I'm usually mostly interested in food based on what it illumines about the characters and/or world. If the character doesn't care what goes in his mouth, then I don't mention it in any detail (I've had a character go from noble food to soldier's fare to travelling peasant food and comment on ONE dish in the course of his adventures.) If the character cares, then I have a detailed description of his reaction to the burn of a given spice, and his comparison of that spice to the ones from home. If the character has financial or logistical reasons for being concerned where the next meal is coming from, it gets brought up more than if they can pretty much count on it being there when they want it.
For myself, as a writer, even if the character doesn't care, I usually ahve at least an idea what is the known cuisine of that country/class -- if it's something vaguely related to a historical place, I'll research that as far as I must, and copy what's reasonable, removing the blatant Earthisms (like "Cheddar", above.)
If it isn't, then I try to work it out based on a combination of the race/species' food needs (Are dragons omnivorous or carnivorous? How many calories would they take in a day?) and, again, the solutions human cultures have found. Sometimes this involves coming out with a complete list of spices and typical meals, other times sitting down and trying to determine how much it costs to live on fish, rice, and fruits and veggies with a modern grocery, versus "Cheap" canned goods and packaged foods. I try not to fall back on handwavium exclusively, but I also don't sweat it as long as there's *some* explanation.
In reading, I notice it the way I notice other world-building and character-delineating details - I see it plainly if it's done badly, but if it's well done, it flows smoothly with the rest of the world and character, so I only study it and appreciate it on a second or third read. I do tend to assume that one of the questions that *should* be asked in the process of worldbuilding is "Where does the food come from?", and the answer should be visible around the edges even if it's never a matter of importance to anyone. (And if you're in a travelling group, and intend to get anywhere fast without large quantities of support staff and wagons, it should NOT be stew or soup. Those are pretty stationary.)
OTOH, I forgive movies a lot more than I forgive books for invisible food source, because movies are necessarily much more compact. (In How to Train your Dragon - the movie, I know nothing of the books - I kind of pretend there are garden plots or people who gather in the woods just out of our sight and just enjoy. Because there really isn't time to fit it in more food detail than the bits about the dragons mostly fishing.)
The Steven Brust book built around a meal at Valabar's was nicely detailed, since Brust is a foodie, but also seemed to me no more or less impressive a piece of worldbuilding/stunt-writing than basing a book around Vlad's laundry list.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 06:27 am (UTC)For myself, as a writer, even if the character doesn't care, I usually ahve at least an idea what is the known cuisine of that country/class -- if it's something vaguely related to a historical place, I'll research that as far as I must, and copy what's reasonable, removing the blatant Earthisms (like "Cheddar", above.)
If it isn't, then I try to work it out based on a combination of the race/species' food needs (Are dragons omnivorous or carnivorous? How many calories would they take in a day?) and, again, the solutions human cultures have found. Sometimes this involves coming out with a complete list of spices and typical meals, other times sitting down and trying to determine how much it costs to live on fish, rice, and fruits and veggies with a modern grocery, versus "Cheap" canned goods and packaged foods. I try not to fall back on handwavium exclusively, but I also don't sweat it as long as there's *some* explanation.
In reading, I notice it the way I notice other world-building and character-delineating details - I see it plainly if it's done badly, but if it's well done, it flows smoothly with the rest of the world and character, so I only study it and appreciate it on a second or third read. I do tend to assume that one of the questions that *should* be asked in the process of worldbuilding is "Where does the food come from?", and the answer should be visible around the edges even if it's never a matter of importance to anyone. (And if you're in a travelling group, and intend to get anywhere fast without large quantities of support staff and wagons, it should NOT be stew or soup. Those are pretty stationary.)
OTOH, I forgive movies a lot more than I forgive books for invisible food source, because movies are necessarily much more compact. (In How to Train your Dragon - the movie, I know nothing of the books - I kind of pretend there are garden plots or people who gather in the woods just out of our sight and just enjoy. Because there really isn't time to fit it in more food detail than the bits about the dragons mostly fishing.)
The Steven Brust book built around a meal at Valabar's was nicely detailed, since Brust is a foodie, but also seemed to me no more or less impressive a piece of worldbuilding/stunt-writing than basing a book around Vlad's laundry list.