This month, I’ve turned to a recipe from one of my all time favorite novels. The dish appears as a comforting treat when our character is at her most forlorn. She is practically alone in the world, forsaken by family and frightened for what her future holds.

She turns up at a school where she is singled out for discipline. But then comes an invitation from a compassionate and kind teacher, and she arrives to find this delectable food on the table.

“We feasted that evening,” this character tells us, “as on nectar and ambrosia.”

Figured out who our heroine is? Here are some clues to what she was eating.

This dish is made with seeds that historians believe date back to the Stone Age and are still used in many different recipes today.  

In this recipe, they are toasted and added to butter and sugar, eggs and flour.

But this dish also features another ingredient that has a storied past, turning up in foods in ancient Mesopotamia and migrating into the cooking of French and Italian chefs.  

As this dish is savored in this cozy scene, our heroine’s hostess ”regarded us, as we satisfied our famished appetites on the delicate fare she liberally supplied.”

So, that’s my Foodie Fiction Challenge for June. When you know who the character is and what she’s eating, tweet me: @KerriMPR.

— Kerri Miller | MPR News