I love worldbuilding through food and I want a book to make me hungry. I'm not looking for books ABOUT food – no Anthony Bourdain recs, please. I just want beautiful depictions of food nestled amongst the rest of the prose. I lean towards fantasy or historical fiction but am open to recs in any genre!
Some examples of books I think handle food description well are, like… Game of Thrones, Strange Weather in Tokyo, Land of Milk and Honey
by pixiequeen
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If you’re open to nonfiction, Crying in H-Mart is a memoir with a LOT of food descriptions, mostly Korean. It’s about grief mostly, and how food ties us to memory and culture.
None of these are high brow or literary!
*The House Witch* by Delemhach (the writing quality is… mixed but it’s a fun read)
* The Great Witches Baking Show* series – Nancy Warren
*Garden Spells* – Sarah Addison Allen
This is perfect! I have just read a book *exactly* according to that description, and I was looking for someone to share it with! *Tuscan Secrets* by Marlena de Blasi.
She makes me want to eat all the food they make!! Her whole book is delightful in a way I can’t describe.
Here’s the teaser —
From the author of the bestselling *A Thousand Days in Venice*, these are the further adventures of Marlena and Fernando and their experiences as they move to a small village in Tuscany. Originally published as *Dolce e Salata*, this is another delicious combination of authentic Italian life, food, recipes, love and memoir.
Reluctantly leaving Venice behind her, Marlena de Blasi travels with her Italian husband south to begin their new adventure. It’s in San Casciano dei Bagni, a small Tuscan village that Marlena and Fernando hope to find a rural way of life in which they can both share.
Almost immediately, Barlozzo, a gruff, charming Tuscan who has lived in San Casciano all of his life, appears as their guide. Through him, Marlena and Fernando explore the old rhythms of country life linked to the growing seasons. Barlozzo’s fascinating stories lead Marlena and Fernando to the regional festivals, to taste just-pressed olive oil drizzled over roasted country bread, and zucchini blossoms, fried to a golden lightness and sprayed with sea-salted water. Barlozzo shares his knowledge of farming traditions, ancient health potions and artisan food makers but he has secrets he doesn’t share, and one of them concerns the beautiful Floriana, whose illness teaches Marlena that happiness is truly a choice.
Beautifully combining Marlena’s passions, *Tuscan Secrets* also weaves Marlena’s enticing recipes through this utterly delightful memoir of food, travel and love.
Like water for chocolate by Laura esquivel centers food but isn’t about it, exactly – it’s a quick, easy read and is really beautiful
Check out the book Sweetbitter – it’s about a young waitress who gets a job at a fancy restaurant in NYC and the descriptions are absolutely superb
The Alchemaster’s Apprentice by Walter Moers
It has beautiful descriptions of food and an interesting story. The only downside is that the foods have fantasy ingredients, so you could never make them, no matter how good they sound!