Matporno #1: Voodobaby

En av mine yndlingsforfattere, Francesca Lia Block, name-dropper mat hele tiden. Boka Witch Baby (Voodobaby heter den på norsk og gjør den dermed til et sjeldent eksempel på et navn fra engelskspråklig litteratur som faktisk har blitt kulere på norsk) starter med en fest i hagen til bungalowen til Weetzie Bat og My Secret Agent Lover Man. Der er bordet dekket slik: Under the twinkling trees was a table covered with Guatemalan fabric, roses in juice jars, wax rose candles from Tijuana and plates of food - Weetzie's Vegetable Love-Rice, My Secret Agent Lover Man's guacamole, Dirk's homemade pizza, Duck's fig and berry salad and Surfer Surprise Protein Punch, Brandy-Lynn's pink macaroni, Coyote's cornmeal cakes, Ping's mushu crepes and Valentine's Jamaican plantain pie.

Allerede i neste kapittel, når Witch Baby (Voodobaby!) skater på rulleskøytene sine i Los Angeles for å få være litt alene, dukker neste mat-dropping: Witch Baby passed Canter's, the all-night coffee shop, where a man with dirt-blackened feet and a cloak of rags sat on the sidewalk sniffing pancakes in the air. She only had fifty cents in her pocket, but she placed it carefully in his palm, then skated on past the rows of markets that sold fruits and vegetables, almonds and raisins, olive oil and honey. The markets were all closed for the night. So was the shop where Weetzie always bought vanilla and Vienna coffee beans.

Og siden jeg er så glad i avocado (nei, avhengig!), må jeg ta med dette utdraget: On the way to Santa Cruz Dirk and Duck stopped along the coast to surf. They stopped so many times to surf and eat (they finished the avocado sandwiches in the first fifteen minutes and bought sunflower seeds, licorice, peaches and Foster's Freeze soft ice cream along the way) that they didn't get to Santa Cruz until late that night. Dessuten heter to av søsknene til Duck Tahini og Granola, og dette gjør de i Santa Cruz: In Santa Cruz, Dirk, Duck and Darlene went for walks on the beach, hiked in the redwoods, marketed for organic vegetables and tofu and fed the chickens, the goat and the rabbit.

Witch Baby og hennes store kjærlighet Angel Juan gjør bl.a. dette: In the house they ate banana and peanut butter sandwiches, put on music and pretended to surf on Witch Baby's bed under the newspaper clippings. (Mm, jeg fikk lyst på sånne sandwicher nå, men jeg skal jo lage ingefærristede vintergrønnsaker til i middag i dag, så det får heller bli nistepakke i morgen) og They went to the tiny apartment where Angel Juan lived with his parents, Gabriela and Marquez Perez, and his brothers and sisters - Angel Miguel, Angel Pedro, Angelina and Serafina - and played basketball until it got dark, then went inside for fresh tortillas and salsa. Og, ååå, Witch Baby er forelsket! She liked tortillas with butter melting in the fold almost as much as candy, and she liked hot days and hibiscus flowers, mariachi bands and especially, now, Angel Juan.

Witch Baby skater enda mer: She passed rows of markets where old men and women were stooped over bins of kiwis and cherries. [...] At Farmer's Market she skated past stalls selling flowers, the biggest fruits she had ever seen, New Orleans gumbo, sushi, date shakes, Belgian waffles, burritos, and pizzas - all the smells mingling together into one feast. [...] Witch Baby knew she wouldn't find her mother here, eating waffles and drinking espresso in the sunshine. Dette er da hun blir borte fra familien sin, så når hun endelig kommer tilbake skal det selvfølgelig feires, og hallo, ingen feiring uten mat! Så: Dirk was preparing his famous homemade Weetzie pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, red onions, artichoke hearts and spinach crust.

Ellers vil jeg bare si at dette er nok grunner til å ville dra til Los Angeles (I wish!), så tenk deg da hvor fiiiiin hele boken er. Det er nesten så en av og til må mistenke Block for å være ansatt i turistnæringen i California.