what to watch, read and eat right now

by amy reiley Watch Julie & Julia If you truly are a food lover and you still have a pulse, then you’ve already seen Julie & Julia. And I’ll bet many of you have returned to the theatre for second helpings by now. I will confess I didn’t enjoy Julie Powell’s story all that much. I understand where Julia Child was coming from in her notorious disdain for Powell. However, you have to give the girl a little credit for tackling the aspics! Child’s story, on the other hand, as it was channeled by Meryl Streep, is one any food lover can respect. For someone who has felt that pain, the scene in which Child’s book option was dropped was heart wrenching.

The emotional warfare played out by screenwriter Nora Ephron in interplaying that scene with the moment of Powell’s skyrocket to national acclaim served to turn the wrench just that little bit far enough to turn on my waterworks. No offense to Amanda Hesser , who is a clever and passionate writer in her own right but her Midas Touch of finding interesting food novices, putting them in the New York Times spotlight and suddenly turning them into nationally recognized figures is incredibly irritating for those of us who slogged along in this business for years without notice. (Powell was not the first, nor will she likely be the last of Hesser’s success stories.) But whether you love or hate Powell, there is no way you won’t love this delicious romp through American culinary history.

Read The Gastronomy of Marriage
For the past few weeks, this memoir by first time food author Michelle Maisto has served as a delectable bedtime story. Each night I crawl into bed anticipating what ingredient Maisto will bring to life. Much like Child’s character in Julie & Julia, Maisto taps into the sensuality of food and how its pleasure can help to cement a marriage. Unlike Child, whose food culture was similar to her husband’s, Maisto and her husband have to learn to blend his Chinese and her Italian-American backgrounds, which they do through food. And in doing so, they not only grow their relationship as partners, but their families closer. The book is peppered with recipes, most of which I feel uninspired to try but this doesn’t deter my enjoyment in consuming one of her tales each night before I turn out the lights.

Eat The Best Thing I Ever Ate
Technically, it isn’t a thing to eat but a half hour worth of suggestions of things everyone must try. This Food Network series features some of the channel’s most recognized chefs and show hosts waxing poetically about the kind of restaurant food that would inspire a hundred mile drive, plane flight or stopover in dullsville for just one bite. Each episode, I find myself scratching out a list dishes I MUST eat should I find myself in Baltimore, Seattle, Salem or Tempe. Right now, I’m hot for the blueberry ricotta pancakes in Los Angeles but there was a Memphis BBQ last week that made my tongue tingle just at the thought. The show takes food porn to a whole new level. It is sickly indulgent, not particularly clever in concept and yet, I just can’t look away.