As you may know (and even have heard), the other week I appeared on The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4. I had a great time recording the programme and talking about the food of James Bond, and I even cooked two recipes - oyster stew (as mentioned in '007 in New York') and Bond's … Continue reading James Bond food on air
Nobody can deny that James Bond hasn't suffered in the course of his duties: in Thunderball, he's obliged to drink carrot juice.
In John Pearson's 'biography' of James Bond, Bond recalls how, before the war, he and an old school friend, 'Burgler' Brinton, had motored from Geneva to Paris. On the way, they stopped at Mâcon for lunch of poularde 'comme chez soi' and Champagne at the Auberge Bressane.
One of the oddest things that James Bond eats in Ian Fleming's novels is the half avocado with French dressing in Casino Royale. It's not so much what he eats, but when he eats it.
In an article in The Times, journalist Oliver Moody reported on the opening up of the archives of one of the UK's most famous high-street retailers, Marks and Spencer. Looking at some of the foods mentioned, the piece could have been describing James Bond's typical diet, which serves to remind us just how unfamiliar and exotic Bond's food was to the early readers of Ian Fleming's novels.
A slice of pineapple is the perfect response to the richness of James Bond's main course of lamb cutlets and asparagus with sauce Béarnaise at M's club, Blades, in Moonraker.
Fish food is a surprising item on the list of Bond-related food, but it does make an appearance in a Bond film - The Spy Who Loved Me.
Whether spread on hot toast, rolls, or French bread, or melted and poured onto stone crabs or ray wings, butter appears frequently in the James Bond novels. What do the many descriptions of butter tell us about which type James Bond prefers?
My recipe for oyster stew appears in my cookbook, Licence to Cook. That version uses smoked oysters, but if you prefer to use live oysters, then look no further.
James Bond often has two of something - a double espresso, a double bourbon, a double-0 number. Even his club sandwich, eaten by him in Thunderball, is a double-decker. In Live and Let Die, though, he goes one better.
