Just back from a stimulating discussion with a group of food writers about food writers and food writing - what is it, what could it be, what should it be...
And as I headed up the hill from the station the thought came unbid that food writing is like cooking eggplant.
I can take an eggplant, slit it down the side and bake it till the skin chars, scoop out the flesh and blend that with garlic, salt and tahini and make a smooth tangy babaganoush - which I can finish off with a drizzle of olive oil and smoked paprika.
I can take an eggplant, slit it down the side and stuff it with chopped tomatoes, onion, parsley, garlic, salt and bake it again and make unctuous juicy texturally complex plump imam bayildi.
I can slice the eggplant crossways or lengthways and grill the slices on a barbecue and mix it and say grilled slices of zucchini, olive oil, parsley, salt to make a voluptuous melange that has a crisp edge to it.
I can dice a fat eggplant, dust the cubes with salt and turmeric and leave them to drain for an hour or so, then deep fry them, and then mix them with a sauce of garlic, ginger, curry leaves, vinegar, a little sugar and some finely chopped green chili to make a modified squishy sweet sour brinjal pahi.
I can quarter thin or baby eggplants to just below the stem, rub the insides with a mix of ground roasted cumin and coriander, turmeric and salt, and then either deep fry or shallow fry them to make soft bodied slightly astringent mouthfuls.
Food writing for me is like that. I can use food to explore the synaesthesia of taste, scent and sight. I can use food to discuss shifting geopolitics - anti colonialist struggles, the rise and fall of empires, the influence of trade and markets on political dominance. I can, Proust like, use food to summon up an unstable remembrance of my past, or explore my cultural heritages. Food sits at the centre of writing about the future of the human species - climate change, but also unsustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices. Reviewing a restaurant can lead me to think about diasporic labour relationships, or the power of the media in the success or failure of an enterprise, or waste, or cultural mores.I can do all of these things in the one story/blog/review/paper.
Which lens I choose is a matter of chance. As with much of my writing for pleasure, something will strike me as worth exploring through writing. Sometimes my intent is clear from the outset. Sometimes it is only as I write that I realise what I can do with the subject and a stronger or broader or more pleasurable intent may take over. This can happen also when I am writing on assignment; researching a topic can lead me to test the limits of the brief as I find facets of the subject of which I was un- or not fully aware. Writing through one lens can stimulate me to approach the subject differently on other occasions. How I write for an encyclopedia entry, for example on Sri Lankan street food, is very different to how I write about the same topic, the same foods in this blog or on my foodie website or when promoting my food tours in a brochure.
So it's both the subject matter - food, foodways - and the breadth of approaches that jointly appeal to me as a writer. Like cooking an eggplant.
And as I headed up the hill from the station the thought came unbid that food writing is like cooking eggplant.
I can take an eggplant, slit it down the side and bake it till the skin chars, scoop out the flesh and blend that with garlic, salt and tahini and make a smooth tangy babaganoush - which I can finish off with a drizzle of olive oil and smoked paprika.
I can take an eggplant, slit it down the side and stuff it with chopped tomatoes, onion, parsley, garlic, salt and bake it again and make unctuous juicy texturally complex plump imam bayildi.
I can slice the eggplant crossways or lengthways and grill the slices on a barbecue and mix it and say grilled slices of zucchini, olive oil, parsley, salt to make a voluptuous melange that has a crisp edge to it.
I can dice a fat eggplant, dust the cubes with salt and turmeric and leave them to drain for an hour or so, then deep fry them, and then mix them with a sauce of garlic, ginger, curry leaves, vinegar, a little sugar and some finely chopped green chili to make a modified squishy sweet sour brinjal pahi.
I can quarter thin or baby eggplants to just below the stem, rub the insides with a mix of ground roasted cumin and coriander, turmeric and salt, and then either deep fry or shallow fry them to make soft bodied slightly astringent mouthfuls.
Food writing for me is like that. I can use food to explore the synaesthesia of taste, scent and sight. I can use food to discuss shifting geopolitics - anti colonialist struggles, the rise and fall of empires, the influence of trade and markets on political dominance. I can, Proust like, use food to summon up an unstable remembrance of my past, or explore my cultural heritages. Food sits at the centre of writing about the future of the human species - climate change, but also unsustainable agriculture and aquaculture practices. Reviewing a restaurant can lead me to think about diasporic labour relationships, or the power of the media in the success or failure of an enterprise, or waste, or cultural mores.I can do all of these things in the one story/blog/review/paper.
Which lens I choose is a matter of chance. As with much of my writing for pleasure, something will strike me as worth exploring through writing. Sometimes my intent is clear from the outset. Sometimes it is only as I write that I realise what I can do with the subject and a stronger or broader or more pleasurable intent may take over. This can happen also when I am writing on assignment; researching a topic can lead me to test the limits of the brief as I find facets of the subject of which I was un- or not fully aware. Writing through one lens can stimulate me to approach the subject differently on other occasions. How I write for an encyclopedia entry, for example on Sri Lankan street food, is very different to how I write about the same topic, the same foods in this blog or on my foodie website or when promoting my food tours in a brochure.
So it's both the subject matter - food, foodways - and the breadth of approaches that jointly appeal to me as a writer. Like cooking an eggplant.
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