ID: A wooden spoon with cooked alphabet noodles on it. The spoon rests on a bed of dry alphabet noodles.
Writing about food is fun, whether it’s a travel article, blog post, memoir, or cozy mystery set in a bakery. Food can function in writing in many ways. It can act as a device to help establish a sense of place, reveal background information, advance the plot, and reveal character. Writers in all genres can benefit from seasoning their prose with food details, but incorporating those details requires finesse.
Food can also be front and center, serving as the premise for the story and advancing its plot. Think of the many successful culinary cozy mystery series out there, such as Joanne Fluke’s popular Hannah Swensen books about a small-town baker and her community.
For a more literary read centered around food, check out J. Ryan Stradal’s novels, including Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. As Stradal himself said in a 2015 interview with The Guardian, “A great writer will make us hunger for things we’ve never eaten, conjure a consuming nostalgia from a list of ingredients, and make us feel like we’re dining well as we’re reading well.”
Sometimes food is a more subtle part of a book, but that doesn’t mean it can’t play a major role. A favorite literary restaurant of mine is Olivier’s Bistro in Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. It’s a warm and comforting gathering spot for the residents of Three Pines, and many key scenes are set here, with food and beverage details added to great effect. In Still Life, the first book in the series, Inspector Gamache arrives at Olivier’s for the first time and is instantly drawn to it, establishing this place as an important part of the Three Pines setting—and Gamache as a beloved character—for all the books to come:
[Gamache] made straight for the Bistro. It was easy to spot with its blue and white awnings and round wooden tables and chairs on the sidewalk. A few people were sipping coffee, all eyes on him as he made his way along the Commons.
… At the back of this room the cash register stood on a long wooden bar. Jars of licorice pipes and twists, cinnamon sticks and bright gummy bears shared the counter with small individual boxes of cereal …
The woods had been chilly and the thought of a café au lait in front of this open fire was too good. And maybe a licorice pipe, or two …
Gamache bit into a grilled chicken and roasted vegetable baguette and decided he was going to enjoy mealtimes in this place. Some of the officers took a beer, but not Gamache, who preferred ginger beer. The pile of sandwiches quickly disappeared.
Readers may be accustomed to the appearance of coffee in writing, but it’s also nice to encounter unusual food details like Penny’s licorice pipes. If only I could visit Olivier’s for some candy and a bit of eavesdropping as Gamache ponders a case.
At times, food can be a multipurpose element in writing, as in the novel Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. In this story, two adult children receive a family recipe and a mysterious voice recording from their mother after her death. Here they learn about this strange inheritance for the first time:
Byron cuts open the envelope and shakes out its contents, a USB drive and a handwritten note. He reads the note out loud. It’s so typically Ma.
B and B, there’s a small black cake in the freezer for you. Don’t throw it out.
Black cake. Byron catches himself smiling. Ma and Dad used to share a slice of cake every year to mark their anniversary. It wasn’t the original wedding cake, they said, not anymore. Ma would make a new one every five years or so, one layer only, and put it in the freezer. Still, she insisted that any black cake, steeped as it was in rum and port, could have lasted the full length of their marriage.
I want you to sit down together and share the cake when the time is right.
You’ll know when.
Benny covers her mouth with one hand.
Love, Ma.
That scene reveals not only tidbits about the two siblings but important information about their parents. Beyond character, the cake is part of the novel’s premise as the siblings piece together their mother’s history and honor her request.
Aside from food’s importance in the development of the story, it also requires careful copy editing, fact-checking, and proofreading. Writers must consider many factors including spelling, capitalization, punctuation, accuracy of brand names, and geographic differences and preferences. What varieties of foods like cheese, vegetables, and herbs are used in certain parts of the world? What regions prefer wine instead of beer or coffee instead of tea? A writer must know, for example, that their American character can’t order coffee with Coffee-Mate in Switzerland; it’s banned there (and in several other countries) because it contains hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils.
Here are a few more interesting examples:
Is it bundt cake or Bundt cake? Bundt is a trademarked name and must be capitalized. What about gouda cheese or Gouda cheese? Actually, it’s just Gouda. Not Gouda cheese or Gouda Cheese.
Spellings of foods and food terms can easily puzzle writers. Is it cardamom or cardamon? Cardamom has been used as a breath freshener for centuries. And which of these spellings would you choose: kebob, kebab, or kabob? Merriam-Webster prefers kebab but lists kebob and kabob as variants, in that order. Writers must always consider their story’s setting and the cultural backgrounds of their characters in order to make spelling choices wisely and respectfully.
And oh, the hyphens! Do you take half and half or half-and-half in your coffee? I take half-and-half, and so does Merriam-Webster. Do you like kiwi? No—I’m afraid of most birds, but I do like kiwifruit (one word, no hyphen). Which of these is correct: black-eye-peas, black eye peas, black-eyed peas, or black-eye peas? Merriam-Webster prefers black-eyed peas and notes that they’re also known as cowpeas (one word, no hyphen). And the band’s name is Black Eyed Peas.
Whether you’re enjoying sprinkling culinary details into your story or developing a headache from proofreading them, food can play an important role in creating memorable people, places, and scenes that will satisfy your readers like a wonderfully rich meal.
ID: Amy, a white woman with dark hair and glasses smiles at the camera. She wears a magenta sweater and has a streak of silver running through her hair.
Amy Cecil Holm is Allegory Editing’s resident Line Editor, Copy Editor, and Proofreader. She draws upon decades of teaching college English to help authors polish their prose. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in creative writing and has worked as a journalist, technical writer, and educator. Amy has taught courses in English composition, literature, creative writing, journalistic writing, business writing, and developmental reading, among others. She has a keen understanding of grammar, punctuation, and diction and uses her careful attention to detail to help prepare manuscripts for submission and publication.