Alice in Wonderland
One thing I’ve seen brought up a lot when it comes to adventure fantasy is: what and when do the characters eat? Oddly enough, you don’t see meals that often and the heroes never go hungry unless it’s essential to the plot. Starvation and hunting are very useful plot points to show how difficult it is to survive in the wild. Yet, it’s almost a passing thought and you don’t see it delved into.
In a series that I’m still reading through, Ranger’s Apprentice, there are several times where the characters talk over coffee. I use something similar where meals are the backdrop for important meetings. I can never say my heroes go hungry unless Luke does his thing that can burn through most of his caloric intake. There are points where I think I overuse the setting, but it does make sense. Preparing or in the middle of an adventure, the break you take to talk is a time to eat too. Not much different from the real world. We celebrate events with food, have food at meetings, and even give away some food as prizes or thank yous. You do get a cookie for giving blood, right?
Personally, I see food in fiction as another window into the world. If your story is on Earth then you can look up real dishes that relate to your characters’ cultures and locations. If your story is another world then you can go wild. A fish that’s as spicy as a ghost pepper? Apples that can satisfy you for an entire day? Everyone living creature (and unliving) eat something, so it’s an area that is worthwhile investigating. The scenes where they come up can be used for character development too. For example, Nyx loves spicy food and Sari isn’t too big a fan of seafood.
So, what do other people think of food or eating being included in stories?
Legends of Windemere 
With you on this one, Charles. When I read back the first draft of Sword of destiny I wondered if the characters were at table too often… yet that is exactly where you bond, talk, plan and assimilate in real life… and to be fair, it was set in Yorkshire, a place famous for its food and hospitality…People eat. Even strange people.
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Food is a powerful tool in real and fictional worlds. 🙂
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It is 🙂
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I have to laugh at the timing of this post, because of friend of mine keeps on me about the lack of food in my stories. And she’s right to do so. I find eating scenes to be very difficult to write. And it’s not that I don’t like food. Far from it. 🙂 But writing about food or food preparation always gets the back burner. So, thank you for the tips. And you’re right. food is a window into the world. A meal is a great way to show conflict too.
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You’re welcome. In fact, I think we discussed this a month or two ago, which is what made me put ‘food in fiction’ on my list of themes to do. Looking forward to when I get to the ‘Ye Olde Grocer’ post. Those are always fun.
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Because of this post, I’ve given serious thought to the cuisine of each of my cultures!
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Now I’m curious. 😀
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I always include food into stories, not only because it hints at the world the characters live in but because I can’t seem to stop myself! 😀
What a great post, has got me thinking now!
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Thanks. I can’t stop myself either. I wonder if it’s because I eat and drink while writing. Reminds me that I need to remember lunch today. Always forget that one.
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The food they choose off a menu can tell us a lot about our characters.
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Good point. Though you don’t see many tavern menus in fantasy. It’s like everyone knows or the chefs can make anything.
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One of my all time favourite books is Right Ho, Jeeves, and the plot in that centres around the marvellosity of Anatole the chef, and how Bertie Wooster messes things up big time when he advises everybody to refuse their meals. James Bond is always eating amazing things, and Gerald Durrell spends a lot of time describing his mother’s cookery…and then there’s Ma’s cooking in Little House on the Prairie, and Bilbo feeding the dwarves in The Hobbit…you’ve really set me off here, Charles!
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Something that a friend once pointed out is that Brad Pitt’s character in the Oceans movies is usually eating something. That and the beginning of The Hobbit made me think of this theme. Interesting how there are characters who are associated with food and drink too. James Bond has the vodka martini, Ninja Turtles have pizza, and vampires have blood. 🙂
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yes, and marmalade of course, for Paddington Bear.
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Honey for Pooh Bear and Yogi has picnic baskets. A lot of bears if you think about it.
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Baloo and honey I suppose in the Jungle Book. Acorns for piglet, Malt extract for Tigger, but humans for Shere Khan. Thistles for Eeyore, and rabbits for Mr McGregor. And Israel Hands in Treasure Island wanted to lay his hands on the squire’s ‘pickles and wines and that’. I can think of loads of children’s characters associated with food, not so much adult fiction. Miss Havisham’s wedding cake, maybe?
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Nursery rhymes always had a pie in it. Can’t believe we forgot the King of food in fiction:
Popeye and his spinach. 😀
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Blimey. Never mind. Got there in the end!
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I like reading about what characters are eating, as long as it’s not a 10 page description of a feast (snore). My characters eat a lot “on screen.” They talk over tea (and medicinal tea is important), and I show a lot of meals. I agree that those tend to be the quiet moments in an adventure, where people get to talk about what’s going on. Also, celebrations usually have food involved.
Knowing what and how characters eat just makes a world that much more real.
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The book I’m reading now uses eating as a down time too. I didn’t realize how often coffee came up and there are a few detailed descriptions of food prep throughout the series.
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As long as they aren’t just taking up space, I like food scenes. That would make a great writing prompt somewhere: write a scene about people cooking or eating food.
Interesting, Charles.
Ellespeth
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Thanks. I think it makes a good backdrop, but you have a good point about taking up space. Food scenes should have some purpose even if it isn’t the food specifically.
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I think eating and celebration are the only breaks my characters get! I enjoy those quiet moments – as others have said, they give a quiet moment and some insight into the world. It’s a very humanizing and relatable part of any story.
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That and the ‘relaxing bath’ scene that pops up from time to time. Not sure I can get a week of posts out of bathing though. 😛 It’s funny how such a simple thing like eating can be a very humanizing factor too.
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Meals can be tremendously useful in world-building because they use what most readers already know to build the setting. For instance, most readers know that bananas grow in tropical areas, so if you have characters munching fresh bananas, you’ve already said a lot about the setting and climate by including this food.
That said, they also can be as big a time-waster as looking in the mirror or showing every step down the street. If the focus isn’t on the plot, then the food isn’t helping.
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I’m not oddly tempted to design arctic bananas for my fantasy world. 😀 I do think there are times where people go too far with the descriptions of food or setting. Though, I’ve been told that’s a style choice. I wonder if certain genres can work with more detail than others.
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I’ve used a couple of scenes circling around food and thought up more than a few edibles for my fantasy worlds. I think the balance of making things exotic, but normal and plausible is a delicate one at times.
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I find it easiest to base an exotic meal off something that already exists. That helps make it more believable and accepted.
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^_^ That’s what I do with practically everything.
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George Martin did a brilliant job with the mouthwatering food descriptions in Asoiaf. It became so popular, they published a cookbook featuring the dishes in the series. Food is part of the culture and worldbuilding, no doubt, and it can really pull the readers into the world if done well.
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