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When you think about pairing food and books, the natural first conclusion might be cookbooks. And while cookbooks are essential to our jobs, food can also play a central role in literature. Descriptions of food fully engage the senses and can reveal character traits, serving as a conduit for both character and plot development.

To celebrate National Book Month, we asked our <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/" target=_blank>Book World colleagues</a> what their favorite food moments in literature are and paired our favorites with recipes from our archives. There are a mix of old classics, contemporary fiction and children’s books, with a variety of mains, cocktails and desserts to match.

Fair warning: A few of the excerpts ahead might spoil some plot points, but they certainly won’t tamp down your hunger. To discover even more recipes, head over to our <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/" target=_blank>Recipe Finder</a>. If we missed your favorite, let us know what it is in the comments.

1. Key Lime Pie (‘Heartburn’ by Nora Ephron)

Scott Suchman for The Washington Post

“If I had it to do over again, I would have made a different pie. The pie I threw at Mark made a terrific mess, but a blueberry pie would have been even better, since it would have permanently ruined his new blazer, the one he bought with Thelma. But Betty said bring a Key lime pie, so I did. The Key lime pie is very simple to make. First you line a 9-inch pie plate with graham cracker crust. Then beat 6 egg yolks. Add 1 cup lime juice (even bottled lime juice will do), two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk, and 1 tablespoon grated lime rind. Pour into the pie shell and freeze. Remove from freezer and spread with whipped cream. Let sit five minutes before serving.”

This novel centers on a food writer, so it’s difficult to go more than a few pages without stumbling into a recipe. You might have heard of the famous <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/basic-red-wine-vinaigrette/" target="_blank">vinaigrette</a> from the book thanks to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/10/19/olivia-wilde-salad-dressing-jason-sudeikis/" target="_blank">some celebrity drama</a>, but this pivotal moment featuring a Key lime pie is impossible to forget. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/key-lime-pie/" target="_blank">Get the recipe</a>.

2. Garlic and Herb Roasted Turkey With Roasted Garlic Gravy (‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott)

“There never was such a Christmas dinner as they had that day. The fat turkey was a sight to behold, when Hannah sent him up, stuffed, browned, and decorated. So was the plum pudding, which melted in one’s mouth, likewise the jellies, in which Amy reveled like a fly in a honeypot. Everything turned out well, which was a mercy, Hannah said, 'For my mind was that flustered, Mum, that it’s a merrycle I didn’t roast the pudding, and stuff the turkey with raisins, let alone bilin’ of it in a cloth.'”

Celebrate the holidays like the March girls with a festive roasted turkey. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/garlic-and-herb-roasted-turkey-roasted-garlic-gravy/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

3. Chicken Yakitori With Smashed Cucumber Salad (‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami)

Tom McCorkle for The Washington Post

“Midori and I went to the basement restaurant and, after a close inspection of the plastic food in the window, both decided to have an old-fashioned cold lunch assortment with rice and pickles and grilled fish and tempura and teriyaki chicken. Inside, it was far from crowded despite it being midday.”

“'I’m going to eat some cucumbers if you don’t mind,' I said to Midori’s father. He didn’t answer. I washed three cucumbers in the sink and dribbled a little soy sauce into a dish. Then I wrapped a cucumber in nori, dipped it in soy sauce and gobbled it down.”

Meals in Haruki Murakami’s books are simple but delightful, eliciting hunger with a few carefully chosen descriptions. Our chosen dish relates to two separate passages in the book — both quiet, intimate moments for main characters Midori and Watanabe. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/chicken-yakitori-smashed-cucumber-salad/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

4. Tomato Soup With ‘Grilled Cheese’ (‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl)

“‘Oh, to blazes with that!’ said Violet, and suddenly, before Mr Wonka could stop her, she shot out a fat hand and grabbed the stick of gum out of the little drawer and popped it into her mouth. At once, her huge, well-trained jaws started chewing away on it like a pair of tongs. ‘Don’t!’ said Mr Wonka. ‘Fabulous!’ shouted Violet. ‘It’s tomato soup! It’s hot and creamy and delicious! I can feel it running down my throat!’ ‘Stop!’ said Mr Wonka. ‘The gum isn’t ready yet! It’s not right!’ ‘Of course it’s right!’ said Violet. ‘It’s working beautifully! Oh my, what lovely soup this is!’”

