The Cinema Chefs

We're back, with a vengeance! Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega are back with a new season of The Cinema Chefs. Two new episodes drop Monday, August 31st at 6PM ET. 

The Cinema Chefs podcast highlights the fundamentals of cooking and food culture by exploring food scenes in movies. Hosted by Chefs Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega, this duo has decades of culinary experience: Michelin-starred restaurants, nearly two dozen cookbooks, product development, culinary instruction, and, of course, food styling and craft services for film and TV. You might recognize them from Chopped, Snack v. Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Gastronauts. Highlights from season 2 include the ins and outs of offal in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, secrets to making tomato sugo that rivals Clemenza’s Sunday Gravy in The Godfather, and we go back to culinary school courtesy of The Taste of Things and Ratatouille. For our lucky subscribers, bonus content includes chef hacks for the best school lunches, tips and tricks for the coolest and tastiest cocktails, plus a cannoli crawl.

About your hosts:

Chef Clara Park is the founder of the cooking school, eat cetera philly and the co-host of the “The Cinema Chefs” podcast. She honed her skills in Michelin starred restaurants in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Philadelphia, and New York. A highly skilled recipe developer, past clients include Campbell’s Soup, Swanson, Pepperidge Farm, Tabasco and Nature’s Bakery. As a culinary development chef, Park has created hundreds of products for the nation’s top grocers, including Costco, developed menus for all tiers of restaurant dining and trained both front and back of house hospitality professionals. She has appeared on Netflix's "Snack v. Chef" and "FYI Philly". Park has written for Philadelphia magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Kitchn, and has appeared in mashed.com, chowhound.com, Real Simple, and Yahoo! Shopping. Other career highlights include winning Best Burger in Philly in 2016, emerging victorious on the Food Network’s Chopped, and eating live octopus with chefs Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. She is on the board for The Food Lab at Drexel University and the advisory council for the Culinary Literacy Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia. You can follow her on Instagram @claraparkcooks and @eatceteraphilly

Chef Jenn de la Vega (Co-host & producer) has built a unique culinary practice at Family Party Catering, which mashes experiential with visual art and food. Jenn honed her skills through residencies at TASTE Cooking (Penguin-Random House), Babycastles Gallery, and Kickstarter. Her kaleidoscopic food writing appears on Burlap & Barrel, Food & Wine, Food52, The Kitchn, Thrillist, and Wine Enthusiast. Jenn’s cookbook collaborators include author Von Diaz, Forbes 30 Under 30 chef Tue Nguyen, Michelin-star chef Nick Curtola, and NYT Best-Selling author Justine Doiron. On her menus, you'll find a mix of her Filipinx heritage, Spanish tapas, artisanal cheese, and ' 90s-inspired fast-food cuisine. She is known for her Randwiches or "random sandwiches," in Brooklyn, where clients are given no choice in what they order. She is also a Bed-Stuy BBQ champion, winner of The Bacon Takedown, appeared on Guy’s Grocery Games: The Cheesy Special (Food Network), and competed on season 2 of Gastronauts (Dropout). Outside of the food industry, Jenn serves on the Board of Directors for indie theater The Tank. She is also an ENNIE Award and CRIT Award-nominated voice actor on the Shadowrun podcast, Fun City. Her Instagram is @randwiches.

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Jenn and Clara dive into special occasion dining via the lavish meal prepared for VIP Louis Prima in Big Night. How do you set the best table? Do all centerpieces need to be flowers? How do you cook for people with highly varied diets? Why make-ahead dishes are your lifeline and where to go if you don’t feel like cooking a special occasion dinner.

Chapters

0:26 About Big Night

2:48 The table setting

4:18 Allison Janney & some flower tips

5:39 A trick for tea light candles

6:15  What if I don't have nice silverware or glassware?

7:08 Planning a special occasion menu

9:13 What are our showstopping dishes?

 11:59 The menu for Big Night

14:50 The timpano

18:13 Culinary terms in the movie

21:19 Where to celebrate special occasion meals

23:14 Thanks, and that's a wrap on season 1

Other media we mentioned:

• Timpano alla "Big Night"

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Jenn and Clara explore the world of ramen through the eyes of the titular character Tampopo and her merry band of “experts.” What makes a great ramen soup base? Does the age or quality of the chicken matter if you’re simmering it? How exactly do you make bonito, and why you might want to leave ramen noodle making to the experts.

