Let’s Talk About Food in Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Sci-fi and fantasy author and baker J. Dianne Dotson discusses the importance of food in genre fiction.

Sometimes the best world-building in genre fiction involves food and drink.

I first noticed otherworldly food in stories such as Star Trek (Romulan ale), Star Wars (blue milk, and Yoda’s apparently not-great food on Dagobah), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (mushrooms, tea, and “beautiful soup” — eek), and the Oz books by L. Frank Baum.

Food in L. Frank Baum’s…