My husband always has a week-long work trip in January, and to cope I usually read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies while folding laundry, completing projects, etc.

One night, I decided to show our kids the movie Ratatouille. It’s one they had never seen before and since my 2 year old is a total foodie, I thought it’s one they’d enjoy. It’s been a few years since I watched it, and it was fun to re-watch this unique Pixar film. It’s essentially about a rat that LOVES food- and not just any food- good, gourmet food. He ends up making friends with a man who knows absolutely nothing about cooking. There’s two things I love about this movie:

One, I love the focus on flavor, on texture- the experience of eating! You don’t just eat to eat- you eat to enjoy, to savor the experience! I love that Remy (the rat) is constantly trying new combinations and experimenting with flavors and textures. In his mind, eating food is about so much more than just survival!

I also love the emphasis that anyone can cook. It’s not just something for the super talented or well-to-do- anyone can be a cook! And while there are certainly different skill levels, with practice and patience, anyone can learn to cook something ;).

After watching Ratatouille with the kids, I happened to come across The Hundred Foot Journey on Netflix, and since I had just watched a food movie, I decided to keep the trend going. I ended up loving it! The movie is about a family that moves to France from India, and attempts to re-start their restaurant across the street (literally 100 feet away) from a nice, French restaurant. What starts as a vicious feud turns into a very sweet friendship, and of course- the movie is about food! The art and science of cooking. As with Ratatouille, there’s a focus on the experience of food, the art to creating unique pairings of flavors. I also love the emphasis that food is about connection. Sometimes you don’t need fancy, gourmet cooking- what makes something taste amazing is being with people you love and creating memories together. I think there’s a lot of value to that.

This made me think of another movie I love, and I decided to dig out No Reservations from my movie storage. It’s essentially a love story, but again- such a focus on the experience of food! I think it also emphasizes the value of having relationships with people, and not just food. The protagonist is a little too obsessed with food/cooking, and she’s definitely not happy. However, as she falls in love, cares for her niece, and starts to balance her love of food with loving people, she definitely finds more joy.

After watching all these food movies, it does make you re-evaluate things a little. I know I could definitely improve my cooking skills. Most of the time, I make food just to make food- because my kids are hungry, and we gotta eat. And honestly, that is real life, so it’s not like that is going to completely change. But maybe I should spend a little more time cooking just for the fun of it- for the experience! I do find joy in it, and it definitely couldn’t hurt to experiment with new flavors and foods I haven’t tried before!

I also want to involve my kids more, and make sure that I’m cooking with love. In both Ratatouille and The Hundred Foot Journey, there is definitely an acknowledgement that home-cooked food, made with love, just can’t be beat. Really, I think that’s why so many of us enjoy food- because we associate happy memories, relationships, with food. Holidays, birthdays, family dinners, parties, celebrations, after school snacks- all these positive memories, paired with food. And that’s because, as we see in No Reservations, food just isn’t complete without people. We need a healthy balance of good relationships with food and with people.

Do you have any other favorite foodie movies? If nothing else, it’s sure fun to watch all those chefs hard at work! Makes me want to try a little harder for sure!