, and recounting incidents or events when people of different cultures have come together and were united by food, drink, or cooking.

It’s my hope that in this way, not only would folks get to read some uplifting stories online about unity as opposed to divisiveness, but the page would also bring together people of divergent cultures and beliefs.

An example: The time my wife, Robin, and I spent the evening in a Navajo bar in some tiny town in New Mexico. We were the only women and only white people in the bar and got some pretty strange looks when we walked in, but it was the only place around where we could watch the World Series. After a few minutes we went next door to McDonalds and brought a Big Mac back for the bartender. Almost immediately the tension in the bar dissipated and all the patrons wanted to come chat us up. It ended up being one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had.

So what do you readers think of the idea? Would you participate in an online forum or Facebook page like this? Please comment below to let me know!

[I should note that I personally don’t have the time right now to create and maintain such an online space, but I hereby throw the idea out there for anyone who wants to take the idea and run with it!]

Leslie and her publisher are offering a copy of A MEASURE OF MURDER to one lucky commenter today--don't forget to leave your email!

A MEASURE OF MURDER, the second book in the Sally Solari culinary mystery series, will be released February 7, 2017 (Crooked Lane Books):

Sally Solari is busy juggling work at her family’s Italian restaurant, Solari’s, and helping plan the autumn menu for the restaurant she’s just inherited, Gauguin. Complicating this already hectic schedule, Sally joins her ex-boyfriend Eric’s chorus, which is performing a newly discovered version of her favorite composition: the Mozart Requiem. But then, at the first rehearsal, a tenor falls to his death on the church courtyard—and his soprano girlfriend is sure it wasn’t an accident.

Now Sally's back on another murder case mixed in with a dash of revenge, a pinch of peril, and a suspicious stack of sheet music. And while tensions in the chorus heat up, so does the kitchen at Gauguin, set aflame right as Sally starts getting too close to the truth. Can Sally catch the killer before she’s burnt to a crisp, or will the case grow as cold as yesterday’s leftovers?

“Engaging characters, terrific writing, and a savory blend of musical and culinary erudition...polymath Karst sauces her plot without masking its flavor. And she’s a dab hand with the red herrings.” Publishers Weekly starred review

Leslie Karst is the author of the Sally Solari culinary mystery series, published by Crooked Lane Books (Dying for a Taste, A Measure of Murder). The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie has degrees in English literature, law, and culinary arts. After graduating from Stanford Law School, she worked for twenty years as a research and appellate attorney before turning to mystery writing. Leslie now spends her days cooking, gardening, cycling, singing alto in the local community chorus, and of course writing. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix, Ziggy, split their time between Santa Cruz, California and Hilo, Hawai’i. Visit her online at http://www.lesliekarstauthor.com/ and at https://www.facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor/ .