This week I’m answering questions from everyone. Yahoo!
Terresa asked, “If you could personally interview any author, alive or dead, who would it be and why?”
Okay, so first I was going to try to cheat and interview Hatshepsut or Theodore Roosevelt. Hatshepsut wrote hymns so she’s kind of an author, right? I mean, it’s not like more than 1% of the ancient Egyptian population was literate so I’m willing to fudge a little there. And Roosevelt? He wrote 35 books so he’s kind of a non-fiction superstar.
But if you want my real author interview answer, I’m going with Geraldine Brooks. Her non-fiction book on Muslim women Nine Parts of Desire and her historical fiction novels are amazing. I could definitely see sitting down for tea and just chatting. The conversation would be fascinating!
Runners up would be Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.
Gary Corby wants to know, “You have a once only opportunity to ask the real Hatshepsut 3 questions. What are they?”
1. Why did you take the throne? (No one really knows.)
2. Did you love Senenmut? (I like to think so.)
3. What do you feel your most important impact on history has been? (1st successful female ruler- ohdalolly!)
Matt Delman asked, “What is your favorite ancient Egyptian food?”
I’m glad the question wasn’t limited to modern Egyptian food, because to be honest, Egypt’s culinary arts leave much to be desired. (After 12 days I was getting pretty tired of hummus and babaganash.) I’m keeping in mind that most Egyptians subsisted off bread and beer with the occasional dried fish for variety. As for what the upper classes munched on, I’d go with honeyed nuts. I do have a couple scenes in HATSHEPSUT involving turnips though. Pickled turnips, even.
Blecch. Make that a double blecch.
All righty, folks- that’s the first installment of the Q&A. Turn in tomorrow for more fun stuff!
my experiences with turnips so far in life have been positive. Never had them pickled though. Is that like Pickling beets? because I love them! Fenel though, I can't stand. can not stand.
Amalia- I'm not a fan of fennel either. Or parsnips. I have a bag of sunchokes I need to eat soon. I'm a little scared.
Parsnips are good when mashed with potatoes. Then you can barely taste the offending carrot-like vegetable.
Fennel is … well … fennel.
Great Q&A's, Stephanie!
I absolutely agree- pickled turnips are blecch! *Gag*
I don't think I've ever eaten a turnip. Are they that gross? Maybe I'll have to buy some and try them out. I bet they're good if you smother them in butter. 🙂
Cool Q&A. It's always an eye-opener to realize what variety in foods we have today, shipped from around the globe. Maybe they were able to make subtle changes to the bread and fish but it doesn't really sound like it.
And, Natalie, mashed turnips with butter are good, but turnips do have a bitter taste. I like them, but maybe not everyone does. Pickled? Ick.
I love your 3 questions for Hatshepsut and your love for Teddy Roosevelt! Thanks for the fun Q & A. 🙂
Ohhhh–maybe it was parsnips and not turnips that I had? Whichever one it was, I LOVED them… now I should probably find out…
I'm not a turnip fan but I love parsnips.
Beer, bread and humus doesn't sound so bad!
Interesting questions and answers. I can't wait to hear the rest.
I've never tried Egyptian food – growing up with parents who emigrated from Scotland, I felt adventurous the first time I tried peanut butter 🙂
Good two questions. I'd have to agree blecch on the Egyptian food lol.
Sometimes good culture isn't always synonymous with good food.
I like turnips and parsnips; but pickled? I think not.
I'm enjoying learning more about you, Stephanie.
Elspeth- Pickled turnips does sound wretched, doesn't it? I'm usually willing to try new things, but that one would push it.
Voidwalker- Yeah, except in Italy. I gain at least five pounds every time I go there.
Jemi- But the Scots have Branston pickle and haggis!
Susan- I'll be here all week! 🙂
Paul- Hmmm… Now I want to eat at Moose's Tooth. Have you ever been there?
Amalia- Parsnips have a carroty flavor. They're definitely not my favorite, but I think I've only tried them in soup.
Shannon- There's more to come on Roosevelt. I would be his groupie if I could.
Tricia- I'm such a foodie- I'm so thankful for the variety of foods we have at the grocery store. My treadmill is happy too.
Natalie- Everything is good if you smother it in butter!
Tamika- Yeah, I was going for the gross factor. Glad to see I hit the mark!
Katie- Thanks! There's more to come!
Matt- Yeah, ix-nay of the fennel-stay. Is that right? I never was any good at that.
Woohoo! Fun post. Hummus yum, turnips? Not so much.
"Ix-nay on the ennel-fay" is correct.
Pig Latin swaps the first letter of the word to the end of the word and adds the letters "ay" as a suffix.
Love your answers, especially your answer to my question.
Carry on! 🙂
Her answer to question 3 would have been, "I inspired author Stephanie Thornton to write her bestselling novel."
Gary- Wow. I didn't know I could smile so wide!
Terresa- Will do! Thanks for the question!
Matt- Hmmm… Languages never were my forte. That's why I didn't become an Egyptologist. Brown University wanted me to know about 12 different languages. Sheesh.
Lisa & Laura- I've decided I'm a yuppie when it comes to hummus. I like garlic and sundried tomatoes and all sorts of yummy stuff in it. Plain chickpeas and oil? Not so much after 12 days.
I detected a lack of green, leafy vegetables in the Egyptian menu you gave. I feel a scarcity of nutrients in my veins just thinking about it. Didn't they have tabouli?