I love this! especially the scenes from Sabrina

Finally, a Definition of the Genre, and The Last Holiday

I’d like to make a case for one movie that is rarely considered a part of the “food film” genre, The Last Holiday.

In Food in the Movies Steve Zimmerman and Ken Weiss study the ways in which food has been historically used on screen. They argue that up until the 1980s food was downplayed, used more as a prop than a plot-centerpiece. In the 1980s food became a star of a certain new breed of films. Initially mostly foreign directors “discovered the visual, aesthetic, and box office appeal of food” (2). Unlike westerns or musicals, food films do not have a long history, but should be considered a genre. The authors pose criteria for the food film:

1. Food has to be an essential part of the plot which would be meaningless without it.
2. Food must be seen on screen, in close-up, at times throughout the film.
3. The preparation and cooking of food must be featured. The more detail, the better.
4. The serving of food (the eating occasion, if not the eating itself) must be shown.
5. Food must be influential in the lives of at least one of the featured characters.
To qualify as a food film, the film must contain all five elements, in varying degrees. (212)

It seems funny that there has to be ‘official’ criteria for the food film. How very academia. I have looked at long lists of food films and have yet to come across The Last Holiday. Maybe it’s not serious enough (but have you seen the ridiculous Woman on Top?). Queen Latifa’s movie is a lot of fun, and illustrates one of the main motifs in food films, self transformation. In the movie, it takes positive test for a rare disease for Latifa’s character, Georgia Bird, to do what she wants with her life--quit her job and visit the hotel with the restaurant of Chef Didier. Once a closet cook who prepares Emeril meals, but only eats Lean Cuisine, Bird becomes friends with Didier, and eventually helps him cook the New Years’ Even banquet. She discovers a zest for life in and out of the kitchen. At the end of the film, she opens her restaurant, and surprise! Emeril pays a visit.
If you’re interested in making one of Emeril’s dishes featured in the movie, give this a try.

Tampopo

Tampopo may be one of the strangest movies I have ever seen--strange, yet highly entertaining. The film follows goro, a cowboy truckdriver, and Tampopo (means dandelion), a homely widow with a poor quality noodle house, in a quest to improve the woman’s restaurant. The quest involves a hilarious Rocky-esque sequence of the tiny woman running back and forth in the kitchen with a big water-filled metal pot, and the unlikely coach timing her as she serves ramen. Throughout the film there are episodes from other characters that each in some way relates ridiculously to food. A gangster’s dying words to his girlfriend are “I would have loved to eat them with you.” A noodle ‘master’ tells his young protégé how to correctly eat the soup, starting with a long gaze at the whole bowl and caressing looks at the pork.



An etiquette teacher tries to teach her young female students not to slurp spaghetti (sorry, I hope you can get the gist without subtitles).



Instead of kissing, a couple grossly swaps an egg yolk between their mouths. A band of clown-like homeless men tell a loving history of a fine bottle of wine. Even the credits center on food; as they roll, the background is a woman nursing her infant. This is may be the king of all food movies; every scene relates to food. The triumphant orchestral music throughout adds to the absolute insanity, and simultaneous hilarity of Tampopo. Roger Ebert, who I usually trust, gave a four star review.

After watching this food-fillled movie, it’s hard not to immediately have a huge bowl of the tasty noodles in broth. I will admit I still have not yet cooked Tampopo’s Spring Onion Special, but here’s a version that looks like it’s worth giving a try.

A Big Night of Timpano

Timpano alla Big Night


What's a timpano? The best explanation is from Primo in Big Night (played by Tony Schalhoub):

"Timpano is a pasta with a special crust...And it’s shaped like a drum, like a timpany drum. And here inside are the most important things in the world."

Those most important things are cheese, pasta, ragu, meatballs, salami, and more cheese. This one's not for the faint-hearted.





