The films of Naomi Ogigami (Seagull Diner,
Glasses)
turned me into a fan of the food stylist Nami
Iijima (飯島奈美, b. 1969).
As I wrote in Nami
Iijima: Food Stylist Extraordinaire, in addition to her work styling food
for great films like Chef
of the South Pole and Villon’s Wife,
Iijima has made a name for herself in Japan as a celebrity chef. She has written many wonderful cookbooks such
as Breakfast Menu (Asagohan
no Kondate) and Life: Iijima Nami’s
Homemade Taste (LIFE
Nandemonai Hi, Omedetou! Gohan).
I was delighted to discover late
last year that Iijima’s recipes have become available in English via the
American publisher Vertical – an imprint
that I associate with manga. They
publish English translations of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack and Buddha. It turns out that Vertical also translates
cookbooks, novels, and other miscellanea.
Reel Cuisine: Blockbuster Dishes from the Silver Screen is based on Nami Iijima’s column Cinema Shokudo (シネマ食堂) which she wrote for AERA magazine between
2007-9. Many of the recipes also
featured in the Japanese book based on this column and also called Cinema
Shokudo (2009). Both books feature
photography by Elina Yamasaki.
When it first came in the post I was
initially disappointed by how slim the volume is – I collect cookbooks and I
like them big and bulky and full of lovely illustrations or photographs. There is no introduction explaining who
Iijima is, which
clearly confused one reviewer of the cookbook. This would have been useful as the films that
Iijima has worked on have only played at festivals in North America and have
not been released there on DVD.
The first section of the book consists
of recipes from films that Iijima worked on.
Each recipe is accompanied by a brief explanation of the context of the
food in the film. At the back of the
book, there is some text from Iijima’s “Work Diary” that explain how she works
with food and give an idea of the thought process that goes into designing food
and settings for the food during film production.
The rest of the book contains
recipes from world and Hollywood cinema.
In them Iijima recreates meals that she has seen in movies. In her short introduction (which is more like
a preface) she writes that her favourite genre of film is the “slice of life”
movie. Her cinematic tastes are varied
from quirky independent cinema to classics to popular Japanese and Hollywood
fare. As I associate her with modern
Japanese cuisine, it was fascinating to learn that Iijima delights in the
challenges of world cuisine from zha
jiang mian (Chinese fried noodles in sauce) to pot-au-feu (French beef stew).
To the North American reader, some of
the recipes may seem quite ordinary – scrambled eggs from Misery and sandwiches from The
War of the Roses – but one must recall that these recipes were originally written
for a Japanese readership who would be more likely to have a bowl of rice with grilled salmon for breakfast
and onigiri (rice balls) for a packed lunch.
Those staples of Japanese cooking are also here – with wonderful little
notes from the chef. For example, the
recipe for onigiri from Iijima’s first movie Seagull
Diner features the little note: “My name, Nami, apparently means ‘delicious’
in Finnish. Rice balls filled with
herring and crayfish were very ‘nami’ indeed.”
(p. 16)
Apart from the lack of introduction
to Iijima herself, my only criticism of the book is that it doesn’t include
more of Iijima’s commentary on the films and the reasons why she chose a
particular dish from each film. The best
recipes are the ones that have this additional text. For example, the Comics
Worth Reading reviewer of this book wondered why Iijima gives us a recipe
for fried chicken instead of the titular fried green tomatoes of the popular 1991
film starring Mary Stuart Masterson, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates, and
Mary-Louise Parker. Reel Cuisine only gives a mini film synopsis with the recipe. However, in her AERA
column, Iijima explains that due to the lack of commercial availability of
green tomatoes in Japan she decided to teach her readers about fried chicken –
a staple of the southern United States.
Fried chicken is a popular treat in Japan as well – but the spices used
in the recipe would be different.
Iijima’s recipes are not
authentically from the movies she has selected – each one has her own particular
take on the dish. So the fried chicken
recipe calls for sake – which I am
sure was not on set during the filming of Fried
Green Tomatoes. If you want the
original recipe, I advise purchasing the original novel by Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg as it contains recipes (or even the accompanying cookbook). I recall trying those recipes when the movie
came out and failing miserably as I did not have the ingredients or the
technique needed. Iijima has simplified
the fried chicken recipe and made it easy for the average home cook.
This book a tribute to food in the movies
written by a movie lover and chef. The
recipes have been adapted to North American measuring standards and are written
in a clear and concise manner. There are
lots of practical tips and interesting ideas that I would never have thought of
myself. It's a fun little book for cinephiles like me.
