Yuletide Reveal: No Reservations: Narnia
Undoubtedly the most-read story I wrote for Yuletide was No Reservations: Narnia, for 
innocentsmith - it even hit MeFi.
Anthony Bourdain is a gonzo food journalist and chef whose show No Reservations has him touring the world, eating gourmet and home-cooked food, dropping bleeped-out f-bombs and enjoying the hell out of his job.
nnocentsmith’s inspired prompt was to put him and his show in a fantasy context - to have him report on Ruritania, Elfland, or Narnia.
Several commenters marveled that I got such different canons to work together. I went with the idea that Narnia is a real place, but the Chronicles show it through the glass of Lewis’s particular style, audience, and prejudices. Bourdain too has his own style, audience, and prejudices - he might not be the best choice to send on a quest, but he’d appreciate some cultures that Lewis didn’t. But both writers love food and food culture, so they made a natural match, even if Bourdain’s swearing would have made Lewis’s toes curl. Since Lewis’s protagonists are mostly Earth people marveling at Narnia, having Bourdain marvel at it wasn’t a big stretch.
For those not familiar with one or more of the sources, the structure is typical of the TV show, and Bourdain and his crew are all real. The Narnian cultures all appear in the books, but the individual Narnian characters are original with the exception of Reepicheep and the one who turns up at the very end. I did not invent the peculiar nature of Marsh-wiggle tobacco, but I did invent the table which showcases its properties.
I had enormous fun brainstorming the food for this story with
coraa, who came up with the leeches, the name “terravita,” the concept of Dredge-the-Pond, a plausible blood-based alcoholic drink, and much more - a lot of the credit for this story should go to her. Also thanks to
ellen_fremedon for Hati Moon-eater’s name.
The style for this story was based on Anthony Bourdain’s book A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines
, which I highly recommend.
My main resource for the food served at Digwell and Mouldiscoop’s home was The Cooking of the British Isles (Foods of the World Series) (Time-Life Books)
(links go to Amazon), by Adrian Bailey. If you enjoyed that section of my story, you will undoubtedly enjoy his loving tour through British foodways.
Except for the pavenders and the toffee-apple brandy, all the food in that section (and the fried breakfast in the beginning of the next section) is real British food, though some is old-fashioned and would be hard to find nowadays. Rainbow Pavender is based on the French dish Trout au Bleu, which I first read about in the original Joy of Cooking - apparently the vinegar makes the trout skin turn bright blue. I didn’t invent the toffee-apples, but I did invent the brandy.
You can read an account of making Sussex Pond Pudding, which references Laurie Colwin’s wonderful book of cooking essays Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen (Vintage Contemporaries)
here; hers comes out better than Colwin’s did: Sussex Pond Pudding. I have never had it, but it sounds great. If anyone tries making it, please let me know.
Except for the eel stew, which is mentioned in the Narnia books and exists in many variations worldwide, and the terravita, which is my interpretation of the contents of Puddleglum’s little black bottle, Marsh-wiggle cuisine exists only in my imagination. Thank God.
Wer cuisine was drawn from a number of different real dishes from a number of different cultures. Swiftlets are real birds, though I’m not sure if they’re eaten in real life. The description of eating the roast swiftlet was based on Bourdain’s account of eating an ortolan in Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
. The chopped raw meat mixed with butter was inspired by the Ethiopian dish kitfo, though the Wers use Scandinavian flavorings and include pork cracklings. Mother and child is based on koumiss, a Central Asian fermented milk beverage, which is not actually mixed with blood. The name was inspired by the Japanese chicken-and-egg dish oyako-don, or “parent and child bowl.” I don’t think anyone actually eats leeches.
The Calormene dishes are based on Persian cuisine, with variations inspired by Lewis’s mouthwatering descriptions in The Horse and His Boy. The yogurt drink is called doogh.
I’m glad so many people enjoyed this story, by far the most popular of any fanfic I’ve ever written. I had a great time writing it, and perhaps that shines through.
