Best laid plans...

Mmm. So the trip to Haberfield is off (Miss C needs some rest) but the good news is that Saturday has been reclaimed. In lieu of a culinary tour of Haberfield, let's talk about the foodie film of the year, Julie & Julia.

Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, it's the film adaptation of both Julie Powell's memoir, Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen and Julia Child's biography. Powell's memoir was in turn based on her blog, The Julie/Julia Project, which detailed Powell's quest to create all 524 recipes from Child's 1961 masterpiece, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She did it, and along the way, scored a book deal and a movie option. Not bad.

But I digress. The film was wonderful, and celebrated not only the determination of both women to follow their passion, but the passion itself - food. A wooden beater slicing through thick, inviting chocolate cake batter; a long, violet drop of wine into a pot of bouffe bourginon; the crunch and smash of crusty bread topped with a trio of primary-coloured tomatoes being crammed into open mouths insatiably going back for more - well, you can see why they call it food porn.

Besides all this, Meryl is her usual spot-on self as the impossibly animated Child and Adams hits the proper degree of 'browbeaten' as Powell. The film works, too, by focusing on the women and limiting backstories to an absolute minimum - and parallels the womens' occasional frustrations with not only the people around them, but society at large. Child is the wife of a centre-left US diplomat investigated by McCarthy's stooges, and Powell works for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation post-September 11, facing the effects of terrorism daily.

I'll be heading out tomorrow to buy a copy of Child's seminal book, and I hope to make her stuffed duck at least once. Caliban won't be able to indulge (we'll talk about this later) but it looks like a bird fit for a feast.

Debbie says: Go see. (Just don't go hungry)

Journey to Haberfield

This afternoon, my friend Miss C and I are heading across the road (literally) to Haberfield, home of home-style Italian food in Sydney. Forget Leichhardt, Haberfield is where to find bustling delis (even the IGA has a fantastic selection of meats, cheeses and olives - though only Italian-style cheeses are available, so don't hold your breath for brie), ricotta-stuffed cannolis, Sicilian-style thin base pizza and possibly the greatest shop duo of all time - a cheese store, and a chocolate store right next to each other. Photos, comments and food envy to follow.
Happy Saturday, Deb-ettes!

Welcome to food porn!

The mission: to eat. And blog. The challenger: me, Lauren Smelcher. The audience: you. Together, I hope we'll munch, sip, drool, nibble, salivate, chew, chomp, crush, smash, masticate, bite, crunch, savour, swallow, taste and slurp. And blog.

I love food - I love making it, I love reading about it, I love watching it being made, I love learning about it, and most of all, I love eating it. I love all sorts of food, from Tetsuya's incomparable confit of ocean trout to McDonald's fries (c'mon - they're ace and you know it). This blog will cover the gamut from the mundane to the supreme. I hope you'll join me for the ride.