Thursday, March 27, 2008

Foodlore Anthology Seeks Food Origin Stories

Photo Creative Commons by Eggybird

Dante's Heart says a new anthology seeks stories "wherein writers invent origin myths for their favorite foods." Basically they want you to create your own fiction story of where a certain food came from. The blog entry has examples of some foods that have already been submitted.

They may divide the book by meals -Breakfast, lunch, dinner and maybe tea time and snacks - it's still developing.

Apparently there is a lot of lee way in what you consider food - stories on primordial soup and mudpies have been submitted in addition to more traditional food. They may have a forbidden/taboo food category. So if you want to talk about the first yummy cannibal stew, go for it. (Does it scare anyone besides me that I can find a picture to illustrate human flesh as food?)

Word Count: 2000-5000 words
Deadline: April 15, 2008
Submit to: Jennifer Heath at Foodlore@comcast.net

11 comments:

Tricia Sanders said...

NO, what scares me is that actually posted it. You wierdo, you.

zeldadg said...

Moohoohahaha! It wasn't me. It was that other voice. I swear.

Dante's Heart said...

What's actually more horrifying is that I'm finding that picture strangely beautiful. In a horrifying, ritualistic way.

Dante's Heart said...

Where is that picture from, by the way? It's chilling.

zeldadg said...

I found it at creative commons. I still haven't figured out how to link to specific photos/photographers, but if you search for Cannibal Corpse, you'll find it.

I find it compelling in a Halloween sort of way.

Dante's Heart said...

Ah, thanks! It was too compelling not to seek out.

There is a self-portrait from the fourteenth century called "le roi mort" that I will have to look for and see if I can find for you. The king had his portrait made, but had himself drawn as a cadaver wearing a crown, with a gaping wound in the chest and his almost-skeletal hand touching the wound. It's a haunting image. Not completely skeletal: just the thinnest musculature stretched over the bones, no skin. Very bizarre piece.

zeldadg said...

Is it weird to say that sounds fascinating?

I would love to see it if you can find it. Just the idea that someone would think of that kind of portrait in the fourteenth century makes me want to research it.

There is an artist at http://www.zombieportraits.com/ who will draw you as a zombie, which sound pretty similar.

Dante's Heart said...

Whew! Thanks for letting me know about the zombie artist: I'll look that up at once.

I actually found the portrait I meant - which is a miracle - I found it in the first place in a giant back-of-the-library Book of Hours. The thought that it has made its way online (so many things haven't, but the pace is quickening) is wondrous. Here it is:

http://www.enguerrandquarton.com/
manuscrits/morgan.html

From a French website. I am afraid the image is tiny, but it is the only copy I've been able to locate. Hopefully you can see how strange and compelling it would be, larger!

I will have to post this on my own blog this week - along with the zombie artist and the image you provided in your post. Too strange and fascinating not to start a collection.

Let me know what you think of "le roi mort."

Daniel
Dante's Heart

Dante's Heart said...

Amusing that we're having this conversation in the comments to a "Foodlore Anthology" post. Your readers who click on the Comments here will have no idea what they're getting themselves into....

zeldadg said...

Yep. Abandon hope, all ye who comment here.

Love the picture. Do you know what the banner says? My curiosity is piqued. The image reminds me of Masque of the Red Death.

Dante's Heart said...

The banner is too small for me to read it in this image (my bad eyes), but I have it written down somewhere (it's been too long for me to remember it), so I'll look for it later.

Do you know Hans Holbein's engravings on the danse macabre, the dance of death - following the Black Plague? Intimately tied with that.

I love how our cadaverous and kingly friend just points to himself. "Look! This is me!"

I love the Poe reference.