This entry was originally posted at http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/882729.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
innocentsmith - it even hit MeFi.
Anthony Bourdain is a gonzo food journalist and chef whose show No Reservations has him touring the world, eating gourmet and home-cooked food, dropping bleeped-out f-bombs and enjoying the hell out of his job.
nnocentsmith’s inspired prompt was to put him and his show in a fantasy context - to have him report on Ruritania, Elfland, or Narnia.
Several commenters marveled that I got such different canons to work together. I went with the idea that Narnia is a real place, but the Chronicles show it through the glass of Lewis’s particular style, audience, and prejudices. Bourdain too has his own style, audience, and prejudices - he might not be the best choice to send on a quest, but he’d appreciate some cultures that Lewis didn’t. But both writers love food and food culture, so they made a natural match, even if Bourdain’s swearing would have made Lewis’s toes curl. Since Lewis’s protagonists are mostly Earth people marveling at Narnia, having Bourdain marvel at it wasn’t a big stretch.
For those not familiar with one or more of the sources, the structure is typical of the TV show, and Bourdain and his crew are all real. The Narnian cultures all appear in the books, but the individual Narnian characters are original with the exception of Reepicheep and the one who turns up at the very end. I did not invent the peculiar nature of Marsh-wiggle tobacco, but I did invent the table which showcases its properties.
I had enormous fun brainstorming the food for this story with
coraa, who came up with the leeches, the name “terravita,” the concept of Dredge-the-Pond, a plausible blood-based alcoholic drink, and much more - a lot of the credit for this story should go to her. Also thanks to
ellen_fremedon for Hati Moon-eater’s name.
The style for this story was based on Anthony Bourdain’s book A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines
, which I highly recommend.
My main resource for the food served at Digwell and Mouldiscoop’s home was The Cooking of the British Isles (Foods of the World Series) (Time-Life Books)
(links go to Amazon), by Adrian Bailey. If you enjoyed that section of my story, you will undoubtedly enjoy his loving tour through British foodways.
Except for the pavenders and the toffee-apple brandy, all the food in that section (and the fried breakfast in the beginning of the next section) is real British food, though some is old-fashioned and would be hard to find nowadays. Rainbow Pavender is based on the French dish Trout au Bleu, which I first read about in the original Joy of Cooking - apparently the vinegar makes the trout skin turn bright blue. I didn’t invent the toffee-apples, but I did invent the brandy.
You can read an account of making Sussex Pond Pudding, which references Laurie Colwin’s wonderful book of cooking essays Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen (Vintage Contemporaries)
here; hers comes out better than Colwin’s did: Sussex Pond Pudding. I have never had it, but it sounds great. If anyone tries making it, please let me know.
Except for the eel stew, which is mentioned in the Narnia books and exists in many variations worldwide, and the terravita, which is my interpretation of the contents of Puddleglum’s little black bottle, Marsh-wiggle cuisine exists only in my imagination. Thank God.
Wer cuisine was drawn from a number of different real dishes from a number of different cultures. Swiftlets are real birds, though I’m not sure if they’re eaten in real life. The description of eating the roast swiftlet was based on Bourdain’s account of eating an ortolan in Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
. The chopped raw meat mixed with butter was inspired by the Ethiopian dish kitfo, though the Wers use Scandinavian flavorings and include pork cracklings. Mother and child is based on koumiss, a Central Asian fermented milk beverage, which is not actually mixed with blood. The name was inspired by the Japanese chicken-and-egg dish oyako-don, or “parent and child bowl.” I don’t think anyone actually eats leeches.
The Calormene dishes are based on Persian cuisine, with variations inspired by Lewis’s mouthwatering descriptions in The Horse and His Boy. The yogurt drink is called doogh.
I’m glad so many people enjoyed this story, by far the most popular of any fanfic I’ve ever written. I had a great time writing it, and perhaps that shines through.
This entry was originally posted at http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/882729.html. Please comment there using OpenID.