I LOVE good Foodie Movies – and if half of them could also be set in Provence as well, that’d be great please. I spent HOURS in my Kitchen, and music is great once dinner begins, but while I’m prepping, chopping and doing other such mundane but necessary tasks, the TV is on, my glass of wine is nearby, and I’m in THE ZONE.
The kids get annoyed that mostly I watch the same 6 movies I’ve seen a thousand times, but it’s rather critical to have something on that I don’t actually have to LOOK at since I’m, you know, holding sharp(ish) knife and all. Subtitles are definitely OUT lol!! I can fully “watch” all of my faves in my head as I listen and cook.
Although not a COOKING movie per se, the ambiance of A Good Year (click for the Trailer) keeps it near the top of my go-to’s. I can FEEL the warm, Provençal sunshine and yearn to spend time on a stone patio eating food prepared from the local Marche… *sigh*… Soon…
Every time I watch it I’m reminiscing my own trip to the south of France, biking along the Dordogne River, up and down through little towns and their fresh food markets, cheese and baguette, dinners along the river bank, cute little farms and farmers with berets, old abandoned bicycles by the side of even older wood fences, cheese and baguette… *sigh*…
The Hundred Food Journey has food AND sunshine AND southern France – (AND QUEEN HELEN MIRREN)! I found a few recipes here at a Crazy Good Life, like this Apple Tarte Tautin (click the image for the recipe).
Unfortunately the recipes I’d love to find – the Omelette “a la Hassan” and whatEVERtheheck he did with those Sea Urchins – are nowhere to be found.
Ratatouille is the first time I realized Food could be an integral character in a film – or in life. I still remember the first trailers and being SO FREAKIN EXCITED for the movie to come out. It didn’t disappoint then, it still doesn’t now.
If you’ve ever found the Extras that come with Ratatouille, there’s one called “Fine Food & Film” that goes back and forth between Brad Bird (Pixar) and Thomas Keller (French Laundry), the Chef who consulted on the movie. Chef Keller talks about his now-famous Ratatouille recipe in it as well.
If I were a big veg fan, I’d be all over this recipe. I’ve watched this clip SO.MANY.TIMES! It’s so inspiring. Chef Steps, below that, has taken the time to not only go through the original recipe “Confit Biyaldi” but added in some hot riffs like (can we pause to applaud APPLETOUILLE?!) on it as well.
BURNT with Bradley Cooper and adorable Daniel Brühl is easily in rotation, and a constant reminder (along with the Paris days in Hundred Foot Journey) that I need to get back to using my Molecular Gastronomy Kit… !
I’ve found 7 of the Official Recipes online over at BakeSpace that all look pretty amazing.
Julie & Julia is an easy, light watch and I actually use Julia Child’s books ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking‘ whenever I want to learn something really technical, like Souffle or Omelette techniques. And how relatable are Amy Adams kitchen meltdowns?! LOL!
Chef Movie (BRAVO, Jon Favreau!) makes it on rotation for so many reasons, but mainly because it’s also the movie I’ve cooked the most from – the Carne Asada, Pasta Aglio e Olio, Cubano Sandwhich, and of course the Berries & Cream <heart>! Oh and the Grilled Cheese, and …
A few are found back on BakeSpace (click). And I’m actually willing to drive 3 days back and forth for that Franklin Barbeque in Austin from Vancouver… I’m just going to leave this little video right here… Busy salivating now… BRB.
Perhaps the BEST part of Chef Movie, is the subsequent The Chef Show on Netflix with Jon and Roy Choi (Chef consultant on the movie – interesting interview w him here) – they review recipes from the movie, but also dozens of new ones. I’m sure I’ve watched the Hog Island Oyster Farm one about a dozen times by now, and hope to drive on down there in Spring, if I can convince Tt + Boo on another SoCal roadrip…
It’s hard to catch the ‘recipes’ (ingredient lists) without a screen shot ability, but where there’s a will … A bit of kitchen know-how and common sense should be able to decipher them reasonably well. ALL of these are next on TOP of my list of things to try soon.
Another ‘honorable mention’ from TV is David Chang‘s “Ugly Delicious” – I really MUST learn to make that Ramen, and I just love his thoughts on the psychology of food and eating and gathering. Also, it’s just cute when he keeps saying everything is ‘delicious’ LOL!
And that’s about what I have on rotation while I cook! What’s your ‘zen’ mode when in the Kitchen? Music? Movies? Silence? Screaming kids?! lol…
If you need something less visual, try this Fall Playlist by the young gen at Vancouver Opera. Enjoy!
