Tag: Food

Sleepless in Seattle

LUKE: Then what the hell you doing here, Jess? You know, I, uh, I called you six times. Now I didn’t expect you to call me back so we could sit on the phone in bed and watch Sleepless in Seattle together.

Sleepless in Seattle, 1993 romantic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Nora Ephron, and inspired by the 1957 romance film An Affair to Remember. It stars Meg Ryan as a newly engaged journalist whose heart is touched by a recently widowed architect, played by Tom Hanks, after his young son calls a radio talk show on his father’s behalf.

Sleepless in Seattle received positive reviews, and was a sleeper success at the box office, becoming the #8 film of the year. It is widely considered a classic romantic comedy, and one of the best films of the 1990s. It is credited with popularising the Italian dessert tiramisu in the US.

Sandwich Options at Luke’s

Kirk ponders what lunch to order before Sookie and Jackson’s wedding.

Ham on Rye

An American deli sandwich using (often toasted) rye bread as the outer casing, with smoked ham in the middle – usually with mustard and salad options added.

Patty melt [pictured]

An American deli sandwich using toasted bead as the outer casing with a beef burger patty with melted cheese and caramelised onion in the middle – the whole thing grilled together. Basically a cheeseburger made with bread instead of a bun.

Peanut butter and jelly

A US sandwich with peanut butter and jelly (see jelly, previously discussed). A very basic sandwich, often made for children as a snack. This is what Kirk eventually orders.

Salmon Puffs

SOOKIE: So I put on the veil, then I remember I’m serving salmon puffs. Salmon puffs! Okay, completely wrong, so I had to rush over here and try to find another first course, and then I walk in and these daffodils just . . . something snapped, and that’s when you walked in here.

Salmon puffs, an appetiser dish where puff pastry is filled with a mixture of smoked salmon, cream cheese or feta cheese, and flavourings. Compare with lobster puffs, and Roquefort puffs. This show loves puffed food!

Sookie Freaks Out

Lorelai comes downstairs to get some post-coital snacks for she and Christopher to share, and finds Sookie having a pre-wedding meltdown in the kitchen. We get to see Sookie’s wedding dress and veil, and the wedding cake, which is multi-tiered with a stunning swirl of sugared spring flowers over it.

Sookie quickly gets over her wedding jitters, because of course, she and Jackson are Meant to Be. It’s actually really nice to see the best friend in a romantic comedy-drama get to find love and have the wedding of her dreams, when so often this role is doomed to nothing but comic dating disasters, or kept single so as to be permanently on hand for the main character.

Mustard Greens

LORELAI: I’m so happy for Sookie. I mean, it’s like a real live love story, and I saw it all happen. I mean, I hired Jackson. I watched them meet. I watched them have several bizarrely intense arguments over mustard greens. I watched them fall in love.

Mustard greens are the leaves of the mustard plant (Brassica juncea), also known as brown mustard, Chinese mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard, Oriental mustard and vegetable mustard. The plant has been cultivated in Asia and Europe for more than 2000 years, and is used in salads, soups, stews, and stir-fries, as well as pickles. It has a bitter, peppery flavour which matches well with beans, lentils, pork, ham, tofu, onions, garlic, and lemon.

Garfield

LUKE: Read your note … It was very well-written … I also enjoyed the Garfield stationery. That’s one funny cat.

Garfield, a comic strip created by Jim Davis featuring a lazy, fat, cynical orange tabby cat named Garfield, noted for his love of lasagne, coffee, and sleeping. Originally published as Jon (the name of Garfield’s owner) in 1976, it was syndicated nationally from 1978. It holds the Guinness World Record for being the world’s most syndicated comic strip, being published in more than 2000 newspapers and journals.

Garfield has been turned into comic books, TV shows, films, and video games, and been used for merchandise (such as the stationery) which earns up to $1 billion per year.

Lorelai Tries to Make Up With Luke

After half an hour of psyching herself up, Lorelai goes into the diner and tries to make up her fight with Luke. She has already written him a note to apologise, but Luke refuses to engage with her. He accepts her apology, he offers to get her a coffee and a doughnut, but there is no emotion there, and he barely looks at her (would his resolve crumble if he did?). Lorelai has really hurt Luke, and he cannot go back to how things were before.

Gouda

LORELAI: But I’m here now and hey, I’m like cheese ….

RORY: She gets better with time … Sorry Gouda, we’ve got school.

Gouda is a sweet, creamy cheese originating from the city of Gouda in the Netherlands. The first mention of it dates to 1184, making it one of the oldest recorded cheeses still made today.

Rory and Dean Eat Breakfast Together

Rory and Dean are eating breakfast at Luke’s before school, Lorelai unable to join them because she’s still in a fight with Luke. It’s a reminder that with Jess gone, Rory has just gone back to Dean as if everything is fine between them.

Just a few days before, Rory skipped school and caught a bus to New York to see Jess, the boy that Dean is jealous of, doesn’t trust one inch, and is sure that Rory likes more than him. Rory hasn’t told any of this to Dean – if Rory had been honest, she might not be having breakfast with Dean now! For someone who recently snuck off to see another guy, Rory is a pretty cool customer, grifting Dean out of his pancakes. She clearly feels extremely secure in her relationship.