On food and fiction
From an early age, books would whet my appetite. I would read glorious descriptions of food and immediately start dreaming of it.
I imagined myself high on a cliff above the seas with the sky a glorious blue and a Famous Five-inspired feast before me: hard boiled eggs, pickled ham sandwiches, slabs of cake, and lashings of ginger beer. I also thought frequently of the food in Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. The characters who populated that tree all ate pop cakes – a type of buttery biscuit with a sweet honey filling – and as a child these cakes seemed magical. Now, as an adult, they are simply a very sensible choice to have with tea or coffee; it’s possible we call them macarons.
The Chronicles of Narnia from C.S. Lewis also had magical food. Like a forbidden apple covered in fine sugar, Turkish delight was so sweet and delicious that Edmond was smitten from the first mouthful. I can’t blame him. To this day I’m still reminded of the White Witch whenever I gently shake my container of confection, purchased on Sydney Road. (This is, of course, another very sensible choice for a mid-afternoon cuppa.)
J.K. Rowling said it was deliberate that the food served at Hogwarts was delicious and plentiful. If I close my eyes I can vividly see the roast chicken, the jelly, the cream cakes. Oh, and the butter beer, a drink that warms the body with a glow of contentment. Harry Potter was beside himself with delight at his first feast in the castle and it’s a feeling I’m very familiar with. Especially on a summer eve with the smell of a roast wafting through the house, and a fine brew on hand.
These days, I’m obsessed with cookbooks, and am still in love with the idea of creating a little magic in the kitchen. So, to make your own feast reminiscent of childhood reading, here are my top picks for waving the wand…
How to be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson: Surely she has been influenced by Enid, surely her language and her swirls of colours and cream are all from reading about children heading up and over hills, eating alfresco and enjoying pork pies and cupcakes with heavy butter icing. This wonderful book is a must for any home baker.
Special Delivery by Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe: She has cakes, tarts and meringues recipes all within an easy reach for the most basic of cooks. Her take on sharing food is warm, kind and as it should be. Her picnic basket is full and that seems perfect for this time of the year.
Zumbo by Adriano Zumbo: Ridiculous wonderful flavours of an imagination so farfetched that despite the need to spend the entire day in the kitchen to produce the end result, it is worth it. It is thrilling.
