A tale of shared meals

August 07, 2023

Being fortunate enough to travel with some frequency, in many of these instances I’m traveling alone. While there’s much to say in favor of going on an adventure on your own - it’s an enriching experience, to put it mildly - I always face the unfortunate event of The Woman Dining Alone.

You see, The Woman Dining Alone is a problem because she is an uncertainty in that space; she can be too many things. Dangerous things. She can be scouting for company, or worse - she may not need any company at all. She can be sad, or terrifyingly at peace. A woman alone is always a sore spot in a dining hall. She is a bigger problem than The Man Dining Alone, although hard to explain why. She demands extra attention of the staff, even if she orders just enough. She needs help even if she knows what to order, what to drink, what to do with herself. And such reactions got me thinking.

A meal is a communal event. Sharing food and a metaphorical table is a tradition almost as old as we are, a demonstration of amity and acceptance among yours. I love when games take this aspect of daily life and bring it to the, well… Table. A recent example is Pentiment, a great game in more aspects than just this, where who you break bread with is a careful choice to be made and a moment to help understand other characters better. RPG games like the Persona series too highlight the importance of meals for bond-building. After all, gender issues aside, The Person Dining Alone is someone who isn’t taking their meal as the sacred communal moment it is.

I find this sociological aspect of food fascinating; it always piques my interest. Might be that working on a game that is essentially about food makes thinking about these meaningful aspects of meals and sustenance an often occurrence. What brings people to food?

Food soothes and comforts. Food feels like home or fond memories. Food is a necessity but also pleasure. Some food is not consumed for nutrition, yet for fun, for the thrill and the novelty. Some food is ceremonial, evokes special situations or circumstances, and again is not consumed for sustenance. And some food serves multiple purposes, being a proper meal and a ritual at the same time. Like Sunday family lunch, or Birthday dinners.

The second season of the formidable TV show that is The Bear had an episode that revolves around one of these Western rituals of shared food; a Christmas dinner. For a show that orbits a cast who lives and breathes food, watching them in this setting, on the side of the table that consumes the food, was enlightening- also for important plot reasons I will not spoil. Entertainment media tends to explore outside the boundaries of the mundane, transporting us to the impossible possible. High fantasy, space operas, absurd people, fantastic tales. Even the normal world is a romantic version of itself, enhanced for drama, comedy or whatnot. But routine encapsulates the human experience in a way that is hard to recreate in entire new worlds. Sitting together to share a meal is a universal and relatable plot device. A confrontation moment and a sharing space all in one. You can have characters pouring their hearts out, or having verbal duels. Characters at ease or anxious, performing for other eyes or even for themselves… And so much more.

Here’s to more food in games. And games about food.Cheers,

-Maíra

This issue’s recommendations: