The Cinema Chefs

Jenn de la Vega, Clara Park

The Cinema Chefs podcast highlights the fundamentals of cooking by exploring food scenes in movies. Hosted by Chefs Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega, this duo has decades of culinary experience, including Michelin-starred restaurants, all aspects of cookbook writing, product development, cooking classes, and, of course, food styling and craft services for film and TV. You might recognize them from Chopped, Snack v. Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Gastronauts.

  1. 2d ago

    The Breakfast Club - School Lunches

    Jenn and Clara discuss the different lunches the teens bring to detention in The Breakfast Club and what these lunches tell us about their personal lives, who they are, and how we can improve upon what they brought. Is there a best way to make a PB & J? Is there a place for Cap’n Crunch beyond breakfast? Chapters 0:19 School lunches in The Breakfast Club 0:24 Content warning 0:37 One-sentence summary of the movie 0:52 Movie cast, crew, and awards 1:22 Clara almost lived with the costume designer on the film 1:58 "Don't you forget about me" becomes an instant movie classic 2:20 How Pitch Perfect is connected 2:58 Who these teens are via their lunches 3:18 Claire's lunch 5:25 Rice controversy 8:00 Benefits of reheated rice  8:52 Andy's lunch 9:25 What's the best cheese for turkey sandwiches? 10:20 Dijonaise! 11:54 Brian's lunch 12:58 Best PB & J 14:20 Sandwich taquitos 15:00 Wonder Bread canapés [AD BREAK] 17:10 Alison's lunch 19:00 Cap'n Crunch as an ingredient 19:54 Bender's (lack of) lunch 21:00 Soda is BAD 21:50 Clara's typical school lunch 23:00 Jenn's typical school lunch 23:43 Jenn's life in hot dogs 24:35 Eric Joon Ho Kim's best peanut butter sandwich 25:36 Clara's perfect lunch 27:00 Jenn's perfect lunch 28:15 Where is it in the movie? 36:29 Culinary terms 33:53 What happened to pimento? 34:52 Restaurant recs from Clara and Jenn 37:20 Our next episode 🇫🇷 Links We Mentioned Is Leftover Rice Better For You? Via DelishEffect of cooling of cooked white rice on resistant starch content and glycemic response - PubMedThe History of Sushi in America via Michelin GuideDijonnaise commercialCereal French Toast by Binging with Babish Sounds We Used Timpani boing fail by u_ss015dykrtJazz Restaurant Cafe Music by HitsLabAlBundyX-Mexican-Turkey by Freesound_CommunityPlastic Crunch by Freesound_CommunitySoda Can Open by OxidVideos Support the show! Join our membership program. Follow The Cinema Chefs on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Instagram Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay. Logo by Nikki Newsome Share the show with a friend!

  2. Sep 7

    Parasite - Jjapaguri & Hanwoo Beef

    Jenn and Clara explore the hybrid noodle dish jjapaguri in Parasite and how the addition of hanwoo beef turns this cheap, quick dish into something only the wealthy can enjoy. The duo also discuss the Wagyu grading system and some culinary details lost in translation. Chapters 00:52 One sentence summary of Parasite 1:25 The cast 1:50 Awards sweep 3:00 Everyone loves Korea 3:47 What is jjapaguri/chapaguri? 4:26 What is Hanwoo beef? 4:59 Korean Beef Rhapsody 5:28 What is Wagyu beef? 6:00 Meat terroir 7:10 Alphanumeric meat grading system explained 10:57 Hanwoo beef versus Wagyu beef 12:05 Korean Airlines  [Ad break] 14:54 How the Kim family diet changes over time 15:46 Nong Shim stock skyrockets 16:48 Jaapaguri scene 17:20 Do high-quality ingredients belong on cheap food? 18:05 Where is jjapaguri in the movie? 19:30 Jajangmyeon versus jjapaguri 21:00 Korean Chinese food 21:30 Does water boil faster on induction burners? 22:07 Tips for making the best jjapaguri 23:30 Lost in translation 25:55 Culinary terms from Parasite 26:19 Soju party! 28:15 The significance of cut fruit 29:34 Socio-economic hierarchies 30:05 About the house 30:28 Our recommendations 32:30 Our next episode 🍱🥪 Links We Mentioned Ramen Hacks (Members only)Hanwoo RhapsodyFood52 - What is Ramdon?Korea Pops, Seafood Soars, and More Top Trends from 2025 Summer Food ShowRaku in Las VegasSoju Party by Irene Yoo (Affiliate link)Sounds We Used Cow Mooing by u_jd81cxyq22Sting, Rimshot, Drumroll by Freesound CommunityStray Wolves by Moodmode Support the show! Join our membership program. Follow The Cinema Chefs on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Instagram Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay. Logo by Nikki Newsome Share the show with a friend!