Here is a list of the
food/movies included:
Catherine Munroe Hotes 2012
Food for Film
Chirashi sushi (Glasses, Naoko
Ogigami, Japan, 2007)
Napoli Egg (Handsome Suit, Tsutomu
Hanabusa, Japan, 2008)
Chicken Nuggets (Chef of the South Pole,
Shūichi Okita, Japan, 2009)
Boiled Tripe (Villon’s Wife,
Kichitaro Negishi, Japan, 2009)
Rice Balls (Seagull Diner, Naoko
Ogigami, Japan, 2006)
Cinnamon Rolls (Seagull Diner, Naoko
Ogigami, Japan, 2006)
Noriben (Nonchan Noriben, Akira
Ogata, Japan, 2009)
Travel the World
Fried Chicken (Fried Green Tomatoes,
Jon Avnet, USA, 1991)
Hamburgers (Transamerica, Duncan Tucker, USA, 2005)
Hummus (Tuesdays with Morrie, Mick
Jackson, USA, 1999)
Norimaki (The Man Without a Past, Aki
Kauismäki, Finland, 2002)
Silken Crab with Vegetables (Eat
Drink Man Woman, Ang Lee, Taiwan, 1994)
Pot-au-Feu (Overboard, Gary
Marshall, USA, 1987)
Mojito (Volver, Pedro Almodóvar,
Spain, 2006)
Fish and Chips (Dear Frankie, Shona
Auerbach,UK, 2004)
Water Spinach Stir Fry (The Scent of
Green Papaya, Tran Anh Hung, Vietnam/France, 1993)
Paella (Blame it on Fidel!, Julie
Gavras, France, 2006)
Yakiniku Korean BBQ (Rough Cut, Jang
Hoon, South Korea, 2008)
Jeon and Porridge
(The King and the Clown, Lee Jun-ik, South Korea, 2005)
Popcorn (Welcome to Dongmakgol, Park
Kwang-hyun, South Korea, 2005)
Happy Brunch
Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce (The
Godfather Part III, Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1990)
Ratatouille (Ratatouille, Brad Bird, USA, 2007)
French Toast (Kramer vs. Kramer, Robert Benton, USA,
1979)
Quiche (Waitress, Adrienne Shelly,
USA, 2007)
Scrambled Eggs (Misery, Rob Reiner,
USA, 1990)
Pancakes (The Notebook, Nick
Cassavetes, USA, 2004)
Baked Potatoes (Juno, Jason Reitman,
USA, 2007)
Green Salad (Cinema Paradiso, Guiseppe
Tonatore, Italy, 1988)
Yakisoba with Clams (The Shoe Fairy,
Yun Chan Lee, Taiwan, 2005)
Egg Over Rice (Kabei: Our Mother,
Yoji Yamada, Japan, 2008)
Fried Rice (Tampopo, Juzo Itami,
Japan, 1985)
Spaghetti Basilico(Mostly Martha,
Sandra Nettelbeck, Germany, 2001)
Zha Jiang Mian (Shower, Zhang Yang,
China, 1999)
Vegetable Potage (Rinco’s Restaurant, Mai
Tominaga, Japan, 2010)
Penne in Cream Sauce (The Unknown
Woman, Guiseppe Tornatore, Italy, 2006)
Spaghetti Vongole (The Big Blue, Luc
Besson, France, 1988)
Kidney Bean Soup (Red Like the Sky, Cristiano
Bortone, Italy, 2006)
Delicious Family Dinners
Risotto (Big Night, Campbell
Scott/Stanley Tucci, USA, 1996)
Guacamole (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Sharon
Maguire, UK, 2001)
Sautéed Salmon (Life is Beautiful,
Roberto Benigni, Italy, 1997)
Loco Moco (Finding Forrester, Gus
Van Sant, USA, 2000)
Roasts Chicken (Miracle on 34th
Street, George Seaton, USA, 1947)
Sandwiches (The War of the Roses, Danny
DeVito, USA, 1989)
Roast Beef (The World According to
Garp, George Roy Hill, USA, 1982)
Macaroni and Cheese (Soul Food, George
Tillman, Jr., USA, 1997)
Steak (My Date With Drew, Jon
Gunn/Brian Herlinger/Brett Winn, USA, 2004)
Mushroom Dumplings (The Road Home, Zhang
Yimou, China, 1999)
Burritos (The Jane Austen Book Club,
Robin Swicord, USA, 2007)
Grilled Fish (Paris, Cédric
Klapisch, France, 2008)
Samosas (The Namesake, Mia Nair, USA/India,
2006)
Spring Rolls (Happily Ever After, Yvan
Attal, France, 2004)
Oden (Tora-san Plays Daddy, Yoji
Yamada, Japan, 1987)
Sukiyaki (Always: Sunset on Third
Street, Takashi Yamazaki, Japan, 2005)
Curry (All Around Us, Ryosuke Hashiguchi,
Japan, 2008)
Corn Fritters and Edamame Rice
(Still Walking, Hirokazu Koreeda, Japan, 2008)
Ochazuke (The Flavour of Green Tea
over Rice, Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1952)
Cinematic Sweets
Apple Pie (The Shawshank Redeption,
Frank Darabont, USA, 1994)
Banana Cake (Stanger than Fiction,
Marc Forster, USA, 2006)
Chiffon Cake (The Secret Life of
Bees, Gina Prince-Blythwood, USA, 2008)
Love Cake (Donkey Skin, Jacques
Demy, France, 1970)
Truffles (Chocolat, Lasse Hallström,
USA/UK, 2000)
Crème Brûlée (Amélie,Jean-Pierre Jeunet, France,
2001)
Birthday Cake (Kitchen Stories, Bent
Hamer, Norway/Sweden, 2003)
Iced Azuki (Glasses, Naoko Ogigami,
Japan, 2007)