Two of life's pleasures are reading worthy books and eating delectable foods. Often times reading a book is comparable to tasting, swallowing, chewing, and digesting food. Books are a buffet of flavors, colors, textures, and tastes -- rich, hearty, fiery, and spicy, smooth and chewy, bitter, sweet, and sour, meaty, tender and succulent, and on and on. Therefore, if we imagine our books as an edible spread to ingest, maybe we can build a twelve course meal of our favorites.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Here are the twelve courses included in this elaborate menu designed to give diners a tantalizing eating experience with food. If you were to assign your favorite books to the menu, as if they were food to be tasted, where would you place them? Pay attention to the italicized words in the descriptions, but you can be creative. Then briefly explain why you placed them in that category...giving the readers a taste.
The Twelve-Course Meal
1. Hors d'oeuvre : savory food, usually served in small portions, like bacon-wrapped scallops.
2. Amuse-bouche : smaller complimentary appetizer, like a cocktail, a teaser from the chef, or single bite finger food.
3. Soup : a light soup, like a bisque or consummé, to bridge between appetizers and the main dish.
4. Appetizer : food or drink that stimulates the appetite for more, like shrimp with cocktail sauce.
5. Salad : very small and usually a mixture of greens with dressing, or a hodgepodge of pieces of cold food, used to cleanse the palate after all those tempting appetizers.
6. Fish / seafood : a flavorful, light meat, delicate and simple, like scallops or oysters, or rich and dignified, like Salmon or tuna steak.
7. First main dish : Yes, after all that, it is time for the first main dish, which is a lighter meat, like duck, chicken, or turkey.
8. Palate cleanser : time to reset your taste buds with refreshing fruit, bread, or sorbet.
9. Second main dish : Yes, another meat...RED MEAT, high quality, prepared to sophistication, such as short ribs or stuffed lamb.
10. Cheese course : served as a simple variety of textures and flavors accompanied by crackers or nuts, kind of like a charcuterie board of diversity.
11. Dessert / wine : Yay! Pleasant deliciousness accompanied by an after dinner drink. Think of rich chocolate mousse or sweet berries and champagne.
12. Mignardise : Finally, the post-post meal treat is a tiny delicate, bite-size elaborate confection, like a macaron, served with coffee or after dinner liqueur, to aid digestion.
MY ANSWERS:
1. Hors d'oeuvre : The Little House series by Ingalls-Wilder
This could go with comfort food, like warm soup on a cold day; however, with all the descriptions of delicious foods within every story, this series is altogether small packages of savory, just like bacon-wrapped scallops.
2. Amuse-bouche : Far From the Madding Crowd by Hardy
Since many of Hardy's works tend to be distressing, this is one that could be a teaser to additional Hardy's works, if you did not know any better. His style is satisfying, and this one is a love story that ends better than the rest.
3. Soup : Wind in the Willows by Grahame
Enjoyable, pleasant, and just right. Like comfort food.
4. Appetizer : 1984 by George Orwell
4. Appetizer : 1984 by George Orwell
This classic will stimulate your mind. If you desire more, you may choose The Handmaid's Tale, Brave New World, or Lord of the Flies. Otherwise, you may be ready to cleanse your palate with salad.
5. Salad : Madame Bovary by Flaubert
The main character is a hodgepodge, a mixed bag, a mess. Then again, many of us can relate to her because we suffer from Madame Bovary Syndrome.
6. Fish / seafood : Persuasion by Jane Austen
A delicate and simple love story, but also refined and dignified.
7. First main dish : Don Quixote by Cervantes
7. First main dish : Don Quixote by Cervantes
The outward appearance is daunting...but it is both light and substantial.
8. Palate cleanser : Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery
Definitely refreshing and a reset from the heavier reads on our plate.
9. Second main dish : Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Pure RED MEAT. This you will digest for a lifetime.
10. Cheese course : Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi
10. Cheese course : Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi
Nafisi wrote this story about reading books under the repressive and tyrannical Iranian regime, providing a variety of experiences from literature through the POV of women under threat. (P.S. if you are curious about what is happening in Iran now, read this book!)
11. Dessert / wine : The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
11. Dessert / wine : The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald
Each time I read this, it ages well. I know the story is difficult to swallow, but it's more than a story; it is an experience. You don't want to look again, but you have to look; just like you don't want that piece of cheesecake, but you have to have one more bite.
12. Mignardise : Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
This is a treat! A well-thought out love story with truth and honesty and perfection. It will be just what you need; satisfyingly smooth and easy to digest.
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Want to participate? Copy the INSTRUCTIONS and menu from the top of this post, and create a post with your answers on your blog. Comment here when you've answered the tag, and include a link to your post.
Bon Appetit!
