Well I have an MC eat an eyeball fresh from a live enemies skull, so what does that say about them? Granted the MC is not human.
I have a well-past-the-apocalypse novel in which my main characters are forest-dwelling nomads, and I spent more time than I usually do on food with them because I wanted to show how they were managing to eat in the forest. And it ended up being really interesting. Lots of research into what can be foraged at different times of year, etc. My mom beta-read it for me, and she still, five or more years later, periodically sends me recipes or resources for foraged foods with notes like "for your forest people!" I've tried a few of the recipes, but not many. Food that would be tasty if you're in a survival situation isn't necessarily that great when you've got plenty to eat...
That phrase alone can come off as savage, grotesque, frightening or awesome depending on how you write the scene. Maybe the MC is protecting someone and they tear out this powerful enemies eye with sheer force and save the day. That's heroic. Maybe the character is a villain and I am supposed to be grossed out by them or even somewhat scared of them. Then you would write it with creepy delight or in gruesome detail to give me that feeling. If the character is a ghoul and they don't like eating people then maybe I feel for them. If they are a vampire/werewolf and are simply going the extra mile. Maybe it is the hero factor or a blood rage in which I am supposed to fear for the character exposing himself while going nuts. It all depends on the details and context. Personally, it'd be hard for me to be grossed out by an eyeball. I've played too much Pro Skater to be scared anymore.
They were stalling for time after being taken prisoner. So they decided to do something until the other two could get inside the installation. Good news is they let the enemy go after they help them out a bit.
Okay, so that passage is subtle and ominous. Unless it leads right into the eyeball eating part in detail, then it would just be ominous. But since they aren't human it's a character quirk. They aren't being starved so this is customary or done for fun. So i'd either think that the characters are quirky/adventurous or monstrous. Although, I can't be mad at them. They did let the poor guy go and him missing an eye would help them out later, so it could be somewhat of a strategic move. In any case, i'm probably overthinking it. But at face value, it's pleasing and good that a non-human is doing something non-human that isn't edgy or perfect. Kudos, on that then.
Well she does it cause she is kinda sadistic, and it is in detail. And she is a protag. She does some pretty harsh things, like torture, amongst other things. But yeah she was stalling and cuffed at that point in time.
Oh, okay an act out of desperation. Well, I will say that is pretty interesting. As long as it's in character. I do wonder though if she takes any enjoyment or disgust in it. The text made it casual so i guess it's like eating eggs except cold and probably not as good
It is in character, and she does enjoy it. She tells the other woman she tastes sweet after consuming the eye.
Wow. What race is she by any chance? The black humor is a nice touch. It could be terrorizing or humorous to see the other woman's reaction.
Well, um...nobody knows where she is from (including her). The other woman howls in pain and punches her in the side. And the big guy behind her hits her in the legs until she lets go. Then he picks her up and slams her to the grating beneath, and she almost chokes on the eye, before letting the other woman know her thoughts on how she tastes.
I love food, so when world building I obviously put thought into how “people” sustain themselves. I have some that eat rock, others that eat wood, etc.,. I love trying to play around with how such beings express appreciation for foodstuffs and how their descriptions show a cultural chasm ... imagine describing to someone who eats rocks what “dry” is to them. You may say your food feels liek gravel and they’d assume this was a compliment. The challenge is to then describe the sensation of eting “delicious rocks” that cross into the readers comprehension (eg. “quartz-like crystal tang”, “smooth limestone”, or “sweet obsidian” - I used these and think they convey something about the more refined side to a species that phsyically appear to be quite rough, coarse and brutish.) These features come into play for the woodeting species too. Their habitats always have a mulchy aroma. Hitting the senses is something I sometimes get a little too carried away with tbh! It is very easy to slip into generic descriptions so I always try to give a new tilt on such ideas (some fail badly, but some seem to work well enough.) It is also important, for me at least, to express differences in disgust. What seems abhorrent to one person remains a delight to another. With diffrent species this can be taken to both comic and dramatic effect. In teh real world people eat the most bizarre things in some parts. This needn’t be confined to fictional worlds.
The issue of food will be critical in my apocalyptopia. There's basically what can be scavenged, gathered, hunted, or transported. It is a massive effort to bring food to what little remains of humanity. Food is the one thing to bring a shattered civilization together. It is one of the reasons the administration outlawed currency and trade for profit. Formulas are derived for the overall survival of humanity, based on food distribution. Thus, most food is rendered into biscuit-tarts (meat pop-tarts) for distribution. Whatever they are comprised of at the time is made to taste like chilli, or chocolate pudding, or strawberry whatever. Everyone is both happy not to be starving, and hopeful that they can work hard to bring more variety etc to everyone's table. The penalty for stealing food is being forced to eat it in front of starving people. If that doesn't cure you, you get mind-wiped (but never know it). There's no time for crime. Every breath is part of a formula that calculates what will remain of civilized humanity in the next generation. People know everyone is common class, even the President, who sits at the same table to eat with everyone else, then walks with his small group to work beside the people of the next community, everyday. Technology is ubiquitous, like cockroaches, it survives. You can see the face of the persons who benefit from your effort, anywhere on the globe, or the faces of those who suffer the lack of your effort. No threats, no coercion, you are simply not allowed to ignore your effect on humanity. Food is the gift you give to humanity, to ensure the next generation does not suffer a new dark age. People become devoted to each other, and things improve fairly quickly, but not for two generations. (now I'm going to see what a biscuit made from peanut butter and chocolate chips is like!)
