Film Food and I

Francesca White

Description

Film and food have come a long way, especially in the last 40 years. Chefs create increasingly complex, extravagant dishes. The term ''Foodie'' has become a part of our vernacular. There are countless food-related TV shows, as well as movies, incorporating food in the title and/or storyline.From ''Chef'' to ''Julie, Julia'', many motion pictures in recent years have been about famous chefs or include food in the title, such as ''Chocolat''. Food becomes another character, adding to the richness of the storyline.Film Food and I has many ingredients, including the personal insights and memoirs of its author. It covers some of our social history: chapters on Popcorn, Chocolate, Coffee and television shows. Also complementing the subject matter are 15 of the author''s own film food related recipes.Film Food and I is not the definitive book on film or food, it is fun, food and film.

Sujets

• Película fotográfica
• The arts
• Film

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
• Date de parution: 12 décembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781528959940
• Langue: English

Extrait

Film Food and I
Francesca White
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-12-12
Film Food and I About The Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgement Foreword Chapter 1 The Early Years The Marx Brothers Room Service – (1938) The Big Store – (1941) Shirley Temple Chapter 2 From Crumbs to Caviar (1940–1960) RECIPE: Vala’s Sauerkraut Pie 1950s 1960s RECIPE: Hrundi’s Indian Samosas Chapter 3 Fun Movies, Chocolates and Coffee Classic Food Moments in The Blues Brothers RECIPE: Phil’s Quick Tasty Donuts RECIPE Red Wine Rabbit Chocolate and Coffee RECIPE Charlie’s Chocolate Pancakes Coffee RECIPE Papa’s breakfast RECIPE Agent Dale’s Cherry Pie Chapter 4 The Godfather vs Goodfellas to Pulp Fiction and Popcorn The Sopranos – (1999–2007) – Television Series RECIPE Good Friday Zeppoli RECIPE Tony’s Parmesan Rice cakes Robert Rodriquez and Quentin Tarantino RECIPE El Presidente’s Stuffed Poblano Peppers Popcorn Chapter 5 Favourite Film Food RECIPES Wilson’s Lovely Crab Cakes Chuck’s Tropical Fruit Platter RECIPE Fried Green Tomatoes RECIPE Zira’s Banana Custard Flan Chapter 6 Television Cinnamon Tea Cake Chapter 7 Movies to Die For Sweeney Todd – (Musical) RECIPE: Mrs Lovett’s Curry Meat Pie Chapter 8 Merchandising, References and Suggestions Merchandising References
About The Author
Australian born with Russian and Italian heritage, Francesca credits her mother for introducing her to books and films (everything from Hollywood greats to Russian cinema). Throughout the years, Francesca has worked as a make-up artist (for film); was on radio; researched material for film and for TV film guides; was production coordinator for a TV drama series and developed her own documentary project. She began research for ‘Film Food’ in the mid-1990s, finally completing the book after time off, recovering from cancer. Francesca is married with one adult son.
Dedication
To my earth angels, John and Alexander.
Thank you for your love, support and, most of all, making me laugh when life took unexpected turns.
Copyright Information ©
Francesca White (2019)
The right of Francesca White to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781528911900 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781528959940 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Acknowledgement
I owe my deepest gratitude to my dearest and treasured cousin, Maria. Maria Lacey, a true light-worker and friend, thank you for showing me my spiritual path. To Victor, for being a generous soul. For everyone who did not laugh at my ideas, and instead, encouraged me to continue, giving me the boost to believe in my work. Thank you.
Foreword
Who amongst us has never seen a film? Who amongst us has never eaten something while watching a movie? Indeed, whether it is munching buttered popcorn in New York, chewing smoked eel in Scandinavia, or sucking beetle nuts in a New Guinea open-air theatre, one thing is universal, most people love to nibble on food while enjoying a film. And in the Western World at least, audiences will pay big money to eat that certain something or slurp a soda, regardless of the quality of what’s showing on the big screen. It is ritualistic.
“You buy the tickets and I’ll get the popcorn!”
The cinema owners decide certain types of audiences enjoy certain types of film at certain types of venues. They also assume to know what types of snacks each particular type of audience prefers. And so, we see the all-encompassing label of ‘Cinema Snack Foods’ divided into various subgenres. It works (or rather, it doesn’t work) like this.
Connoisseurs of ‘art house’ movies attend small, specialist theatres. Several years ago, you could only purchase café latte, orange juice, carrot cake and carob in preference to chocolate. More recently, these same venues and the newer ‘art house’ cinemas offer glasses of wine, boutique beer, expensive dark chocolate, coffee (and not just the lattes), quaint little bags of selected ‘choice’ sweets and shock horror other cinema staples such as popcorn and ice-cream.
By far, the widest choice is to be had at the following:
