Regular Writers versus Southern Writers

It dawned on me the difference between we who are Southern writers and those who are not.

I am reading a novel, and the main character is a chef of fame. She has cooked a romantic dinner for her possible boyfriend. There are double chocolate brownies in the oven.

The oven dings. She says, "That's the brownies."

Then the doorbell rings, and her landlord gives her a message.

We never hear more about the brownies. Not if they burned to a crisp during the upset, nothing about them being taken out and wrapped for later, or how wonderful they tasted on the way to the airport.

Nada.

You see, some authors use food as a filler. Background music, if you will.

Southern writers, on the other hand, use food as a main character.

I hope you never find a southern character sitting before a well described meal "moving her food around with her fork, her appetite suddenly gone." Or "The meal was forgotten as passion overtook the couple."

Now, I've known passion, folks. But it ain't never got in the way of my T-bone steak and baked potato.

I want to hear how the food tasted. What they talked about while they ate it. How their granny came up with that particular recipe during the Great Depression, making it taste better'n ever.

Beat me with a stick if I ever don't give good food its due in my books, will ya?

Thanks in advance.