fiction to sink your teeth into

a + e by Ryszard Merey with Orange Tic Tacs

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature normally written by professional chef Rohan O’Duill, has been taken over this month by Rachel A. Rosen, who co-wrote a book about being bad at cooking.

a + e (Seasons Book 1: Spring) by Ryszard Merey is a haunting and luminous tale of doomed queer love and friendship. If you’ve ever had a teenage crush on your best friend, snuck into a club wearing fishnet, or otherwise got your mess splattered over everyone else in your life, this book is for you. In it, Ash seems to subsist entirely off orange Tic Tacs, while Eu eats everything he won’t touch.

The cover of A+E, which doesn't even have the author's name or title on it, on an iPad. It depicts two gothy, gender-ambiguous teenagers in an embrace. In front of it, sitting on a picnic table, is a package of orange tic tacs, some of them on the table itself. I had to chase a cat off the picnic table to get this shot, and he used this opportunity to sneak into my house and start eating my cat's food, so I hope you appreciate my sacrifice here.
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Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell with Soap Smoothie

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

If I could summarise Cloud Atlas in a paragraph, I wouldn’t be writing the recipe section of a newsletter. This epic saga throws up a lot of interesting concepts. Soap is a drink consumed by clones that provides their nutrition. I found it difficult to source the original protein source for the drink so I substituted in some vanilla protein instead.

Please enjoy this refreshing smoothie as you delve into the world of Cloud Atlas.

The novel Cloud Atlas with a smooth that is a pale yellow colour but is not actually made of soap.
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High tea paired with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into is usually a feature from author and chef Rohan O’Duill, but this month, Rachel A. Rosen is hijacking it.

I was obsessed with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass before I could even read, and paired with my love of baking shows, I have been dying to do a Mad Hatter Tea Party for ages. It’s complicated by the lack of cooperation from the small woodland creatures in my vicinity, plus the fact that I’m vegan. I made several recipes for this, with varying degrees, and I’ll share the most successful ones here.

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, next to a display of tiny sandwiches, mini tarts, and scones. There's a silver sugar bowl and the edge of a teapot in the background. A little label that says "eat me" is on the display.
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Caviar Blini and Vodka paired with A Gentleman in Moscow

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

A Gentleman in Moscow tells a story of optimism in hopeless situations. The Count shows us we can still appreciate beautiful things in the most difficult of circumstances. So even if things are bad, you can sit back with a book and some delicious food and drink and enjoy that small moment.

The book A Gentleman in Moscow next to very delicious looking blinis and a healthy sized pour of vodka
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Crab Cake Sandwich with All hope of Becoming Human

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

Normally I put a little explainer here why I chose this meal with this book. But this time I am going to let a the book do the explaining.

“Do you want to talk?” Rebecca says softly.

Demzey scoffs, shaking his head. “About what? Where would we even start?” Demzey says, his eyes appearing to dampen. “Should we discuss the massacre at the compound? Or the scientists trying to escape in the SUV only to be overturned, dragged out into the desert and ripped to shreds? Or maybe the soldiers who are sitting in quarantine right now, the ones who saved my life, their bodies being turned inside out, while I sit at this restaurant waiting for a crab cake sandwich with steak fries and a cold draft? Yes, by all means let’s talk…”

all hope of being human next to a very tasty sandwich
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Eton Mess with Gideon the Ninth

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

Gideon only wants to go to Magnus and Abigail’s 11th anniversary party because she really wants to eat a dessert. So I thought it fitting that we prepare that dessert to go with reading Gideon the Ninth. The dessert described is cream with fruit and sugar, which sounds a lot like an Eton Mess. Bonus, that’s a super simple recipe to make!

Gideon the Ninth and a delicious looking dessert of eton mess in a glass
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Baozhi dumplings with The City We Became by NK Jemisin

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

As the characters take on their roles as city boroughs and scramble to find each, other they get offered a plate of Mrs. Yu’s Baozhi dumplings. It is hungry work becoming a city after all. These dumplings do require a bit of skill but they will be well worth it as you bite into one and enjoy Jemisin’s beautifully written book.

A ridiculously beautiful steamer full of dumplings in front of N.K. Jemisin's "The City We Became."
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Boullion and Sandwiches with Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

I tried to come up with something that you could have as part of a roadside picnic. Boullion is mentioned in the book and I have created a very quick consommé recipe that hopefully approximates what was intended. To go with it there are some sandwiches which you might have been served in the Borscht Café.

Boullion and sandwiches with Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
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Corrupted Vessels by Briar Ripley Page with a Mojito Cocktail

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Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

While reading this beautifully sordid little book, Corrupted Vessels, I was really struggling to come up with a meal to go with it. And then I realised a meal would be all wrong—it needed a cocktail. While some of Ash’s herbal infusions were tempting, I decided it was safer to go with a traditional mojito.

corrupted vessels with a mojito
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