Dinner In A Movie: Fatso

By: The Food Hunter

It's time for another Dinner In A Movie!

Some posts are harder to write than others, and this is one of them. Fatso, a 1980 film written and directed by Anne Bancroft, is actually a comedy with lots of food moments, but it's the topic of obesity that makes it hard to write about.

In the movie Dom DeLuise plays an overweight Italian man who attempts to turn his life around after the death of his equally obese cousin. As we all know, losing weight is not easy, especially when you are part of an Italian-American household that loves to eat.

In the movie Dom is also motivated to drop pounds when he becomes romantically involved with a girl. And although he really likes her, he still finds it hard to resist food. In the end he realizes that learning to love himself, no matter what he weighs, is what's most important.

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight, by drastically cutting food out of their diet, will be able to relate to many of the scenes in this touching movie about eating addiction, romance and learning to love oneself. 

At his cousin's viewing Dom, feeling anxious, sneaks off to eat. You see him dipping Italian bread into a pot of spaghetti sauce and immediately calming down as he eats it. Being Italian/American like Dom, I know how good that dipped bread must have tasted and how comforting it can be. 

If it was my house the sauce, also know as Sunday Gravy, would look like this:

Sunday Gravy, though time consuming if you count making meatballs, is one of the easiest meals to put together. Once the meatballs are made and the rest of the meat is browned it is just a matter of putting them all into a pot of tomato puree and letting it simmer.

Sunday Gravy
4 cans of tomato puree, I prefer Cento brand
garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
Parmesan rind 
meatballs
a variety of browned meats, I usually use sausage, country style pork ribs and chicken thighs

Place everything in a large heavy bottom pot and let simmer for hours. Remove cheese rind before serving.