First came the announcement, then the various contributions arrived in my mailbox, and finally, today it is time for the roundup of the 14th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes.

Like all its predecessors, the current edition of the event includes an lovely set of readables and edibles. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will offer a small bite to whet your appetite for more: follow the link to read the details of the inspiring work of literature and of the inspired recipe. I hope that by the time you reach the end of this post, you will have a nice reading and cooking list to be used in the near future. With the Holidays coming up, it's nice to have some books in your wish list.

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Rachel of The Crispy Cook read the China Bayles herbal mystery series by Susan Wittig Albert and prepared Gluten-free Cinnamon Basil Cupcakes (from book 2: Witches' Bane)

"China is a former high-powered defense attorney who shifts gears mid-career to open up an herb shop surrounded by gardens in a small town." Each book has a different herbal theme "and one can learn a lot about gardening, folklore, the medicinal use of herbs and even try out some delicious recipes from the back of many of the books."

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Ruhama of rumahama went "old school" with Homer Price by Robert McCloskey, a collection of short stories, one of which inspired her to prepare Doughnuts

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Phil of As Strong As Soup was inspired by Jacques Prévert's poem 'Lanterne Magique de Picasso' from the book ‘Paroles’ to prepare Gâteau de Riz and Grape Syrup Verrine

A line of the poem and the British habit of adding jam to a rice pudding merged to direct the creation of this dessert served in glass. The topping follows the same process as making a grape jelly… but stops short of allowing the jelly to set… The gâteau de riz layer is perhaps a little less firm than many French versions and is flavoured with lemon rather than vanilla."

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Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz read August Heat by Andrea Camilleri (one of the Montalbano novels) and made Pappanozza

"Pappanozza… I like the way it sounds – fun. I like the way it rolls off my tongue – Pap-PA-noz-za. Pap-Pa-noz-za!… I love the simplicity with which the food is described and the plainness of the ingredients involved, and the way it’s prepared… This was nothing fancy, yet it tasted delicious. Like Inspector Montalbano, that is all I ate. I, too, wanted to keep to light food. It was perfect."

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Jo of Not An Everyday Circumstance read The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller and was inspired to prepare vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

"One of the points driven home by the book is the ability to be yourself. One of the ways that this is demonstrated is through the food. Robert is a vegetarian, and Francesca has never really liked meat… with Robert, she can experiment. She can do what she wants and cook food that makes her happy. One of those foods is stuffed peppers… I created a vegetarian option that made use out of what I had in the pantry."

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Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking found inspiration in Beyond the Pasta by Mark Leslie handy and prepared Frittata con Zucchine e Cipolla (Zucchini and Onion Frittata)

"This book is a fun read… especially if you are at all interested in travel, food, or Italy… My copy of Beyond the Pasta was sitting right next to my knitting basket, where I can thumb through my favorite parts of the book. Page 17. Day One of Mark's trip to Italy. He is talking about his arrival to Italy and welcome into the family," and frittata con zucchine e cipolla comes out of Nonna's kitchen.

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Adele of tales of the basil queen found inspiration in The Magicians by Lev Grossman and prepared Swiss Chard Ravioli

Inspired by "a story about college and growing up that shows how even being able to do magic does not make coming of age any less awkward," comes "a dish that reminded me… of wandering into the kitchen late on a Saturday afternoon and watching a meal evolve, unplanned and unrehearsed, as more people trickled in with thoughts of food on their minds… The ravioli dish below uses a little trick I figured out just this year."

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Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, was inspired by The Elephant Man and Other Reminiscences by Dr. Frederick Treves to prepare No-Hassle Hasselback Blue Potatoes

"Dr. Treves' careful and kind recollections of his discovery of and subsequent enriching friendship with Mr. Merrick… shows the rewards of suspending such judgment until a measured and patient evaluation can be made… It is probable that Mr. Merrick and Dr. Treves had never encountered the anomaly of blue potatoes arranged on their dinner plates. But I know that given each man's remarkable character, and joy in living and giving, that neither would have refrained from a single mouthful."

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Inspired by The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, Simona of briciole prepared funghi, fagioli e castagne (Mushrooms, Beans and Chestnuts)

The novel revolves around a series of gruesome murders that occur in Boston and Cambridge (MA) while Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is working on a translation of Dante's Inferno. The thought of Dante's exile from his beloved Florence inspired the preparation of a dish that includes popular ingredients, including two, mushrooms, and chestnuts, usually gathered in the woods.

