#362 Food for Thought

As someone who’s always been a fan of food writing (recipe stories, food journalism, restaurant reviews… you name it!), I often include scenes of cooking and eating in my own work. But what’s the deeper meaning (if any) behind this kind of writing?

In her 1943 food memoir The Gastronomical Me, M. F. K. Fisher (one of my favorite food writers of all time) reflects on why she writes about food, and not more “serious” topics such as security and power. Fisher argues that we can’t consider basic needs such as food, security, and love as separate entities — and so, when she writes about hunger, she’s also writing about things like affection, and the human desire for it.

This week, let’s follow in her stride. What can you reveal about your characters through the ways in which they cook or eat? What messages are hiding inside a perfectly plated dish, and where do you think real hunger dwells?