I've never understood why Lewis fans are so fixated on Turkish Delight. If you believe him, the stuff is dangerous! Stay away! It may be because it's so little known in the US; people are curious. There's been much discussion in California recently about the banning of pate de foie gras. It's unquestionably goose-torture to produce it, but I'm still curious as to what it might taste like. (I have had shark fin soup, also since banned; if you haven't, you're really not missing anything.)
In Tolkien, foods are simple and plain, matching the author's own tastes - with the exception of the rare desserts, the Great Cake in Smith of Wootton Major and Dragon's Tail in Farmer Giles. It was the authors of Bored of the Rings who pointed out that, in the big feasts like Bilbo's birthday party and the one at the Council of Elrond, the food served is hardly described at all. Only the Unexpected Party at the start of The Hobbit gets a detailed menu.
I'd have to say that for me the most memorable fictional cuisine is that of Geta in Kingsbury's Courtship Rite, which begins with a funeral and ends with a wedding. No human flesh is served at the wedding, because one of the brides doesn't believe in anthropophagy, but the decedent is the main course at the funeral.
An old man, Tae has been skinned and then marinated and stuffed with insect flavored bread before his body was spit-roasted. . . . he was carved to the monotonous voice of chanting and served in a spiced sauce that had been salted by a spoonful of blood from each of his eighty-three sons and seventy daughters.
There is also the brilliant scene of moral shock when Oelita sees her first photos from Earth's history, showing battlefields piled with corpses that no one is even going to eat.
Looking at things I might actually eat, Lois McMaster Bujold (especially in her accounts of Ma Kosti's creations) and S.M. Stirling both have some excellent foodie scenes. Then there was Heinlein's account of meals on Ganymede in Farmer
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For me the Lewis thing was not just Turkish Delight but wine. Wine sounded amazing! And...I now do drink wine sometimes. But the first bit of communion wine I had at 10 was a grave disappointment--not just in quality but in type, I had something else completely in my head from Lewis's description. I've never drunk anything that tastes even remotely like the wine in my head from Prince Caspian. If I do I will buy a case.
Oh, I loved communion wine from the first drink. But I never wanted it outside of communion. Hadn't realized that until now. It tasted like liquid gold, infused with the Holy Spirit.
I don't even remember wine from Prince Caspian! I wonder why not. Was it because wine--liquor--was such an adult thing, like cigarettes, which made me sick? Hmm.
try a desert red - there's a Californian one called "Elysium" which tastes much closer to the flavours described in Prince Caspian. It is supposed to be based on a Roman variety - deep and fruity, slightly on the sweet side rather than dry and tannic style that are common these days.
if the Turkish Delight tasted like "squishy marzipan" it sounds like someone didn't give you Turkish Delight at all.
It should be a firm jelly, flavoured with rose or lemon, or occasionally pistachio and dusted with powdered sugar. It can be an acquired taste, but it should never resemble a paste of ground almonds and sugar.
In the UK we mostly grew up on Fry's Turkish Delight, which is a rose flavoured jelly coated with chocolate. When you bit into it you will see a deep pink coloured inside.
Oh and Turkish Delight is VERY delicious - once you've tasted the proper stuff from Turkey or Greece, the Fry's chocolate covered stuff is a poor second.
Thank you! Indeed, I discovered that there are varieties. I still probably wouldn't like it as I haven't much of a sweet tooth (I do like chocolate, but only dark and bitter)
And that's kind of why it was for Edmund, right? wartime rationing making sweet a premium?
At least that's what I thought, given that my grandmother who was young during the Depression and the War likes things like sugar cookies that I find insipidly sweet (and my great-grandmother was more of the spice cookies/darker/nuttier chocolates taste range, so it's not just that older generations liked things sweeter universally).
I actually would use "food pills" - quick, efficient, providing exactly the right nutrition, so long as it also made you feel "satisfied" - for some purposes so I could save "good" tasty food for when I have time to enjoy it.
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In Tolkien, foods are simple and plain, matching the author's own tastes - with the exception of the rare desserts, the Great Cake in Smith of Wootton Major and Dragon's Tail in Farmer Giles. It was the authors of Bored of the Rings who pointed out that, in the big feasts like Bilbo's birthday party and the one at the Council of Elrond, the food served is hardly described at all. Only the Unexpected Party at the start of The Hobbit gets a detailed menu.
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I tasted pate once. It was disgusting. (I also like the plain and simple.) When I found out how it was made, I wanted to retroactively untaste it,
I wonder if the fixation on Turkish Delight was not only its deliciousness but that sense of the forbidden.
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An old man, Tae has been skinned and then marinated and stuffed with insect flavored bread before his body was spit-roasted. . . . he was carved to the monotonous voice of chanting and served in a spiced sauce that had been salted by a spoonful of blood from each of his eighty-three sons and seventy daughters.
There is also the brilliant scene of moral shock when Oelita sees her first photos from Earth's history, showing battlefields piled with corpses that no one is even going to eat.
Looking at things I might actually eat, Lois McMaster Bujold (especially in her accounts of Ma Kosti's creations) and S.M. Stirling both have some excellent foodie scenes. Then there was Heinlein's account of meals on Ganymede in Farmer ( ... )
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Oh, yes. I want to taste Ma Kosti's food!
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I don't even remember wine from Prince Caspian! I wonder why not. Was it because wine--liquor--was such an adult thing, like cigarettes, which made me sick? Hmm.
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It should be a firm jelly, flavoured with rose or lemon, or occasionally pistachio and dusted with powdered sugar. It can be an acquired taste, but it should never resemble a paste of ground almonds and sugar.
In the UK we mostly grew up on Fry's Turkish Delight, which is a rose flavoured jelly coated with chocolate. When you bit into it you will see a deep pink coloured inside.
Oh and Turkish Delight is VERY delicious - once you've tasted the proper stuff from Turkey or Greece, the Fry's chocolate covered stuff is a poor second.
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At least that's what I thought, given that my grandmother who was young during the Depression and the War likes things like sugar cookies that I find insipidly sweet (and my great-grandmother was more of the spice cookies/darker/nuttier chocolates taste range, so it's not just that older generations liked things sweeter universally).
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