10 Delicious Movie Meals
Ratatouille (2007)
The Meal: Traditional ratatouille (of course), a dish so wonderfully prepared it sends legendarily cranky critic Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole) flashing back to his childhood growing up on the stuff.
The Chef: The credit goes to Linguini (Lou Romano), the somewhat lackadaisical young wannabe chef, but the one pulling the strings (or rather, the hair under his hat to guide his hands) is Remy (Patton Oswalt), a rat with real cooking skill.
How To Recreate It: Unless you live in Paris, where the movie's set, we wouldn't recommend flying all the way there just to get the full gallic, er, flavor.
But the dish is easy to recreate - you'll need:
1 eggplant
1/2 onion, diced
Diced tomatoes
Minced garlic
Fresh basil
Salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil.
Full instructions can be found here .
We recommend leaving out the rat part, though. Most rodents know sod all about cookery.
Goodfellas (1990)
The Meal: You'd think being the slammer would mean rubbish food, but if you're connected like the gangster goons in Marty's mob pic, that's not a problem.
Thanks to sneaked-in ingredients, paid off screws and talented cons, a multi-course banquet including pasta and meat is quickly whipped up.
The Chef: Everyone pitches in - even boss Paul (Paul Sorvino) handles part of it, slicing garlic "so thin it liquefies in the pan with just a little oil". With a razor. Wonder what else he used it for? (Hint: not shaving).
How To Recreate It : The essential ingredients include garlic, cans of tomatoes, steak, peppers, onions, prosciutto, salami and cheese.
Oh, and a long stretch for murder/kidnapping/assault/fraud (your choice).
Part of the method (for the food preparation - watch the rest of the movie for how to get put away) can be found here .
The Last Supper (1995)
The Meal: A delightful, home-cooked concoction that changes every sunday night and sparkling, politically charged conversation with five enthusiastic graduate school students.
And the wine's to die for.
The Chef: The gang behind the meal includes Jude (Cameron Diaz), Pete (Ron Eldard) Paulie (Annabeth Gish), Marc (Jonathan Penner) and Luke (Courtney B Vance).
How To Recreate It: Since the movie features the five opinionated, liberal-leaning types murderlising right wing loonies with tainted claret, your best bet is probably to invite people over from the local BNP group or see if you can get the contact number for anyone who writes a column for the Daily Mail.
Then you'll need plonk with the extra ingredient of poison and a group with an annoyingly smug attitude to debate, if you have one. You can find then at Waitrose if not.
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)
The Meal: The Pankot palace is known for its opulent entertaining and when Indy (Harrison Ford), Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and a visibly sickened Willie (Kate Capshaw) sit down for dinner, it rolls out only the best - live eels and giant beetles among them.
But the real capper is pudding - "Primate Parfait", or chilled monkey brains. Cue Willie's fainting fit.
The Chef: We never actually get to meet the man behind the feast - we assume he's a slave of the Maharajah toiling away in a hot kitchen amongst a variety of off-putting ingredients.
How To Recreate It: While one of the early courses (wild boar) is easy enough to figure out (pork chops and some props), you might have more trouble with the bug platter and simian servings.
Try London Zoo - though we doubt they'll just let you waltz in and pick off the menu. Plus, be aware of crippling diarrhea and make sure your guests don't choke on leftover racial stereotypes.
Spanglish (2004)
The Meal: An easy, satisfying one this - a hearty BLT sandwich that has an added ingredient - an egg.
It's simple, it's straightforward and when paired with a cold glass of beer, it's the ideal snack for a night in. Or a morning. Or whenever… Shame that the movie it appears in is such a light trifle - especially coming from James L Brooks.
The Chef: John Clasky (Adam Sandler), famed cook and a man with a troubled private life.
But the real chef responsible is Thomas Keller, who Brooks asked to provide the dish. Which might be why it's memorable.
How To Recreate It:
Four thick slices of bacon, two slices of Monterey Jack cheese, two thick slices of rustic white bread, toasted and hot, one tablespoon mayonnaise, four tomato slices, two leaves of butter lettuce, one teaspoon unsalted butter and one large egg.
1. In a skillet, cook the bacon over moderate heat, turning, until crisp, about eight minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
2. Set the Monterey Jack slices on one piece of toast. Spread the mayonnaise on the other slice of toast, then top with the bacon, tomato and lettuce.
3. In a small, nonstick skillet, melt the butter. Add the egg and fry over moderate heat, turning once, until crisp around the edge, about four minutes; the yolk should still be runny.