Chapters

0:38 About Tampopo

3:44 How to make a great ramen broth

9:41 Tonkatsu vs Tonkotsu

11:11 Where is ramen in the movie?

13:50 Why we don't make noodles at home

23:59 Culinary terms in Tampopo

28.12 Where is the best ramen?

29:22 Our next episode 🍝

Other media we mentioned:

• Clara's bowl of ramen
• Shoyu Ramen by Just One Cookbook

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Jenn and Clara explore the world of diner food in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, where you can have breakfast any time of day! They extol the virtues of the metric system when it comes to cooking and baking, as well as the intricacies of a $5 shake (not adjusted for inflation). Is all fast food The Worst? Can food be cheap AND delicious? What makes a great pancake rise? Tune in to find out.

Chapters

0:52 About Pulp Fiction

2:30 Metric vs Imperial measurements

4:37 Where are diners in the movie?

5:07 Our requirements for a good diner

5:50 The secret of the flattop grill

8:30 Alternatives to pork bacon (and other diner sins)

9:29 Muffin tips

10:50 Pancake tips

11:13 Will it waffle?

12:40 Our go-to diner orders

14:55 Where are diners in the movie? (Continued)

15:50 Red Apple cigarettes

20:58 The $5 shake, today

24:26 On the diner table

28:20 Where are the best diners?

29:44 Our next episode 🍜

Other media we mentioned:

• Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes on Recipe Tin Eats
• Red Apple Ciagarettes
• Will it Waffle? (affiliate link)

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Jenn and Clara debate the pluses and minuses of meals prepared in Michelin-starred kitchens. Is it possible to achieve culinary perfection and still be a nice person? Does it make sense to source hyper-locally for all four seasons in a deciduous climate? Has abusive chef culture gone out of style, and what are the effects on kitchen culture? Plus, the world’s greatest smash burger hits the spot, no matter who you are.

Chapters

1:51 About The Menu

2:43 Amuse bouche

5:08 The diners

9:40 What is a Pacojet?

10:42 References to Noma

11:38 How do fine dining restaurants turn a profit?

13:34 Dining as a competitive sport

14:40 The burger

18:56 Our thoughts on pickles

21:47 Culinary terms in The Menu

32:49 Where do you get the best burgers?

35:46 Our next episode 🥄

Other media we mentioned:

• 3-Minute Double Smash Burgers by RecipeTin Eats
• Cleaning at Mugaritz
• Soak Your Ground Meat in Heavy Cream

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Jenn and Clara break down optimal ways to utilize food scraps, how to stretch out ingredients, and how to upcycle all things edible in the Spanish horror film, El Hoyo (The Platform). The duo discusses techniques like pickling, fermentation, and more. Ingredients that are typically viewed as trash can get a second chance at life.

Chapters

0:34 About The Platform

3:20 What is a panna cotta?

4:48 Where is The Platform in the movie?

5:24 What to do with leftover wine

6:35 How to use meat bones

9:11 Transform old bread

12:24 Vegetables & fruit scraps

16:19 Using the entire citrus 

18:08 Utilizing 100% of a condiment in a jar

20:02 What to do with older fruits & vegetables

22:00 About prosciutto

23:44 Escargot or no?

26:00 Current events

28:05 A slight disagreement about bouillon

30:06 Why you should buy whole fish

34:20 Tips for reducing food waste

38:04 Our next episode 🍔

Links we mentioned:

• Don't Throw That Out! Tips to Avoid Food Waste
• Zero Waste Kitchen - Easy Upcycled Cooking Ideas

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Jenn and Clara break down the best and worst ways to prepare the 3 course meal that Violet Beuregard experiences while on tour at the Factory. The two then share their experiences with their own cultural dining practices, the cadence, and format of meals around the world from antipasti in Italy to a refreshing plate of cut fruit at the end of many meals in Asia. Meal formats nowadays tend to be more of a suggestion than a steadfast set of rules.

Chapters

0:40 About Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

1:58 Where is the 3-course chewing gum in the movie?

3:00 What is a 3-course meal? Plus, other types of courses

6:25 Thoughts on tasting menus

9:22 Tomato bisque vs Tomato Soup

10:02 Roast beef & other cuts

10:46 Comparing the meals in the film

13:05 The best ways to make baked potatoes

15:59 Know your food system

19:24 What is the best potato dish to have with meat?

