Fourth appointment (and last) (but only for now! We’ll be back!) with our column dedicated to recipes from romantic movies. Today I embarked on a mission I thought impossible: I replicated the barbecue sauce! Exactly the barbecue sauce, the undisputed protagonist of today’s movie, which contains… lo and behold… a secret ingredient!
And since here in this kitchen we’re not afraid of daring experiments, here I am. The secret ingredient… yes, I used it!
More or less. 😄 I mean: not exactly the same ingredient, but one that is about the same secret ingredient 😃 used in the movie I’m about to tell you about.
Ahhhh how complicated it is to “copy” recipes from these movies! 😄
Since today we’ve reached the last episode (don’t worry, we’re only in the first season!) of our recipe review series, I won’t dwell on long explanations because if you’ve followed us in previous episodes you already know everything about how this series was born, you know how I and Lucius Etruscus – my partner in this crazy adventure of discovering food in movies – had fun collaborating in tandem during this hot month of August, and the reasons that convinced me to participate in such a unique but delicious initiative.
I really enjoyed it. Watching the movies again, a couple of which took me back in time a few years, and also writing about them, trying to scrutinize both the flaws and the fun sides of these romantic movies, which are sometimes absurd but always bring a smile. Because by watching them closely, you always find some little merit ‘between the lines’!
As always, I invite you to read Lucius’s article published concurrently on the blog Il Zinefilo, always rich in details and irony. And in which he mentions two more romantic movies that I’d be curious to see, one of which seems to have some interesting desserts to replicate! 😃
TODAY’S MOVIE: Cooking up Love
The plot:
Zoey McBride is an ingredient analyst for a fast food chain, BBQ Bill’s, of which Colin Richmond is the owner and CEO. Passionate about light cooking and culinary experiments, Zoey enjoys inventing recipes on weekends, which she tries to propose at the company. At a meeting where she was supposed to present only marketing data, she decides to propose her light ideas and her innovative sauce to give the company a new healthy direction. But she responds to the refusal with too much force and is fired. To avoid sitting idle and give a new twist to her life, she decides to participate in a televised food truck competition. She rents a van with eye-catching decor named Livia, and recruits her grandfather, a former yacht club chef and now a hobbyist producer of homemade quince apple jam, as a partner. Things get a bit tricky when one of the judges of the competition turns out to be, lo and behold, the rich and enigmatic former boss (who was unaware of her firing). Between one trial and another in the competition, a misunderstanding and a misapprehension, and after a clumsy attempt to steal Zoey’s sauce recipe, everything will end with the classic “and they lived happily ever after.” And despite her not winning the competition (and this is quite a news!).
MY THOUGHTS ON THE MOVIE:
The movie aligns with the standard romantic genre. 😃
The protagonist is blonde, often wears floral dresses as well, is a confident woman, and is decidedly more charming and sunny than the male character.
He bears some resemblance to the pastry chef Jake from the movie The Recipe of Love: sports a similar tuft of hair, has the same defensive attitude when interacting with her, seems unsatisfied with life. In fact, I’d say he is (until he meets her, of course).
The features of the romantic movie are all here: the firing, the determination of the female character, the friend who encourages her and then, inevitably, has a story with the other secondary protagonist, the first meeting between the two protagonists in confrontation mode, then him discreetly pursuing her, her finally realizing she was too harsh on him, a competition to participate in, a hitch, which is – again – an (attempted) recipe theft. And then, again, the intolerable lack of a sense of time for me, with individual days seeming as long as a week.
But in this film, there are also some small differences, compared to the previous three films in this series, but noteworthy:
1. This time no one has lived or worked in New York! Here, the story takes place entirely in Chicago.
2. No one has returned to the village to lift their fortunes, or those of a parent or family business. On the contrary, here it’s the grandfather who agrees to help his granddaughter!
