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How fictional foods inspire real-life culinary adventures
Summary
Chefs are bringing to life food depicted in books and films, be it ramen in ‘Ponyo’ or that chocolate cake in ‘Matilda’When food is meticulously described or skilfully woven into the narrative, it can transcend the pages and inspire readers to explore the culinary delights in real life.
“I find the simplicity of food depicted in books and films very endearing. There is a goodness in the visual or reading experience that is not necessarily about the food itself. It is this experience that you want to relive," says chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar of Edible Archives, Goa, and Bento Bento, Bengaluru. Ghosh Dastidar is preparing a two-day special promotion, Studio Ghibli Food Series by Bento Bento, at the restaurant on 10-11 August.
The Japanese anime powerhouse, founded by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki, has a cult following for the blend of heartwarming humanity and exhilarating adventures in its films. Food has been a moment of bonding for the characters in the Studio Ghibli films. In Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), wizard Howl cooks a breakfast of fried eggs and fatty bacon and serves it with a sourdough slice to Sophie and Markl. The meal was simple but hearty and had an instant visual connection with the audience. To bring this connection to life, Bento Bento will be serving Studio Ghibli classics such as Satsuki’s Bento Box from My Neighbor Totoro (1988), ramen from Ponyo (2008), onigiri from Spirited Away (2001) and of course, Howl’s breakfast.
Also read: The book Magnifera Indica traces the influence of the mango on Indian life
Food plays a similar role in British author Roald Dahl’s bibliography. He was renowned for his passion for the culinary arts and food became central to many of his plot lines, most famously, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and Matilda (1988). In the latter, it was a decadent chocolate cake slice that got Matilda’s classmate Bruce Bogtrotter into trouble with the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, leading to the young pupil having to eat the whole chocolate cake in front of the school assembly. Whether you’ve read the book, seen the films or sung along with Matilda the Musical, that chocolate cake has built a snug home in your mind and all chocolate cakes have the task of living up to that. So, when the Royal Shakespeare Co.’s Matilda the Musical came to India in May, the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre’s Theatre Café served three-layered, chocolate ganache-frosted slices of chocolate cake, which they called Matilda Cake.
An Indian film that used food as a key character was The Lunchbox (2013), starring the late Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur. The relationship between the protagonists develops over the food in the four-tiered lunch box. A polished-off bowl of malai kofta is the turning point in the film. To pay homage to this contemporary film that does justice to Indian food, Mumbai-base chef Saransh Goila, co-founder of restaurant Goila Butter Chicken, cooked his version of the malai kofta for the film’s producer Guneet Monga in May, and posted it on Instagram. “This movie made me fall in love with Indian food all over again and it reminded me of how emotionally we are connected to each other through our recipes," he wrote in his post.
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter universe offers an exciting gastronomic exploration—from the lavish spreads in the Great Hall and Mrs Weasley’s heartwarming home-cooked meals to Dumbledore’s candies and Butterbeer at Hogsmeade. Butterbeer has inspired many Potterheads to recreate the “less-sickly butterscotch" drink. Goila posted his version of the drink with homemade salted caramel, soda and whipped cream on Instagram.
Similarly, Delhi-based food writer and anthropologist Shirin Mehrotra found inspiration in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005) to concoct the magic potion Felix Felicis. She used rum, orange bitters and cinnamon as the primary ingredients. This was in 2016 when her “liquid luck" potion went viral, giving her the right dose of confidence to continue her fiction-to-food journey with The Literary Table initiative, a series of pop-up dinners and meals with books at its central theme.
Each dinner is inspired by an author and their work. Last month, she curated and hosted Nausha Farmaiye, a Ghalib-inspired two-day experience at Delhi’s Indica, a food pop-up and community space. Ghalib’s poetry may not have direct references to food but his love for food and drink was well-known and documented. “The meal was designed around Ghalib’s likes and dislikes, which we culled out from his works as well as biographies and historical recollections," she explains. The meal had mangoes at its core since it was the poet’s favourite fruit, with courses such as “Misra" that featured a dish made of chausa mango ceviche and sabudana papad, and “Kafya", which included mutton or masoor shaami with amiya ki chutney and lachcha pyaz.
As part of The Literary Table dining series, Mehrotra has done meals themed around Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and author Haruki Murakami. “There is a lot of homework that goes into curating these spreads. For Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, we went beyond what was described in the book and found inspiration in characters and their quirks," she says. Tapping into the power of imagination is important for the fruition of these spreads.
Takers for such creative endeavours aren’t widespread but it will connect with those who have memories of food in fiction. “For me, it is to take a personal moment, make it larger and make it a collective moment," says Ghosh Dastidar.
Sayoni Bhaduri is a lifestyle journalist based in Mumbai.
