Did reading about food ever make you feel hungry or make you crave certain kinds of food for days because my eating preferences as a kid were immensely influenced by what the characters ate in the book. A trait that still exists. 😁
It is really difficult to feed a child who is a picky eater but luckily there is always a solution for every problem. An exciting, nail-biting story accentuated with some good detailing about food could easily entice the foodie within me quite successfully, much to the delight of my parents.
I grew up listening to such stories while eating. To be very precise it used to be one never-ending story, with various twists and turns and daily innovative plots just to distract my food-rebellion; pretty much like the everlasting, popular soap operas of Indian television.🤪
Reading became second nature as I grew up. Adventure fictions were my topmost favorite. However, there had to be an element of food involved in the stories. It somehow made it more enjoyable to read and practically live the moment. For example, a tea-time narration would be incomplete without a complete description of the type of tea, how it is served and it is even better if the author added some tidbits like buttered scones or onion pakoras with it, depending on the origin of the story.
Therefore, it is no surprise that Enid Blyton was one of my most favourite childhood author.
“…they had six loaves of new-baked breads, a large cheese, about three dozen eggs and ham..plenty of butter packed with the loaves and a large pot of cream and plenty of orangeade and lemonade.”
The Famous Five were all set for one of their holiday adventures along with a mouth-watering stock of food. Adventure and food were the two major attractions of any Enid Blyton book and her vivid, lucid description can magically transport the readers to experience the story as one of the characters. Basic food sounded most tempting and I used to happily eat toasts, boiled eggs and apples for breakfast without any complaint, lasting for at least a week after finishing an Enid Blyton mystery.
During the Durga Puja (Navaratri) vacations, I used to look forward to the various Puja-editions of popular Bengali magazines like Anandamela and Shuktara. Every afternoon after lunch, it was almost a customary tradition for my dad to read the adventure series of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Feluda’ or Samaresh Basu’s ‘Gogol.’ I remember, listening earnestly to his expressive narratives and abandoning myself in the fictional world of adventure and of course the delicious depictions of homely, culinary delights of those stories. Needless to say, for the next few days, our home menu was planned somewhat similarly, corresponding to the recently read fictional food with the predictable outcome of reversal of my fussy eating pattern.😅
It took me a while to take a step beyond the adventure and mysteries and explore the world of Romance Fictions. It was not till my teens that I was almost coaxed into reading a paperback of the popular Romantic series Mill and Boons. It couldn’t have been better because the addictive romantic stories not only introduced me to several new emotions which I was not aware of before but also took me across the globe to several beautiful destinations and familiarized me with a variety of cuisines. I yearned to taste my first Champaign, but I was underage for it. I craved for the Moussaka or Teriyaki. I had to research the recipes through various magazines as Google was not in the scene as yet. I tried those recipes even before I knew the authentic taste.☺️
To this day, nearing every Christmas I love to read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I never get tired of reading this classic year after year and I fervently wait for the chapter, describing the Christmas dinner at Bob Cratchit’s home. Nothing can beat the inspiration I draw from the book and the enthusiasm thereafter, to cook an almost traditional, decent dinner to celebrate the day and enjoy the spirit of the season.😇
There’s quite a lot of research and studies related to the topic of the effects of audio, visual and reading, impacting our eating patterns and hunger pangs. Even the most practical brain is susceptible to cravings after reading or seeing visuals of food.
However, there is something intimately personal about losing oneself in the imaginary world of fiction while reading; sleuthing in the middle of the night, with a torch and a .32 Colt, pouring out some strong hot coffee from a thermos in order to stay alert while waiting for an unknown culprit! Nothing can replace the thrill and excitement of reading a good book. How many of you agree to that? I would love to know your experience of the same.
