Words Good Enough To Eat

ALBANY - Once a year, a group of book-loving culinary hobbyists will be gathering at the Albany Institute of History and Art to quite literally eat their words.

'This 'Edible Book Festival' is something countries all over the world are participating in,' said AIHA chief librarian and archivist Rebecca Rich-Wulfmeyer 'It was started in 1999 by a woman who was sitting around with some book artists and decided it was a fun way to celebrate books.'

Here's how it works: People bring in edible entrees that are in some way based on a favorite book, author or literary passage.

'There is an afternoon tea, and guests are invited to bring their own edible book. In the past, participants have used phyllo dough for pages, decorated a cake with a scene from a book or used humorous puns to play off of a favorite literary work,' Rich-Wulfmeyer said. 'Between 2 and 3 p.m., we will get together and admire each other's work. At about 3 p.m., we will start eating the entries,' she added.

If you want to test your literary culinary skills here are some ideas.

Some works are conducive to the literary-gastronomic connection. Popular titles like Dr. Seuss' 'Green Eggs and Ham,' Truman Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' and Kurt Vonnegut's 'Breakfast of Champions' invoke images of morning feedings.

William S. Burroughs' 'Naked Lunch' brings an afternoon fare to mind. And works from John Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath,' and W. Somerset Maugham 'Cake and Ale,' to Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass,' and Edith Wharton's 'Fruit of the Tree' are enjoyable anytime, day or night. From bitter fruit to sweet sauce, the possibilities are endless.

Think about the menu young Nick Carraway would have set his eyes upon while hopping through 1920s Long Island dinner party circuit in F. Scott Fitzgerald' s 'The Great Gatsby.' Imagine what delicacies Rudyard Kipling's 19th protagonist 'Kim' would have come across while traveling along that big road of Lahore.

Theme and genre provide some food for thought. To beach-reading paperback lovers, there is a sea full of shrimp, crab and lobster to consider. Fans of intrigue and mystery can get away with almost anything - whether concocted with a who-dunnit recipe of secret ingredients or using the Sue Grafton method: R is for Romaine, S is for Salad, T is for Tortellini and so forth.

And writers like Michael Crichton, author of the works 'Congo' and 'Jurassic Park,' conjure up thoughts of something meaty.

Culinary connoisseur Annette Nielsen suggests this tribute to Gertrude Stein's 'Lifting Belly': Smoked and roasted pork belly with a reduction of figs and candied rose petals.

As a companion to J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,' Nielsen recommends cocktails of Polyjuice Potion, roast Phoenix riddled with sautéed snake for dinner and a side dish of crystallized spiders. A simpler concoction delivers pearls of caviar (or is that pearls of wisdom?) for Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter.'

Closer to home, for area author William Kennedy's 'Ironweed,' Nielsen suggests a dinner for Francis and Annie that would include preparing a turkey with side dishes of potatoes and onions and cranberries. And make sure you tie up that turkey with a shoelace, she adds.

The mere mention of some authors bring strong food-related connotations to mind. Who hasn't read the words of Bill O'Reilly or Dr. Laura and thought: 'Hmmm. Macadamia or pecans? Almonds or pistachios?' There certainly are enough nuts to go around.

Then there is Ann Coulter, who inspires the simplest of recipes: Dry toast.

As for Stephen King aficionados, we'll leave the recipe up to you and wish you luck in getting people to sample it.

Sports reporter Eric DeGrechie recommends these gastronomic delights.
For Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road,' DeGrechie suggests a cross-country smorgasbord of sorts with New York strip steak, New Orleans bourbon-style chicken and authentic Mexican tacos.

'Of course it must be washed down with plenty of alcohol, so add a warm glass of red port wine and shots of cheap whisky borrowed from the neighborhood bum,' he points out. 'Also, make sure to enjoy the meal at the apartment of some stranger you've just met and intend to use for a floor to crash on, when you eventually fall asleep in a drunken stupor.'

Chef DeGrechie's alternate dish is one based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.'

'You should start with a hearty bowl of gruel, and if it's on Sunday, you also get half a roll,' he says. 'Eat it seven days a week, three times a day and add in an onion on two of the days. You will surely have everyone asking: Please sir, may I have another bowl?

If all this cooking takes up too much kitchen time, you can always rent-a-chef to do the work while you bask in the glory.

by Thomas Dimopoulos
published in The Saratogian