World Building: Food

A break from the adventure in Living Stone

In deference to Thanksgiving, I want to write about how food shows quite a bit about the culture and geography in your world. I have often spoken about how I write a detailed synopsis of someone’s day in my authors notes with a specific focus on breakfast and other meals.

 

Do they eat simple cuisine or rich fair? Why? Because what a person eats gives you socio-economic status or their rank in a family. What spices do they use? Are they readily available either because they are close by or due to ease of transportation. What is easy to grow in the region of their world? What is imported or exported? How available is sugar?

How is it cooked? On an open fire or in a stove? How is the stove fueled? Is the stove also the main heat source in the house? What tools are necessary in order to create such a dish? Perhaps the characters don’t cook–do they eat out at restaurants, have servants or family members to cook for them?

Finally consider what diseases do they suffer do to the lack of food? Or eating unhealthily?

All of my titles show food being consumed at least in the background. In Other Systems, the menu that Abby consumes is directly related to where she is in the Universe.

Da and Ma had made sure their children never went hungry, but growing up with them had brought a certain degree of monotony to the food. On Kipos, Abby felt a fear of constant scarcity due to her limited diet, but on the Revelation a stocked kitchen was available to her. The large, cold pantry was full of meats, fish, cheeses, eggs, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. The dry pantry had oils, spices, sugar, cereals, and pastas. Whatever she used was added to the inventory, which was updated continuously. The list would be sent ahead the day before they landed on Kipos. When the computer recorded the jump in milk and juice consumption, she was worried, but Brian said both were cheaper and better for her than coffee. Mark added, “Especially because the Revelation has four coffee addicts aboard.”

How could she not feel safe?   (Excerpt from page 222-223)

In Faminelands and Lure, food is often a breaking moment between action sequences. In Out for Souls&Cookies, food is often in the background though in Book 3: Rosie does spits out a vegan dog with the complaint that poodles are carnivorous!

Now much of this might stay in author notes, but some of it might end up in the finished work.

Breakfast plus dessert: Boulangerie Nantaise

So my husband has been raving about this place Boulangerie Nantaise for the last few months as it is right near his office in Belltown and today I finally got to try it!

I had an appointment downtown so I took the bus with my dear hubby when he went to work. The lady behind the counter recognized him and knew his order and seemed excited to finally meet me. I was in there for 45 minutes and she was super polite and somewhat chatty to everyone who came in.

Hubby got his latte and went to work. I sat down and had a wonderful breakfast of artichoke and red pepper quiche and a vanilla latte. The eggs were dense like a proper quiche should be. The veggies flavored the eggs nicely but were not overpowering. The crust was divine. It also came with three little slices of french bread and butter. While the butter is cold, it is not so hard that I can’t spread it on the bread.

Then mostly because I still had 45 minutes before my appointment, I decided to look closer at their pastries. So yes, I ate dessert alongside my breakfast. I ordered a marionberry croissant which was perfectly  flaky and delicious.

Everyone should go try this place today!

Boulangerie Nantaise is a coffee house so it has self bussing counter-service. They also have sandwiches and soups.

The address is 2507 4th Avenue  Seattle, WA 98121

Here is there menu: http://www.boulangerie-nantaise.com/menu.html