3. The protagonist does not win the competition. Incredible, she doesn’t win! She comes in second! 😄
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE MOVIE:
It couldn’t have been otherwise: I liked Zoey’s attitude towards light recipes. I felt sympathy for her from the start, and especially from the meeting where she gets fired because she has the courage to affirm that light recipes are a great opportunity for the company. That it could become the «first fast food chain to offer healthy recipes».
Great. How can you not root for her? 😊
And then I really liked the food truck, despite the brick decoration!
Indeed. I’ll let you in on a secret, I’d like to try working in a food truck (or in a kiosk, or a flatbread shop, things like that). It won’t happen, it will remain one of my countless desires in the drawer. But I had so many drawers that I couldn’t open them all, right? 😃
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Two characters I didn’t like, two figures that totally ruined the little credibility the plot could vaguely have: the general manager of the company, a Fantozzi-like accountant with delusions of grandeur, and his laboratory technician henchman, who improvises as an absurd and improbable recipe thief. Two caricatures, unworthy of old-time comedies.
Well, we knew these romantic movies are low-budget TV films. Apparently, this time they even ran out of cents after renting the food truck and paying the lead actress, the only one with a vague acting ability in the whole film.
THE RECIPE I GOT FROM THE MOVIE: Barbecue Sauce (with Secret Ingredient!)
There were few replicable recipes. Except perhaps the chicken with orange remoulade sauce (which I reserve the right to explore, never say never!).
But the barbecue sauce is the real queen of the film.
This barbecue sauce – the most known and widespread accompaniment sauce in the States and in the world universe, and here made special with the addition of an unsuspected and secret ingredient – is at the center of the whole plot. It is only thanks to this ingredient that the sauce becomes even sublime.
So sublime that everyone is enthusiastic about it. It even seems that the sauce has caused a character transformation in someone, making them even more kind and lovable. 😅
Could it really be… ahem… that the addition of the mysterious ingredient is such a great and innovative idea?
Experimenting with it was mandatory.
Disclaimer: I officially declare that none of us, poor guinea pigs of the eating experiment, underwent behavioral or character changes after tasting this barbecue sauce with secret ingredient. 😄 Also because I had the courage to include the ingredient in the list! No secret! 😄
〰〰〰
If you want to have fun reading the previous episodes in order of release (and remake all the recipes), here are the other titles of the series:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: small bowls: 1
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
Before detailing the ingredients, I leave you some suggestions and some clarifications.
The homemade barbecue sauce can be prepared in different ways: usually, the base is tomato puree, preferably thick, to which tomato paste or ketchup can be added. Some people also use all ketchup instead of puree, but frankly, that seems a bit much to me.
Searching online, I realized that the barbecue sauce recipe can be customized as desired. I found several non-smoked recipes, that is, where the smoked ingredient was missing – usually, in homemade versions, smoked paprika is used – a lack that seemed unusual to me since the smoked taste is the main feature of this sauce, but probably in the States, there is also a non-smoked version.
Also, I point out that one of the main ingredients used in the original American recipe is molasses. Which I did not use (but few use it here with us!) (who among you is familiar with using molasses? Let’s talk about it!).
At first glance, the ingredients may seem many and perhaps a bit peculiar, but in reality, they are ingredients that we often already have at home, even if we use them rarely (at least I do, as they are all packaged products, therefore salty), such as: Worcestershire sauce, which is usually used in small quantities and when you have it at home it never ends; ketchup, which regularly expires when it’s still half a jar; mustard, same as ketchup; or maple syrup (which can be replaced with honey).
For some of these ingredients, I will include links, if you have difficulty finding them. I won’t include the quince apple jam because the online prices are, in my opinion, a bit high. (Oh right! How silly of me! I just remembered that I have the recipe to make it at home! 😃).
Regarding smoked paprika, which I didn’t even know a few years ago, I can assure you it is easily found in supermarkets. Having it at home is always useful, it is widely used in vegetarian or vegan dishes to add a smoky flavor to dishes as an alternative to foods like smoked bacon or smoked cheeses.