Since I'm aiming for historical fiction this one is easy; I just go ancient Greek cuisine. But not being a culinary expert, chef or something else I try to avoid going into the details so that I won't make a fool out of myself.
In my universe food is fairly diverse and varies widely depending on where you are and your social status. I take into account food geography and simulate how the different races and species of the world interact and hence influence how diet and food work. There are 2 main factions. Humans and the Blight. The blight are simpler, they are essentially biotech zombies who feast on fuels, flesh or any kind of biomass to keep them operational. They are in some sense demented meta humans that have became a sort of parasitic hive nation in Oceania. Humans are divided by status as well, the poor tend to eat meals involving easy to grow roots and tubers and poultry. As this world is economically segregated the average person eats quite closely to how villagers do in the past. Watermelons, bananas, chicken, pork, beef, buffalo milk, sweet potatoes are common. In my world one of the common customs of the people in the southeastern coast is to celebrate birthdays with the person drinking Buffalo Milk from a recently made mother buffalo and cakes are made with that milk as well for the birthday cake. Chocolates are rare and are usually made only for weddings. Alcohol which was popular a century ago, no longer becomes a common thing. The dangers of living near the Blightlands and being killed has generally discouraged alcohol production. As generations past, they grew distant to the taste and feeling and eventually discarded it totally. Closer to the border or within the borders of the Blightlands, humans there are much more leaner, rely on fish and insects for protein and seaweed as the land is barren or toxic. Due to toxic spores in the clouds, humans of these areas seek shelter in ruined structures. They have to electrify and boil their water to kill parasitic worms. When food becomes scarce, even other humans become delicacies to various tribes and raider gangs. The wealthy humans are divided into 2 groups. Silica and Skyscrapers. Skyscrapers being the poorer of the 2. Skyscrapers, generally share very similar food culture to people of developed nations. They live high above the rest of humanity where their needs are catered by robots and synthetic production. Chocolate bars, junk food, instant noodles, barbecue and what not are very common among the Skyscrapers with a few exceptions. As the world progressed into the future and new species are born. A dangerous sport of exotic hunting came to play. Hunters would descend from the skyscrapers to hunt new game. Gremlins, Budgits, Crowbirds, Brownians, Zolms, Blood Blisters which are delicacies. Blood Blisters are generally served as a meaty like noodles called Xie-Cong-Tang and is rumoured to be good for resupplying blood to those who need it. The poor equivalent to this is Zhu-Xie. The shape of foods has changed quite significantly as well, with advances in technology, fruits, vegetables and synthetic meat have also been grown to create a degree of appeal to meals and signature dishes. Heartshaped Melons, Gigantic Drumsticks, spliced poultry are a luxury occasionally indulged by the skyscrapers. Silica are the richest of the humans, they own the keys to nearly everything in humanity and they the brains of humanity's functions. They share the same type of food culture as the skyscrapers but are much more prone to fine dining. Silica dinner traditions usually are bountiful. An average Silica family will have 60 dishes prepared for them by their androids. They rarely finish much of all the food provided and the waste is used as additional generator power. Silican families are never short of food variety and largely available at any given time of the day at the snap of their finger tips. Aside from Human and Blight food. Gremlins which are hunted by both humans and blight also have their own food culture. Gremlin society has no concept of money and everyone from birth has a task and a duty which is performed without question. While Gremlins are far too small to tame horses or domesticate cows and large ungulates, birds, fish and insects make a large portion of their protein diets. Gremlins are also really bad hunters and for that reason meat is rare. They tend to be more of gatherers, gathering wild berries, fruit, vegetables and honey from domesticated bees. They have an affinity with animals same and smaller size then them. Gremlins lack the resources to make plates and kitchen utensils and hence they often eat by hand and place food on top of leaves or cotton plates. Any salvagable metal is used for community cauldrons. Dining is usually a community wide event and everyone eats at the same time. Gremlins generally eat 2 meals a day. They start out their day with roasted insects such as beetles/scorpians on a stick with wild berries and candle nut and sweetened water. After which they slice their fruits into boiled water and leave it there for the rest of the day with the exception of a few Gremlins station to guard their water and food and cook dinner. Dinner is usually served with Meat Dumplings, Vegetable Spring Rolls and Occasionally Raw Fish and blood blisters. Gremlins that live away from the community tend to travel daily or live in caves. Their diet is much more varied and eating is spontaneous but it remains along the lines of the community Gremlins. These outcast Gremlins are usually much smaller and weaker, and do not have the same nourishment as those in the community. They are frequently hunting targets and a source of food for humans. Who set up traps to catch them and eat them. While Gremlins generally are boney, their fleshy cheeks, bellies and ears are often eaten.
