Five things: My favorite five movies on food

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My favorite five movies on food. Go!

5. Julie & Julia

A witty, feel-good parallel between lives of Julia Child and Julie Powell with a near mystique ending - will Julie be able to cook through 365 dishes of Julia Child, successfully?

Nora Ephron (the director), synonym with romantic comedies and food - what's not to love about that combination? Plus, Meryl Streep impersonating the legendary chef Julia Child (btw what a perfect last name to complement her child like enthusiasm for food) and Amy Adams (come on who doesn't smile when they look at her?) are top reasons to check out this movie. And of course makes you wonder how all that butter is not making the French any fatter? (My only pet peeve with this movie - it tends to drag in parts)

A word of caution: Eat before you see this movie. It is going to make you hungry.

4. Chocolat

Johnny Depp, romance, lots of chocolate. Go figure.













3. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

A poor boy by name Charlie, wins a ticket to tour the craziest candy factory in the world! Now that premise itself should feel intriguing no? It's successor  - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - is good too but that would be an overdose of Johnny Depp (or maybe that's what you like? Then go for it). Anyway the whole deal about getting lucky and winning that ticket to magic chocolate land sounds so feel-good, if you ask me. We want the underdog to win after all :) And then their is this deal about whether Charlie will win himself a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate - keeps you guessing. A great movie to watch, specially with kids:)





2. Ratatouille

I am yet to meet someone who doesn't like Ratatouille - can't say that about most of the movies. This  movie makes me want to eat Ratatouille and brings an honest chuckle when I eat one. Remy the rat, winning over Anton Ego, the critic draws me to a feverish crescendo, every single time I watch the movie. And just as inspiring: Remember, anybody can cook! 

One phrase that sums up the reason for loving this movie - 

"soul food".

1. Eat Drink Man Woman

Yes sir, we have a foodie movie from our beloved, Life of Pi famous Ang Lee. Revolves around a family in Taipei (a chef and his three daughters), their dinner ritual and coming together to face ups and downs in their lives. This movie craftily uses food as a metaphor - sour, sweet, spice, bitter -  for the different experiences in life. Watch it and savor it again and again, just like your favorite dish:)









Wait, there are other favorite ones too! Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Tampopo...but some other time:) Although, come to think of it, any favorites in Indian movies? Rajesh Khanna's Bawarchi and Bachchan's Cheeni Kum comes to mind. I haven't seen the more recent Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. Really, that's it for Bollywood?

Bon Appetit!

Tiny Treats: Crepes

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For some time in the past I had been obsessed by crepes. To the extent that I scoured local places for creperies. So after a long time when I made it to a creperie recently, I relived this psycho-obsession.

But first, let me tell you how I pronounced it "cray-pay" when I was first introduced to it. Although I have gotta hand it over to another amateur who read it "creep". Haha.

So I haven't ever visited France to familiarize with an authentic crepe. But I can say this creperie (Lucinda Truck) at Grove Street, New Jersey was the best I have eaten. Their veggie crepe was to die for. I mean I could live there all my life just so I can get a bite at their crepes. Priced at a modest 5$ (and large portions!), I think they won my heart, stomach and mind over. (According to Yelp, this location has been closed down. *Gasp*)

The recent visit I made was dicey, on the other hand. This was a Palo Alto joint called Crepevine.

The first order I made was for a Sunset Crepe. Their fancy name for the basic Nutella, Banana and Strawberry Crepe. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup garnish. Now you cant go wrong with such a basic one. Glad to note, they got that right. At $7.5 it was delectable, fulfilling and comfort snack at best. And for hours thereafter, I kept dreaming about going back to eat another one of them.

The second time I went I was really hungry. So hungry I could turn into a cannibal and eat a human being. This time I was ready to devour a savory crepe. My personal favorite has always been a smoked salmon (without cream cheese please!), but I gave that a pass this time because my significant other isn't really into ANY kind of seafood (sad, but true). And so I made the rookie mistake of ordering an Indian fusion crepe. Really, who orders an Indian inspired dish at an all-American joint? Yeah, that should be me.

