Food from the Road

A dish carried home from each film

• Bánh Mì[street corner]

  The cart outside a hair salon on my way home from school: the owner would stop a haircut mid-snip to make mine, 12,000 đồng, sometimes wrapped in her kid's homework. No cart has matched it since.

• Bún Chả[smoky]

  Grilled pork, cool noodles, herbs, that broth.

• Phở[breakfast]

  Breakfast. Obviously. I will not be taking questions.

• Cà Phê Sữa Đá[rocket fuel]

  Iced coffee, condensed milk, twelve hours of shaking and hyperactivity in a plastic cup. Every single morning.

• 333[on ice]

  "Ba-Ba-Ba." Cheap, poured over ice on a plastic stool on the pavement. Perfect every time.

• Döner Kebab[3am]

  3am, Kottbusser Tor, no regrets until roughly 11am. An Erasmus year in a wrapper.

• Flatmate Pasta[grazie]

  I shared a Berlin flat with five Italians and left knowing more Italian than German, and how to actually cook pasta. Best exchange rate of the year.

• Späti Beer[späti]

  The corner-shop beer that turns any Berlin street into a bar.

• In-N-Out, Animal Style[secret menu]

  California, summer 2015, first solo trip. The romance didn't last. The burger's hold on me did.

• Poolside Bacon[in the pool]

  A tray of bacon my ex's mum would bring out to the swimming pool, eaten without leaving the water. California hospitality.

• Poke Bowl[insider]

  I built roughly four thousand of these at a job in Australia. I could still assemble one in my sleep.

• Any Asian Takeaway[plan b]

  Australia and I didn't get along at the table, so I ate my way through the country's Asian restaurants instead.

• Vermut[vermut hour]

  Almost every weekend: a terrace in El Clot, the friends, one small bittersweet glass. The most civilised Barcelona ever gets.

• Lomo con Queso[with vermut]

  Pork, cheese, bread. The sandwich that got me through Barcelona. Best paired with a vermut.

• Mum's Home Cooking[always a table]

  The best restaurant I know. No menu, no prices, one chef. I drive back once a month for a table.

• Calçots amb Romesco[bib required]

  Charred spring onions you eat with your hands and a bib, the way Tarragona intended. Messy. Correct.

Off-menu · the regrets and the emergencies

• Mystery Street Food[ask no questions]

  Bought from a cart in Saigon at 2am. Delicious. To this day I could not tell you what it was.

• Caipirinha[strong]

  Rio's contribution to why parts of act two are a little blurry. Strong. Friendly. Not to be trusted.

• Vegemite, Once[never again]

  Tried it once, for the culture. Absolutely hated it. The culture can have it back.