Subscribe RSSThe Wheeling Gourmet by Nicolas Steenhout
Recipes, cooking lessons, tips, tricks, food blog, and more.
Recipes, cooking lessons, tips, tricks, food blog, and more.
Most of us enjoy movies. And if you're on my food website, chances are you enjoy food as well. Mixing both is good. Very good.
22 June 2010
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...Someone asked earlier on Twitter what were our top movies. I immediately thought of Tampopo. That is one of my all-times favourite, and not even for "just" a foodie movie. So I thought about which movies would be in my top 5 foodie movie list.
Here's my list:
Tampopo is the story of a trucker helping a widow improve her wee restaurant. The restaurant is a noodle shop (ramen). This might seem a bit dubious as the premise of a hillarious comedy, but believe me, Tampopo is a must see if you're into food. There are so many funny scenes, it's hard to list them all.
I remember well the scene where a homeless guy breaks into a hotel kitchen to make an omelette for a kid. The security guy is somewhat inept and completely misses them. Funny, and mouth watering. This is a clip from Youtube (only dialogue at beginning, the homeless asking the child what he'd like to eat):
There's also the scene of a group of homeless people singing about fine wines and meals they manage to get from restaurant discarded stock. And the young assistant to several corporate heads who bucks the trend and discusses the French menu in a fine restaurant. And the good manners teacher showing young girls how to eat spaghetti properly. And the old lady squeezing the fruits and cheeses in the grocery store. And the old man teaching the young man how to "properly" eat ramen. And the old rich man choking on some seafood and being rescued with a vaccuum cleaner... Ahh, it never ends. Sooo funny.
I want ramen, just thinking of it! If you don't rent any other movie this year, find Tampopo and enjoy it. Preferably the Japanese version with subtitles - dubbed is not nearly as good.
This one is memorable for me because I had to recreate the menu when I was in cooking school. Had to research the dishes, come up with recipes, and prepare the thing.
One of the great things about the movie is how the first part of the movie is all in blacks and dreary greys, until the cooking really begins. A real must see.
And come to think of it, I really ought to re-recreate the recipes and post them on this site :)
A widower, chef in a posh Taiwanese hotel raised his three daughters. Relationships and food intermingle. An Ang Lee movie before he made his big blockbusters in America. wasabhi said it well: "After the film I literally sprinted to Chinatown and ate as if there was no tomorrow!"
Juliette Binoche, Johnny Depp. Sexy cast right there! It's amazing how something as "simple" as chocolate confectionery manage to bring out so many human stories in a small "backward" French village. In some ways, not completely dissimilar theme than in Babette's Feast.
Do NOT watch without having some chocolate in the house. If you do, you were warned and have only yourself to blame :D
What can I say? I'm a big kid. I just love a good animated movie. And this one was awesome. And it was about food on top of it. How can you not fall in love with a rat cooking by hiding under a tall chef's hat and pulling on the guy's hair? :)
I particularly love the scene where the food critic is brought straight back to his childhood, a happier time for him obviously, with the ratatouille dish presented to him. I often think about making ratatouille and working on a similar presentation, just because it would be neat.
Incidentally, Ian Holm, the voice actor playing Skinner, was a chef and restaurant owner in Big Night.
There are other foodie movies out there worth watching, and mentionning. The following ones are some I can think of, but they haven't *quite* made it to my list of memorable ones.
A movie to avoid - "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover". Disturbing is one adjective that fits the movie. Even more disturbing in many ways than "Soylent Green".
Do you relate to my list? What movie have I not mentionned that you think should be in the top 5? Why?
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. J. R. R. Tolkien
Not for your top 5 but interesting nevertheless:
Delicatessen (1991) - Superb and worth seeing, but 'food' themes may disturb, and not for the faint-hearted.
La Grande Bouffe (1973) - Gross and disturbing, but with overwhelming quantities of amazing food
Comment by: AJ - June 22nd, 2010 @ 22:21
lovely post. Babette's Feast is so gorgeous but Chocolat is wonderful too. Did you ever see Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Not wonderful, but some interesting food moments...
