Breaking Bread: The Role of Food in Building Character

Today’s post is by writer, editor, and book coach Karmen H. Špiljak.

If you’re a foodie, chances are you’re reading fiction through an added lens, be it spotting a character who complains about an overdone steak, anticipating a family feud over a treasured recipe, or wondering how come a certain character is still alive when they haven’t eaten since chapter two.

Food is a powerful storytelling element that can help develop and build characters. Not only is it relatable and versatile, it’s also a power tool for putting “show, don’t tell” into practice. If your protagonist fusses about a specific dish, this tells the reader something about their psychological makeup or it hints at a backstory.

What kind of food do your fictional people reach for when in distress? Do they have a culinary weakness or a food allergy that someone might take advantage of? If so, this can help drive tension or foreshadow conflict. The fact that they always eat on the go because they’re too busy to stop? That says something, as well.

There are different ways storytellers can use food to bring their characters to life: here are a few.

1. Reveal character

Culinary details can add a defining or revealing feature to your character’s identity. They could, for example, be into fine dining and very particular about the way food is prepared, seasoned or presented on the plate, like Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. He loves his tisane and good chocolate and tends to be rather specific about what’s on his plate. Such attention to detail makes him a great detective and perhaps a bit of a food snob.

Good food is Poirot’s pleasure and weakness. To annoy him, one would only need to serve an overdone steak doused in bland sauce, with a side of vegetables boiled to death.

So, when creating your characters, consider their attitude towards food. Is there something they’d never eat and why? Are they curious about trying new foods and flavors, or do they always order the same thing? Do they share their food? Does finding an eyelash on their plate turn their stomach or do they ignore it?

Think about your character’s social class and preferences as well. Do they eat out or is this reserved for special occasions only? Do they think splurging on food is a waste of money or are they into luxury foods that need to be flown in, so they can show off their wealth and power?

How do they react to stress or heartbreak? Do they overeat or completely lose their appetite? The role food plays in your character’s daily life and how they engage with it can speak volumes.

2. Convey backstory

Ever since Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, madeleines have been a synonym for the nostalgic recollection of one’s past. In this classic work, the taste of a madeleine dipped into tea reminds the narrator of Sunday mornings at his aunt’s house.

Almost everyone has memories tied to food, which is a handy tool to convey backstory. For example, at the start of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, Katniss recalls the moment when Peeta saved her family from starvation by tossing two loaves of bread her way. Because Peeta competes in the games, this flashback reveals an important piece of backstory that adds to the tension. Peeta has once saved her life, but in the games, she might have to kill him, because there can only be one winner of the Hunger Games. Notice how the food flashback conveys a part of backstory that introduces a moral dilemma and instantly raises the stakes?

So, define a few important moments in your character’s history and explore the role of food. Do they have a recipe they’re particularly fond of, one that must never be changed because it belonged to their great-grandmother whose loss they still mourn? Are they trying to save an old restaurant from being demolished because it’s where they first met the love of their life? Perhaps your character likes to cook, but never for his elderly parents, which has something to do with being scolded for every mistake when growing up.

Using food can add flavor to your backstory. Pun intended.

3. Portray power relations

Whenever I think about food and power, The Sopranos come to mind.

Carmela Soprano might control her kitchen, but it’s Tony who holds the power. He shows up late for dinner and interrupts the conversation at the table. His list of unpaid bills at Artie’s restaurant is almost as long as the list of his crimes, but that doesn’t stop Tony from eating there. To be fair, very few people ever say no to Tony Soprano and those who do rarely live to tell the tale.

Carmela Soprano, on the other hand, uses food almost as currency to smooth over conflict. When she wants something from Tony, she prepares his favorite dish to butter him up.

There are countless ways you can use culinary elements to display power. Does your character like to show off their knowledge about food to mock others? Do they lecture them about how to correctly cut cheese or use cutlery, or remark on the fact that someone has used the wrong kind of wine glass?

Remember the film, Titanic? In a memorable restaurant scene, Jack comes over to first class for dinner. After a series of insulting questions guests pose about his lifestyle and lower class, Jack is puzzled by the wide array of cutlery by his plate. Margaret Brown notices his puzzlement and quietly suggests he start on the outside and work his way in. What better way to show different ways people use their power and status?

Lastly, take Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s brilliant novel, Mexican Gothic. In the story, the forces of the opposition use food to shift the power dynamics: Noemí’s in-laws restrict her food intake and poison her in order to weaken her body and make it easier to manipulate her.

When portraying power status or relationships, consider who sits at the head of the table, who is the first to get served and who picks up the bill. Showing the reader who gets the best piece of meat or who’s always washing the dishes is a great way to show power dynamics between your characters.

4. Signal transformation

In Butter, Asako Yuzuki uses food to portray the protagonist’s transformation (spoiler alerts ahead). Rika starts off as a timid person, eager to please and comply with social norms and expectations for women. She is fascinated with a notorious female killer, Manako, who has been convicted for poisoning her lovers. Rika wants to interview her, but Manako will only talk if Rika leans into her obsession with food, particularly butter. Butter becomes a tool of manipulation, pleasure and transformation.

As Rika explores the wonders of butter, her body changes and she grows more and more confident, but she also faces a lot of criticism for steering away from the norms that control the female body. Eventually, she rejects them altogether, which affects her relationships with other people. Butter becomes a symbol of pleasure and a gateway to Rika’s agency.

Consider ways in which culinary elements could amplify your character’s arc of change. Do they overcome their dislike for a specific food that reminds them of a past failure or trauma? Or are they particularly picky and critical, but they’ve learned that their words hurt people they love, so they’ve taken it down a notch?

There is a lot more to say about food in storytelling and building character, but I hope this blog post has whetted your appetite enough to consider using food elements to bring your characters to life. The more you use it, the richer the story and the hungrier the reader (or so I was told).

Note from Jane: If you’re curious about other ways you can use food in fiction, grab Karmen’s free guide, A Seat at the Table: 10 Ways Food Brings Fiction to Life.

Karmen Spiljak

Karmen H. Špiljak is a Slovenian-Belgian writer of suspense, horror and speculative fiction and the author of the award-winning culinary mystery collections, Add Cyanide to Taste and Pass the Cyanide. She lives in Belgrade and works as a developmental editor and book coach, helping emerging writers trust their voice and finish stories they’re proud of. She speaks seven languages, but her cats refuse to understand any of them. Find out more about her writing on karmenspiljak.com and her book coaching on storyallegiance.com.