Since we are stuck inside with access to our DVD/Blu-Ray collection, or Netflix or other film service, and at the same time cooking up a storm, here’s a combo featuring suggestions for both films and food. Part of an ongoing series to help brighten our isolation days and nights.
Babette’s Feast
Still my favorite food film of all time. This 1987 Danish movie is about a small town (really too small to even be a town) and its residents, who know and care nothing about food or the pleasure of eating until Babette arrives. Based on the story by Isak Dinesen, directed by Gabriel Axel, who also wrote the screenplay. The feast is one of the most beautifully filmed dinners ever, luscious, sensual, beguiling and satisfying. If you weren’t hungry when you started watching, you will be when you’re done. Have some food on hand when the credits roll. This film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Here’s a small clip of some of the food scenes:
Big Night
This 1996 film is a classic for the acting, the story and the food. Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott are two Italian restaurant owners on the Jersey Shore who are psyched about popular bandleader/crooner Louis Prima visiting. His visit should put them back in the black financially. We see the prep, the recipes, the musings about food and life and love. Also starring are Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini and Tony Shalhoub.
As a sideline to this film, check out the current viral video of Stanley Tucci making a Negroni for his wife, who’s filming the entire thing. You’ll see how he did much the same thing in the film.
Here’s Stanley Tucci’s Negroni video:
His Negroni recipe:
- 2 shots gin
- 1 shot sweet vermouth (he uses Antica Formula)
- 1 shot Campari
- Mix in shaker with ice, pour through strainer into coupe glass.
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