I’ve always known food had a hold on my life. From the
moment I wake up to the time I sleep I seem to be in a suspended state between
meals. This would indicate meals are the most important part of my life and everything
else, consequently, happens around them
Think about your life. We must eat to survive; it’s as
simple as that. Luckily in the first world for the most part, this does not
seem to be an issue. In fact we as a modern society seem to be struggling with
the reverse - excess.
Then think about those poor people in the third world who
don’t have the luxuries we have, or even those living in a lower socio-economic
bracket to us, living on or just below the poverty line.
The point is if we’re not thinking about what we’re going to
eat; then we’re left with the alternative which is to think about what we don’t
have to eat. Either way we’re consumed by food, amongst other things. For us
couch potatoes out there, there is even a multitude of television shows and
channels exclusively dedicated to our obsession with food.
I’ll be the first to admit there have been many times,
especially during this winter, where I should drop the fork, croissant or glass
of wine, get off the couch and got for a walk instead. But before I do, I
compiled a list of some my favourite television shows which, although perhaps
not obvious at first glance, if you take notice, you will also see that these
too are centered on our shared obsession of food. These shows not only have food
and drink scenes in them; they also explicitly demonstrate the culture
surrounding food and drink in our modern day society.
You may ask yourself “why (only) six”? Five is too limiting
and six is not as cumbersome as ten. It’s a nice even, single-digit number.
Top 6 Epic TV Shows Relating to Food
- Seinfeld
- The Sopranos
- Friends
- Entourage
- True Blood
- Mad Men
Seinfeld
Seinfeld demonstrates that for a show about nothing, food
really is something important and at the centre of our lives. Monk's Cafe is the stage where the crew meet up to eat and spend a lot of their time. Outside of that think
Soup Nazi; the
mutton Jerry stuffed in the table napkins; George’s boss Mr Steinbrenner and his
obsession with calzone; Elaine’s idea of selling muffin tops;
the pez dispenser;
the marble rye incident; Babu’s failing restaurant; the junior mint
and the operation; Kramer getting banned from his local fruit market;
the sexual power of mango; the big salad; the falsified non-fat frozen yogurt;
the etiquette of dinner parties (wine vs Pepsi); Kramer’s wine appreciation;
Jerry’s love of the black and white cookie; and the chocolate babka.
The most mundane in life
is elevated to something simultaneously significant, ludicrous and hilarious. “These pretzels
are making me thirsty!”
The Sopranos
Tony Soprano loves his food and drink. All night benders;
family dinners and functions; mob meetings at restaurants; Satriale’s pork
sandwich; breaking bread at Artie Bucco’s Vesuvio; and reheating Carmella’s zini
after he gets home from his mob activities.
The
final scene of the series even takes place in a diner,
where Tony and his immediate family meet up for dinner and dig into a basket of
onion rings.
Friends
Where to begin? Firstly, Monica is a chef. The series is
predominantly set in two locations: Monica’s apartment and the coffee house Central Perk downstairs.
Monica’s apartment has an open plan living area which centers on the kitchen
and kitchen table, where the friends drop by pretty much any time of the day. The
coffee shop has what seems to be a reserved couch area for the gang to
congregate at. If Monica is not cooking and feeding everyone, then they’re at
the coffee shop drinking coffee and eating muffins. Sporadically, on special
occasions such as dates or the odd birthday you see the gang head out to a
fancy restaurant.
The list is endless, but here are some highlights:
- There’s the long line of Thanksgiving Day
feasts, two in particular which stand out. There’s one where Joey commits to eating a whole turkey and another where Rachel makes a traditional Sheppard’s Pie/Trifle that tastes
like feet.
- Monica, in her constant campaign to be liked by
others, decides to make candy for the neighbours. The popularity and demand
grows so high, that people start lining out her door and even Joey buys into the
mob mentality.
- Ross finds out about Joey and Rachel getting
together and invites them over to his house for fajitas. In his despair, Ross ends
up drinking a whole jug of margaritas and passes out on the couch.
- Monica and Joey go to a cooking class where she
pretends it’s her first time cooking, so she can go straight to the top of the
class.
- There’s also the one where Monica tries to desperately
replicate Phoebe’s grandmother’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Joey never shares food. In one occasion, his date
takes fries off his plate. When she goes to the bathroom Joey polishes off her
dessert. She comes back, chocolate staining his face and he claims “I’m not even sorry.”!
- Last but not least, we can’t overlook Joey’s
obsession with sandwiches. His sister even brings him a meatball sandwich as a
buffer when she announces she’s pregnant.
Entourage
If Ari is not taking Eric to Koi to verbally abuse him, the
boys are having breakfast and scoping out the chicks at Urth Caffé. Take your
pick from Hollywood power lunches, dinner dates, hitting up the children’s BBQ
area at a bat mitzvah, boozing it up in the VIP area of a club or a pool party.
Most important of all they have Johnny Drama who’s role in the family is the cook.
He’s obsessed with nutrition, fitness and providing his baby bro Vincent with
the right foods to give him the energy and vitality he needs to be one of the
biggest stars in Hollywood.
True Blood
This show’s premise is that vampires walk the earth and are
part of mainstream society. They survive by drinking Trueblood, the synthetic blood drink developed by the Japanese in
order to feed the world’s vampire population. Of course there is always the alternative
of people as food; human blood bags walking around just ripe for the picking.
There’s Merlotte’s Bar
& Grill and Fangtasia (a
vampire bar) where a lot of the action takes place.
One of the highlights is definitely
Lafayette, Merlotte’s eccentric, gay, short order cook that injects some
glitz and glamour into redneckville.
Mad Men
You’re probably scratching your head. Don’t. This one is
about drinking, beverages. You’re now probably thinking “but drink is not
food”. Don’t split hairs. Food and drink are related; we orally consume and
require both for survival (water anyway).
Don Draper and his cronies crack open the whisky and vodka
bottles more often than people drink water. Difficult conversation? Pour a drink. Strategy
planning session with the colleagues? Pour another one. Celebration? Go on a
bender. Rough time at home the night before? Pour yourself a morning alcoholic
pick-me-up. Any excuse or no excuse at all, these advertising suits are well
accustomed to a stiff drink or nine. And make that a double, neat.