- 1 cup cup tomato puree
- 1/2 cup yellow onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp butter (a knob)
- 1/4 cup vinegar
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 3 tbsp tbsp mustard
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tsp quince apple jam (optional, I used apple puree)
- to taste chili pepper (optional)
- to taste tabasco (optional)
Tools
- Saucepan
- Immersion Blender
Steps
Slice (or chop) the onion.
Melt the knob of butter in a small saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic clove.
When the onion starts to become translucent, pour in the vinegar.
Bring to a boil.
After a couple of minutes, add all the other ingredients: tomato puree, sugar, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, a piece of chili pepper (if desired).
Between each ingredient, mix well and bring the sauce back to a boil, adding the next ingredient when the previous one is well dissolved and combined.
Cook the sauce for at least 20 minutes, but it can be extended to 30 minutes, depending on the initial consistency of the tomato puree.
At this point, pour the secret ingredient into the sauce. 😊
It’s a teaspoon of quince apple jam (which I have currently replaced with apple puree).
🤷♀️ I didn’t find quince apple jam at the supermarket I usually go to (but when quinces are in season, we can make it at home).
😉👉 It’s undoubtedly an optional ingredient, but it indeed has its reason for being, as it is a sweet and sour recipe.
😉👉 I also point out that in my extensive research on barbecue sauce, I came across many variations and unusual ingredients such as pineapple juice, which I never imagined could be suitable for a smoked sauce. Therefore, we can also not be surprised by a teaspoon of apple jam! (quince or not).
Continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened as desired.
Blend the sauce with an immersion blender.
👉 Given the minimal amount of sauce (unless doubling the doses), it is better to use a small immersion blender, like mine that you see in the following picture, which has a slim blade housing suitable for small quantities.
👉 Optionally, if you want to avoid this blending step, you can use powdered onion and garlic (a test I plan to make).
Finally, to make the barbecue sauce shinier, a teaspoon of maple syrup (or honey) is added.
Give the sauce a final stir with a spoon and let it cool before using.
The uses of this sauce are mainly related to meat, especially cooked on the grill.
It’s an excellent marinade sauce, it makes the meat really tasty (and I already have a recipe ready for which we’ll talk again! 😉). UPDATE: Here it is! –> Chicken fillets with barbecue sauce 😋
But it’s also delicious for dipping potatoes, whether fried or oven-baked. And also to spread on sandwiches, all sandwiches, not just hamburgers. 😉
If you have other tasty ideas to propose to me, write to me! Pass me some recipes!
Salt-free Tips
I remind you that I cook without salt.
As you can imagine, I don’t regularly buy packaged sauces, because they are notoriously too high in salt. For this reason, making barbecue sauce at home was one of the targets I had set for myself, to add to the long list of salt-free homemade productions I have planned. Actually, the schedule was to first produce mustard, and also ketchup, and only as a third step the barbecue sauce, which contains the first two as an ingredient. This time the opportunity led me to start from the end, but maybe it was a good thing, because as I always say… reducing salt gradually is the best way to train the palate! 😀
Therefore, today I must remind you that most of the ingredients in this barbecue sauce are packaged products, and therefore salty to begin with, so keep that in mind if you are following a low-sodium diet. For mustard and ketchup, I will work on creating salt-free versions, while for Worcestershire sauce… mmm I fear it’s quite difficult to reproduce at home, but we’ll see! 😄).
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Reduce salt gradually, the palate must get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, black pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my salt-free vegetable granules and gomasio.
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Treat yourself to an occasional indulgence. It lifts the mood and helps you persevere.
If you do not want, or cannot, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes, salting according to your habits.
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In my new WhatsApp channel and on Instagram, on the Facebook page and Pinterest, in my two groups: Il gruppo di Catia, in cucina e oltre and Proprio quello che stavo cercando! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter.
