Great food writing moments @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE:  I finished the draft of The Key Lime Crime two weeks ago and sent it in--always a wonderful moment! I know I will have revising to do and I knew ahead of time that there were a few things that needed to be tweaked or added, including a few of the quotes that I use at the beginning of each chapter. I’m not sure why or how I got launched this custom, but as I think about a story for food critic mystery number 11, there’s no turning back. 

In the first book, I used quotes that could be easily brought up by a Google search or a call for help on Facebook. I started with more standard citations that would be familiar to many people, for example Miss Piggy’s famous “don’t eat more than you can lift.” But then the more I read, the more possibilities I found. I tried to tailor each quote to fit the action and the characters in each chapter–foreshadow what’s to come in many cases. And I came across gems like this one from Dwight Garner: “It is possible to imagine him having a small meal of minor critics for breakfast, as if they were kippers…” 

Since then, I’ve been looking for foodie references in everything I read. Some of the novels and articles are about food, so it should be pretty easy to find meaningful quotes on their pages. But I’m noticing that not everybody either wants to or can write about food in more than a surface manner. And some folks who are not food writers at all, knock my socks off  with the way they use food/eating references to develop character and tension. Let’s face it, even if food references were strictly about food, I’d love them. But I love food references even more when they have a deeper meaning.

I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites…

The stainless steel kettle reminds me of Claire: polished to a gleam on the outside, boiling within. Ann Mah, Kitchen Chinese

But up front, next to the desk where the hosts have mastered the art of checking reservations without making eye contact, is a café/wine bar. A glass case there serves as a temporary prison for aging pastries and tragic snacks. Pete Wells, What if Brexit were a restaurant? The New York Times, December 19, 2018

When I write about a line cook’s bad night, it’s not just about a bad night, it’s about not being good enough, period, about personal shame and failure. Michael Ruhlman

He was holding the cardboard cup in his vest and she thought the tension would make him squeeze it and spill the tea all over the table. Ann Cleeves, Wild Fire

Then she also read Sirine’s coffee grounds and said she could see the signs written in the black coffee traces along the milky porcelain: sharp knife, quick hands, white apron, and the sadness of a chef. “Chefs know—nothing lasts,” she told Sirine. “In the mouth, then gone.” Diana Abu-Jaber, Crescent

The soup course was a clear lemony broth dotted with parsley and scrolls of spring onion. It filled the air with a sunny fragrance, and I thought the cook was a genius to make such a dish on so dark a day. Barbara O’Neal, The Art of Inheriting Secrets

You think someone killed her to keep her quiet? Vera licked her fingers to pick up the crumbs from her plate and the surrounding table. Ann Cleeves, Silent Voices

His voice, as one fan wrote in a YouTube comment, sounds like what melted chocolate tastes like. Maureen Dowd, Tom Ford, Fragrant Vegan Vampire. The New York Times, April 20, 2019

But keeping people active at a wake was essential. Being busy, like working, allayed grief. By splitting cakes and heaping on berries and cream, the mourners could start to get their minds off death. Diane Mott Davidson, Catering to Nobody

I love you, Elizabeth said, and I started to cry. In the oven, the chocolate soufflé began to burn. Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Language of Flowers

Mr. Scott was a pale, thin man. A stick of forced rhubarb said Sally’s mother, who had seen him at a parents meeting. Ann Cleeves, Raven Black

Do you notice food references as you read? any that you remember especially enjoying?

And ps, there's a hint in the above list about tomorrow's guest...I bet you mystery and thriller aficionados can figure it out...