— the munch in FilmMunch 2 —

In El Salvador, where my husband is from, the tortilla is a staple food. My husband and his family introduced me to the El Salvadorian tortilla, and now I love making them myself! My preferred way to eat them is refried in butter so they become nice and crunchy, and although not the authentic way of eating them, they are wonderful with a dip, which is what I’ll be sharing with you today.

Now there’s a special technique used to make the tortilla but instead of describing it to you, I think it’s best if I link to a video below that shows you an expert demonstrating the technique!

SALSA CASHEW DIP

1/2 cup cashews

2 tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water

1 tbsp chopped jalapeño (or to taste)

1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast – optional*

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Add water and tomatoes into a blender and blend until combined.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until mostly smooth. This may take quite a few minutes, depending on your blender.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Add a little more cumin if you like or more salt, it’s all up to your personal preference. You can heat this up for a few minutes until warm or serve cold.

*Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast product and is not the same as brewers yeast. I know the name is not very appealing but it adds a great flavour and health benefits. Give it a try!

TORTILLAS

1 1/4 cup masa (I purchase mine at a local food wholesaler)

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup water

1 ½ tbsp butter (I use the brand Nuttelex, a non-dairy butter)

1. Combine masa and salt into a bowl, pour in water and stir until absorbed and a dough is formed. It will be quite soft. Using your hands, knead the dough for a minute.
2. Divide the dough into six balls. Now you can simply flatten the ball into a tortilla shape, just over 1/2cm thickness or use a tortilla press if you have one. You can also check out the link for my favourite way to make them, the traditional El Salvadorian way!
3. Once the tortillas are shaped, heat a frying pan to medium high heat, no oil needed. When the pan is ready, cook for three to five minutes. Check the tortillas and if nicely browned turn them over and cook for a further three minutes. Leave for another minute if it’s not at the desired colour.
4. Once you’ve cooked all the tortillas, cut them into quarters. Place pan on low heat and melt 2 tbsp of butter. Cook the tortilla triangles along with a good pinch of salt for a further minute or two on each side until crunchy.
5. Serve with dip and enjoy!

El Salvador isn’t the only country to enjoy tortillas. I had the opportunity to live in Mexico for about a year, and let’s just say that I had my fair share of tortillas! So to continue with our Latin inspired theme, Amy and I paired her tasty recipes with a Mexican film, El Mariachi.

El Mariachi is Robert Rodriguez’s first feature length film. Perhaps the only thing that he doesn’t do for this film, is act in it, and that’s because he had no one to hold the camera for him! The micro budget nature for this film meant that the most expensive cost was the film negative, and as such only 1 take was permitted for most scenes, just so that Rodriguez could stay within budget. The film was very successful and basically launched Rodriguez’s career forward. In addition, had it not been for the film negative, apparently Rodriguez only spent about $600.

The drive in this rebel film maker is amazing, and a source of inspiration for all of us. In order to collect a large portion of his budget, he participated as a ‘lab rat’ for a new cholesterol lowering drug, as a result he was locked up in a laboratory for 30 days. It was during this time that he penned most of the script for El Mariachi! One of his fellow ‘rats’ was Peter Marquardt, who went on to play onscreen villain, Moco. Peter Marquardt didn’t speak any Spanish, so most of his scenes are filmed up close, because he read from cards, where he had written down his lines, which he held in his hands.

It is worth mentioning that this film is best enjoyed with subtitles, as opposed to the dubbed version. I believe the truer essence of the film is captured in it’s originally intended language. And if you speak Spanish, then you will find this film truly hilarious! This is interesting because it’s not technically a comedy, but there is a comedic tone to it, from the quirky sound effects, to the clever use of time lapse, slow motion and even some of the characters names. For example, Moco literally means booger!

What makes this story watchable is the editing. Rodriguez is able to create a beautiful sense of intimacy between El Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) and his love interest, Domino (Consuelo Gomez). In addition to the editing, the music and score help solidify these characters and make their story meaningful to us. I personally really enjoyed the foreboding sound of the drums as scenes are built up. Plus El Mariachi entertains us with a beautiful love song.

El Mariachi is also the first instalment of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy.

