Good morning, and in case I don't see ya: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!
I hope everyone’s finals went well! Since we’re winding down from a stressful part of the term, I come offering a more casual post! I know I’m not the only one who’s drooled over prop dishes and animated cooking, so here’s my list of foods in movies that should be craved by everyone.
Ramen from Ponyo
The ramen in Ponyo tops multiple animated food rankings, including Buzzfeed’s. For good reason too. To be honest, I think any food that Studio Ghibli animates is god-tier, but the ramen-making scene in Ponyo is just so wholesome. The moment when Lisa takes the lids off the striped ceramic bowls deserves 10/10 chef’s kisses. Ponyo was my introduction to Ghibli films and the details in all the backgrounds made me fall in love with Miyazaki’s style. I highly recommend watching the movie and if you ever crave ramen, there’s a ton of adapted recipes on Youtube.
Ramdon from Parasite
Ramdon is essentially the bougie version of Jjapaguri, a popular combination of Jjapaghetti and Neoguri ramen. I feel like it’s a South Korean rite of passage to grow up loving Jjapaghetti. If you’re unfamiliar with the holy creation that is Jjappagetti, the easiest way I can describe it is the cheat sheet ramen version of Jjajangmyeon, an originally Chinese noodle dish made with soybean paste. It was an internet trend in the mid-2010s to combine it with Neoguri ramen to add a bit of spice and broth and it was one of my favorite treat meals. When I saw Parasite and the Ramdon scene came on, I was the “surprised Pikachu” meme. Combining one of Korea’s best broke college kid meals with a high-quality cut of steak opened my eyes to a new world. My dad was also immediately fascinated and made it the day after we saw the movie. I stood in front of the stove in sheer disbelief that I was searing steak to put in ramen and it was the best laugh I had. I have to say, I think it’s worth trying for the taste but even more so for the humor.
A pastry beast from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The scene showing Jacob Kowalski’s bakery is only like a minute long but it’s the most memorable scene from the movie for me. I have never wanted to eat bread this much before. Something about animal-shaped bread just makes everything better. Queenie and Jacob reuniting is a cute moment but all I can think about are those pastries. If I die without getting to take a bite out of a Niffler bun, I will not have reached my full potential. That is all.
Strudel from Inglourious Basterds
Queenie also makes a strudel in Fantastic Beasts but I saw Inglourious Basterds first, so it wins in the strudel category for me. While the strudel looks insanely appetizing, the scene itself is anxiety-inducing. Christopher Waltz is terrifying as Hans Landa and I will never recover from his performance. The cream is the selling point in the scene. For context, cream is not always kosher and Landa’s fixation on it symbolizes his suspicion of Shoshanna/Emmanuelle. The food visuals are as superb as the acting in the scene and if I had the patience, I would follow the Binging with Babish recipe to make my own strudel.
Grilled cheese and Cubanos from Chef
All I can say is, sandwiches have never looked so good. My best regards to chef Roy Choi for teaching Jon Favreau how to make a gorgeous grilled cheese and my best regards to Jon Favreau for directing a movie that makes food look so flippin’ good. If anyone is a fan of the movie and of cooking, Roy Choi and Jon Favreau have a show together on Netflix called The Chef Show and it’s one of my favorite things to watch.
ANYTHING from Ratatouille
Finally, we have quite literally any prepared dish from Ratatouille. I will say I am leaning towards the omelette Remy made after his first night staying with Linguini. Nothing is more elegant than the visual of the animated sheen on that perfectly symmetrical omelette. Also, it’s a bit cliche but I can’t ignore the star of the show, the ratatouille. I hate eggplant, but Pixar actually made me want to eat it. No wonder Ego was memory-punched back to his childhood.
I have at least 10 more movies to add to this list but I think these 6 are my top few and also fall into the “universally loved movie foods” category. If you have ever made any movie-inspired foods, I applaud your dedication and I am extremely jealous. I hope I didn’t make anyone too hungry while reading this. I, myself, am going to be making myself a large bowl of Jjapaguri now. Thanks for tuning in and I’ll see you in the next cut of the B-roll!