4. Slide the egg onto the lettuce; close the sandwich and eat right away.
Do your best not to add the whining attitude, though.
No Reservations (2007)
The Meal: This is a tough film to watch on an empty stomach (though if romantic noodling makes you sick, it's probably best if you don't eat first).
But the story of Catherine Zeta-Jones' driven saucepan-wrangler has plenty to make you peckish, most notably the delicious-looking seared scallops in saffron sauce.
The Chef: Kate (Zeta-Jones) is your typical movie career woman - beautiful, talented, slightly arrogant and great at what she does.
Naturally, her life changes when she becomes her niece's (Abigail Breslin) guardian and heats things up with cookery assistant Aaron Eckhart.
How To Recreate It: It's a fairly long and involved recipe, so give yourself plenty of time.
You can find the full instructions here . You might also want to develop a chip on your shoulder and recruit some mates to order around the kitchen to get the full on Gordon Ramsey.
Or just hire Gordon Ramsey - his restaurants aren't doing as well as they could, so he might work cheap.
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)
The Meal: Ang Lee's family drama is an overloaded plate when it comes to great recipes - not surprising, given that it's the tale of a chef and his three daughters.
When the old man starts to lose his sense of taste, he decides to throw a big family meal to compensate - at least seven dishes are shown being prepared in the first scene alone, among them chicken and cucumber cold salad.
The Chef: Senior Master Chef Chu (Sihung Lung), who has the perfect name and lives up to his title far better than many of the pillocks who go on the BBC's Masterchef.
How To Recreate It: We won't go for all seven ,so here's chicken and cucumber salad...
Two chicken breasts, two cucumbers, six tablespoons of soy sauce, two tablespoons of vinegar, one teaspoon of sugar, two tablespoons of sesame oil, two teaspoons of minced garlic, two scallions, chopped.
• Cook chicken in boiling water, cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Take out, let cool, and shred (or tear by hand).
• Peel cucumbers into strips, skin and all, and put the strips in a large bowl.
• Put chicken shreds on cucumber, mix the sauce and pour on top.
• Sprinkle scallions on top of salad.
And just a pinch of multi-generational family drama.
Amelie (2001)
The Meal: One of Amelie Poulain's (Audrey Tautou) many obsessions is cracking the browned custard of creme brûlée.
It's such an iconic part of the movie that it even made the poster.
The Chef: Amelie makes the dish herself, since it's fairly easy to whip up.
How To Recreate It: Again, don't both moving to Paris - just develop a load of cute quirks and a case of obsessive compulsive disorder while a whimsical accordion soundtrack plays around you.
And here are the instructions, from a proper French chef, no less.
Babette's Feast (1987)
The Meal: Few movies celebrate the act and art of making (and enjoying) food better than this Danish delight.
The central meal is a sprawling selection of amazing dishes, served to a group of dignitaries visiting a nunnery where the enjoyment of such sensual things is usually verbatim.
But the sheer wonders of the table win everyone over.
The Chef: Babette Hersant (Stephane Audran), who arrived the nuns' door 14 years previously as a refugee from counter-revolutionary bloodshed in Paris and is a fiendishly talented cook.
How To Recreate It: We wouldn't recommend decamping to your local nunnery and demanding that they let you foist a multi-course meal on them.
No, why not take inspiration from the movie's spirit, invite over a group of friends more used to the offerings of the local Dominos and Maccy Ds and provide them with something a bit more adventurous.
Our suggestion? Quails en Sarcophage from the movie, which you can make according to this recipe .
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
The Meal: Just a simple family get together chez Sawyer, as guest Sally (Marilyn Burns) is treated to a rollocking night at Leatherface's house.
One the menu is sausages, biscuits (US style, not Mcvitie's) and some donations from past visitors.
If you don't like it? Shut your mouse! It's rude to scream at the table.
The Chef: The food's already on the table, but Pop Sawyer (Jim Siedow) is clearly the cook in the family - since Leatherface (Gunnar Hansen) handles cold cuts and their unnamed younger brother (Edwin Neal) is too much of a drooling loon to be helpful in the kitchen.
How To Recreate It: Table display is everything, so some skulls and dead, rotting animals are a must.
Keep the actual meal simple fare and don't bother to cook it if you don't have the time - after all, people eat sushi, don't they? Why should lamb be any different?
And for any old folks attending, don't forget to have a supply of finger food.