The Joy Luck Club

Waverly: He should have taken only a small spoonful of the best dish until everyone had had a helping.
Lindo: He has good appetite.


Like Raise the Red Lantern, The Joy Luck Club calls the viewer to a deeper understanding of Chinese food and table service in order to follow the interpersonal dynamics at play. For example, here is what happens when Waverly brings her fiancé, Rich, to meet her parents for the first time but fails to explain the finer points of Chinese etiquette in advance:

Waverly: But the worst was when Rich criticized my mother’s cooking, and he didn’t even know what he had done. As is the Chinese cook’s custom, my mother always insults her own cooking, but only with the dishes she serves with special pride.
Lindo: This dish not salty enough. No flavor. It’s too bad to eat. Please.
Waverly: That was our cue to eat some and proclaim it the best she’d ever made.
Rich: You know, Lindo, all this needs is a little soy sauce [which he copiously adds to the platter].
Everyone: [Gasps!]

As the stories of the four mothers and their four daughters unfold, certain dishes become iconic: the watermelon, cleaved open and torn asunder by Ying-Ying’s cruel husband; the special shrimp dish prepared by Lindo; the chocolate and peanut butter pie that Rose bakes for her estranged husband, Ted; the hot pot/soup that scalds young An-Mei; and the stuffed crabs that Suyuan makes from the “best quality.” These foods embody the fears and failures, the hopes and dreams of a group of women who, despite incredible adversities, have persevered and in their search for self-acceptance and love.

Released 1993
Directed by Wayne Wang
Screenplay by Amy Tan and Ronald Bass, based on the novel of the same name by Amy Tan

Starring Kieu Chinh as Suyuan Woo, Tsai Chin as Lindo Jong, France Nuyen as Ying-Ying St. Clair, Lisa Lu as An-Mei Hsu, Ming-Na as Jing-Mei “June” Woo, Tamlyn Tomita as Waverly Jong, Lauren Tom as Lena St. Clair, Rosalind Chao as Rose Hsu Jordan, Christopher Rich as Rich, Michael Paul Chan as Harold, Philip Moon as Ken, and Andrew McCarthy as Ted Jordan

Awards: 1994 Casting Society of America, USA Artios for Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama; 1994 Young Artist Award for Best Actress under Ten in a Motion Picture (Melanie Chang)

It's Complicated

A romantic comedy with a twist (aren’t they all?), It’s Complicated centers around Jane (Streep), who begins an affair with her ex-husband, Jake (Baldwin), during their son’s college graduation weekend. There are several complications: Jake is remarried, with a stepson and a younger wife who wants to have another baby; Jake and Jane’s children are still smarting from their parents’ divorce ten years previously; and Jane has begun to feel an attraction for Adam (Martin), the architect who is designing a new kitchen wing for her house. Are the characters able to overcome the complications and move on with their lives? No spoilers here….

Because Jane studied cooking in France and now owns and operates a bakery/restaurant, the film features a good deal of mouth-watering food: oven-roasted chicken, fresh green salad with pasta, “croque monsieur” (grilled cheese) sandwiches, homemade bread (of course), luscious berry pies, lavender ice cream, and double-chocolate layer cake. Jane even teaches Adam (and the viewer) how to make chocolate croissants. All of which makes this another movie not to be seen on an empty stomach.

Released 2009
Written and directed by Nancy Meyers
Starring Meryl Streep as Jane, Alec Baldwin as Jake, Steve Martin as Adam, John Krasinski as Harley, Lake Bell as Agness, Mary Kay Place as Joanne, Rita Wilson as Trisha, Alexandra Wentworth as Diane, Hunter Parrish as Luke, Zoe Kazan as Gabby, Caitlin Fitzgerald as Lauren, and Emjay Anthony as Pedro
Awards: 2009 NBR Award for Best Ensemble Cast

The Hours

Clarissa: Just to let you know, I am making the crab thing. Not that I imagine it makes any difference to you.
Richard: Of course, it makes a difference. I love the crab thing.

