Tuesday 19 January 2016

Sylvia Plath's favourite food

In her autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath describes an elaborate and luxurious sit down party she goes to, sponsored by some wealthy donor, where the food appeals to her greed. She describes how she "paved" her plate with chicken slices, then covered them "with caviar thickly as if I were spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread. Then I picked up the chicken slices in my fingers one by one, rolled them so the caviar wouldn't ooze off and ate them." She also talks with relish about having the portions of others who are not fond of caviar. Memorably too, she describes the avocado which come stuffed with crabmeat. It is, alas, this final item which proves her undoing; with her fellow guests she succumbs to food poisoning, caused by the crabmeat. It sounded like a delicious meal, though.

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