Review: "Eat What You Watch"

If there's one thing foodies love as much as food, it's movies involving food. You may not live the life of the character or the actor on the screen, but you can always relate to the food involved in the story. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and anticipation in "Big Night"; who hasn't thought about slicing garlic with a razor blade after watching "Goodfellas"; and you can't but smile to yourself when in a deli eating pastrami after seeing "When Harry Met Sally...?. For those who want to further enjoy the food they see on the screen, I suggest the following cookbook for movie lovers, "Eat What You Watch", by Andrew Rea of "Binging with Babish" fame. In it, you will find over 40 recipes from films ranging from Charlie Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" to the award-winning "Moonlight", and everything else in between. One of my favourite recipes in the book is this unauthorized take on the Big Kahuna burger from one of my favourite movies, "Pulp Fiction". If you like burgers, give the recipe below a try sometime, you'll see why it's one tasty burger.

Ingredients:

120 g ground beef, divided into two balls
28 g butter
2 hamburger buns (Hawaiian bread rolls, if possible)
2 slices Monterey Jack cheese
2 fresh pineapple slices, about 1.25 cm thick
1 red onion, sliced into rings
vegetable oil
ketchup
teriyaki sauce

1. In a large skillet, heat half of the butter over medium heat until it's foaming. Add the onion and cook slowly over low heat, stirring often, until the onion is caramelized about 30 minutes. Transfer the onion to a bowl, and set them aside.
2. Wipe the skillet clean and heat the remaining butter over medium heat until it is sizzling. Add the pineapple slices and cook, turning once, until they are lightly browned on both sides. Transfer the pineapple to a plate, and set them aside.
3. Using a cast-iron skillet, heat some of the vegetable oil over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Place the balls of ground beef in the skillet a few centimeters from each other, then smash them into thin patties with a spatula. Cook them for about 1 to 2 minutes until the bottom is well browned and crisp, flip, and top each burger with a slice of cheese. Turn off the heat, but leave the patties in the skillet to allow the cheese to melt.
4. Toast and lightly butter the hamburger buns. Dress the bottom half of the bun with some ketchup and teriyaki sauce, add a hamburger patty, then top with a pineapple slice, some of the caramelized onions, and the other half of the bun.

The Foodie Handbook vs. How to Be a Better Foodie

People who call themselves foodies love showing how their love and knowledge of food is that much better than everyone else's. They pride themselves on being able to recommend a good restaurant within walking distance of any location without the need of an app; they know their way around a farmer's market better than the people selling produce there; their pantries are stocked and organized with almost military precision. But things like knowing how to cook, choosing the right wine, and trying lots of new and different foods takes time. How does one become a "true foodie", as opposed to being someone who just likes chewing and swallowing different edibles?  For those who want to fine tune their foodie credibility, there are two books available they can help them be all that they want to be. Popular food blogger Pim Techamuanvivit's "The Foodie Handbook: The (Almost) Definitive Guide to Gastronomy" is a great showcase for her knowledge of food, acquired by years of travelling the globe, trying and tasting lots of different foods, and writing about her experiences for such publications as the New York Times, Food & Wine Magazine, and Bon Appétit magazine. You may never have the funds to go to the French Laundry, but you can learn how to make the most of a visit there if the opportunity ever comes up by reading about Techamuanvivit's time at the famed eatery. For a more step-by-step approach to being a foodie, there is also Sudi Pigott's "How to Be a Better Foodie: A Bulging Little Book for the Truly Epicurious". Pigott also comes from a literary background, with her extensive knowledge of food shown in articles in The Sunday Telegraph, and in Seasoned by Chefs Food Magazine, and with appearances on BBC Radio 4 and London Live TV. Her book is such a wealth of information for both beginner and experienced gourmets that it can come off as a book parodying the pretentiousness that is associated with being a foodie. There will be a lot of eye-rolling when you read either of these books. Anyone hoping to learn to become a better foodie on a middle-class budget and without the access both authors have to top-level chefs will be disappointed. But if having to eat at a chain restaurant is something you, or someone you know considers unacceptable, either of these books would be a welcome addition to a library or reading list.

• The Foodie Handbook: The (Almost) Definitive Guide to Gastronomy by Techamuanvivit, Pim (2009) Paperback
• How to Be a Better Foodie: A Bulging Little Book for the Truly Epicurious

I Read This So You Won't Have To: "Cook to Bang: The Lay Cook's Guide to Getting Laid"

After reading "Where the Wild Things Are" to my son for the umpteenth time, I realized that I read for him more than I do for myself. I used to have a lot of time to read for pleasure back when I bused in to work, just like I did before I became a parent. But all that free reading stopped after I continued using my car at the conclusion of the OC Transpo strike. I used to read everything from books by Hunter S Thompson and Walter Mosley, to magazines like "Wired", "Wizard", and "Maxim". I blame the latter for causing me to settle on Spencer Walker's book "Cook to Bang: The Lay Cook's Guide to Getting Laid". As much as I enjoyed the articles and pictures in the men's magazine, there's a reason I stopped reading it - I got old, and outgrew the lads' mag mentality. This book drove home the point that you can't go home again.

The premise of the book is quite obvious - the way to get into a woman’s panties is through her stomach. It starts with a history lesson of the link between food and sex, filtered through a Barney Stinson/Guy Fieri mash-up that no one was ever asking for. That's not to say that the information found inside isn't any good. I thought the section on food couplings was worthwhile (good combinations: beets and goat cheese; seafood and mango; dates and bacon), and the chapters on food aphrodisiacs and cocktails had some good recipes to try. But calling a steamed artichoke with a spicy aioli dish 'Don't Artichoke Your Chicken' doesn't make me want to either cook it, eat it, or give it to someone I want to do it with. And no matter how many histamines asparagus has to "rev up the power of an orgasm", there's no need to call something 'Tap That Ass-paragus Soup", especially if you plan to put it in your own or someone else's mouth. The dating advice is more of the same. While friends of "Andrew in Charlotte" may no longer think he's gay after his reading of "Cook to Bang", and the boyfriend of "Madeline in Los Angeles" went all sex crazy after breakfast when she tried the recipes, your success may vary. With suggestions like serving jalapeno poppers to church-goers, and brie and crackers to power yuppies, and ways to identify club sluts and dance floor D-bags, maybe my single brother-in-law would have gotten more out of the sexual profiling chapter than I did.

I can't say I would recommend this book to anyone, unless as a gag gift. While there's some interesting stuff to be found in this book, the horny teenager vibe makes it hard to read or to take seriously. Maybe I expected more from an author who's worked as both a sous-chef and a private chef. As a married man, maybe I just don't "get it" as I wasn't the target audience for this book. While the recipes may save you from spending money at a 4-star restaurant in your quest to get in dat ass, there’s a reason no one asks Gordon Ramsey for dating advice.

• Cook to Bang: The Lay Cook's Guide to Getting Laid