Today on Drinks with Reads, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Verena Rose, and Harriette Sackler, the editors behind Noir at the Salad Bar, Culinary Tales with a Bite, join us to match their short story compilation with the perfect drink. The book is published by Level Best Books.
About the Book:
When the Dames of Detection, also known as Verena Rose, Harriette Sackler, and Shawn Reilly Simmons, took over Level Best Books, we did so with the understanding that in addition to continuing to publish the Best New England Crime Stories in time for the New England Crime Bake each year, we would also publish additional anthologies, and eventually select novels.
Noir at the Salad Bar is our second non-New England anthology, and we are so pleased with the result. We had over one hundred and twenty submissions, from all over the country, and we received a large number of international submissions as well. Each story was read blindly, and we chose our favorite thirty to include in the anthology.
So many culinary anthologies fall under the label of "Cozy," and we really wanted to take this book in a new direction. We put out a call for grittier stories that had an element of food and drink involved. The result is a wide array of stories, all falling closer to the Noir end of the spectrum. And from those international submissions, included are three authors from England, one from France, and one from Israel. And for the Americans, the writers hail from all over including Utah, Texas, the South, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic.
We created a drink, inspired by Noir at the Salad Bar, Culinary Tales with a Bite called a Bloody Noir (our spin on the traditional Bloody Mary).
The Bloody Noir
1 C tomato juice & 1/2 C liquified veggies ( like ones you find on a salad bar)
1 shot of Tequila
Blair’s Jalapeno Death Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce that makes you sit up and say hello)
Season with S&P, rim your glass with salt if desired
Garnish with a chili pepper, olives, and a celery stalk to cool your mouth down
Enjoy!
The stories and contributing authors for Noir at the Salad Bar:
“Lobster Tank” by E.A. Aymar
“Smoked” by Michael Bracken
“Harvey House Homicide” by Joyce Ann Brown
“A Murder of Crows” by Mara Buck
“The Hearts of Men” by Karen Cantwell
“With Great Relish” by John R. Clark
“Buena Vista Sandwich Club” by Frank Collia
“Cole Slaughter” by Sheila Connolly
“Black Coffee in Bed” by Sharon Daynard
“Petunia at the Tip Top” by Jenny Drummey
“Consuming Passion” by Martin Edwards
“Sleeping Beauty” by Gerald Elias
“The Sandman” by John M Floyd
“Bases Looted” by Jason Half
“Candy” by Isobel Horsburgh
“Beef Stew” by E L Johnson
“The Curse of the Apertured Apiculturist” by Larry Lefkowitz
“A Murder in Montreaux” by Michael Allan Mallory
“Deadly Dinner” by LD Masterson
“Antipastdead” by Lorraine Sharma Nelson
“Togas and Toques” by Alan Orloff
“Grab-N-Go” by Adele Polomski
“Ragbones and the Case of the Christmas Goose” by Rima Perlstein Riedel
“Death at the Hands of Le Fée Verte” by Verena Rose
“Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody” by Barbara Ross
“Family Business” by Harriette Sackler
“Humble Pie” by Shawn Reilly Simmons
“Fed Up” by Louise Taylor
“Playing Games” by Elaine Togneri
“My Life in Killer Recipes” by Leslie Wheeler
I have to read this anthology. I am loving the titles of the stories. Plus a Bloody Noir with liquefied veggies - what a terrific idea.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list of authors in this anthology!
ReplyDeleteSo, so proud to be a part of this sterling collection.
ReplyDelete