Books That Cook: Food & Fiction

by Jennifer Cognard-Black

Like stories, food can connect us to other people and their experiences in remarkable ways. Much of our lives revolve around the meals we eat, and our culinary senses of taste and smell are potent triggers of the past. This strong, sensory connection between eating and evocation can be used in fiction to conjure a host of emotions in the audience. In the 10 lectures of Books That Cook: Food and Fiction, Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black takes you on a culinary tour of fiction, from Proust’s evocative madeleine and the voracious hunger of fairy tales to the intersection of recipes with storytelling and the emotional consumption of food on film. These lessons look at how food can be so much more than mere set dressing in a great story. Along the way, you will explore fascinating questions, such as:

How is a recipe like a story?
What are we really consuming when we read or watch stories about food?
How does food help us connect with other people—and better understand ourselves
What are the political dimensions of food?

With Professor Cognard-Black as your guide, you will sample some tasty tales, sink your teeth into novels featuring cooks and chefs, enjoy food fairy tales, become a culinary tourist, and learn how food can serve up social justice, create visual feasts, and even change how we think.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Food, Cooking, Food and Drink

320 pages, Audible Audio

Published May 18, 2021

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to Chapter 3, and then decided I just couldn't stand it any longer. It wasn't what I expected - it was a touchy-feely examination of bad poetry and bad writing, all in the name of evoking memories. I'll admit that "taste memory" was an accurate description of how some foods can take us back to other places, but that was Chapter 1. It went downhill from there.

[Maida · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting listen. The author is an engaging narrator if a bit indulgent in virtue signaling at the end. There’s a good mix of book selections with the glaring absence of genre romance.

My favorite clip says: “Yet I also believe that a culinary tourist doesn’t have to hop in a car or board a train to have epicurean experiences or to arrive at gastronomic insights. For it’s entirely possible to travel from your armchair or, even better, from your kitchen. You see, you don’t have to travel bodily from one shore to another in order to taste and to value food from around the globe.” This is exactly what I’m trying to achieve with my books.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love food, books, and college level literature courses (minus the homework) this is a must read.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting listen on the use of food in fiction. Each of the 10 chapters is a lecture on a specific way food is used to tell a story. It was rich with evocative language and clearly reveled in the sumptuous food details in each example. You can tell that Jennifer Cognack-Black is a true foodie at heart.
I found it to be both informative and entertaining. Cognack-Black delivers each lecture in a compelling way, and the tone was never dry or plodding for me. Each lecture is in bite size (pun intended) chunks of 30 minutes, so we never got mired in the minutia of any one topic. I will say that she gets a bit preachy on certain topics, which was a bit of a turn off for me, and I didn't get the feeling that she would be open to interpretations outside her own. On the whole it was an enjoyable listen and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading about food.

[Leslie Nyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was not what I expected. but, I did learn something new. Perhaps it's just the expectations that I have from reading a book that I rated as three stars. I was expecting something more concrete and substantial and more tangible concepts or ideas to grasp. what I gained was somewhat like a list of recommended books to read to find out what I think and feel to get an idea of what the authors are trying to convey.

There are many hidden meanings to using food in fiction. And the recommended books seem like great reads. But it's one summary after another of books that adds to my list of books to read and consider. It does put into light the nuances and the culture and the time that the books were written.

Books that cook suggest that fiction that contain recipes allow readers to be part of the plot. And being a participant in the plot of the story in terms of being able to create something and eat it. This being food for thought and comes with the ideas within the book about food. Food being a somewhat neutral party for example pies can be eaten and being thrown at someone.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't really what I was expecting or looking for when I picked this up!
I should have left it as a DNF...but nope.

I was going to leave it unrated due to that buuut 2 stars because following up "not to give too much away" with a big bit of the third act plot is not a cool thing to do. There was a lot of spoilers just thrown in in this, yes I expected discussion of books but not "in title of book, here's a bit of background plot, AND THEN THIS GIANT THING" starting to discuss plot and scenes in general to just telling you the final conflict is just a weird thing to do. I didn't like it for the books I have read that Cognard-Black discussed either.

To give an example it would be like a reviewer starting a review of a book with "let's discuss X's death and what that means"....like say you are going to be discussing the final conflict of a book especially when after 3 or 4 chapters you haven't discussed specifics.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This starts off fantastic as Cognard-Black examines how food can inform the plot, theme, and characterization of books, as well as getting into the gendered, social, and political history of food, food preparation, and food writing.

Then, unfortunately, she wanders away from the brief, as they might say on the Great British Baking Show.

First, talks about how food is used in movies for storytelling, and, second, getting even farther from the premise, talks about how food is/was used for comfort during Covid-19 lockdowns. In both cases she sites Stanley Tucci a lot, including his films, cookbooks, and non-fiction writing. Food and Covid are an important topic that deserve attention, but that is an entirely different kettle of fish. Also, Tucci's economic privilege means he's hardly the best person to quote about Covid lockdown.

Would have been better if it stuck to the subject of the title throughout.

[Lenka Příplatová · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this Audible lecture series with pure enjoyment—not just because I love cooking, but because watching food and fiction meet is my kind of thing. Cognard‑Black doesn’t just deliver history and essays; she serves up poems, stories, and recipes like a literary meal you can smell and taste.

It reinforced one truth: I seriously need to finally read Fried Green Tomatoes. The way she ties cultural significance, identity, social justice, and nostalgia through food felt spot-on. It’s easy to skip over food panels in fiction, but here they mattered—they anchor characters, emotion, and memory.

I admit—I wish I could tether my friends to chairs until they listen to this. Not to lecture them, but so they’d get why I geek out over how food connects people, backgrounds, and meaning. There’s no smug nutritional lecture—just a thoughtful, playful celebration of food’s storytelling power.

[Chad Schultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate the author's obvious passion for the subject matter. She sounds like she would be a memorable and entertaining person to take classes from. However, I think this short book itself may chiefly just be of interest to literature majors. It largely just briefly touches on a variety of books or even movies that include food. It's not a bad book. I just don't feel that I got anything out of it.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

"retaste the past....Beard calls this act of reliving past events through dishes and meals 'taste memory' Lecture 1

"bite & recollection encapsulates... our body and thought are bound together through food, that stuff that is essential to our survival, our societies and our imaginations" Lecture 1

Pretty interesting set of lectures about our associations with memory, food, and reading - just a few of the points mentioned.

[teacupsandunicorns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! I definitely want to read other stuff by this author and I want to read her recommendations and the sources she references! This is so interesting. I loved exploring how food gives us signals to character insight, class, culture, mood, and some common metaphors and symbols in food in media. I LOVED IT.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was about ready to give up on this when the lecturer started analyzing a pretty basic pesto recipe to death in one of the earliest lectures, but ultimately I'm glad I stuck with it as some parts were quite interesting.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book combines literary criticism and movie reviews focusing on the role of food and recipes that send a message to the reader/viewer. Most of what the professor covers is justified and helpful. Some of it seemed forced.

I might listen to this audio course again. I'm not sure.

[O Babs · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I often prefer audiobooks narrated by the author, this audiobook needed an editor. Mispronunciations put me off, and thereafter I doubt much of the content. In a book about food, "Red 'Lye-ster'" cheese is such a gaff, a preventable gaff.

[Ty Oden · Rating 2 out of 5]

At a certain point in the second lecture, the author said that they hope that I, the listener, have been convinced of her premise. Let's just say I wasn't, and subsequent lectures did little to support the premise.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this book was exceptionally good, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it brought back many happy memories. Some parts of it - not so much.