Based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham, The Hours is a dense movie that interweaves three narratives: that of Virginia Woolf (Kidman) in the midst of writing Mrs. Dalloway in 1923; that of Laura Brown (Moore) in the midst of reading Mrs. Dalloway in 1951; and that of Clarissa Vaughan (Streep) in the midst of living as Mrs. Dalloway in 2001. Both the book and the film address existential questions with which many people grapple: How do we spend the hours at our disposal? Are these hours paradise or prison, joyful hours spent with loved ones or empty hours endured with loneliness? Can we even choose which they will be?
In The Hours, as opposed to many other movies, food is not capable of healing pain or filling emptiness, for the great feast that Clarissa prepares for her friend, Richard’s (Harris), celebration has to be put aside because of an unexpected death. Not even her “crab thing” can ease the passing—some pain is too deep for food. Thus, the movie shows the feast only as it is being packaged up, the crab dish as it is being tossed into the trash. The shot at the beginning of the film of the large crabs crawling over one another in Clarissa’s kitchen sink is, however, quite memorable.

Released 2002
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Screenplay by David Hare, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham

Starring Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf, Julianne Moore as Laura Brown, Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan, Stephen Dillane as Leonard Woolf, Miranda Richardson as Vanessa Bell, John C. Reilly as Dan Brown, Jack Rovello as Richie Brown, Toni Collette as Kitty, Ed Harris as Richard Brown, Allison Janney as Sally Lester, Claire Danes as Julia Vaughan, and Jeff Daniels as Louis Waters

Awards: 2003 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Kidman); 2003 BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Kidman) and Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (Philip Glass); 2003 Berlin International Film Festival Reader Jury of the “Berliner Morgenpost” (Daldry) and Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actress (Streep, Kidman, and Moore); 2002 BSFC Award for Best Supporting Actress (Collette); 2003 Casting Society of America, USA Artios for Best Casting for a Feature Film, Drama; 2003 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film-Wide Release; 2003 German Film Award for Best Foreign Film; 2003 Golden Globes Award for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama (Kidman); 2003 L.A. Outfest Screen Idol Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Streep); 2003 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Awards for Best Actress (Kidman) and Best Supporting Actor (Reilly); 2002 LAFCA Award for Best Actress (Moore); 2002 NBR Award for Best Film; 2003 WGA Award (Screen) for Best Adapted Screenplay (Hare); and many more

Cooking with the Bible now available via iPhone apps

Just an update:

We've gotten word that 10 iPhone apps based on our book Cooking with the Bible are now live (the rest of the chapters should follow very soon).

Here's the direct link to the App Store webpage for one of the Cooking with the Bible apps, FYI (you can see the product without being in iTunes or on an iPhone/iPad):
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/by-numbers-by-anthony-f-chiffolo/id369857175?mt=8

If you want to check them all out, it's probably easiest to find them by searching either iTunes on your computer or the app store on your iPhone using the keyword "Chiffolo."

We hope you like them. Please spread the word!
Thanks.
Anthony & Rusty

Home Fries

Short on food and long on absurdist comedy, Home Fries is really the story of how Sally (Barrymore), jilted by the man with whom she is pregnant, finds her true love. Suffice to say that she is allowed to continue working at the Burger-Matic as the drive-through cashier because the counter will hide her increasing bulk from customers. Into her life walks Dorian (Wilson), a handsome if too easily manipulated helicopter pilot, who needs to determine if the staff of the restaurant had overheard what he and his brother did to their step-father. Taking a job at the Burger-Matic, Dorian learns how to make double-cheeseburgers with special sauce, onions, and three pickle slices—and quickly falls for Sally. Unbelievable complications arise, but incredible as it might seem to her, Dorian is able to show Sally that he’s the sane one in his family, even if he can’t remember how to make a hamburger.

Fun Fact:
Angus (Busey) tells his brother about a woman who kills her husband by bashing his head in with a leg of lamb, then cooks and feeds the lamb to the detectives investigating the murder, in the process destroying any evidence that might connect her to the crime. Actually, the story is Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter” from his book Tales of the Unexpected, and some viewers might recall its appearance in a classic episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Released 1998
Directed by Dean Parisot
Written by Vince Gilligan

Starring Drew Barrymore as Sally Jackson, Luke Wilson as Dorian Montier, Catherine O’Hara as Beatrice Lever, Jake Busey as Angus Montier, Shelley Duvall as Mrs. Jackson, Kim Robillard as Billy, Daryl Mitchell as Roy, Lanny Flaherty as Red Jackson, and Chris Ellis as Henry Lever

Gran Torino

Sue: We’re having a barbecue; you want to come over?
Walt: What do you think?
Sue: There’s tons of food!
Walt: Yeah, just keep your hands off my dog.
Sue: No worries, we only eat cats.
Walt: Really?
Sue: No, I’m kidding, you moron! C’mon, you can be my special guest.

