Every year, The Wife and I watch the Oscars while enjoying a meal inspired by the Best Picture nominees. This year, our lives are in chaos because we are moving; since we didn’t have time to actually prepare every dish from scratch, we looked to a menu that could be out-sourced.
- Gummy worm centerpiece from Dune: The Wife is celebrating the giant sandworms in culinary art. (Gummy worms from 7-11.)
- Cocktail from Nightmare Alley: We passed on the obvious carny chow to reference Stan’s (Bradley Cooper) nightclub act and how well Lilith (Cate Blanchett) pulls off holding a cocktail glass. There are no geeks at The Movie Gourmet, so no live chickens were involved tonight. This particular cocktail is one of The Movie Gourmet’s favorites – Bulleit Rye, Averna and Aperol, chilled and served up with an orange twist and a floater of homemade Strega.
- Tea from Belfast: Tea is sipped throughout. (Tea from our pantry.)
- Snacks from Don’t Look Up: One of the funniest bits is that Kate (Jennifer Lawrence) can’t stop obsessing about General Themes (Paul Guilfoyle) and his scam with White House snacks. (From Rotten Robbie.)
- Cod and chips from CODA: The family catches cod. and they eat cod. (This also works for Belfast.) (From City Fish and Chips.)
- Bulgogi, banchan and rice from Drive My Car: The theater organizer and his Korean wife host Yusuke (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Oto (Tôko Miura) with a memorable Korean repast. (From HOM Korean Kitchen.)
- Fried chicken and mashed potatoes from The Power of the Dog: We’re thinking of the meal served by Rose Gordon (Kristin Dunst) at her inn. (From KFC.)
- Hamburger and fries from King Richard; Richard takes the family for fastfood burgers in Compton before his intended showdown with a local thug. (From In-N-Out Burger.)
- Pernil from West Side Story: The Puerto Rican gangbangers certainly visit their abuelas for this roast pork comfort food. (Actually made this – leftover from a family meal earlier this week.)
- Licorice Pizza from Licorice Pizza: Although no one eats this in the movie, it IS the title, for gosh sakes. BTW, the licorice and the pizza are each better when not eaten with the other. (My go-to pizza joints, A Slice of New York and Bibo’s New York, would be horrified at the thought, so I made this myself.) Important: the pizza and the licorice are much better when eaten separately.
Thanks again to The Wife, who has been the primary driver of the Oscar Dinner in recent years, and the genius behind masterpieces like the Severed Hands Ice Sculpture for Winter’s Bone and the Black Bean Alien Signal from Arrival.
Is that mashed potatoes beside the biscuit and fried chicken…really Scott…not like any mashed potatoes I’d eat. If they keep adding movies to this category you’ll have to invite other to the torturous meal.
my favorite post of the year, you take creativity to new heights