Who isn’t excited to see “Julie & Julia” next week? This will be the sort of movie for which you arrange a divine dinner date beforehand — don’t come hungry, because a tub of greasy popcorn and corn syrupy candy likely won’t satisfy your palate. It is my personal belief that Amy Adams was given a terrible hairstyle in the film so that the effervescent star wouldn’t overshadow the FOOD.

Earlier this week, The New York Times ran a piece about “Cinematic Cuisine That Would Make Even Julia Child Proud.” The article discussed the evolution of film food, from motor oil-glazed turkey and scoops of lard “ice cream” to the modern incarnation of “cinematic cuisine.” That is, real, actual food that actors can eat. While other bloggers out there are reminiscing about their favorite movie food moments (incidentally, mine is the giant slices of layer cake in Disney’s “Pollyanna”), I thought we could glance back at the highs and lows in food history. (Information courtesy The Food Timeline.)

• In Marco Polo-era Venice, the explorer might have eaten martarolo, a pie stuffed with chicken, dates and “deep-fried pellets made from pounded cheese, eggs, dates, pine nuts, and pancetta.”
• A list of eight days’ worth of provisions for a man journeying to the mountains during the Gold Rush included: 8 pounds of potatoes, pepper sauce,  11 pounds of crackers, ham (no quantity specified), 9 pounds onions, brandy and an absurd amount of whiskey.
• The great bard Shakespeare (or at least some wealthy patrons of the theater) could have dined on “boiled meat…pottages…frumenty, bread, ale, wine, and to a much lesser extent, fruit and vegetables.”
• Apparently, hot chocolate was “relatively new and very chic” in Victorian England at Christmas time.
• After the French Revolution, history saw the dawn of the restaurant and the grand cuisine. During the revolution, however, the people deigned to eat potatoes, which they had always considered fodder for their livestock.

What’s your favorite food moment in history?

A second helping:
French Cooking 101
Italian Cooking 101
Thai Cooking 101
Chinese Cooking 101