When teaching undergraduates about the postmodern novel, I give them clues what to look for. One of the easiest ways to test for postmodernism is to ask whether a novel is constantly pointing at itself, shouting ‘Hey! Look at me. I’m a work of fiction!’ So Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer […]
Month: August 2010
Plums al cartoccio ….and the great vegetable debt
I’m out of vegetable debt at last. For the first time in my life I’ve grown enough of something to give it away. It may sound like nothing to those of you who only have to wink at a seed packet for vegetables to hop out and do their thing. But I’m not one of […]
Foolproof tomato sauce
The easyJet pilot flying us back from Pisa to Gatwick this week earned himself a medal for Tactless Things To Say When About to Leave the Runway. ‘Sorry guys, things are crowded up there….. just too many planes and not enough sky.’ Certain images should never be evoked and that was one of them. […]
Green gazpacho with borage ice
Going through security for my flight from New York to Virginia I noticed a sign that said ‘no snow-globes may be taken on this flight.’ It sounded such a fanciful idea to even think of taking a snow-globe flying that I immediately wanted to. And that got me thinking about how to make an edible […]
Mad Men and English Fruit
I’ve just been to New York and Virginia where both the hospitality and the heat were off the scale. In NY one of my happiest meals was sitting in Central Park eating the most beautiful pink-blushed apricots. In Virginia I was treated to sweet, sticky pork ribs, corn and Southern-style biscuits. But like Sombrero hats […]