Here’s tonight’s Oscar Dinner, with dishes inspired by each of the Best Picture nominees.. Clockwise from lower left:
- Peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwich, grilled in butter for Elvis: Had to go with Elvis’ favorite comfort food; it can’t be any worse than the Baz Luhrman movie. I actually ate this sandwich, which I later determined was unwise.
- Fruit Loops, with a cell phone on the table from Top Gun: Maverick: When Maverick staggers into a rural diner after electing from his test flight, the kid is eating Fruit Loops. And Maverick has to buy a round at the bar because he puts his cell phone on the bar. BTW the diner is director Joseph Kosinski’s reference to Cecil’s Cafe, a beloved, now defunct, diner in his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa.
- Severed finger ice sculpture and Guinness Stout for The Banshees of Inisherin. Colm and Pádraic shared pints of Guinness every day until Colm started thunking his fingers on Pádraic’s front door. We tried floating the fingers in the Guinness, but it was a failure.
- Applesauce for Women Talking: A kid is given a dose of medicine in applesauce. And it just seemed like a Mennonite kind of thing.
- Everything bagel from Everything Everywhere All at Once: It’s obvious. And we could have gone with hot dog fingers, Chinese noodles or birthday goodies.
- Blueberry shrub for Avatar: the Way of Water: We’re prompted by the vivid color palette, and we’re not alone. Avatar: The Way of Water has spawned a food experience with its own Satu’li Canteen at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park. The Ocean Moon Bowl, for example, is made with tuna, blue noodles, watermelon radish, pickled daikon, rainbow carrots, avocado, cucumbers and red cabbage with a miso and sweet soy drizzle.
- Nutella from Triangle of Sadness: One of the film’s wry jokes is the express delivery to the luxury yacht of what must surely be something exquisite, and it turns out to be Nutella, Europe’s least magical food item.
- Roast goose wing from All Quiet on the Western Front: Paul’s squad steals a goose from a farm near their trench and enjoy a rare moment of culinary bliss.
- German macaroni (käsespätzle) and endive salad for Tar: We used an Austrian recipe from The Wife’s family. And Lydia Tar would want a bougie salad like this endive salad with apples and pecans.
- Scrambled eggs from The Fabelmans: In an emotionally loaded kitchen encounter, Sammy’s mom Mitzi distractedly messes up the eggs (but Sammy eats them anyway).
