Food in crime fiction.
This is an online event hosted on the British Library platform. Bookers will be sent a link in advance giving access and will be able to watch at any time for 48 hours after the start time.
“I think, my dear, we won t talk any more about murder during tea. Such an unpleasant subject.”
4.50 from Paddington, Agatha Christie
A writer may choose to serve up culinary detail within their novels for myriad reasons – world building, character development, the creation of a mood. Food is memorable, tangible, identifiable. It plants us directly in the action. For mystery novelists there is additional tantalising prospect. For within cocktails, cakes, omelettes, a jar of marmalade, a plate of mushrooms, lies a potential method for murder.
END OF YEAR REVIEW: The best books from 2020
| Updated: 12:55, 07 January 2021
Stratford Literary Festival (SLF) folk and other local reading enthusiasts share their favourite reads from
Gill Sutherland (43827353)
Wine Girl by Victoria James made very interesting if dangerous reading.
Subtitled âA sommelierâs tale of making it in the toxic world of fine diningâ, James gives amazing insight into what goes on behind the scenes in fancy restaurants.
Her love of wine is contagious and made me really appreciate the treat of a good bottle with all the homemade food being prepared during the spring lockdown.
It should come with a warning though â it does make you into a bit of a wine-guzzling bore!
Fish is traditional on Christmas Eve, but it doesn’t have to be hard work – try Felicity Cloake’s
spaghetti alle vongole, for example. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Ellie Mulligan. Prop styling: Anna Wilkins.
What can I make for dinner on Christmas Eve that’s easy but still feels special?
Paul, London E9
“My habit for serving some sort of fish dish on December 24 is unshakable,” writes Nigel Slater in The Christmas Chronicles, and who am I to quibble? This used to mean fish pie – “usually of haddock, prawns and mussels in a creamy sauce topped with deep furrows of mashed potato” – but now often takes the form of flaky puff pastry smuggling the likes of hot smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, leeks, new potatoes, parsley and tarragon.
Festive bites: Felicity Cloakeâs perfect vegetarian sausage rolls. Photograph: Dan Matthews/The Guardian. Food styling: Loic Parisot
Though a sausage roll is certainly not just for Christmas, is it really a Christmas party without them? Frankly, Iâm not sure it is, unless youâre vegetarian, in which case youâre often expected to celebrate with fridge-cold hummus or fight over a brie and cranberry tartlet instead. These particular sausage rolls, however, are a true crowd-pleaser: meat-free, but not flavour-free. As an enthusiastic consumer of the classic variety, I can hand on heart assure you that they more than live up to expectations.
Article
Top chefs reveal their favourite festive food; Tom Kerridge, Gizzi Erskine, Clodagh McKenna and Kim-Joy spill the beans on festive faves By Contributor Published: 20:30, 12 December 2020
Get the Ross-shire Journal sent to your inbox every week and swipe through an exact replica of the day s newspaper
Do you dream of turkey? Long for giant tubs of your favourite chocolates?
Do you wait every second of the year for the moment you can have cranberry sauce on everything?
We all have our favourite Christmas foods, the morsels we look forward to endlessly, so we asked some celebrity chefs and food writers to name theirsâ¦