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Fun Fact Friday: Butterfly Feet and Southern Fried Chicken

Istiqlál (Independence), 18 ‘Ilm (Knowledge) 175 B.E. - Friday, November 2, 2018

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The Fun Fact Friday prompt: Did you know that butterflies taste with their feet? Do you think taste is an under-utilized sense in writing? Reflect on how taste can be better utilized in your writing to enhance a scene.

Butterfly feet taste
the sweet secrets of flowers.

I'm grateful I'm not a butterfly, because tasting with my feet would make it difficult to eat my favorite foods. Most of my favorite foods are comfort foods. Some of those are Southern fried chicken, soft tacos, and deep fried ice cream. I think I've used foods in several stories, but I don't think--at least, I don't remember--describing the taste. Nor do I remember reading tastes described in any of the stories or novels I've read. So to answer the question: "Do you think taste is an under-utilized sense in writing?" Yes, taste is an under-utilized sense in many stories.

When I took a creative writing course at the Community College of Southern Nevada in 2001, one of the assignments was to write a paragraph describing my favorite meal. I described the meal that my Grandmother served for dinner on Sunday. I came across a hard copy of that assignment a couple of days ago. In this paragraph I described--or attempted to describe--the taste.

The golden brown fried chicken, framed by mashed potatoes and gravy on one side and creamed corn and creamed green beans on the other, took up 1/4 of the plate that set in front of me. I picked up a leg, its course rough texture reminded me of dried bread crumbs brushed with olive oil. Rising from the chicken leg was the scent of a hot summer wind blowing acros a patch of wild rosemary. I bit into the leg, and it crunched like footsteps on new fallen snow. The warm flesh melted in my mouth, dissolved into the subtle savors of black pepper, slat, and hot oil flavored with basil, marjoram, and thyme.

I wrote this in February of 2001.