I’ve been working on, and finally finished, an ‘Open’ to my weekend seminar. It turned out so well my business partner wanted me to make it into a bit of a promo. Whatever the use, I think many of you who follow the blog will enjoy this. It uses clips from many of the movies we cover in class:
“On Food And Film”: it’s a blog about two of my biggest passions, with a sidebar here and there about other things. And while I have occasionally combined the two, my favorite being “In Praise of the Martini… and Diane Keaton” (love me some Keaton, goodness), I’ve yet to do a true Food In Film post.
So here we go.
When thinking food in film, an obvious choice is the wonderful movie Big Night. I learned quite a bit about cooking watching that movie and along with many other terrific food moments, the preparation, presentation and eating of the timbale/timpano will forever be in my mind. (I will also say I would be happy watching Isabella Rossellini eat for two hours, thank you very much.) Big Night is also a surprising movie, given things don’t work out the way you think they should at the end. This unusual resolution leads, however, to the remarkable final scene where the brothers, after a huge climactic fight, end up quietly eating together after Stanley Tucci prepares eggs. It’s a subtle and beautiful way to show their reconciliation and their continued love for each other as brothers. What an ending:
A movie doesn’t have to be about food to have a great food moment. Take Annie Hall, with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton laughing and squirming while trying to corral live lobsters into a pot. They are so charming. The scene is made even better, of course, by Allen’s pitiful and hilarious attempt to recreate the moment after they have parted, a very telling and incisive moment about the lengths we all can go to recreate what has been lost:
For true romance, the spaghetti moment in Lady and the Tramp cannot be beat. It’s the first movie I ever saw and my love for cinema, food and romance was cemented for life.
Meryl Streep’s manner of separating eggs in The Hours is a standout. After years of doing it a different way, I watched the scene in amazement and have done it Meryl’s way ever since. And I have to mention the “Christmas Dinner finale” in A Christmas Story, a funny and lovely way to end what was already a terrific picture. This final scene is beautifully shot and wraps the film up in a warm, enjoyable way. If you haven’t seen it, you will never eat duck again without thinking of this scene:
And all was right with the world.” Indeed.
The moment the bitter food critic Anton takes a transformational bite of the title dish in Ratatouille made me gasp out loud. I was not a huge fan of the film to that point (though I am a huge Brad Bird fan) so the moment snuck up on me completely. In just a few seconds Bird captures the breathtaking quality food has for so many of us. I watched that moment and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s it.”
It’s wonderful when a moment can capture your feelings that way. The above mentioned blog post is devoted to another similar moment: Diane Keaton taking a sip of a martini in Somethings Gotta Give:
These are all wonderful and continually resonate for me. If I had to boil it down, though, there are ultimately two standouts, one a quick moment, one an entire film. For the quick food moment in a movie, my favorite is the marinara prep in The Godfather:
How I love that! Even though we are amongst mafioso killers, this quick little moment captures so much about food, its preparation and family. My own family revolved completely around food, so the idea that even in the midst of such turmoil the Corleone family always keeps food in the forefront is a great one. And of course, it involves Clemenza. Ah, Clemenza. Clemenza is responsible for one of the great pieces of dialogue about food in a movie: “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”
Finally, for a movie about food, I can think of no better example than Babette’s Feast.
This is a bit ironic, given the food that is prepared in Babette’s Feast is nowhere near as appealing to me as the food in, say, Big Night or Julie and Julia. But as the movie quietly, beautifully goes about its business, it gently sets up one of the most moving and remarkable endings I’ve ever seen. I won’t reveal the end or it’s incredibly rich themes here but rather encourage those who have not seen it to take a look at this beautiful film. What the movie says about food, art and redemption might make even the hardest heart burst into joy, the joy one can feel when eating an incredible meal, the joy we can feel when watching such a sublime movie.
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What are your favorite moments? Click on comments and let us know!
When I posted Never, Ever, Ever Vol I, my dear friend Jan emailed to say I made her feel guilty. Given my Catholic upbringing, my response was… success! So, here to heap yet more guilt upon you, I give you Vol. II.
Never, ever, ever buy broth. Ever. Seriously. Don’t do it.
You talkin’ to me?
This means you. Never do it.
