The obvious answer is any of the Provence books by Peter Mayle (?Too busy to make sure I remembered his name right). [summary: English couple moves to Provence and eats their way through the year]
But for a non-obvious answer, I’m going for the James Herriot book where he’s on a cargo boat, and is amazed at how good the food is, particularly the scene where the cook whips up some beef tartare for him. Can’t remember which book it is right now, but that is definitely a mouth-watering scene for me.
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Like Water for Chocolate. The book has all sorts of recipes in it, none of which I’ve had the guts to try yet (the proportions are mostly humongous – what am I going to do with enough chiles en nogada for an entire rural Mexican wedding?).
But quails in rose petal sauce sounds yummy, if only I had any idea where to find quails. Or enough rose petals without blowing a fortune at the florist, although florist roses are probably chock-full of pesticides anyway. Anyone wanna lend me an organic rosebush?
The honeyed cakes they make in the book The Red Tent always sound heavenly.
Also, though it’s not a book, I’ve always wanted to try a sandwich from the lunchpail tree in Return to Oz, which was one of the creepiest children’s movies I’ve ever seen.
Sorry I missed this the first time - that’s what I get for skimming. And sorry you didn’t like the movie - my boyfriend at the time it came found it to be quite…inspirational.