Drive-In theatres (Yes, they do still exist, although in very small numbers). Here, a patron may indulge in all that the multiplex has to offer, as well as the questionable greasy hot stuff i.e. hamburgers, chips and so forth. You can, of course, bring whatever you want to eat to the drive-in, because in the comfort of your vehicle, you can slurp, belch, hiccup, pick your teeth, sneeze, snore and everything in between, offending only the occupants.
The outdoor venues are limited mostly to the warmer months. Here, patrons can bring along their hampers and blankets and enjoy the film in beautiful garden surroundings. Some of these venues are held in odd places, for instance, rooftop car parks or the roof of an inner-city hotel. On offer are hot meals, snacks and alcoholic drinks.
The independently owned and sometimes quirky cinemas are usually found in country areas, although there are some very interesting venues in some of the big cities. Patrons can enjoy hot meals, alcoholic beverages and desserts.
There are also first-class seats in selected cinemas with secluded lounges, where you can enjoy a pre-show drink, then head in to the small, enclosed theatre within the selected cinema. Included in the extra cost are soft drinks or hot beverages and of course, popcorn. Should you want something from the menu, that is also available and will be brought to you at a specified time, that you nominate.
Even the sleaziest sexploitation cinema will have something to offer. It may not be quite what you’re after though. Remember TAXI DRIVER – (1975) directed by Martin Scorsese? Travis (Robert De Niro) filled in his hours at an all-day Sexathon XXX cinema. Before entering the film, he purchases some Chuckles (candy bar); then is concerned that he can’t get any Jujus (candy). He wanted THEM because they last longer (after all, it WAS an ALL-DAY Sexathon).
‘What you see is what we got!’ was the disgruntled attendants’ comment to poor Travis. And it is this comment, which seems to sum up the cinema owners’ attitude to its hungry patrons. The audience will be fed, but in a limited fashion, at most cinemas.
Somehow, one is still left with a feeling of dissatisfaction, of feeling unfulfilled. Sure, it fills a hole but it is not total involvement. At the big cinema chains, one is bound to purchase a tall fizzy drink in a special commemorative cup, covered in artwork, advertising the latest blockbuster. But it’s the same old fizzy drink inside! This is merchandising. This is not total involvement.
We, as audiences, eat and drink while watching films because it relaxes us. It calms our bodies and soothes our mind. It puts us in a near tranquil state, allowing the drama of the big screen to wash over us, to completely envelop us. In a real sense, we are still missing half the picture, so to speak. Crunching the ubiquitous popcorn while those on the screen are dining on Chateaubriand is akin to watching GONE WITH THE WIND – (1939) in black and white, or JAWS 3D – (1983) without the glasses.
Imagine the feeling of connection, of total involvement, if we could actually eat the same food as was being consumed by our heroes on the big screen. There are very few things more intimate to our bodies than eating, and the ability to share a meal with the stars is the ability to share that intimacy. In a sense, it is consuming the film itself. Eyes, ears and palate. This is total involvement.
It may not be for everyone’s taste, but then again, nor is every movie experience the same for each individual.
Along with listing movies for film food, I have also included various recipes that could be prepared and enjoyed when viewing the related movies. Better still, choose or create your own recipes or dishes.
One day, somewhere in the early 1980s, I and three of my friends decided to have a Robin Hood day. We were all fans of the Errol Flynn classic THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD – (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley with music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and filmed in glorious Technicolor. The banquet scenes in the movie were quite spectacular; on offer were huge joints of meat and fowl, washed down with goblet after goblet filled with mead or wine. Now, this was something that could add to our enjoyment of the film. And so, we planned a day, where we would do the same, it became our Robin Hood day.
On our menu, we prepared roast lamb, roast chicken pieces and bought a huge flagon of really strong apple cider that was named ‘Old Scrumpy’, (we tried to obtain mead, although at that time, it was a little hard to find), the Scrumpy was enjoyed nevertheless. A Merry day was had by all.
Fast track to sometime in the 1990s, my husband and I were watching THE GODFATHER – (1972) directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Some way into the movie, we started to chat about Italian food, it seemed the movie was making us hungry. What would be nice? Spaghetti, pizza, or spicy Italian pork sausages, what about some vino (wine), crusty bread with olives and cheese. We started the list, what could we eat while watching The Godfather . After all, the movie itself was depicting many food scenes, causing our stomachs to rumble and our minds to race. We both came up with the same idea, ‘Wouldn’t it be gr