When things get really bad for my MC, he is down to eating mustard sandwiches. Poor guy, but the author was once reduced to mustard and mayo sandwiches too, and somehow he survived. He'll be ok, I'm sure.
The summer of 1986 was a rough time, penniless, nearly unemployed, yet hanging on to the dream. On several occasions, there was no ham or cheese, only mustard and mayo and the stale ends of a loaf of white bread. At this point, he was only eating for sustenance and not pleasure. Mustard added flavor to the bread ends and mayo. There was the sad little can of split-pea soup in the cupboard, but he really didn't like it much, and was saving it for when he was truly desperate.
Depends on the character and how much time can be spent allowing the characters to eat. I would say this recent novel I'm working on is probably the most food friendly of all my stories -- in the last I was working on In the Pit they were constantly out of food and the food that they did have wasn't a source of joy but just fuel to sustain them. At one point they were frying up rats. In my current WIP the character is a fourteen year old boy who eats a lot. He also makes bizarre concoctions. Spam & Pop Tart sandwiches. It had a bit to do with his background -- as the son of a single mother, food was the one bill they could skimp on and this is why he makes bizarre things utilizing scraps. His friends are pretty much in the same predicament stealing candy. One lives on Skittles and Red Bulls. I don't go into a lot of detail unless I want to show the contrast between the directors -- Kavado and Boddy -- versus the boys the mc is a child star -- the directors are used to sashimi and Chardonnay and are somewhat amused/appalled by being dragged to Taco Bell or offered a worm sandwich (peanut butter and gummi worms.) In one scene the director allows the boys a spree at the grocery store allowing them to buy anything that catches there fancy because he's empathetic and understands their needs. Food is also a way I use to show the difference between both directors one trying to upscale the now famous boy by making his palate more sophisticated the other one simply allowing him his link to his past.
It is indeed exactly that. My dad was the son of a single mother and had five sisters, and he ate a fair number of Miracle Whip sandwiches as a kid. Sometimes he sprinkled sugar on them to get more out of them if he knew he'd have to skip a meal so his younger sisters could eat. ETA: Dad grew to be 6 ft 2" so apparently the sugar trick worked.
My Scottish husband, who reads all the time, says he gets annoyed when people in fiction just 'eat,' and he doesn't get told what they are eating! He loves to cook and owns lots of recipe books (as do I.) When he reads an American book, he often comes in to ask me what a certain food that got mentioned actually is. Kind of like an American might want to know what bangers and mash are....
I this the POV for food is more important than the food. A good writer can make anything distasteful or appetizing. I still smile when thinking of the Belgariad. The MC loved his porridge while one of the characters 'Silk" called it 'gruel' with such distaste you had to feel sorry for him, it was also done with humor. Brandon Sanderson discusses his talk with Robert Jordan where Jordan talks about describing water. For someone water is a rare commodity and while someone else might take it for granted. I have not put too much emphasis on food except for a few scenes myself, personally, I would like to be able to delve more into that. Time to write is always an issue for me. But I try to think about something that I might like and having someone of the opposite opinion eating that same meal. Food can also be a subtle subplot or analogy for the main scene that is unfolding. If we can use food as a symbol for something else, it can give it so much more weight than just a simple set piece.
Re the symbolism, IMHO, symbolism has to pull its weight. It has to serve some other purpose as well, otherwise it just looks pretentious. So, as long as it's clear why the food is there, and it serves some kind of purpose plot-wise (and no, I'm not saying the scene has to hinge on it, just having two characters chat over a meal is fine), I'd say using food as a symbol, especially if it's important to the MC, is a good idea.
I agree with this. I think there's a style where a lot of 'unnecessary' detail (quotes because it's subjective, of course) is just par for the course, and in that case, describing food -- and whatever else -- doesn't stick out. But I know that for my style, which tends towards the more minimalistic, that's not the case. In this series I like, there are two scenes where the characters have conversations over food, and we get their verbatim orders. Both of those scenes have always really bothered me, because no matter how many times I read them, I have no idea why the food is supposed to be important. Why was this given more space than a told "... everyone ordered their food and ..."? What am I meant to glean from knowing that this character likes his bacon almost burnt and this one gets her eggs runny? It's a mystery to me.
I like to know that stuff—if I don’t get at least a bit of something specific, I can’t see the scene. Admittedly, it’s better if those specifics seem to carry at least a little of some other load.