  3. Aug 31

    Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom - Blood, Bones & Offal

    Jenn and Clara explore the world of offal through the lens of Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom. While the courses at the royal banquet were meant to shock and awe, we break down the delicious ways you can enjoy nutrient powerhouses: blood, bones, and offal (organ meats). Make sure to take your time and let your offbeat proteins get a good soak. Chapters 1:04 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 2:15 Music by John Williams 2:34 Production was cursed but won awards 4:00 All about Ke Huy Quan 4:34 Hysterical female and orientalism 6:25 Where is it in the movie? 6:33 Snake surprise 7:18 Scarabs and eating bugs 9:59 Soup of the Head 11:37 [Ad Break] 12:32 Chilled monkey brains  13:09 Head cheese and the benefits of eating brains 14:40 Offal and nose-to-tail dining 16:25 Our favorite offal 16:45 Do's and don'ts of cooking offal 18:43 Blood sausage around the world 20:38 Culinary terms 21:59 Clara and Jenn's favorite places for offal 23:01 Our next episode 🍜 Links We Mentioned Mental Floss, "20 Facts About 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'" Brooklyn Bugs Quintonil Purple Pig Perfect Health Diet (Affiliate Link) The Four Horsemen Cookbook (Affiliate Link) Sounds We Used Sound Effect - Woman Scream and Glass Breaking by Scott Person Snake Rattle Sound HQ by Tanwer Aman Cartoon Blinking by Universfield Sparking Water by Freesound Community Bach - Violin Concerto in A minor - 3. Movement - BWV 1041 by Gregor Quendel Support the show! Join our membership program. Follow The Cinema Chefs on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Instagram Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay. Logo by Nikki Newsome Share the show with a friend!

  4. Aug 31

    Last Holiday - Creole & Cajun Food

    Jenn and Clara discuss the differences and similarities of New Orleans Creole and Cajun in the film Last Holiday starring Queen Latifah. Learn about the heavy European, Native American, and African culinary influences in this flavorful and vibrant cuisine. Do tomatoes make that big of a difference, and who has time to make dishes with more than 12 ingredients? The popular dishes of the Big Easy are anything but easy to prepare. CHAPTERS 0:30 Kick off to season 2 and Last Holiday 1:01 Content warning 1:21 Why we chose this movie 2:05 Notable actors 4:20 Jenn and mise en place 6:14 Food porn 7:30 Chicken Tchoupitoulas 9:04 New Orleans cuisine defined 12:20 Roux defined 12:54 The Holy Trinity 13:30 Immigrants in New Orleans 15:30 Jenn's picks for NOLA [Ad Break] 18:15 Collard greens and more 20:00 Clara's and Jenn's favorite Creole dishes 23:40 Where is Cajun and Creole food in the movie? 25:30 The secret of life  26:30 Knife cuts and culinary terms 28:50 Dark roux 30:00 Muffuletta 32:28 Clara's and Jenn's best places for Creole and Cajun food 34:44 Our next episode 🙊 Links U.N.I.T.Y by Queen Latifah (CW: adult language) Poulet Tchoupitoulas by Emeril Lagasse Additional songs "Dance All Night" by Alana Jordan "Oh When the Saints Acapella Vocal Arrangement" by Catch22 Music Support the show! Join our membership program. Follow The Cinema Chefs on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Instagram Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay. Logo by Nikki Newsome Share the show with a friend!

