Who doesn’t love food? Not only do we need it to live, but it represents a world of sensorial pleasure and exploration. From French cuisine to candy, the sheer variety of refreshment and nourishment we receive from food boggles the mind. 

There's meals for every occasion. Certain dishes or flavors remind us of our home, and our upbringing, serving up a sense of comfort and belonging. Others signify that it’s time for some R&R after a busy week —  whether that’s a takeaway pizza, or firing up the BBQ.

In this sense, food also shares many similarities with the media we consume. Sometimes the right show, movie or video game hits the spot like nothing else. What then could be better than when these two sources of passion and joy come together in unique collaboration? 

Below we’re taking a whistle-stop tour of the finest foodie media you’ll find anywhere. Like any well balanced meal, we’ll be taking in flavors and experiences from across the spectrum — from junk food, to high brow sustenance. Let’s dive in.

Chocolat (2000)

Nothing has quite the impact on people as chocolate. The enigmatic flavor, the fats, and its velvety melt-in-your-mouth texture have made it the pinnacle of decadent culinary delight for centuries.

Minor masterpiece Chocolat (2000) takes the mystique of chocolate, and builds a compelling mother-daughter story around it. Set in a rural French village, it charts the experience of chocolatier Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche), who moves to the town with her daughter to set up a chocolaterie. In so doing, she riles up the conservative mores of her neighbors, before ultimately winning them over 

Overcooked!

This title, most popularly played on the Nintendo Switch console, is well regarded as one of the best party games to come out over the past decade. For the uninitiated, a party game is the name for a video game that is focused around local multiplayer experiences. 

In Overcooked! you and up to three of your friends team up or face off in the world of food preparation. Players must receive orders, prepare ingredients, cook and serve food at breakneck speed, all the while dodging hilarious obstacles ranging from zombie patrons to toxic slime. No game can deliver laughs while whetting your appetite quite like Overcooked. 

The Bear

One of the breakout hits TV for Disney+ in 2022, The Bear charts the story of a Michelin-caliber chef who finds himself having to take over his brother’s failing restaurant. 

By turns heartfelt and hilarious, more than anything else this show serves as a love letter to food and the value of reconciling perfectionism with reality. This one has a set of characters that will win your heart, and a retinue of dishes that will leave you salivating and keen to don your apron.

Sweet Bonanza

Those that prefer their games in a longer established format, especially if they have a sweet tooth, will want to try their hand at Sweet Bonanza. Developed by leading studio Pragmatic Play, this six reel, five payline slot brings together solid next-generation one-armed bandit gameplay with a host of saccharine symbols. From candy canes to gummy love hearts, Sweet Bonanza is one solid slot that revels in the sugar-coated sensorium. If you’re going to try it out though, maybe keep a bag of candy on hand for the inevitable hunger pangs!

Sausage Party (2016)

Rude and irreverent, Sausage Party is one animated showcase expressly not for kids – but certainly a great choice for the young at heart. It tracks the fate and fortunes of a sausage named Frank (Seth Rogen), who discovers that he is merely an ingredient in a future meal for humans. 

On realizing his inevitable doom, Frank sets out with a ragtag band of other anthropomorphized food stuffs to escape the supermarket and the clutches of the hungry humans that would see him couched in a hot dog bun.