Food disappears all the time . . .
Especially when you have small children, teenage boys, husbands, girlfriends, or holiday guests, but even when you’re home alone, the siren song of savory snacks echoes faintly behind the refrigerator door.
The fact is that every living thing has to eat—and people being the inventive creatures they are, we seldom settle for grubs from under the nearest rock or even raw salmon swatted out of a stream. No, we like our food varied, imaginative, tasty. And usually cooked. Hence the constant demand for something new and delicious.
My first encounter with Theresa Carle-Sanders was some years ago, when she emailed me to ask my permission to use brief quotes from my novels in conjunction with her website. A professional chef with a beautiful (and mouthwatering) website, she had become intrigued with all the mentions of food in the Outlander novels, and wanted to explore some of these dishes: inventing or adapting recipes, then posting the results with instructions, photos, and videos, with a relevant quote from one of the novels alongside.
“Cool!” I said. “Why not?”
There’s something rather odd about the Outlander novels. People who read them seem to be creatively inspired to do all manner of wonderful things.
To this point in my career, I’d had people ask permission to name racehorses, show dogs, and even a housing development after my books, or the people, places, and objects in them. Creative fans had composed ballads, symphonies, and band arrangements based on the books; there was even a CD, Outlander: The Musical. People make amazing jewelry, Christmas ornaments, standing-stone birthday cakes, and lighted Halloween pumpkins carved with a back view of Jamie Fraser in the nude. To say nothing of soaps, candles, herbal concoctions, “Lord John Grey” tea, and “La Dame Blanche” wine. A cooking website—even one with recipes like Stephen Bonnet’s Balls—seemed refreshingly normal.
Speaking of Stephen Bonnet’s Balls . . . I met Theresa for the first time in the flesh when she came to a book signing at a writers’ conference in British Columbia, bearing a green glass pot filled with said balls—delicious pretzel balls, filled with bittersweet chocolate. Had I had any doubts as to her bona fides as a chef, they would have vanished in an instant—just like Stephen Bonnet’s Balls did. . . .
For several years now, I’ve watched with fascination (and the occasional salivary spasm) as Theresa has gone from Mrs. Fitz’s Porridge to Rolls with Minced Pigeon and Truffles, Roast Beef for a Wedding Feast, and Murphy’s Mock-Turtle Soup (with plenty of sherry, to be sure). A wonderful cook and an equally talented food writer, her recipes and adaptations are nearly as entertaining to read as they are to eat.
With so much excellent material available, Theresa had been wanting to do an official Outlander Kitchen cookbook—and I was all for it. We were advised, though, that it would be best to wait until the television show—then in the early negotiating stages—was aired, in order to assure the best visibility for the new project. The STARZ original show Outlander is the latest and most visible part of the evolving creative phenomenon, and I’m happy to say that it’s not only been a delight in itself but has definitely paved the way for this wonderful cookbook finally to reach its audience.
Food is, of course, a matter of passionate interest to everyone. Tastes may differ, but not the basic need, the appetite for food. And one needs no explanation for the swift disappearance of any food prepared from this delicious and imaginative collection.
Congratulations, Theresa!
—Diana Gabaldon