So What Makes A Good Food Writer?

As a food writing apprentice, there are a lot of techniques used in food writing that make food essays enticing to read. I like to see a good story in a food essay that brings a personal element into the essay. The most important thing for me in these food essays have their personal, unique, story connect to the food they cook and write about.

I was really pulled into Ernest Hemingway’s Bacon Wrapped Trout with Corn Cakes. When he said at the beginning of the essay, “It is all right to talk about roughing it in the woods. But the real woodsman is the man who can be really comfortable in the bush.” When I read this, I was immediately intrigued to see how that statement could possibly connect to the topic of food. I think it is interesting how Hemingway is so resourceful with how he cooked his trout successfully over hot coals. Many people in this 21^st century would be incapable with cooking this meal in their kitchens. Hemingway’s essay is proof that people today don’t need fancy kitchens and big spaces to cook in; it can all be done in the woods over a campfire. I also thought it was interesting how Hemingway said at the end of the essay, “But for those of us in the comfort of our own kitchens, there’s a better way: Look to the broiler.” I think this technique of adding and alternative for the not so resourceful cooks in this day and age was a good way for Hemingway to show that this fresh food is so easily obtainable by picking up a pan and cooking it yourself.

On the other hand, the Vanilla Ice Cream with Brandied Peaches essay had great descriptions that brought the reader into the setting the author was writing about.In the first paragraph, you can almost feel how the author does when he writes, “Around the middle of August, when vacations are past and sunset creeps up noticeably earlier every evening, end-of-summer anxiety sets in. How could I have let this happen?” and he goes on to say every weekend needs one or two stone fruit deserts. Descriptions like that passage, and phrases like “sunset creeps up noticeably earlier” all draw you into the essay with such vivid description. I think if it didn’t have the end of summer description early in the essay, the dish would have no grounded connection since it is such a “summery” type dish with the fresh peaches from the farmers market and homemade ice cream described in the recipe.

Finally, the article “How to Fix Everything” had a great voice, told from Heather McDonald who cared for John once he had his tumor. Throughout the essay you get the feeling of how the food brought her and John together from when they met, “He always saw it as a challenge: What can I do with half a chicken, mustard, spinach, and Rice-A-Roni,” (27).  This thought of making cooking into a challenge makes the reader think about family or friends and how cooking brings them all together. By the end after Heather had gone through the struggle with John and the tumor, she says, “Sometimes, I still like to believe the lasagna saved John.” (33). This statement brings the reader into her thoughts of how the food brought her and John so close and in her mind, even ‘saved’ him from his tumor.

In my Family Story and Recipe Project, I want to write about my great grand pa. He started a restaurant from nothing except a shed and some boiling hot dogs. Today, the restaurant has passed through generations in the family, and the food and recipes behind the restaurant are still alive. I want to use the strong voice that Heather McDonald used in her article, and the description in the Vanilla Ice Cream with Peaches, and Trout by Hemingway to bring the reader into the writing.