Roald Dahl famously tied food and sweet treats into this children’s novels (remember “James and the Giant Peach”?). Instead of opting for candy or desserts, of which there were plenty in Wonka’s factory, we chose this savory dish inspired by the moment when a ticket holder gets tricked by the promise of a delicious three-course meal. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/tomato-soup-grilled-cheese/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

5. Wasabi Avocado and Crab on Crispy Rice Cakes (‘The Bell Jar’ by Sylvia Plath)

“Arrayed on the Ladies’ Day banquet table were yellow-green avocado pear halves stuffed with crabmeat and mayonnaise, and platters of rare roast beef and cold chicken, and every so often a cut-glass bowl heaped with black caviar. I hadn’t had time to eat any breakfast at the hotel cafeteria that morning, except for a cup of over-stewed coffee so bitter it made my nose curl, and I was starving.”

Sylvia Plath frequently mentions simple meals and culinary pleasures across her journals, poems and novels — so much so that there’s <a href="https://twitter.com/whatsylviaate?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target=_blank>a Twitter account</a> dedicated to cataloguing them. Our version of avocado and crab has a little more heat but maintains the simplicity of the described dish. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/wasabi-avocado-and-crab-crispy-rice-cakes/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

6. Mint Julep (‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Rey Lopez for The Washington Post

“'Open the whiskey, Tom,' she ordered. ‘And I’ll make you a mint julep. Then you won’t seem so stupid to yourself. … Look at the mint!’”

While food is mentioned a few times in “The Great Gatsby,” booze references abound. Ice cold mint juleps are served per Daisy’s recommendation as the heat swells and tensions flare. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/mint-julep/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

7. Jajangmyeon (‘Crying in H Mart’ by Michelle Zauner)

“The food court is the perfect place to people-watch while sucking down fatty, salty jjajangmyeon. I think about my family who lived in Korea, before most of them died, and how Korean-Chinese was always the first thing we’d eat when my mom and I arrived in Seoul after a fourteen-hour flight from America. Twenty minutes after my aunt would phone in our order, the apartment ringer would buzz ‘Fur Elise’ in MIDI, and up would come a helmeted man, fresh off his motorcycle, with a giant steel box. He’d slide open the metal door and deliver heaping bowls of noodles and deep-fried battered pork with its rich sauce on the side. The plastic wrap on top would be concave and sweating. We’d peel it off and dribble black, chunky goodness all over the noodles and pour the shiny, stick, translucent orange sauce over the pork. We’d sit cross-legged on the cool marble floor, slurping and reaching over one another. My aunts and mom and grandmother would jabber on in Korean, and I would eat and listen, unable to comprehend, bothering my mom every so often, asking her to translate.

“Crispy Korean fried chicken conjured bachelor nights with Eunmi. Licking oil from our fingers as we chewed on the crispy skin, cleansing our palates with draft beer and white radish cubes as she helped me with my Korean homework. Black-bean noodles summoned Halmoni slurping jjajangmyeon takeout, huddled around a low table in the living room with the rest of my Korean family.”

This tender, heartbreaking memoir revolves around Michelle Zauner’s complicated relationship with her mother and their shared love of Korean food. These black bean noodles evoke memories of Zauner’s trips to Korea and the meals she shared with her family. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/jajangmyeon/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

8. Dorie Greenspan’s Cappuccino Madeleines (‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust)

Deb Lindsey 

“She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called ‘petites madeleines,’ which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim’s shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate, a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, but individual, detached, with no suggestion of its origin.”

Marcel Proust is so famous for his evocative writing that any instance in literature in which a memory or feeling is conjured by a sensory trigger is called a Proustian moment. This scene with madeleines is one of his — and literature’s — most memorable. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/cappuccino-madeleines/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

9. Instant Pot Spaghetti (‘Strega Nona’ by Tomie dePaola)

Laura Chase de Formigny for The Washington Post

“'Bubble, bubble, pasta pot, Boil me some pasta, nice and hot, I’m hungry and it’s time to sup, Boil enough pasta to fill me up.'”

We can’t forget one of the most beloved chefs to grace our bookshelves, “Strega Nona.” While we don’t have access to a magical bubbling pot that supplies a never-ending supply of pasta, we think an Instant Pot is a pretty good substitute. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/instant-pot-spaghetti/" target=_blank>Get the recipe</a>.

University of Wisconsin at Madison, BA in English and International Studies

London School of Economics, MS in Media and Communications

Anna Rodriguez is the editorial aide for the Food section. She interned at District Magazine in Dublin, Ireland, and worked front of house at a farm-to-table restaurant in Minneapolis before joining The Washington Post in 2022.

Anna Rodriguez

9 recipes inspired by famous literary meals

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