Cooking

Bryant Terry’s The Inspired Vegan is aptly named; it’s truly, well, inspiring. Terry, who dubs himself an “eco-chef,” is more than just a cookbook author, and this is more than just a cookbook. It is a delicious spark of revolution and call to action, and filled with many delectable recipes, along with the music, literature, and art that inspired his menus. It is an ode to movements and people that fight for justice, set to an infectious soundtrack.

The New York Times Magazine (I know, my fave) has a piece on celebrity chef Katie Lee today, and former Times food critic Frank Bruni details her rise to celeb chef fame. The article also describes how Lee supposedly traded culinary school to be married to Billy Joel, but to assume that the connections made were not perhaps more invaluable is disingenuous. Perhaps this wasn’t what Bruni meant to imply, but I do get weary of the "she gave up her dreams for her other dream—a man" narrative.

Having spent the weekend filling my freezer with late summer goodness from my local farmer's market and finding out about Lisa Jervis’s new book Cook Food: A Manualfesto for Easy, Healthy, Local Eating, the Grrrl on Film has nourishment on her mind.

And I’m not the only one, the recent release of Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia has placed Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking back on best seller lists. And last weekend marked the kickoff of Canning Across America – an event organized by a nationwide ad hoc collective of cooks, gardeners and food lovers committed to promoting safe food preservation and the joys of community building through food with how-to classes, demos and home canning parties in cities around the country.

As a result, I’ve been thinking about women and food in film and have come up with a short list of women preparing and/or enjoying food on screen. Some of these I’ve seen, and some I haven’t, but here’s a delicious sampling to whet your appetites!