The Butter to My Bread, the Breath to My Life

Food and love (of all kinds) on film, to whet your appetite

Hello all—I planned for a much longer non-Valentine’s Day post today, but a combo of mind and sinus-numbing laryngitis and pressing deadlines has made me scratch that plan. So lieu of that—and in anticipation of a future visit to see The Taste of Things—I’m offering a handful of clips, depicting some of the best love-infused moments in feature films about food. Assembling these was a good reminder that the best meal to make for someone doesn’t have to involve a huge amount of flair or sophistication (note the many egg and pasta dishes in this line-up), but does require paying attention and building a dish with someone else’s pleasure in mind. If you haven’t seen these films, let this prime you for a future watch party, hopefully with your taste buds and senses at the ready:

Omurice with plenty of ketchup (a dish I’m dying to master), from Tampopo (1985)

Quail with Rose Petals, from Like Water for Chocolate (1992, based on the Laura Esquivel novel):

The opening family feast in Eat Drink Man Woman (1994):

Pasta with tomato and basil, Mostly Martha (2001, far better than its American remake)

Chocolate pie and Bruschetta, from Julie & Julia (2009, a film full of great food, but I have a particular fondness for the scenes with Julie and Eric eating, because they so closely resemble what my actual home-cooking experiences look like.)

Chocolate croissants, from It’s Complicated (2009, a great first date cooking experience)

A lunch of paneer, from The Lunchbox (2013, starring the great and gone too soon Irrfan Khan)

A cross-cultural omelet in The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

Pasta with plenty of garlic and chiles (Chef, 2014)

Pollo a la plancha (Moonlight, 2016; someone needs to upload a better clip of this—and I need to watch more queer films about food)

A cheeseburger made with love (The Menu, 2022; note that this is the only chef-to-customer scene in this entire lineup)

Scrambled eggs from Big Night (1996, absolutely the best food movie of all time)

Has my cold-addled brain forgotten any other iconic love-fueled cooking moments? (I searched high-and-low for cooking footage from Soul Food (1997), but somehow it isn’t on YouTube?!) Please add them in the comments, and I’ll see you with full voice and energy next week!