Paris Review Daily Cooks a Whimsical Menu Inspired by Richard Brautigan

Valerie Stivers is cooking with Richard Brautigan, or rather through Brautigan's books Trout Fishing in America and In Watermelon Sugar, "a funny little dislocated story about people living in a commune called iDEATH." More, from the Paris Review Daily:

Brautigan was often broke, and the many meals in his books are as simple and whimsical as his writing. A kid loves to make Kool-Aid. Giant statues of vegetables adorn the commune of iDEATH. A man makes carrots so frequently it becomes a running joke, though they’re “mixed with honey and spices” and sound delicious. In Watermelon Sugar’s narrator’s favorite food is hotcakes; a woman stirs the batter for them “with a big wooden spoon, almost too large for her hand.”

Because of my sentimental attachment to watermelon sugar, I ignored other possible menu items and made three watermelon dishes for Richard Brautigan, capturing the very end of the melon and stone-fruit season. I made a fancy-looking watermelon-and-smoked-trout salad, riffing off (and vastly simplifying) a Food & Wine recipe. Next was a late-summer salad of grilled peaches and watermelon, dressed with balsamic glaze and fresh herbs. Finally, I created a smoked-trout-and-sorrel salad, with carrots glazed in watermelon syrup, and a watermelon-syrup dressing. I don’t know if Brautigan ever actually cooked them, but his two favorite ingredients turn out to be delicious together in any combination.