| I make a mean scrambled egg but that’s where my culinary adventurousness and skill pretty much ends. So you’d think I might be skimming those long, lovingly detailed descriptions of fictional food in my reading. Au contraire! I love to linger in luscious scenes that put me at the feast, along on the picnic, in the bakery. In a recent Foodie Fiction segment, I challenged you to identify a cookie from a novel so exquisite that it could adorn the décolletage of Marie Antoinette. I can still taste the crystallized ginger in that pastry in Diana Abu-Jaber’s “Birds of Paradise.” Marjan Kamali, whose novels are set among Iranian immigrant communities, told Lit Hub that cooking and food “takes on an added significance” in her work. “They are Iranians living in America. There is a longing for familiar foods they know and a constant search for ingredients they love.” Anne Bogel, who blogs as the Modern Mrs Darcy, created a list of novels that go far beyond those set in a restaurant. Her recommendations include the wonderful “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel. And Food & Wine magazine extolls the deliciousness of Nicole Mones’ “The Last Chinese Chef.” So, every now and then I’ll bring a Foodie Fiction puzzle to my Thread Must-Reads. Here goes: The dish I’m looking for is one that evokes a glittering festival in this Far East homeland, one in which lanterns light traditional celebratory gatherings and people mark the occasion by creating these treats. In the novel, a character describes the deep pleasure of tasting this food, the glaze on the outside and a filling that is surprisingly sweet inside. This treat is also baked in the shape of an animal to celebrate the festival. If you’re stumped, more clues to this dish and this novel Friday at 11 a.m.! — Kerri Miller | MPR News | 