The exciting part of making this dish is that now I have joined the Big Night timpano club, the group of people who watched the film and thought to themsevles for whatever reason, 'I need to make that.' I read stories, saw countless 'timpano ordeal' photos, and found copies of similar recipes on several blogs. I urge anyone interested in food, Italian food, cyber-love stories, or love stories in general to read my favorite blog about the famous timpano.


I made my timpano on my last day in San Diego before returning to the oh-so-cold Ohio. I woke up at 6AM to start my ragu, and wasn't done with the dish until 6pm, when I absolutely had to start packing. For my last Screen to Table January Term experiement, il timpano, I worked from Stanley Tucci's mother's recipe in Cucina & Famiglia (the recipes below include my revisions). The most difficult parts of the timpano are one, finding the right pan, and two, preparing the fillings. For the first challenge, I considered ordering an 'official' timpano pan on ebay, but chose to head to a thrift store instead. I found an alluminum pan, on the small side for a timpano, but it worked well. I suggest starting with the ragu. As it sautees, you can make the meatballs and the dough, then chop the rest of the ingredients.

Ragu:
1/4 cup olive oil
.75 lb. stewing beef, rinsed, patted dry and in pieces
1 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cans whole, peeled tomatoes, pureed
3 fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat Sear the stewing beef until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside in a bowl.

Stir the onions and garlic in the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the wine, scraping the sides of the pan to incorporate the juices. Add the tomato paste. Use about ½ cup of the warm water to loosen extra paste. Cook for about two minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining 1 cup water. Stir in the basil and oregano. Cover with the lid partly askew and simmer for 30 minutes.

Return the meat to the pot, along with its juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Cover with the lid partly askew and simmer, stirring frequently until the tomatoes are cooked, about 2 hours. Warm water may be added if the sauce becomes too thick.


Polpette (Meatballs) - this one’s really not for vegetarians - sorry Obies

Ten slices Italian bread
1 lb. ground beef chuck
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 leaves basil, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
5 tablespoons grated pecorino Romano cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Allow bread slices to dry for a couple days. If you are like me and don’t prep days in advance for cooking projects, place your bread slices in the oven until dried out. Place the dried bread in a bowl and cover with warm water until soft, about 5 minutes.

In another bowl, combine the meat, parsley, basil, garlic, egg, cheese, salt and pepper to taste, using your hands to mix the ingredients. Remove and discard the crust from the bread pieces. Squeeze the water out of the bread, and break into small pieces. Add the bred to the meat and work it into the mixture until they are equally combined and the mixture holds together.

Scoop out a tablespoon of the meat mixture. Roll it between the palm of your hands to form a ball. Cook one meatball until well browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Once cooked, taste the meatball and if needed, adjust the seasoning of the remaining mixture. Cook the meatballs in small batches and place finished meatballs on a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.

Il Timpano: these numbers are adjusted because I had a ton of leftover filling
This is such a fun process, like making a giant cup, and, as Primo says, filling it with some of the most important things in the world.

Dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup cold water



Filling:
2 cups Genoa salami, diced
2 cups sharp provolone cheese cubes*
4 hard boiled eggs, cut into eighths (the Tucci recipe calls for more, but I had a small pan)
meatballs (above)
ragu (above)
1 pound ziti, cooked al dente (have some extra on hand, but for a small pan, this should be enough)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup finely grated pecorino romano cheese*

*I used these cheeses because they were in the recipe, but I was not a fan of the bite of the provolone. I suggest instead mozzarella and parmesan, or a mix.

To make the dough, place the flour, eggs, salt, and olive oil in a large-capacity food processor (or a mixer with a pastry hook). Add 3 tablespoons of water and process. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture comes together and forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead to make sure it was well mixed. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Flatten the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and roll it out, flipping occasionally, until it is about 1/16 inch thick and the desired diameter for your pan.