Most important fact first: homemade broth is hands down the easiest thing you can do in the kitchen. I’m not asking you to engage in some wild Martha Stewart craziness like wallpaper your office with leftover magazine covers you first have to dye or, horrors, make a gingerbread house. Making broth at home is easy. Even easier than vinaigrette, subject of the previous guilt inducing post. As with vinaigrette, broth made at home is infinitely better, in every way, than even the best store bought broth. It saves you money and it’s better for your body and it’s better for the environment AND it tastes much better, both the broth and anything you make with it. That’s a lot of ‘ands’, all worth making your own.
Did I mention how good it tastes? I doubt anyone would open a can of Swanson’s and drink it. Yet that’s what I do every time I make homemade broth. I drink some of it from a cup by itself, it’s that good.
Even with my crappy iPhone camera you can see a big difference between the clear, pure homemade broth on the left and an expensive store bought, pasteurized version on the right:
Homemade broth vs. store bought
Did I mention it was easy? While I’ve included some longer instructions below, this is all you need to know:
Throw a bunch of stuff in a pot, bring it to a boil, turn it down, let it simmer, strain it… broth! That’s it.
A pot of broth simmering on the stove
It’s also, dare I say it? Fun. There are few things I have come to enjoy more in the kitchen than making broth. Chicken broth, beef broth, vegetable broth, mushroom broth… it’s effortless yet very satisfying. I first discovered the brilliance of homemade broth when learning to make risotto. I love me some risotto, all kinds. People like to create a bunch of drama about risotto but it isn’t that difficult. One evening I made risotto with my own broth rather than from the store. The difference was amazing. So I dove into making broth.
While I genuinely feel very sorry for the avocado haters, given the incredible wonderfulness they miss on a daily basis, ultimately, who cares. I mean, seriously: more for me. And while I am all over simply cutting an avocado in half, sprinkling on a little salt, a dash of Tapatio, and inhaling said avocado, few things in this world bring me such joy as a good batch of Guacamole.
I guess this is part of my Texas/Tex-Mex roots. I’ve been a fanatic for guacamole since, well, ever. Over the years I have played around with various ways of making it until finally, a couple of years ago, I landed on the perfect combination. You need a few important staples in your cabinet and one very important ‘piece of machinery’ but if you, like me, go crazy for guacamole, do yourself a favor: get what is needed, follow the steps below and you will end up with the Best. Guacamole. Ever.
I didn’t plan it this way but how apropos (I love that word) my first post of the new year is about one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. A little set up:
I have this great friend Val. We teach yoga together. She’s beautiful, intense, sublime. She recently became engaged to a fellow named Aaron, whom I’ve come to know well through Val. Aaron is awesome. He has this terrific band I love to go hear when they play. Val often sings beside him, they are electric singing together. Through Aaron, I met his good friend Dominic, a TV producer, who is one of the sharpest people I’ve met in a long while.
These are three terrific people. You probably know the type I mean…talented, attractive, have a ton of abilities, can excel at whatever they try. If you’re anything like me, you really want to be annoyed by people like this, out of jealousy if nothing else, but then you spend time with them and find they are so down to earth and fun and charming, and anything but pretentious, you can’t help but fall in love. I keep trying to be annoyed by these three, but, lo, it is impossible.
Um… what does this have to do with food and an amazing meal?
Well. Aaron and Dominic have created Edgeware, Click here for more!!
Well, the year has come to an end, which is a time for many people to reflect. I personally ‘look back and reflect’ about as much as I abstain from food and film. So don’t worry, no emotive reflective ramblings here.
I am, however, a list guy. I am such a list guy, in fact, I tend to be very grumpy this time of year because other year end lists get it wrong. I finally have a reason to do my own list! (Self created, sure, but whatever works, right?) Thus, without further ado and in no particular order, I present to you my own personal ‘best of’ food and film of 2012, with a few other best of items thrown in.
Until yesterday, I thought this would be my personal favorite of the year. And it still might be. I’ve seen it four times now and and will watch it again, a mini obsession apropos for a romantic comedy — of sorts — about two rather unhinged people. With The Fighter and now SLP David O. Russell, known for being slightly unhinged himself, has catapulted to being one of the best directors in Hollywood. His work in both films is outstanding: simple and straightforward, Click here for the remaining picks!!
We had numerous traditions in our house growing up, many of them centering around Christmas. First on the list was the rule, er, tradition that you didn’t even think about Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. Each season and holiday should be allowed to stand on its own, right? Right?? No intermingling. So when I see Christmas decorations going up before Thanksgiving, I want to run up and tear them down. This is unfortunately now the standard, even before Halloween! I’ve seen Christmas trees going up in September! With Christmas Music playing!
So, so wrong.
But the Friday after Thanksgiving?
KABOOM!
