This piece on the food in When Harry Met Sally was originally published in Epicurious, February 2014.
Important events in our lives so often involve food, whether it be memorable family dinners, romantic first dates, or painful breakups that ruin the memory of shrimp scampi forever. It is no wonder that cinema has a long history of famous food scenes. “When Harry Met Sally” is a high watermark for romantic comedies, and upon its release it was hailed as an instant classic. Time has only entrenched its well-deserved status. Food is featured throughout the film. These are characters who spend a lot of time talking, going out, chatting about their lives over a glass of wine and bread sticks. Falling in love is so often centered around food-related memories. “When Harry Met Sally” understands that.
Apple Pie:
Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) drive halfway across the country together. The situation heads south immediately when Harry hits on Sally, and it certainly doesn’t help when he spits out his grape pit, failing to roll down the window first. At a truck-stop cafe, Harry first encounters Sally’s high-maintenance way of ordering food. It takes her almost a minute to order a salad and a piece of apple pie a la mode. Any sort of dressing or sauce must be “on the side”, and Sally’s instructions for what to do with (or without) the ice cream on her apple pie renders Harry silent for the first time since he got into her car. Sally’s behavior while ordering food is one of the running jokes of the film, and as annoying as it could be, it ends up being endearing to Harry in the end. He couldn’t live without it. Isn’t that how love works?
Pecan Pie:
While “When Harry Met Sally” is a classic rom-com, it is also a celebration of what platonic friendship can provide in our lives. During one afternoon at a museum, Harry starts talking in a funny voice, making Sally imitate him. It is one of the most charming and romantic scenes in the film. What is so important in the scene is you feel Harry’s growing love for this woman, his female friend, a fact that confuses him. How he expresses that love is by making Sally repeat, over and over again, the sentence, “But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie”, drawing out the syllables. Back and forth they go, “pecan pie,” “pecan pie,” “pecan pie”, and it is a beautiful moment showing the silliness of friendship, its intimacy and joy. It also shows how love can sneak up on you, over an imaginary piece of pecan pie.
Reuben Sandwich and Cole Slaw:
Katz’s Deli on Houston Street was already famous to local New Yorkers, but “When Harry Met Sally” brought it to the masses. The line “I’ll have what she’s having,” spoken by a woman at a nearby table (director Rob Reiner’s mother) who has witnessed Sally’s fake orgasm, is one of the most famous lines in cinema. Harry and Sally chow down on lunch meats and pastrami and cole slaw, and argue about sex, all as Sally takes apart her sandwich and puts it back together again in the way she prefers. Harry is certain the women he sleeps with have a good time. Sally wonders if perhaps the women are faking it. Harry scoffs at the possibility, and uptight Sally proceeds to show him what a fake orgasm looks like, and how it is indistinguishable from the real thing. The scene became an instant classic. 25 years later, Improv Everywhere re-created the scene in flash-mob form in the original location.
Coconut Cake:
Throughout “When Harry Met Sally”, elderly couples are interviewed about how they found one another and fell in love. These interviews provide some of the most touching and funny moments in the film (“I knew the way you know about a good melon”). When love has conquered all, it is, therefore, perfect that Harry and Sally would be interviewed, and that their interview would close the film. Completing one another’s sentences, they reminisce about their beautiful wedding, and their amazing wedding cake. It was coconut with chocolate sauce, and, of course, because love will not change your essential personality, Sally explains why it was so important that the chocolate sauce had to be “on the side”. Harry nods in agreement. He understands now about “on the side”. Love has shown him the light.