Generously grease the timpano baking pan with butter and olive oil. Fold the dough in half and then half again to form a triangle, and place the triangle in the pan. Open the dough to arrange in the pan, gently pressing it against the bottom and the sides, draping extra dough over the sides. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To prepare the filling, have all the insides ready at room temperature. Toss the drained pasta with olive oil and 2 cups of ragu. Coat the bottom of the timpano with a layer of pasta. Top with salami, provolone, hard boiled eggs, meatballs and romano cheese. Pour ragu over these ingredients. Top with another layer of pasta, then the other fillings, repeating the layers. Top with remaining pasta (the ingredients should be about inch below the rim of the pot---oops mine was overflowing!). Spoon a final layer of ragu over the pasta. Fold the pasta dough over the filling ot seal completely. Trim away double layers of dough.

Bake until lightly browned, about 1 hour. Then cover with aluminum foil and continue baking until the timpano is cooked through and the dough is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 30 or more minutes (you’ll be surprised how long it stays hot in there). The baked timpano should not stick to the pan. To be sure, carefully run a knife along the sides before inverting. Place a large plate or serving dish on top of the timpano. Carefully flip both the plate and the timpano. Allow the timpano to continue to cool. To serve, cut the timpano as you would a pie, leaving the center circle as a support for the remaining slices.

Chocolat

I love this movie!

This seems to be a fitting night to write this blog (even though I cooked weeks ago). Today is my 22nd birthday! Nine years ago, for my thirteenth birthday, I had a Chocolat themed party. We watched the movie and my mom made an incredible 5 chocolate texture cake.

As I watched Vianne rejuvenate the tiny french town with her chocolate magic, I was reminded of that birthday, and the love my mom put into all my birthday cakes. For every birthday, I searched through my mom's cookbooks, usually The Cake Bible, for the most theme-appropriate cake possible, and my mom somehow always oblidged. One year, I wanted a caramel cage. Another year, for the Wizard of Oz themed party, I wanted a layered cake, with each layer a different color (the outside was black and white--like the flow of the movie from b&w to color). The cakes had to represent the themes, and the themes were usually inspired by movies. Looking back, I realize 1) I don't think I ever properly thanked my mom for making me such decadent cakes filled with love and care, 2)Wow, how I was demanding 3) The Screen to Table Project goes a long way back.


To celebrate the movie Chocolat, I decided to make gift boxes filled with chocolate truffles for people I care about. I made Vianne's Nipples of Venus. These are from one of my favorite parts of the movie. Vianne teaches Josephine how to make these, and as she brings them out to the front of her shop, she asks the Count, "can I interest you in some nipples of venus?" The suggestive chocolates would work well as Valentine's favors too.

Nipples of Venus adapted from Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat and The French Kitchen: A Cookbook)

Filling:

8 ounces bittersweet (70 percent cocoa) chocolate, chopped--I am a fan of the pound plus at Trader Joe's

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Dipping:

4 ounces dark chocolate (I used 50 percent cocoa)
2 ounces white chocolate

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a double broiler. Heat the cream before adding it to the melted chocolate, and mix until blended evenly. Set aside to cool for 2 hours. After cooling, beat the mixture until it is stiff and forms holds its shape.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. For the next step, I used just a plastic bag with a tip cut off, but you can use a pastry bag if you have one. Pipe little mounds (or nipples) onto the parchment paper. Refridgerate to set.

* For dipping, take each nipple and dip into the melted dark chocolate (Harris suggests tempering the chocolate, but I did not and they turned out fine). Let set for an hour. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water or in the microwave. Dip the tips of each chocolate nipple.

*I had trouble with dipping because my chocolates were not set enough. Instead, I coated each mound with the dark chocolate and used my homemade pastry bag to pipe the white chocolate tips. This works too.

I made floral paper boxes to dress up my experiment as a chocolatier.

For a simpler Chocolat experiment, try making Vianne's Hot Chocolate

I melted a couple ounces of dark chocolate, then mixed the chocolate into a cup of hot milk. I added 'a tiny hint of chili pepper,' as Vianne tells Armande, and as she says, it gave me 'a lift.' Enjoy, experiment, and give the gift of chocolate.

