Food & drink takeaways – 24 September
A banquet from the movie world, a banquet from the literary world and from the artistic world, simply a man carrying a tray.
Just some of the food and drink delights for which we have to thank 24 September.
Click on the links for extra helpings.
A curated taster menu of every day’s food & drink associations
Food on screen
1993
Director Ang Lee’s romantic comedy movie The Wedding Banquet {header photo} – set around a lavish banquet celebrating a marriage of convenience – opens in UK cinemas.
"The banquet itself features fresh shrimp and lobster, perfectly steamed, and served on a bed of rice and greens to each guest, plus a four-tier wedding cake. Other scenes show Simon trying to teach Wei Wei how to cook fried eggs, the mother preparing freshly squeezed orange juice, the family eating dinners that include shredded tofu or sushi or breakfasts that combine American and Chinese foods, Simon treating the newlyweds to restaurant meal of General Tao chicken and pan-fried fish at the best Chinese restaurant in Manhattan.”
Food in writing
1896
American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was born on this day and this is an extract from his celebrated novel The Great Gatsby singled out by Dinah Fried, author of Fictitious Dishes: An Album of Literature’s Most Memorable Meals (Harper Collins).
“On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors-d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold. In the main hall, a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another.”
Meanwhile, the Difford's Guide drinks website suggests you celebrate the occasion with a Fitzgerald cocktail..
Food art of the day
A drawing of a man carrying a tray of food by German genre painter Theodor Hosemann – born on this day in 1807.
Food birthdays
1882
American business magnate, founded the food company Mars Inc
1941
American musician, photographer, animal rights activist, founder of Linda McCartney Foods and author, Linda’s Kitchen, Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meatless Meals
1955
Michelin-starred German chef at the Waldhotel Sonnora, his own family business
1965
English celebrity chef, Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, Restaurant Express
