It is pretty hard to have been born anytime in the the last fifty years and not have some cursory knowledge of Ian Fleming’s most famous literary creation, British Intelligence’s agent 007, James Bond. Fleming wrote 14 James Bond novels before he died in 1966 which have been turned into 22 movies. If you are only familiar with James Bond from the movies, then you are probably not familiar with one of the most unusual aspects of the character. The James Bond novels are a gold mine for anyone who is intrigued by food or is a just a plain old food snob, because Fleming spent an inordinate amount of time describing James Bond’s eating habits.
Fleming’s Bond is a man of discerning taste and a cultured palate. Everyone recalls the line from the first Bond film, Doctor No, where Bond (Sean Connery) says, “Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred.” But from the novel, Doctor No, when Bond requests a martini from the Doctor, he is more explicit as he says, “And I would like a medium Vodka dry Martini – with a slice of lemon peel. Shaken and not stirred, please. I would prefer Russian or Polish vodka.” In other words, Mr. Bond is a very high maintenance individual.
So let’s take a look of some of the food Mr. Bond ate in the first five novels:
Casino Royale. The first Bond novel and the most violent. This 1953 novel lays the groundwork for the character.
The meal? After his dinner companion Vesper Lynd ordered caviar, Bond turns to the maître d’hôtel and says, “I myself will accompany Mademoiselle with the caviar, but then I would also like a very small tournedos, underdone, with sauce Béarnaise and coeur d’artichaut. While Mademoiselle is enjoying the strawberries, I will have a half an avocado pear with a little French dressing. Do you approve?” Yes, Mr. Bond I do approve, particularly since I know that you have a date with a seat-less chair.
Live and Let Die. Written in 1954, this is Bond’s first trip to the United States and it is to Harlem to deal with a top SMERSH operative named Mr. Big.
The meal? Bond doesn’t order exotic things in the States because he figures we’d just screw it up. Several times he simply orders orange juice, coffee and scrambled eggs. He does spend a lot time complaining about inadequate and tasteless (bland) American food.
One of the best lines in the James Bond books is made in reference to CIA operative, Felix Leiter: “He disagreed with something that ate him.”
Moonraker. The saving grace of this 1955 book is that it grants us an extraordinary view of Bond’s life in London.
The meal? While having dinner with M, his boss, Bond tells him he’ll have “…lamb cutlets. The same vegetables as you (peas and new potatoes), as it’s May. Asparagus with Béarnaise sauce sounds wonderful. And perhaps a slice of pineapple.”
The villain wants to destroy London with a nuclear bomb. This theme would be recycled in the novel Thunderball.
Diamonds Are Forever. This 1956 story is saved by two of the best villains in all of the Bond novels.
The meal? The meal prepared by Tiffany Case on the ship, which consisted of a quarter bottle of Bollinger, a chafing dish containing four small slivers of steak on toast canapés with a small bowl of sauce Béarnaise.
The killer team of Kidd & Wint (from Detroit) are perhaps the deadliest pair of murderers ever created since Al and Max from Hemingway’s The Killers. Kidd and Wint enjoy killing and contrary to their portrayal in the movie were not the least bit funny in the novel. They did nothing but inspire fear in their victims.
From Russia with Love. This 1957 novel is beyond doubt the best James Bond book and the best movie.
The meal? Breakfast, which consisted of two cups of very strong coffee, from De Bry in Oxford Street, brewed in an American Chemex, a fresh speckled brown egg from a French Marans hen which was boiled for three and a third minutes. This was accompanied with two thick slices of whole wheat toast, a large pat of deep yellow Jersey butter and three squat glass jars containing Tiptree ‘Little Scarlet’ strawberry jam; Cooper’s Vintage Oxford marmalade and Norwegian heather Honey from Fortnum’s. The coffee pot and the silver on the tray were Queen Anne and the china was Minton, of the same dark blue and gold and white as the egg-cup.
The villains, Red Grant and Rosa Klebb, are the second most deadliest pair Fleming ever created.
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There have been many arguments as to whether or not Ian Fleming was actually the same refined connoisseur of dining that his creation was or if he was just a plain snob. One thing is for certain, don’t read a James Bond book on an empty stomach. You will get hungry.