  5. Aug 12

    Season 2 Trailer

    We're back, with a vengeance! Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega are back with a new season of The Cinema Chefs. Two new episodes drop Monday, August 31st at 6PM ET.  The Cinema Chefs podcast highlights the fundamentals of cooking and food culture by exploring food scenes in movies. Hosted by Chefs Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega, this duo has decades of culinary experience: Michelin-starred restaurants, nearly two dozen cookbooks, product development, culinary instruction, and, of course, food styling and craft services for film and TV. You might recognize them from Chopped, Snack v. Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Gastronauts. Highlights from season 2 include the ins and outs of offal in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, secrets to making tomato sugo that rivals Clemenza’s Sunday Gravy in The Godfather, and we go back to culinary school courtesy of The Taste of Things and Ratatouille. For our lucky subscribers, bonus content includes chef hacks for the best school lunches, tips and tricks for the coolest and tastiest cocktails, plus a cannoli crawl. About your hosts: Chef Clara Park is the founder of the cooking school, eat cetera philly and the co-host of the “The Cinema Chefs” podcast. She honed her skills in Michelin starred restaurants in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Philadelphia, and New York. A highly skilled recipe developer, past clients include Campbell’s Soup, Swanson, Pepperidge Farm, Tabasco and Nature’s Bakery. As a culinary development chef, Park has created hundreds of products for the nation’s top grocers, including Costco, developed menus for all tiers of restaurant dining and trained both front and back of house hospitality professionals. She has appeared on Netflix's "Snack v. Chef" and "FYI Philly". Park has written for Philadelphia magazine, The Huffington Post, and The Kitchn, and has appeared in mashed.com, chowhound.com, Real Simple, and Yahoo! Shopping. Other career highlights include winning Best Burger in Philly in 2016, emerging victorious on the Food Network’s Chopped, and eating live octopus with chefs Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. She is on the board for The Food Lab at Drexel University and the advisory council for the Culinary Literacy Center at the Free Library of Philadelphia. You can follow her on Instagram @claraparkcooks and @eatceteraphilly Chef Jenn de la Vega (Co-host & producer) has built a unique culinary practice at Family Party Catering, which mashes experiential with visual art and food. Jenn honed her skills through residencies at TASTE Cooking (Penguin-Random House), Babycastles Gallery, and Kickstarter. Her kaleidoscopic food writing appears on Burlap & Barrel, Food & Wine, Food52, The Kitchn, Thrillist, and Wine Enthusiast. Jenn’s cookbook collaborators include author Von Diaz, Forbes 30 Under 30 chef Tue Nguyen, Michelin-star chef Nick Curtola, and NYT Best-Selling author Justine Doiron. On her menus, you'll find a mix of her Filipinx heritage, Spanish tapas, artisanal cheese, and ' 90s-inspired fast-food cuisine. She is known for her Randwiches or "random sandwiches," in Brooklyn, where clients are given no choice in what they order. She is also a Bed-Stuy BBQ champion, winner of The Bacon Takedown, appeared on Guy’s Grocery Games: The Cheesy Special (Food Network), and competed on season 2 of Gastronauts (Dropout). Outside of the food industry, Jenn serves on the Board of Directors for indie theater The Tank. She is also an ENNIE Award and CRIT Award-nominated voice actor on the Shadowrun podcast, Fun City. Her Instagram is @randwiches. Support the show! Join our membership program. Follow The Cinema Chefs on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Instagram Follow Clara Park on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Letterboxd Follow Jenn de la Vega on Instagram Theme music by penguinmusic - “Paradise Island” and "Elegant Minimal "from Pixabay. Logo by Nikki Newsome Share the show with a friend!

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22 Ratings

About

The Cinema Chefs podcast highlights the fundamentals of cooking by exploring food scenes in movies. Hosted by Chefs Clara Park and Jenn de la Vega, this duo has decades of culinary experience, including Michelin-starred restaurants, all aspects of cookbook writing, product development, cooking classes, and, of course, food styling and craft services for film and TV. You might recognize them from Chopped, Snack v. Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Gastronauts.