It’s not uncommon to lose an hour to the #foodporn trend on Instagram without even realising. You see a mouthwatering picture of a dish, click the geotag, view as much of the menu as you can, all while tagging your friends with not-so-subtle hints to go there next week. One of the best forms of procrastination, if you ask me.
Photographing food is a fairly recent area of creativity, and since cameras have become so mobile with compact DSLRs and your trusty smart phone, chef’s have gone above and beyond to make their food as #foodporn worthy as possible. Along with that, television shows and movies about food have also become more popular. At last year’s Japanese Film Festival there was a foodie event for Midnight Diner, a film about a diner that was only open at night and had no menu. It’s definitely worth a watch to learn about some niche dishes you probably haven’t heard about!
We’ve compiled a list of the most #foodporn worthy films that center on Japanese cuisine, our beloved Washoku! You’ve probably heard of our first recommendation, it’s a well known American produced documentary Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
Released in 2011, Jiro would now be 90 years old. He was named a national treasure by the Japanese government and his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Sukiyabashi Jiro, has three Michelin Stars. Jiro’s two sons are also his apprentices, the younger son opened a second branch of the store in Roppongi (it has two stars) and the older son is set to take over the Tokyo store when Jiro retires.
The film has positive reviews, and is available on Netflix. It’s become renowned for the cinematography of the sushi, and Jiro’s humble character. He treats his profession as an art form, and is constantly pushing himself to improve.
Another documentary, The Birth Of Sake, will hopefully be of interest to Washoku Lovers! Sake is a great addition to Japanese cuisine, and you’ll be surprised by how many different types of sake there are. This American produced film won Best Documentary Director at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, and Best Documentary and Best Director at the 2015 Bend Film Festival. This year it added Best Documentary Film to its award list at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The film follows Yoshida Brewery while the staff live together for 6 months (including winter) in Northern Japan. This is a traditional way of brewing sake which is kept alive by few breweries today. Yoshida Brewery is over 140 years old, and the company has over 1000 competitors. It’s tough to stand out in the sake market, so veteran brew master Yamamoto and sixth generation heir Yoshida have dedicated their lives to the art of sake.
If you’re not really a docco person, Kamome Diner is a light hearted comedy about Japanese woman Sachie who sets up a restaurant (called Kamome Diner) in Finland’s capital, Helsinki. The cultural differences in this film are interesting, and so is Sachie’s menu development. This film is a little hard to find, and the trailer below has Korean subtitles, but it’s still worth checking out.
As with everything that’s about food, the cinematography is beautiful, and it also has many scenes of Helsinki.
Another American film, The Ramen Girl, stars Brittany Murphy as a girl who gets stranded in Tokyo after her boyfriend breaks up with her. In her state of heart break, she goes to a ramen shop and is inspired by the happiness that the chef has given her in the form of ramen to become a chef herself. She convinces the chef to take her on as an apprentice, and begins by cleaning. While there’s a bit of cultural appropriation in this film, it does give a simplified account of what it’s like to be a chef’s apprentice in Japan. The language barrier is overcome in true movie magic, and the ramen girl gets to live out a foodie’s fairytale.
Last but not least, cake! For anyone who knows Japanese pop culture, patisseries are extremely popular. Nintendo games, animes, manga, and film have all been made to hit your sweet spot. Patisserie Coin De Rue centres around Natsume, a girl in search of her AWOL boyfriend. She goes to Coin de Rue to find him as she last heard of him working there, and ends up working there instead.
Through this experience, she meets legendary patissier Tomura who suddenly stopped working as a pastry chef several years prior.
Not a single piece of food is wasted in this film, you get to appreciate every cake and chocolate. Might need to do a cake run after watching though, it’ll definitely make you hungry!
WashokuLovers
