Today I'm joined by Kate Belle, author of The Banquet.
Kate, I see your friends James and Sheba have arrived. So, I'll let you take it from here!
Let’s delve into their relationships to see what we can learn about
them...
How
did you meet?
J: When I saw Sheba’s photo in the newspaper years ago, I knew she
was something special. All that long red hair, her sexy eyes. I was determined
to meet her one day. I booked in the moment I heard about the launch of her
cookbook ‘The Devil’s Kitchen’ at the Sydney Writer’s Festival. I stood in that
line for over an hour, letting other people in front of me so I’d be the last
to meet her. I had a gift for her. A gift I hoped would arouse her interest in
me.
S: (laughs) Ah, James. So sweet. When I first saw him I felt so sorry
for him. Imagine a man being born with a face like that? Really, everything is
in the wrong place. I thought he was just another dazed fan until he handed me
his little gift. Once I tried what was inside, I saw him with different eyes.
What
was the food item that caused your story to happen?
J: I spent years
perfecting Sheba’s dishes and researching the aphrodisiac ingredients she
used. Her recipes saved me from a life
of celibacy, you know. She’s a magician with food. I followed her passion and
created a seductive dish. It never failed to arouse women. Once I’d perfected
it, I had to try it on Sheba.
S:
Ah,
James’ piece de resistance! What a dish. I had to know what was in it. I
couldn’t have a little cook like
James running around with a recipe that belonged in my books. But I suspect he tricked me when he finally submitted to
me and divulged the ingredients. I could never replicate his version of it.
If
I looked in your fridge right now, what would I find... and how does that
describe your relationship?
J: I cook for a
living, so my fridge is always full of left over’s from my little restaurant.
I’m never without a few of Sheba’s favourite ingredients. I like to be able to
whip one of her recipes up on short notice. And I always have a stock of my
special dish, you never know when it might come in handy (grins cheekily).
S: (laughs) I doubt
you would recognize much in my fridge. I like to experiment with exotic
ingredients. Imported and very expensive – of course.
Champagne,
chocolate and oysters... the food of love.
Which one would you share with your lover?
J: A prospective
lover deserves nothing but the best. All of them.
S: They might be
entrée. I prefer to make myself the main meal.
The
one food you refuse to have in your house is... and why
J: Brussell sprouts.
I was raised on them. I can’t bear to even look at them.
S: All food is
welcome in my home if it is fresh or professionally prepared. I can’t abide by
the rubbish that fills most of the supermarket shelves. Commercially made jams,
canned vegetables and Vegemite - what god awful stuff– urgh!
What
does your future hold, do you think, for you as a couple?
J: I’d do just about
anything to be with Sheba forever. She’s so completely dazzling. If I was a
wizard I’d slip her a love potion.
S: Couple? James and
I…? (titters) You are
old-fashioned! James and I have a modern relationship. We are colleagues with a
powerful interest in each other’s, err, culinary abilities.
Do
you see eating as a source of pleasure or a necessity to live?
James
& Sheba together: Pleasure, of course!
J: Food is the path
to many, much greater pleasures. (smiles goofily at Sheba)
S: Eating and pleasure
are one and the same. There is no difference between them.
What
makes the best 'plate' to serve food – when not using a plate??
J: I think
I’ll leave that question to Sheba.
S: Read The Banquet
and find out!
Thanks for joining me on my blog.
J: Thanks for having us Imogene!
S: Will someone call
my car?
The
Banquet:
Unattractive and lonely James is a chef
and restaurant owner who is obsessed with Sheba, a sexy celebrity chef famous
for her aphrodisiac recipes which have saved James from a life of involuntary
celibacy. James has studied Sheba’s recipes and created the ultimate in
aphrodisiac desserts – chilli and rose infused chocolate – a recipe that never
fails to lure women into his lonely bed.
James takes the opportunity to meet
Sheba at a book signing during the Sydney Writers Festival and woos her with a
gift of his chocolates. Sheba finds James’ special dessert irresistible and exchanges
a night of pleasure for the recipe. Two months later James receives an
invitation to Sheba’s annual banquet, a mysterious event everyone who’s anyone
in the hospitality industry is aware of but knows little about. Nervous and out
of his depth, James attends and is introduced to a world where the boundaries
between food and sex are entirely blurred.
Author Bio
Kate writes dark, sensual contemporary women’s fiction. She lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, juggling her strange, secret affairs with her male characters with her much loved partner and daughter, and a menagerie of neurotic pets. She holds a tertiary qualification in chemistry, half a diploma in naturopathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Kate believes in living a passionate life and has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.
Where can readers find you?
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