Gran Torino is actor-director Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed film about the Hmong immigrant experience in Midwestern America. Eastwood plays Walt, a curmudgeonly (some would say mean-spirited) retiree whose wife has just passed away. Harboring strong prejudices against Asians because of his combat in the Korean War, he nevertheless comes to the aid of his Hmong neighbors when a gang threatens their son, Thao (Vang). Reluctantly, Walt becomes involved in their lives, befriending their daughter, Sue (Her) and mentoring Thao. In the end, Walt decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the gang’s relentless pursuit of the boy he has come to see as his responsibility.

When Walt first intervenes to protect Thao, the family and neighbors express their appreciation by leaving food (and flowers) on Walt’s porch, continuing despite his protestations. He finally accedes to their gifts: “Certainly better than beef jerky, I’ll tell you”—and indeed, Hmong food, loving prepared and presented, would definitely be that. Originating in the mountain regions of southern china, the Hmong migrated to Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Laos; during the Vietnam War, they fought alongside American and South Vietnamese troops, and many immigrated to the United States after the war. Hmong food features a wide variety of spices and herbs, including chilis, cilantro, garlic, green onion, mint, ginger, oyster sauce, hoisin, and fish sauce. Some traditional Hmong dishes are green papaya salad (tuav gaub), egg rolls (kab yob), pickled vegetables, steamed cabbage, stuffed rice crepes (fawm kauv), stir-fried yam leaves with onion, bitter melon with chicken wings, sausage, and beef noodle soup; meat is served in small portions, and vegetables are steamed, boiled, or stir fried.

When Sue invites Walt over for a barbecue, he discovers a host of foods with which he is unfamiliar: the film depicts egg rolls, roast pig, barbecued chicken, and chicken dumplings, among the other offerings. As Walt tells Sue, “You people are nuts. But the food looks good, smells good too.” She responds matter-of-factly, “Well of course, it’s Hmong food.” Astonishing himself and his host, he asks, “OK, can I come back for seconds?”

Released 2009
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Written by Dave Johannson & Nick Schenk; screenplay by Nick Schenk

Starring Clint Eastwood as Walt Kowalski, Christopher Carley as Father Janovich, Bee Vang as Thao Vang Lor, Ahney Her as Sue Lor, Brian Haley as Mitch Kowalski, Geraldine Hughes as Karen Kowalski, Dreama Walker as Ashley Kowalski, Brian Howe as Steve Kowalski, John Carroll Lynch as Berber Martin, William Hill as Tim Kennedy, Brooke Chia Thao as Vu, Chee Thao as Grandma, Choua Kue as Youa, Scott Eastwood as Trey, and Xia Soua Chang as Kor Khue

Awards: 2009 David di Donatello Award for Best Foreign Film; 2008 NBR Awards for Best Actor (Eastwood) and Best Screenplay-Original

Fried Green Tomatoes

Sheriff Smoote: Why, this is about the best barbecue I ever ate.
Sipsey: Secret’s in the sauce.

Ninny: Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the café.

Aside from the title dish, the Whistle Stop Café featured in Fried Green Tomatoes is best known for its savory barbecued ribs. A certain incident leads to a substitution for the usual pork ribs, and the “mystery meat” makes the best barbecue the sheriff has ever tasted.

Released 1991
Directed by Jon Avnet
Screenplay by Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobieski, based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg

Starring Kathy Bates as Evelyn Couch, Jessica Tandy as Ninny Threadgoode, Mary Louise Parker as Ruth Jamison, Mary Stuart Masterson as Idgie Threadgoode, Cicely Tyson as Sipsey, Chris O’Donnell as Buddy Threadgoode, Stan Shaw as Big George, Gailard Sartain as Ed Couch, Timothy Scott as Smokey Lonesome, Gary Basaraba as Grady Kilgore, Lois Smith as Mama Threadgoode, Nick Searcy as Frank Bennett, Raynor Scheine as Sheriff Curtis Smoote, and Nancy Moore Atchison as Little Idgie Threadgoode

Awards: 1993 BMI Film Music Award; 1992 Casting Society of America Artios Best Casting for Feature Film, Drama; 1992 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film; 1992 Retirement Research Foundation Wise Owl Award for Television and Theatrical Film Fiction; 1992 USC Scripter Award for Flagg (author/screenwriter) and Sobieski (screenwriter); 1993 Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress under Ten in a Motion Picture (Atchison)

Evelyn: Did Idgie really barbecue Frank Bennett? Are you pulling my leg?
Ninny: Secret’s in the sauce, or so I’ve been told.