Like I said, I was too hungry. And you are bound to fail on an empty stomach. 

Bombay, they called it. Hmm, ok. It came with the soggiest fries I ever had and a salad drenched in heavy dressing that I felt I was drinking out of a bottle of Hidden Valley. 

Congratulations, you just made an already mediocre crepe worser. I mean, did I ask you to make a "meal" out of it? (What is this, McDonalds?). All I asked was a crepe - that salad and fries just ruined it. And to annoy me to no end, they splattered a big teaspoon of god-knows-what-curry-paste on top of the crepe. The appearance of it not the least bit appetizing. The crepe itself tasted like mud (yes, I have tasted mud, so I know).

And with that, it put a dent into my crepe obsession, for now. Although, full props to the chalkboard inspired menu display there. Very creative!

That's why there is a reason why it is believed that a best restaurant is one carrying a consistent taste in their dishes. Of course, there is another valuable lesson to be learnt here - Never shop or dine on an empty stomach. You almost always regret later.

Looking back: All things Chinatown

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When the Lunar (Chinese) new year happened this year, I felt nostalgic. I miss just doing the rounds of Chinatown in any city. And tasting a lot of Chinese delicacies. There is something exotic about their food. Of course, I am not too daring to go overboard with their exotic stuff (eels, frogs and the like). But I love some of their seafood variety, fruits and exotic flavored ice creams. And the dragon masks and decorations :-) And I love dumplings. And their herb teas are great for the palate. You know where this is going - I am such a big foodie. Gosh.

I think a fair share of affinity to street style Chinese food comes from my love for Indian dhaba style food. Give me a plate of greasy chowmein, stir fries and lots of sauce and I am good to go. So I was mildly surprised when I saw the real Chinese food taste so different from the Indo-Chinese fast food that's served in India (sort of like Panda Express). A lot of actual Chinese food is broth baised/steamed/lightly cooked.

I am huge fan of dumplings so I made a trip to Prosperity Dumplings in New York's Chinatown. Of course I went alone ;-) I venture out on my own on explore-as-you-go type of food crawls. Because it requires an appetite for patience and handling stomach upsets. And I am not sure how far my company can push. Hence alone.

They are a hole in the wall. But I wasn't too surprised by the long waiting line (and this was on a weekday late noon). They have about a 1000+ reviews on yelp. I have been to some elite Dim Sum places, but they pale in comparison with the dumplings at Prosperity. They are famous for their pork chive fried dumplings - too bad I don't eat pork. So I just went for their steamed veggie dumplings, duck and carrot stuffed sesame pancake (greasiest!) and a noodle soup. Washed it down with a bottle of cold water. All for a total under 10$. Now who could beat that?!

After that I got two scoops of lychee and black sesame ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - their asian flavors are the real deal! I then made my way through a whole alley of souvenir shops (btw   this is where you should buy those "I love NY" shirts. A lot of tourist end up buying them from Times Square. Not done :-)) And then reached the open markets to buy fruits and seafood. Btw, you can't bargain with the Chinese - not only because you don't understand their language but also because they are very relentless. You are better off trying but wouldn't guarantee a discount. Haha. So I didn't push the lady in the picture too much and got a bountiful of dragon fruits, cherries and plums.

Then I headed to the seafood stores. Oh what heaven! Picked up some fresh shrimp and snapper (their seafood deals are a steal!). But careful not to get cheated. They mix in some stale fish with the fresh ones. I also always walk up and down few stores to compare prices.

A word of caution to the vegetarians, some of the sights and smells at a Chinatown can be really hard to take in. Because there will be, invariably gregarious window displays of slaughtered animals for purchase. Yeah, the Chinese are all out about displaying meat and not shy in this case. I have seen the ballsiest of my non-vegetarian friends go dizzy in their stomachs, on such sights.

As for me, I was born to walk around Chinatowns in every city :-)