Combine tasty Tortillas with the amazing Cashew Salsa Dip, El Mariachi and you’re set for a truly enjoyable Latin experience!

We hope you have enjoyed our second offering of The Munch in FilmMunch. Please give us your feedback and share this post with your friends and family. Amy and I will return to bring you another FilmMunch combo!

For more of Amy’s yummy and healthy recipes please check out her Instagram.

Purchase a copy of El Mariachi here.

TRIVIA COOKIE: The main protagonist, El Mariachi, played by Carlos Gallardo, was actually born in the very same city that this film is shot, Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. El Mariachi was his first lead role.

— following —

So I finally got the chance to watch Christopher Nolan’s first feature length film, and it’s undeniably fresh and what I would consider a must see!

It’s amazing that he’s able to generate such an intriguing story in only 70mins, which is by far, his shortest film, considering some of his films are just shy of 3 hours. Short and sweet, but what on earth is going on!?

Films that rattle your brain and chose to only show you the necessary bits are fascinating, because you want to keep watching and find out more. This story is no less fascinating than Memento, and if you’ve seen Memento, then you know what I’m talking about! Memento and Following, must be seen, at least once! The innovative story telling technique used in Following is something I want to see more, it’s basically a triple layered telling of events, very fascinating!

This film was extremely low budget, with film stock being the most expensive expense for the film, there wasn’t much room for error. Nolan would rehearse with his cast on the weekends, since all the cast had other full-time jobs. Only one or two takes were possible, considering Nolan was paying for the film himself! He also had to use natural light, since he didn’t have access to professional lighting equipment. Inspiration indeed, and what drive and motivation from this modern thinker!

The result is something akin to a Hitchcockian noir thriller, nothing short of slick and sophisticated.

I really find this still below awesome, because who would go on and direct the Batman movies?

If anything, I would have wanted this film to be longer, to draw out further into these unusual characters. The conclusion to the film, that you might not see coming, some will scoff at, but I thought it was genius and creative. This film may be considered one of the cheapest films ever made, but it’s heart and core and indeed rich.

Purchase a copy here!

TRIVIA COOKIES: John Nolan, Nolan’s uncle stars in this film, including in a number of other Nolan features.

The main protagonist uses an alias in one of the scenes, Danny Lloyd, this is also the name of Jack Nicholson’s son in The Shining. Nolan considers Stanley Kubrick to be one of his main influences. Interstellar is another testament to that fact!

— napoleon dynamite —

The way that film has evolved the past decade, makes me believe that Napoleon Dynamite had something to do with it, in a positive way. Its incredible how instantly it became indelibly etched into the culture of cinema.

Watching this film, reminds me instantly of directors like Wes Anderson, who employ a quirky style and help create very unique characters, individuals that we instantly love, this is not only clever film making, but very clever writing. The way we react to a film is very closely related to how we relate to the characters, and thats what makes Napoleon Dynamite so likeable, its because everyone will find something they can relate to, something about the characters in the film, that makes them real people, but possibly very different to us. Instantly we are filled with curiosity. It is this relativity that makes us care what happens to the beloved characters, plus the fact that they are comedic geniuses helps!

Napoleon Dynamite is not a laugh out loud film, rather, the humour is more subtle and underlying, making you smile more regularly. This film cleverly makes you smile though out it, so that by the end, you have a complete sense of fulfilled entertainment, its a great feeling, and I’m sure that all you Film Munchers out there, have experienced this, at one point or another.

There are so many teenage comedies out there, but this film stands out, on a league of its own, the style is very individual, and individuality is the main theme here. We are all individuals, and this film is a celebration to that. Napoleon Dynamite wants us to embrace our individuality, and manages to make us laugh along the way. Jared Hess’s film making story is inspirational, he started by making a short film, of which Napoleon Dynamite is an adaption of, called Peluca. It’s no easy feat for your debut feature film to eventually go on to make over $40 Million, let alone, that feature become a corner stone in popular culture.

With excellent performances from Jon Heder, Efren Ramirez, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell and Tina Majorino, this film will make you use approximately 26 facial muscles to smile, often, so get ready from some facial pain!

TRIVIA COOKIE: Jon Heder permed his hair for his role as Napoleon Dynamite.