21:48 Blueberry pie & cream

28:04 Our ideal multi-course chewing gum

31:55 Where is the best multi-course dinner?

33:42 The best pie shops

34:50 Tips for hosting course meals

37:27 Our next episode 🔼⬇️

Links we mentioned:

• The Best Blueberry Pie by Scientifically Sweet
• 50 Pies 50 States by Stacey Mei Yan Fong (affiliate link)
• Galette by Rebecca Firkser (affiliate link)
• Magpie: Sweets and Savories from Philadelphia's Favorite Pie Boutique (affiliate link)

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Jenn and Clara delve deep into the finer points of the English breakfast, including egg cookery, differences in types of bacon and sausage, what makes clotted cream so darn delicious, and how a man’s tea order says so much about his tastes. Also, discover the joy of Welsh rarebit and how a toast rack can also be a symbol of quiet luxury.

Chapters

0:38 About The Phantom Thread

2:14 Why we started this podcast (lore drop!)

6:12 Some context before we meet Alma

8:48 Where is the breakfast scene in the movie?

12:55 What is Welsh rarebit?

14:33 A poached egg (not too runny)

19:19 What items were missing from this breakfast?

22:35 Scones? Scones

25:29 Coffee or tea? Lapsang

29:23 Can you clock when someone orders with style?

35:17 Our next episode 🍽️

Other media we mentioned:

• A Breakdown of the Full English Breakfast by I Am a Food Blog
• Mei Lin's Poached Egg Hack
• Dave Arnold's Egg Chart
• Eater's Map of English Breakfast in NYC
• The Breakfast Bible (affiliate link)

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Jenn and Clara discuss Dae-su’s first, last, and only meal while imprisoned in Oldboy: fried dumplings. They dive deep into the storied global history of dumplings and debate what makes a great dumpling, from the optimal filling to the proper thickness of skin and which cooking technique reigns supreme.

Chapters

0:34 About Oldboy

3:40 Egg Films

6:58 Where are the dumplings in Oldboy?

12:23 What are dumplings? Plus, some history.

15:26 Randwiches lore

16:47 How we make dumplings

21:48 The ideal frying temperature

23:53 Troubleshooting

24:58 Our favorite dipping sauces

27:08 Order of operations and what is the best dumpling size?

27:27 Our favorite dumpling shapes

34:27 Where to get the best dumplings

39:21 Our next episode 🧵🪡

Links we mentioned:

• Chinese dumplings, an ultimate how-to guide by Red House Spice
• Dumpling Skirt
• Showdown: Comfort Food, Chili & BBQ
• Copper Cash Dumpling
• Woks of Life
• Ahnest Kitchen
• Maxi's Noodle on Food.Curated
• Maangchi Youtube

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Jenn de la Vega and Clara Park dive deep into the anatomy of shrimp, rules for proper sourcing, visual cues of the freshest shrimp, and the seemingly infinite ways to cook them from the bayou to Beijing. Bubba’s monologue in Forrest Gump is just the beginning of the wide world of shrimp cookery. Despite Jenn's shrimp allergy, prepare to be schooled by our vast opinions on the best way to eat shrimp, cook shrimp, and which shrimp products reign supreme. Final note: size does matter, even in the world of shrimp.

Chapters:

0:34 About the movie Forrest Gump

2:47 Where is shrimp in the movie?

6:41 Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. lore

7:53 What are shrimp?

8:53 Our favorite ways to enjoy shrimp

10:07 Broiling vs. Baking

11:08 U Classifications

13:20 What's the difference between prawn and shrimp?

16:19 Poaching and steaming shrimp

17:53 Pan-frying vs. Deep frying vs. Stir-frying

21:22 How to buy and clean shrimp

24:44 Can you eat the whole shrimp?

28:20 What if my shrimp tastes dirty?

29:47 How else can you cook shrimp?

30:48 Wild vs. Farmed Shrimp

34:20 Our next episode 🥟

Other media we mentioned:

• Coconut shrimp by The Woks of Life
• Watch the Forrest Gump trailer
• Tour Bubba Gump's London location
• FARE shellfish allergy explained
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

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Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay.

Logo by Nikki Newsome

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