I think every food enthusiast probably has a favorite movie revolving around food or food service. One movie I often hear praised in this genre is Big Night and among my personal favorites are Like Water for Chocolate (the book is even better than the movie) and Chocolat. Oddly both of these are foreign language films and that may be a comment on how much more attention other cultures place on their food. Here, in America, we often grab whatever is in the latest value meal and proceed on with busy lives. We could take a lesson from places like South America and France where meal times are special, an event for gathering and a social experience.
But I digress. My favorite culinary movie is probably not even considered to be in this class but it is delicious to me. My culinary fantasy is Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, the original movie from 1971. It compels me. I love the entire story revolving around a mystical chocolate factory. I want to immerse myself in this imaginary world where everything is edible and even the wallpaper has a flavor. It is innocent and rich and full of life lessons.
When I went to culinary school for pastry, I learned how to work with chocolate and sugar in ways that made me believe that the world of Willy Wonka could actually exist. We made watering cans out of chocolate and candies that looked like coins. We were taught to mold sugar into flowers and blow it into globes. For the first time, I saw how a tea cup flower, plucked from a stem in a garden of culinary Eden could be accomplished with simple sugar. It revitalized a child’s dream that still existed within my heart. I don’t want to grow up… I’m a Willy Wonka kid.
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