I like to get in the mood, when I’m reading. Here’s my list of how to pair your nosh to your book:
- Westerns
- Riders of
the Purple Sage. Cow country. This would suggest a certain menu. Steak,
medium rare. Tempting, but hard to cut a steak while
simultaneously holding a book and turning pages. Really, Mel Brooks had
the right idea. Beans, and plenty of them. Make sure you’re NOT reading
in public.
- Chick-lit
- Slipping
into the realm of the unknown here. Chicks are slim young things,
right? They would eat salad. I hate
salad. Ergo…hand me a western.
- Action-Adventure
- The
trouble with Bond-clone movies and books is you’re apt to spill your
martini
with all that racing around in the plot. Things blow up a lot in the
action-adventure genre. This might suggest popcorn. But make sure you
pop it before you eat
it. Keep the explosions to your
book. (Or switch to westerns.)
- Horror
- This is
obvious. Ribs. Dripping with BBQ sauce.
- Herself's
personal additions: Cilantro and goat cheese <<shivers>>
- Romance
- Chocolate.
- CanLit (Literature, for all you American types.)
- It will
be unusual, expensive, and unpalatable. You won’t “understand” why
others think
it is so good. Your palate has not been
suitably developed to appreciate such fineness. Caviar. Escargot (it
always
sounds so much better in French.) Duck liver (you can look up the
French
spelling.) If you get beyond the first
bite (er…page one,) Yay for you. Hard to
read – hard to eat.
- Mystery
- Should be
obvious, right? Chinese food! Get someone else to order it for you, so
the
mystery deepens.
- Fantasy
- Try to
find Ambrosia. They really dig it on
Olympia. If you can’t find that,
substitute ice cream. (I know. You
thought I was going to say wine. But my fantasy is ice cream with a
suitably
delicious Greek God-ling. Okay, he
doesn’t have to be a God yet. Just young
and Greek. Okay, this is slipping into
erotica…
- Erotica
- Forget
the oysters, artichokes, or other silly vegetable-type aphrodisiacs.
(Fish is
almost a vegetable. Trust me.) The answer is more chocolate. (Silly.
That’s the answer to almost anything.)
- Sci-fi
- KIND nut
bars. Okay, is the metaphor too obvious?
- What to Eat if you’re a Writer:
- Coffee.
- And humble pie.
Melodie Campbell’s latest mob comedy,
TheGoddaughter Caper, has just been released. It’s an offer you
can’t refuse. Available at all the usual suspects.
So Westerns are solitary reads? No curling on the sofa with a loved one, curling toes underneath one another?
ReplyDeleteOne more suggestion:
Technical manuals
Dry toast.
Actually, Chinese or Japanese food seems to be a necessity for writing good software. Maybe they’re brain food.
Love this list, Melodie. I think it would make a good piece for a magazine. Thanks for the suggestions. And now I'm off to seek out ambrosia.
ReplyDeleteVery best of luck with the new novel. Hope you will soon be rolling in fancy food and good chocolates.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, love the dry toast! Have written technical manuals. Best with scotch.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janice! rolling in fancy food and chocolate...sounds like erotica to me :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Paul! When you find ambrosia, lets go into business. Supplement our writing income.
ReplyDeleteYou can eat steak with any genre. Just cut it up into bite-size pieces all at once, then open your book. You can easily stab each piece with your fork while still reading. Afraid you'll look silly cutting up your steak at the start of the meal? Who cares how it looks? It's steak damn it. Sacrifices need to be made.
ReplyDeleteBarb, we are kindred spirits. And just for that, I'm having steak tonight.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I will too.
DeleteMelodie, fun article. When I read anthologies I eat leftovers. And as writers we have all eaten our share of crow.
ReplyDeleteHerschel, I love it! Leftovers with anthologies. And yes...crow.
ReplyDeleteSeems like pizza should have a genre, maybe those saga novels. You eat hot pizza during the steamy passages and cold mushroom and anchovy pizza during the heartbreak parts, reward and punishment for continuing to read.
ReplyDeleteI'll add pizza to my list, Anon! So far, the certain conclusion is I'm going to get fat.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you're reading H.P. Lovecraft, calamari, or anything with tentacles.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for John Floyd to chime in and recommend we eat Reeses Pieces when reading WW.
ReplyDeleteWine with everything!
ReplyDeleteNo RP for me, Herschel. I'll take a burger and fries, to go.
ReplyDeleteGood list, Melodie!
(laughing) Jeff's suggestion is brilliant.
ReplyDeleteSusan Cooper and I recently discussed ambrosia. When I was a kid, a lot of mothers made ‘ambrosia’, aka 5-cup salad (or 6-cup, depending) for picnics and ‘pitch-ins’. Cool, sweet, slightly healthful, the ingredients included:
ReplyDelete1 part coconut
1 part diced pineapple
1 part maraschino cherries
1 part mandarin oranges
1 part tiny marshmallows
1 part … um, sour cream I think
Jeff, I will avoid Lovecraft, just as I avoid anything with tentacles
ReplyDeleteEve, you are welcome to my house for breakfast any day.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I remember that 'salad' - my kind of salad. (Who says that salad has to be lettuce?)
ReplyDeleteSports stories ... BEER!
ReplyDelete