The author of the popular readers’ blog “Vaenn” Ksenia Sokulska at our request compiled a list of novels in which the characters not only eat themselves, but also happily feed others.
Fanny Flagg Roasted Green Tomatoes at Stop Cafe
American Fanny Flagg is one of the most famous “fiction” cooks, as the heroes of her books are happy to enjoy delicacies, the recipes of which the writer honestly presents in the afterword to her works. And her famous “Green Tomatoes” are no exception. The whole plot of this patchwork novel is built around the daily life of the tiny town of Wisla Stop in Alabama. The writer shows almost sixty years of its history through the lives of members of the large and friendly family of the Treadgoods. And one of the centers of this life is a small cafe, co-owned by the wayward Iji – one of the daughters of this family. For decades, the Treadgoods, their friends and loved ones will face ups and downs, tragedy and happiness. But the small diner, which offers customers traditional dishes of the southern states, will help the heroes stay afloat in difficult times and solve one very unusual problem.
Brands offers “Stops”:
* fried green tomatoes (you can also taste with milk sauce)
* nut cake with corn syrup
* fried ham in a spicy coffee-based sauce
Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees
Another popular American novel touches on similar themes, although its main action takes place later than the key events of The Green Tomatoes. Sue Monk Kidd talks about the 1960s and racial discrimination. Young orphan Lily Owens grows up alone, avoiding her tyrant father. But one day life becomes unbearable, and Lily and her black nanny Rosalyn decides to run away from home. The dubious idea turns for the better when the fugitives take refuge with the Bowright sisters – May, June and August, who are the most famous beekeepers in the area. At first glance, “The Secret Life of Bees” is a slow and lyrical novel of upbringing, which tells of the rapid growth of an abandoned child. And on the second and all the others – it’s a bit of a story about love, patience and honey.
Bowright sisters branded offers:
* the famous honey “Black Madonna”
* honey cookies
* colored wax
Sarah Edison Allen “The Girl Who Hunt the Moon”
The American culinary novel has its queens (and Fenny Flagg is probably the first among equals), and there are princesses whose star has been rising in recent years. Such writers include Sarah Edison Allen, whose novels are a kind of bridge between the prose of the same Flagg and, say, Alice Hoffman – they have a lot of family drama, romance, delicious food, southern colors and quiet and invisible to the naked eye charms. Her third book, The Moon-Hunting Girl, tells the story of two heroines and a small town. Teenage girl Emily comes to her mother’s hometown, where she has never been, and gets used to living with a stranger-grandfather – a local star. Julia Winterson is also forced to return to Mellaby, from which she escaped when she was young, to take over the management of her parents’ barbecue restaurant. The only thing that matters and to some extent the “disease” of Julia herself is not meat, but sweet. She is an outstanding confectioner, although she sometimes sees her talent as a curse.
Julia’s branded offers:
* welcome apple pie with jam
* traditional southern cake “Red Velvet”
* Hummingbird cake with pineapples, bananas and pecans
Uwe Timm “Inventing Curry Sausage”
Bitterly sweet books about food, which actually unfold the story of hard times and complex human destinies, many have been written outside of America. One of the brightest novels of this kind is the work of the German Uwe Timm, which tells where the famous Hamburg specialty could have come from. In the last days of April 1945, Hermann Bremer decides: enough, he will no longer go to war, which is already over, but continues to take other people’s lives with him. The deserter manages to hide in the house of Frau Bruecker, who once lived selling street fast food. Germany capitulated, Hamburg recovered very slowly after the wave of final bombings, and Frau Lena frantically pondered what to earn in these hungry times. A few not very legal deals, one almost a mistake – and a born businesswoman invents a strange dish.
Lena Brucker’s brand offer:
* sausages with curry sauce.
Melinda Nagy Abonyi “Pigeons take off”
Another book about fugitives, war, and a small family business may not seem so dramatic at first. The Košić family is a typical migrant worker: first the parents moved to Switzerland, then the daughter was taken away, and now the whole family works for the good of the future. Finally, the most cherished dream of Mr. and Mrs. Kosic came true – the previous owners of the cafe “World Cup” sold them a business, retiring. Now life will finally be right – the older generation is confident. Only the younger ones – Nomi and Ildi – don’t think that a barista and a waitress are their dream job, even if their family does it for themselves. Meanwhile, there, at home, the war is unfolding. Because it has already happened that the Hungarians of Košice came to the dream land of stability from Serbia.
Brands of the cafe “World Cup”:
* coffee according to Mr. Kosic’s recipe
* festive goulash
* veal stew with fried potatoes
Jojo Moyes “The Girl You Left”
The recently published novel by Englishwoman Jojo Moyes has two storylines. Modern is an art criticism court melodrama. But historically it is about how the French survived during the German occupation during the First World War. Sophie and Ellen are trying to somehow tidy up in the family hotel, although the food in the local restaurant has not been served for a year and a half – there is not enough food for that. However, the sisters do not close the Red Rooster, because the bar, where you can tease your family, is an outlet for the locals. But only until the commandant decides that from now on the German officers will eat the cook sisters. In a small town, the forced consent of the sisters will not be understood. But resistance is different.
Company offers Sophie Lefebvre:
* fried chicken in tomato sauce
* duck fried with orange slices and canned ginger
* Apple pie
Joan Harris “Chocolate”
If we mention the English writers who pay much attention to the culinary theme, we can not miss the name of Joan Harris. The star author has her burning “military” novel – “Five quarters of an orange”. But her most famous work is a magical story about a chocolate bar and her little shop. One spring day, Viana Rocher and her daughter Anuk open the shutters of an abandoned building in the heart of Lanskne-Su-Tann. Quick repairs, a lot of work and skill – and now in the town, whose life revolves around the church, a candy store opens – a place of sin and temptation. It is not easy for Lanskne residents to get used to such an innovation. But Viana has talent – she always knows which sweets will taste best to each of her customers.
Brand offers of the store “Heavenly Almonds”:
* mendiants – small chocolates with zest, almonds and raisins
* apricot hearts
* sugar mice.