The Waitress

("Baby Don't You Cry" from The Waitress)

It’s so hard to do a cooking project when your oven is broken! Thanks to two friends who lent me their ovens in times of need. I know I am behind, but I want to document my days of cooking I never got around to blogging.

The first was my adventures with The Waitress, starring Kerri Russell. This film has such an odd tone and humor, I never know quite what to think when I watch it. The only sure thing is: I always want to make pie. From the first few minutes of the movie, we learn that pie-making brings comfort to an otherwise dreary life for the blunt, creative waitress. I love the opening scene of Russell in the kitchen. She looks serene, in the place of absolute peace that cooking takes us. One can’t help but wonder whether the crazy pies Russell’s character, Jenna, thinks up actually taste good. Her pies have wild names. I like the idea of Falling in Love pie, Marshmellow Mermaid Pie, Naughty Pumpkin Pie, and Strawberry Chocolate Oasis pie. For the last, Andy Griffith describes it so enticingly:
Nobody in the world can make strawberry chocolate pie like you. Wednesday is my favorite day of the week just cause I get to have me a slice of it. I think about it as I’m waking up. It could solve all the problems of the world, that pie. It’s a thing of beauty….how each flavor opens itself, one by one, like a chapter in a book. First, the flavor of an exotic spice hits ya. Just a hint of it…and then you get flooded with the chocolate, dark and bittersweet like an old love affair…..and finally – strawberry – the way strawberry always was supposed to taste but never knew how…’

During my recipe research phase, I learned that there is a special boxed set of this dvd that includes recipes for some of the craziest pies. I followed (for the most part) one of these recipes for ‘I Don’t want Earl’s Baby Pie’ and for the other, Lonely Chicago Pie, I consulted cyberspace.
Before making my pies, I knew I didn’t want to cheat. I wanted to make my pie crusts from scratch. Have you ever made a pie crust? This was probably the hardest part of my Screen to Table Project. I am not going to repeat the dough recipes here, because frankly, they just did not turn out so well. After patching my holey uncooked shells, my mom told me her secret--double pie crust recipes so that you always have enough. There’s always next time.

Both of these pies are really rich, but really tasty. For both, the recommended cooking time was not nearly enough. I’d go double!

I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie - this one is a cross between a cheese souffle and a quiche

1 pie crust, uncooked
4 Tbs. butter
3 slices ham
8 green onions- chopped
1 C. brie cheese
1 C. parmesan cheese, grated
4 eggs
2 C. heavy cream
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover pie crust with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes more. Remove crust and reduce heat to 325 degrees. Julienne ham. Sauté ham and green onions with butter. Spread the mixture on bottom of pie crust. Spread brie over ham mixture and sprinkle with parmesan. Combine eggs, cream and nutmeg; pour over cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve. This one tastes great the next day for breakfast!

Lonely Chicago Pie - Throughout this project, I’ve found a large online community of cooks and bakers who have tried to replicate recipes from movies. I found one for Lonely Chicago Pie, the pie Jenna teaches her new-found love how to make. The original recipe I found tops the berries with chocolate instead of the other way around (as Jenna does in the movie). I edited the recipe to more accurately resemble Jenna’s steps as she makes the pie. I will say, this is an odd pie--like a pecan pie filling without the pecans, a dark chocolate bar, and all topped with berries. But somehow, this pie just works. I recommend it for those who want something different, or big fans of the movie.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp melted, salted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (10 inch) unbaked deep-dish pie crust
1/2 cup fresh blackberries, lightly crushed
1 cup dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks for melting
½ cup heavy cream
1 tsp salted butter

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the beaten egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix well and add the milk.
Pour mixture into crust.
Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and bake 40 minutes (or until set, potentially an hour or more). While baking, heat dark chocolate in a double broiler. Once melted, add warmed heavy cream and stir. Once the spice layer sets, remove from the oven, and top with the dark chocolate. Top the chocolate layer evenly with crushed berries, return to oven and bake 10 minutes longer.
Let cool completely on rack. Chill in fridge before serving.

A little taste--no wonder we made it