Eating and reading - the simultaneous nourishment of both the body and the spirit - must seem like a natural combination to a writer and foodie Cara Nicoletti . Both a butcher and pastry chef at Brooklyn's Colonie Restaurant, Cara also has a great blog - Yummy Books - in which she combines her love of food and books by concocting, creating, and writiing about literature-themed recipes. A few of my favorites are:
- Lord of the Flies Pig's Head Terrine
- Moby Dick Clam Chowder
- The Corrections Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream Frosting
What's great about Cara's blog posts (for me, anyway) is her genuine attention and appreciation the book she is serving up to her readers. Here is an excerpt from a recipe devoted to Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, describing why Cara decided to create a Hunger Games Cherry Pistachio Baked Alaska:
When my friends, Emily and India told me that a friend of ours was having a Hunger Games themed birthday party (yes, we are all in our mid-twenties) and that they were in charge of bringing the cake we all started brainstorming ideas. India pointed me to the passage in which Katniss is brought a beautiful cake and it is set on fire right in front of her.
"I try to focus on the talk, which has turned to our interview costumes, when a girl sets a gorgeous looking cake on the table and deftly lights it. It blazes up and then the flames flicker around the edges awhile until it finally goes out. I have a moment of doubt 'What makes it burn? Is it alcohol?'" (77)
The only cake that I know of that is covered in warm alcohol and set on fire is a baked Alaska-the most elegant, fanciest dessert I had ever seen as a ten-year-old.
Thanks to our friends at Very Short List - @VSL on Twitter - for sharing Yummy Books with us.
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