When you hear “Edible Book,” what comes to mind?
Me, I guess I’m just too literal for my own good. When I got an email a couple months ago about next weekend’s Edible Book Festival, I thought it was just a colorful, creative way of referencing a gathering of cookbook writers and buyers.
But others? They hear Edible Book and think “One Hundred Spears of Solitude,” “20,000 Leeks Under the Sea,” “The World According to Carp.” And when they interpret Catcher in the Rye, it’s with Yogi Berra and rye crackers in mind.
They, and plenty like them, participate in this annual celebration that takes the book into–literally–edible territory. You can find more about the background of, and international scope of, the event here. Similar comestible book-related curiosities will be on display in many other cities early April. There are some great images from previous Seattle events here as well. I particularly love The Milagro Bean Dip War and Snow Falling on Cedars (featuring a sifter of powdered sugar that dusts cedar sugar cookies with snow).
This year’s event will be held Saturday April 4 from 1:00 to 3:30 at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford, with a suggested donation of $10 at the door (funds will help support Seattle Center for Book Arts). BUT, if you have some creative concepts coming together already and you might want to add your own interpretation to the mix, you need to register here by April 2. And you get in for free!
The event’s been gaining serious steam in recent years, so be prepared for a crowd. Wish I could be there this year, but alas am out of town. Maybe between now and next year I can come up with some clever culinary interpretation of a favorite book. Maybe “Atlas Sugared”?