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Simona of briciole was also inspired by Georges Simenon's short novel The Blue Room to prepare frittata con pere asiatiche arrosto & crostatine (Roasted Asian Pear Frittata & Tartlets)

The "story brings the reader into a quiet corner of France, where life goes on fairly steadily, but where nothing goes on unremarked… When I saw the two half crostatine on the plate, I thought they were an apt metaphor for the lonely halves in the story, whose leitmotif is the inability to communicate. This inability, which we see in every character, not just the main ones, has tragic consequences."

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My special "thank you!" goes to the event's participants. The next edition of Novel Food will be in the spring: I will announce it here and on The Food Blog Diary, so stay tuned. The Food Blog Diary is the lovely event announcement site created and maintained by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes. Visit the site to read about current events and let her know about your event and she will post it on her well-organized site. Thank you, Jacqueline!

In the meantime, read good books (maybe with the next Novel Food in mind), cook good foods, and otherwise savor life's local and seasonal offerings. Arrivederci!

First came the announcement, then the various contributions arrived in the mailbox, and finally, today it is time for the roundup of the 13th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. Like all its predecessors, the current edition of the event includes an interesting set of readables and edibles.

Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary tour. For each contribution, I will offer a small bite to whet your appetite for more: follow the link to read the details of the inspiring work of literature and of the inspired recipe. I hope that by the time you reach the end of this post, you will have a nice reading and cooking list to be used in the near future.

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As a child, Ruhama of rumahama loved Dominc by William Steig: the book has inspired her to prepare Baby back ribs with a special rub

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Cara of Due Spaghetti was inspired to make Madeleines by Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog

"a fascinating and profound story about identity and personal conflict. The story takes place in Paris, where the heroine Renée, a French concierge in an apartment building full or aristocrats, keeps her intellectualism hidden from the outside world and assumes the appearance of a common, uneducated woman. Her only friend, Portuguese Manuela, is in on her secret."

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Jo of Not An Everyday Circumstance read Random Harvest by James Hilton and was inspired to make Eton Mess

"Once you've read the book, you should definitely make it a point to see the 1942 film adaptation with the marvelous Ronald Colman as Charles Rainier/Smithy and the luminous Greer Garson as Paula. Yes, Random Harvest was made into a movie, just like James Hilton's other famous novel, Goodbye, Mr. Chip." [also starring Greer Garson]

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Corina of Searching for Spice was inspired by The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad to prepare Afghan Lamb and Spinach Stew and Aubergine in Yoghurt

Seierstad, a journalist, goes to Kabul just after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. She moves in with a bookseller and his family and lives with them for five months to write a book about them. Her book "reads as a novel, rather than as non-fiction." A wedding feast provided inspiration for the two dishes.

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Sandi of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking read Beyond the Pasta by Mark Leslie and prepared a summer treat: Basil Gelato

"Every year [Leslie] travels to Italy and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato… He does a beautiful job of filling this book with the flavors and scents of Italy… This a novel and a recipe book all rolled into one delicious read."

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Adele of tales of the basil queen found inspiration in The Tutor, a short story by Nell Freudenberger, and prepared Cacio e pepe

"Sometimes the stories we love best are not those that teach us something about other lives, but those that echo our own. These are stories in which we meet characters we know, and see our own thoughts laid out on the printed page. Stories in which we find that a stranger has described us better than we could describe ourselves."

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Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz read The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella and made Chocolate Sauce for ice cream

"a historical fiction about ice cream and two people [a handsome, Italian ice cream maker and a beautiful but poor, French lady-in-waiting] caught up in the political climate between France and England in the 1600s and the wills of the two kings… Who knew that the subject of ice cream combined with 17th century French/English politics would be so fascinating?" 

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Simona of briciole read The King's Gambit and The Catiline Conspiracy by John Maddox Roberts and prepared Carrots with cumin sauce

The novels are mysteries set in ancient Rome. Reading them "was like revisiting knowledge I had acquired when studying Roman history and art history, and Latin language and literature, but with a different perspective… I really like to imagine Rome as it was then (I century BCE), with locations and buildings I know from art history and from visits to the Eternal City.

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My special "thank you!" goes to the event's participants. The next edition of Novel Food will be in the fall: I will announce it here and on The Food Blog Diary, so stay tuned. The Food Blog Diary is the lovely event announcement site created and maintained by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes. Visit the site to read about current events and let her know about your event and she will post it on her well-organized site. Thank you, Jacqueline!

In the meantime, here's my customary parting words: read good books (maybe with the next Novel Food in mind), cook good foods, and otherwise savor life's local and seasonal offerings. Arrivederci!