Dinah Fried‘s Fictitious Dishes features elegant photographic recreations of some of literature’s most beloved banquets. From Proust’s fine madeleines to Kerouac’s apple pie with cream, Fried captures the atmosphere of the novels, focusing carefully on every single detail, from the shape of the crockery to the pattern on the table cloth. Each photograph is accompanied by the particular passage in which the recipe appeared, as well as a few quick and curious factlets about the respective author, novel, or food. Truly enjoyable.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, 1951
‘When I’m out somewhere, I generally just eat a Swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk. It isn’t much, but you get quite a lot of vitamins in the malted milk. H. V. Caulfield. Holden Vitamin Caulfield.’
Alice’s adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, 1865
‘Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea.’
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, 1960
”Gracious alive, Cal, what’s all this?’ He was staring at his breakfast plate. Calpurnia said, ‘Tom Robinson’s daddy sent you along this chicken this morning. I fixed it.’ ‘You tell him I’m proud to get it — bet they don’t have chicken for breakfast at the White House.’’
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, 1851
‘Our appetites being sharpened by the frosty voyage, and in particular, Queequeg seeing his favorite fishing food before him, and the chowder being surpassingly excellent, we despatched it with great expedition…’
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
‘On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.’
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, 1971
”You goddamn honkies are all the same.’ By this time he’d opened a new bottle of tequila and was quaffing it down….He sliced the grapefruit into quarters…then into eighths…then sixteenths…then he began slashing aimlessly at the residue.’
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1910-1911
‘Roasted eggs were a previously unknown luxury and very hot potatoes with salt and fresh butter in them were fit for a woodland king—besides being deliciously satisfying.’
Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, 1913
‘One day in winter, as I came home, my mother, seeing that I was cold, suggested that, contrary to my habit, I have a little tea. I refused at first and then, I do not know why, changed my mind. She sent for one of those squat, plump cakes called petites madeleines…’
On the Road by Jack Kerouac, 1957
‘But I had to get going and stop moaning, so I picked up my bag, said so long to the old hotelkeeper sitting by his spittoon, and went to eat. I ate apple pie and ice cream — it was getting better as I got deeper into Iowa, the pie bigger, the ice cream richer.’
Chicken Soup with Rice’ by Maurice Sendak, 1962
Filed under: Design, Heritage, Inspiration, photography, Pop Heritage, The Present of Past Tagged: dinah fried, fictitious dishes, the great gatsby, to kill a mockingbird
