If you enjoy watching films that centre around food or include references to food or scenes with food, you’ll want to check out the lists of foodie flicks found on Gastronomica magazine’s website and in The Nibble online magazine.

Although the lists aren’t comprehensive (I couldn’t find Chicken Run, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Fast Food Nation, or Ratatouille on either list), there are lots of food-based movies or movies with memorable food scenes to choose from on both lists. There is also a description about each movie in case the titles don’t sound familiar. On The Nibble’s site, you can access an alphabetical list of food movies or a list by genre.

My personal film library isn’t very extensive…..yet. It includes the afore-mentioned Chicken Run and Ratatouille, and of course Chocolat. Rather pathetic a collection (in terms of quantity, that is) compared to the hundreds of cookbooks, general interest books about food, and novels (culinary mysteries mostly) that line the bookcases in my home office, the family room and the sun room, and sit in messy piles by my desk and my bed.

Speaking of books, if you want to learn more about the role of food and dining in filmography, these books will provide food for thought:

• Food, Film & Culture: A Genre Study by James R. Keller, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2006
• Food in the Movies by Steve Zimmerman & Ken Weiss, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2005
• Reel Food: Essays on Food and Film by Anne Bower, Routledge, 2004
• Food in Film: A Culinary Performance of Communication by Jane Ferry, Routledge, 2003
• Reel Meals, Set Meals by Gaye Poole, Currency Press Pty Ltd., 1999