Monday, January 4, 2016

Top ten kitchens in literature

John O'Connell is a former Senior Editor at Time Out; he now writes for the Guardian and the Times. His new book is The Book of Spice.

One of O'Connell's top ten kitchens in literature, as shared at the Guardian:
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)

Bridget’s valiant attempt to prove herself a brilliant cook and hostess by serving shepherd’s pie with “Chargrilled Belgian Endive Salad, Roquefort Lardons and Frizzled Chorizo” ends in disaster: “Cannot go on, Have just stepped in a pan of mashed potato in new kitten-heel black suede shoes from Pied à Terre (Pied a pomme-de-terre, more like), forgetting that kitchen floor and surfaces were covered in pans of mince and mashed potato.” There’s also the small matter of her storage jars festooned with an “un-hip squirrel design”.
Read about the other entries on the list.

Bridget Jones's Diary also appears on Jeff Somers's list of five memorable books set on New Year’s Eve (and Day), Rebecca Jane Stokes's top eight list of books perfect for reality TV fiends, Melissa Albert list of six of the worst fictional characters to sit next to on a plane, Allegra Frazier's list of five top diary novels, Gigi Levangie Grazer's list of six favorite books that became movies, Caryn James's top five list of recent novels that channel classics, Sean O'Hagan's list of the ten best fictional hangovers in print, film and song, Christina Koning's list of the best of chick-lit, and a list of eight books for the broken-hearted.

--Marshal Zeringue