Much has been said recently in honor of Anthony Bourdain. The world is poorer for his absence, because Bourdain wasn’t just a “food guy,” but we are richer for his existence and his enthusiasm. For examples of the kind of fellow he was, I refer you all to his shows, to the Internet at large, to his books, and to various news sources. Bourdain crossed the globe in search of good food, good beer, and good company, and these are all themes that abound in science fiction and fantasy. Feasting is important—just ask a Hobbit…
…Or a Klingon. So: let’s talk about the joy of food-related experiences in unexpected places, shall we?
Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate), Laura Esquivel (1989) I first read Esquivel’s novel for a college-level Spanish class; it’s one that isn’t easily forgotten. The movie version (1992), whose screenplay was also written by Esquivel, is just as beautiful and tragic as the novel. Set on a ranch in Mexico, young lovers Tita and Pedro want to marry, but Tita’s mother, the brutally strict Mama Elena, forbids it, insisting Tita follow tradition: youngest daughters may not marry; instead they are to stay and take care of their aging mothers. To stay close to Tita, Pedro agrees to marry her older sister, Rosaura. And that’s when the trouble starts. Tita, who always found comfort in the kitchen, bakes and cooks her emotions into the dishes she creates. When she and Nacha, the family cook, bake the wedding cake for Pedro and Rosaura’s nuptials, it’s so imbued with bitter tears it nauseates the wedding guests, as well as Nacha, who succumbs to sorrow for a long-lost love. Tita inherits Nacha’s role as the ranch’s cook. What follows is an amazing, extraordinary story filled with sensuality, joy, and tragedy in equal parts.
The Martian, Andy Weir (2011). It’s all about potatoes in this plausible story about survival on a barren planet. I’m not sure we could call farming and eating potatoes a feast, and stranded astronaut Mark Watney might agree (“I’m about to dip this potato in some crushed Vicodin. And there’s nobody here to stop me”), but The Martian’s tale of survival relies on Watney being able to grow enough food to sustain him for a period of time in hopes of being rescued. There were plenty of Earth-based debates as to whether potatoes could or could not be grown on Mars—I’ll let you look those up—but Weir’s story about a botanist left behind on Mars, and the subsequent near-misses in his rescue operation, is one of the most science-based survival stories to come along in awhile.
Sunshine, Robin McKinley (2003). Step into Charlie’s Coffeehouse and try Rae “Sunshine” Seddon’s baked goods, from cinnamon rolls that would put Cinnabon out of business to tea bread to a pastry dish called “Caramel Cataclysm.” Needless to say in a work by Robin McKinley, magic abounds and the worldbuilding is spectacular. Rae and her family live in Independencia, just after the Voodoo Wars between humans and “Others”—vampires, sprites, demons, and werewolves. The restless Rae is kidnapped by a group of vampires; she wakes up in the basement of an abandoned mansion—and her only company is another vampire. Constantine is just as much a captive as Rae—the vampires that abducted her are using Rae to make him die of hunger and sunlight (these vampires seem to be as enamored of dramatic overkill as any other in fantasy). Constantine refuses to kill her, and Rae helps Constantine escape—in the process facing and embracing some unsavory facts about her lineage and her own magical abilities. Rae and Con forge a friendship that confuses her family, and their escape makes them a target of the vampire gang. In the meantime, Independencia’s Special Other Forces (“S.O.F.”) agency recruits Rae, who’s having a hard time forgetting her abduction but taking it out on her newfound hobby of vampire hunting. McKinley threw a ton of ingredients in one pot, and what came out is an intriguing pre-Twilight addition to the vampire genre.
Honorable Mention: Waitress (2007), Adrienne Shelly’s posthumous comedy-drama about a woman (Keri Russell) trapped in an abusive relationship, whose tumultuous life is reflected by the pie creations she makes and sells for her boss, Joe (Andy Griffith, in one of his last film roles), the owner of Joe’s Pie Diner. It’s very similar to Like Water for Chocolate, but it isn’t explicitly clear that her emotions affect those who eat her pies. It is, though, a wonderful movie.
If you have any favorite food-related encounters in far-off places, tell us! Keep the chain going in the comments below. (Note: in keeping with the spirit of this post, I’ve stayed away from post-apocalyptic stories.)
I love Anthony Bourdain–my favorite of his books is A Cook’s Tour. I also love Waitress and especially Andy Griffith as Joe. There was something going around Facebook a while ago about “What five movies would you use to tell someone about yourself?” and I know Waitress would be one of mine, because of the way it showed baking as a outlet for creativity and a way to show love.
The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, about a girl who can taste the cook’s emotions in food, would fit this chain reaction, although the book was just too weird for me.