Comment by: @5pandas - June 22nd, 2010 @ 23:35
You obviously have not seen Like Water for Chocolate! Best movie scene of expression of love through food ever.
Comment by: Dan Randow - June 23rd, 2010 @ 0:04
La Grande Bouffe, yes, definitely worth it! Thanks for reminding me.
Who's killing the Great Chefs of Europe, wouldn't really call it a "foodie movie", but it was great :)
Dan, I have seen Like Water for Chocolate, listed above under "Como Agua Para Chocolate". Good movie, but I didn't enjoy it enough to put on my top 5 :) That *is* just my opinion :)
Comment by: Nic - June 23rd, 2010 @ 1:14
Finally someone who knows "Eat Drink Man Woman"! I saw that on an empty stomach. BAD move. We went to see it before dinner, and afterward no restaurant was suitable (esp. here in Copenhagen). My eyes were popping out of my head over the food arrangements. Good story line, too.
I've never heard of Tampopo, but now I will try to get it.
You might try "Dona Flor and her Two Husbands". I read the book in English when I was learning about Brazil and taking lessons in Portuguese. Brazilian friends found the movie version. The food theme is bigger in the book, if I recall correctly. If interested, see a version with subtitles. We saw a dubbed version and the voices were awful. Flat, dull mismatched American voices to the sensuous storyline. It was jarring.
Comment by: Karen - June 23rd, 2010 @ 8:17
Wow, how come I had never heard of/seen Tampopo? The clip you posted above had my mouth watering - I could almost smell it being cooked! I had to look up more scenes too. Definitely going to try to get my hands on it this weekend. Thanks for posting this!!
Comment by: Millie @ Gusty Gourmet - June 24th, 2010 @ 15:49
@Millie, I'm not too sure how come you'd never heard of Tampopo :) Glad you'll be looking for it over the weekend.
Comment by: Nic - June 24th, 2010 @ 16:36
I have been compiling a list of movies to watch since I am so bad with watching tv, movies, etc - and I am so glad I chanced upon this post so I can add these (which sound wonderful) to my list.
I happened to glimpse Potage à la Tortue in your post, that is one thing I hope never to eat again (though admittedly I ate a Hong Kong version a few years ago, but even the memory of the sight of it is enough to make me feel pretty ill).
Comment by: Mel - June 27th, 2010 @ 10:07
I'll agree with all of your top 5, though, I have not seen "Tampopo" either. Love "Chocolat" (hell, I love any movie with Juliette). "Ratatouille" melted my heart (I'm a sap for great animation, add food and I'm in heaven). "Eat, Drink" ... if the opening scene doesn't grab you, forget it. I was pining for fine motor skills so I could do half that stuff.
Anyway, I'm offering two more good "food" flicks, not as competition, but just as recommendations: both noodle movies: "Ramen Girl" and "Kung Fu Panda" ... the former has a nice message and great scenes between the protagonist and her teacher made humorous because of the language barrier and, in the latter, the chopstick sparring scene with the Master is priceless.
Comment by: Dan - July 1st, 2010 @ 17:12
Tampopo is one of my favorite movies. I happened to see (but not hear) a good chunk of The Ramen Girl while in Den Haag last week—the picture was on, but the sound was turned down—and Dutch is close enough to English that I could get a sense of the dialogue. I ordered a copy from Amazon as soon as I got home this week, since I enjoyed what I saw even under those peculiar circumstances.
Not a food movie, but one of the best food scenes in a movie EVAR is from Steven Chow's Shaolin Soccer: check out the "t'ai chi girl" making dumplings!
Comment by: David "Lefty" Schlesinger - August 4th, 2010 @ 2:38
Tortilla Soup...the food in it is brilliant
Big Night...Great movie!
Comment by: Chef Michael Braddock - August 16th, 2010 @ 13:25
I got hold of a copy of The Ramen Girl, and while it\'s a bit lightweight, I enjoyed it very much. Some high-quality food content in there, including some good speeches on the spiritual nature of preparing food for others in general, and ramen in particular.
I\'ve been inspired to have a go at making miso ramen from scratch (not the noodles themselves, though) this coming week...
Comment by: David "Lefty" Schlesinger - August 16th, 2010 @ 15:46