As an enthusiastic reader of classic literature and a lover of food, I have often wondered what the great novelists of all times may have enjoyed at their table. I have embarked on a fascinating literary and culinary quest, and selected a number of writers and foods that I found especially appealing.
Favorite foods of USA writers
Some of the most famous American writers passionately enjoyed hearty dishes, which often reminded them of their childhood and origins.
Born and raised in Missouri, Mark Twain was a great lover of food, in particular typical Southern dishes like biscuits with butter and fried chicken with corn on the cob and tomatoes. Buckwheat cakes and Porterhouse steak are also mentioned amongst his favorites in Andrew Beahrs' "Twain's feast". The writer was also known to be adventurous with trying all kinds of meats, including raccoon, and had a passion for prairie chicken which is very rare to find these days.
According to his lover, writer and playwright Jack Dunphy, Truman Capote loved American classic dishes like hamburgers and potato salad. He is also known for liking chicken hash, served at his famous Black and White masked ball thrown to celebrate the success of his book "in Cold Blood".
Although we cannot be sure these were his absolute favorite foods, Jack Kerouac talks about eating apple pie and ice cream during his roads trips in the autobiographical "On the Road". He also mentions bread and cheese with sardines in "The Dharma Bums", suggesting he may also have had an appreciation for these foods.
Amongst US writer there were seafood lovers too. Hermann Melville dedicates a whole chapter to clam chowder in "Moby Dick". His description of "small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts" and "salted pork cut up into little flakes" is simply mouth-watering. Ernest Hemingway adored oysters and talked about how they would fill the emptiness with their "sea taste" and "succulent texture" when washed down with fine wine.
Favorite foods of European writers
Perusing the classic books and quotes written by some of my favorite Italian writers, I realized how bread often features as a culinary item. It is possible this occurred because people from poor social backgrounds were often portrayed in the stories, and bread was one of the few affordable foods. It could also be that good old bread was simply a favorite of many, just as it is today.
In his masterpiece "The Betrothed", the Italian romantic writer Alessandro Manzoni dedicates chapter 12 to a riot initiated by the people in a small village of Northern Italy because of the increase in the price of bread. In chapter 6, he also mentions the preparation of buckwheat polenta ("polenta bigia"), also considered a dish of the poor. Whether these were foods the author loved is never openly specified.
Sardinian writer Grazia Deledda was a lover of simple earthy foods like bread and meat, and an excellent cook too. She enjoyed the typical roasted piglet ("porceddu"), almond cookies and the "seadas", typical pastries from Sardinia made with cheese and honey. She never stopped learning new cooking tips while traveling in other regions of Italy, and knew how to make dishes of all kinds. In 1927, at the exact moment she learned she had won the Noble prize for literature, she was preparing an onion "soffritto" for a sauce.
It appears that simple foods also appealed to Florentine Dante Alighieri, who seemed to enjoy eggs amongst all foods. He considered eggs to be “the best food in the world”, especially when eaten with salt.
Oscar Wilde showed his British palate when he complained to a waiter about just having had the worst watercress sandwiches ever. Apparently he had been served a "loaf with a field in the middle of it".
The flavor and the scent of a madeleine brought French author Marcel Proust back to his childhood. This memory inspired the development of his famous novel "In Search of Lost Times". Many of the pages of this book hint at the passion for foods like ice cream and chocolate, and Proust's descriptions of colorful street markets and opulent receptions are unbelievably inviting.
Undoubtedly, there are many more influential authors who have told the world about their favorite foods. Readers are welcome to add to this list.
References
"'Twain's Feast' author traces writer's favorite foods", article by Jane Henderson
"Truman Capote's Lover Jack Dunphy Remembers 'My Poor Little Friend'", article by Gioia Diliberto
"The inside story of Truman Capote's masked Ball", article from the Independent
"On the Road" by Jack Kerouac
"A moveable feast" by Ernest Hemingway
"The Betrothed" by Alessandro Manzoni
"A tavola con Grazia. Cibo e Cucina nell'Opera di Grazia Deledda" by Neria de Giovanni, for G. Deledda anecdotes on food
"Le vite degli uomini illustri" by Achille Campanile, for D. Alighieri's quote on eggs
"Max Beerbohm, letter to Reggie Turner", for O. Wilde's food quote
"In search of lost times" by Marcel Proust
Damiana Chiavolini - I have written over ten articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, but my appetite for writing goes beyond microbiology, ...
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