Introducing a film foodie
SheKnows: How does one become a food coordinator for film?
Susan Spungen: Actually, I’m a little erratic. I spent twelve years as the food editor for Martha Stewart Living, first in the food business and then in publishing. Upon my departure in 2003, I essentially started a freelance career, with food styling serving as the mainstay, primarily for print media. Now that I’ve worked on three movies, you could call my career in movies that it began with Julie.
On Julie, I collaborated with Diana Burton, a prop master. The prop master handles simple food, but when it gets to the point where it’s complicated and the food becomes a more significant component, that’s when they bring someone like me in. Meanwhile, it seems that director Nancy Meyers had noticed my cookbook and said, “I want this woman to work on the movie.” It was inevitable that I would work on this movie because Diana Burton was saying, “This is the woman I want to work on the movie!” at the same time.
SheKnows: Upon hearing this tale, I’m thinking that Meryl Streep’s appearance in both is just a coincidence!
Susan Spungen: True. It was actually a coincidence; Meryl didn’t ask for me, but I was fortunate enough to collaborate with her on two movies and had the opportunity to get to know her well, so that was a double bonus for me.
SheKnows: Is it necessary to imagine what a character would make for food in every scene?
Susan Spungen: That’s a good question because, in the first two movies I worked on, there were instances where certain food scenes—like making chocolate croissants or, in this case, roast chicken and chocolate cake—were specifically scripted because they were important to the plot. The remainder of the food in that actual meal, as well as in a number of other scenes, was not scripted. She’s this earth mother who lives in California, and I really tried to get inside her head and imagine how I would be cooking if I were shopping at the Santa Barbara farmer’s market. I did truly think, “How would this person cook?”
SheKnows: Judging from her work and demeanor, it’s clear that this woman is passionate about cooking. Since you’ve written cookbooks and had to follow recipes when creating these meals, did you have to run them by Nancy before making them and conducting a taste test?
Susan Spungen: Yes. We had some brainstorming sessions early on, and I just took a ton of photos that I felt best reflected the feel and appearance of the food. I wanted to let her know what was on my mind and let her know that we were in agreement. Some of the items, like the chocolate cake, were really closely followed. I considered what kind of chocolate cake to make since the script calls for chocolate cake. It resembled the images we saw in our early creative meetings since I took a lot of pictures of the kind of chocolate cake I thought it should be.
SheKnows: Given the content of the movie Julie
Susan Spungen: Not really, as I had already met Julia and visited her Cambridge home. Additionally, I collaborated with her on the book Baking with Julia, which was adapted for television as well as a companion book. I had the great pleasure of visiting Cambridge once more to work on that for a few days. Julia prepared dinner for us at her house, so there was a comfort level because I had known her in her earlier years. I wasn’t looking at her at this icon. Even though she is a symbol, I didn’t feel threatened by her. I felt comfortable and happy to pay homage to her.
SheKnows: Lastly, what was it like being part of Martha Stewart Living as the founding food editor?
Susan Spungen: Well, that was obviously a great experience. It was a long experience and my defining career. I worked at it for 12 years, so it’s difficult to condense it into a few sentences.
SheKnows: By setting up the test kitchen, you had to, in a sense, set the template?
Susan Spungen: Absolutely. I did, yes.
SheKnows: May I express my gratitude and inquire about your upcoming film projects?
Susan Spungen: So, I worked on the movie Eat, Pray, Love, which will be released in the US in August. That’s the last of my trilogy for now!.
Continue reading for our delectable It’s Complicated recipe, a croque monsieur, and a behind-the-scenes look at the movie!
It’s Complicated recipe insight
Recipe: Croque Monsieur (a la Jane in It’s Complicated)
Ingredients:2 tablespoons butter plus more for brushing 2 tablespoons all purpose flour 2 cups whole milk, heated Pinch of ground nutmeg Salt Freshly ground black pepper 8 ounces grated Gruyere cheese 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 8 slices firm white sandwich bread Maille Dijon mustard 8 ounces thinly sliced Black Forest ham
Directions:1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Turn the heat up to medium-high and boil for about two minutes, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Combine the two types of cheese and reserve 1/2 cup of the resulting mixture to be sprinkled over the sandwiches. Preheat broiler.
3. Place 4 bread slices on work surface. Spread each lightly with mustard. Place 1/4 of the ham and 1/4 of the leftover grated cheese on top of each. Top with remaining bread.
4. Heat heavy large skillet over low heat. Brush sandwiches with melted butter. Add to skillet and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer to small baking sheet. Spoon sauce and reserved grated cheese over sandwiches.
5. For about two minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown, broil. Serve immediately with a green salad.
Being able to access feel-good movies with just a click is an amazing feeling, which I possess. One that frequently has good food and nice people Cuisine that motivates and even convinces you to prepare it yourself
Well I have done just that. You can anticipate finding delicious recipes from even better movies throughout this series. I’m kicking off my feel-good movie food series with It’s Complicated, one of my all-time favorites directed by the incredibly gifted Nancy Meyers.
If you would like Jane’s traditional dessert to cap off your dinner, her honey lavender ice cream recipe can be found in my upcoming post. Great for the nights you just can’t sleep!.
Have you ever seen a movie repeatedly and it never fails to disappoint you? Quite the opposite—rather than bringing you down, it uplifts your emotions, makes you laugh, and gives you that comforting feeling?
Cover a roasting pan with parchment paper. Lay out your eight slices of bread on the pan and start spreading Dijon mustard over four of them. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the mustard-slicked slices, then top the cheese with a slice of ham. Put a tiny dollop of béchamel sauce on top of your slice of ham with a spoon, then cover it with the other slice of bread. Top your sandwich with another dollop or two of béchamel sauce and grate some more cheese on top of that.
