Food Fetishism 101....aka Tampopo!

I cannot believe it took me this long to see Tampopo, a classic Japanese film by Juzo Itami made in 1985 that has to be on every food fetishists list. Believe me, if you think you're obsessed by food, you have nothing on the characters populating this tale. Think of a Sergio Leone spaghetti western, but instead of guns, shootouts, and Clint Eastwood sneers, substitute noodles, clattering bowls, and Tsutomu Yamazaki as Goro barking orders to Nobuko Miyamoto who plays Tampopo. Throw in a food-as-foreplay obsessed gangster type (you won't believe the egg yolk scene...classic!), and a young Ken Watanabe as Goro's sidekick. While I'm not big on watching movies while eating dinner, I'll make an exception for Tampopo, because if you don't have something (or someone?!) to nibble on during this, you'll be racing out to the nearest pho joint halfway through!