Odd Characterization: The Joy of Cooking

"I will have my brother's heart,
which is firm and rather dry,
slow cooked. It resembles muscle
more than organ meat
and needs and apple-onion stuffing
to make it interesting at all."

Elaine Margarrell uses the tongue of the sister and the heart of the brother to stand for the speaker's brother and sister. In describing each of their body parts, using aspects that would be describe that particular body part, she also reveals something about the personalities of the people who own them. When the speaker says that she has "trimmed the roots, small bones, and gristle" of her sister's tongue, these words imply that her sister is sharp and tough like bones and gristle. The hump "slices thin and neat", meaning that she is defined, strong, and directed. By stating that her tongue is "best served with horseradish", the speaker also suggests that she is sarcastic and biting. Her brother's heart, on the other hand, "is firm and rather dry", which shows that he lacks depth of emotion, especially caring. Because she says "it resembles muscle more than organ meat", that his heart does not function in the normal compassionate way that a heart should function. It is more like a strong and resistant muscle. Her brother's heart "barely feeds two", meaning that he is boring and can not entertain. He is bitter and irascible because his heart is served "in sour sauce".