On Whale Steaks and Quinoa (ft. Alicia Kennedy)

If you have listened to even one episode of this show you know
that we are obsessed with Karl Ove's meals, from the open
sandwiches and rissoles of his youth to the smug quinoa salads he
avoids as an adult in Stockholm. Well guess what? We somehow got
prestigious food writer (and KOK superfan) Alicia Kennedy to
agree to come on the pod to talk spreads in My Struggle. This was
truly one of our funnest episodes yet - enjoy!


cheat sheet:


14:40 - We tackle one of the most perplexing paradoxes of My
Struggle: Karl Ove repeatedly professing indifference to food ("I
couldn't give a rat's ass about food") while at the same time
giving us lengthy, detailed accounts of his meals, such as the
gourmet lobster dinner (Jamie Oliver's recipe) he cooks for the
New Year's Eve dinner party in Book 2. And how do his kitchen
exploits track with his feelings about his respective ex-wives?


25:30 - In the beginning of book 2, Karl Ove famously lays into
the Swedes for believing they can "eat their way into being a
better person" with quinoa and bean salads. Alicia, who advocates
for veganism and vegetarianism in her writing, tells us her
thoughts on these tirades (spoiler: she is pro-Knausgaard). Also:
some self-hating Millennial bashing. Why can't Millennials just
make normal meals?? Why does everything have to be an elaborate
Instagram-worthy concoction or a viral TikTok pasta??


50:00 - We talk about a passage in which Karl Ove professes
nostalgia for whale steaks and lung mash and the complicated
matter of balancing nostalgia against ethics in our own eating
lives. Alicia also talks about how she prefers Karl Ove's food
writing over that of professional food writers, as he writes
about food in a way that's matter of fact and mundane rather than
fetishistic.


Thank you to Alicia for joining us! You can find her excellent
newsletter here. Also: the Jonathan Nunn piece she recommended.


As always feel free to write in to me at
teixeira.lauren@gmail.com or Drew at deohringer@gmail.com. What
are some great moments of food writing in literature? I couldn't
think of any on the pod bc my brain has been at 60% lately
although of course as soon as we ended the call I thought of
Murakami and pasta....