Many things have an effect on food culture, and food culture affects many things via human interaction --> food is so obvious, we take it for granted and assume it to be certain way.
Me to my dad: The noodles have gluten, the others don’t.
Dad: Is a noodle in this pot?
This was my first time cooking with noodles ( I know what you are thinking), but the fact that my father wasn’t sure which pot had these mysterious noodles (as a singular form, he really said a noodle) really paints my suitcase cherry.
‘‘You know how in TV nobody ever goes to the bathroom/picks their eyes/sneezes spontaneously...’‘ Food might not always have any meaning for your plot or character development, but as a daily human necessity, it is an easy setting for those things.
---> You can show differences between characters from different cultures in a natually sparked conversation. ‘’Hey what on moon is that? It looks gross...’’ ‘’I’ll have you know...’’
---> Everybody needs to eat, this is a good opportunity to make the reader understand your group dynamics and show character traits. Who cares about who, who is selfless, who will eat the last bits of food in secret and how will the others react?
---> ‘’What about second breakfast?!’’ Tolkien nails this. We like patterns,(one of the) best way(s) to make then visible is by breaking them.
And the literal world building:
all of the material used for cooking needs to come from somewhere.
They have manufacture expenses, so what will they cost? (you should think about how economic works in general). Do you need to exchange currency or barter?
Adult Swim, Rick: ‘’25 schmeckles, I don’t know how much, I don’t know what that is. Is that a lot is it little?’’ Set your currency in a way that is relatable, or make it fun by having the definition of worth some abstract nonsense.
What sorts of plants can grow in your climate? Your darling plants need to be tough enough to survive your ‘’it is always sunny, except for those seven days of the week when it only rains once’’ (the men from the ministry, bbc).
Who farms and harvests the crops? Are those people paid and how much? Does this cause friction in your society? People have the will to change things that aren’t working for them. Oppressed people will never stay silent (history, universe).
‘’You were trapped there for three weeks, what did you eat?’’ Food comes from nature, again you should have an idea of how ecosystems work. Humans are quick to adapt and it is easy for us to abuse that skill. ---> how will the nature in your settings react to over farming or eating everything edible found inside a cave? (This is a valid reason and good opportunity to make a fun avalanche out off the repercussion, if you are into that.)
‘’But Vivera, how the f can your nomadic ranger make food in the wilderness?’’ You can throw some flint and cooking technology and it’s history into the mix, when your characters are preparing food.
All of this been said, you don’t usually need this level of detail, the reader probably doesn't care that much (and if they do care, you now have the chance to write the shiniest red apple guide book).
All of those peeps saying ‘’if it doesn’t drive plot or any other development, cut it out’’ are right. But it is you story, and you should have fun with it. When reading Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adam’s books, the underlying explanation for everything (life universe, you know, everything) is simply to have fun.
I do and I will unapologeticly use brackets, but all of those misplaced commas, i’m Finnish, and this is a working progress. All of you people trying to learn Finnish will know this to be true.
Look at me go with all of these popular culture references. They were not meant to be tag list fillers, but hey, might as well put them there.
However, I will decline to use ‘’writing tip’’ as a tag, since I can’t give those, only fun niches to play with, take out and show to your friends.
Writing posts once a week, on Wednesdays. Gardening & hiking post when I have the energy to take photos with right settings.
