This piece on the food in The Godfather was originally published in Epicurious, February 2014.
The Coppola family is a show business dynasty, with three generations of Oscar winners in its ranks: Francis Ford Coppola’s five Oscar wins (for screenwriting and directing), his father Carmine Coppola, who won an Oscar for composing the haunting score for The Godfather, and the powerhouses in the younger generation, Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage. 1972’s The Godfather was one of the many game-changers in the industry during those years, with its shadowy almost European feel, and its morally ambiguous stance on the criminal Corleone family. It launched the career of Al Pacino. The follow-up film, The Godfather II, starring Robert DeNiro as the young Vito Corleone, was even more of a critical success than The Godfather. Gangster movies have been the bread-and-butter of Hollywood since its earliest days, with stars such as Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney cutting their teeth in Warner Brothers films about bootlegging and organized crime. But The Godfather was one of the first films to deal with it from the perspective of its family values, immersing us so fully in the rhythms and personalities of the Corleones that it was nearly impossible to see them as villains.The Corleones work from within a strict moral code, unlike the corrupt police and other authority figures in the film. The Godfather paved the way for The Sopranos almost 30 years later.
Along with his film projects, Coppola, very early on, branched out into other commercial ventures. In 1975, with the proceeds of The Godfather, he bought a vineyard in Napa Valley and began producing wines. The wines produced at Coppola’s winery come from organic grapes and are among the best-selling vintages in American restaurants. Cafe Zoetrope, in San Francisco, is another Coppola establishment, named after Coppola’s production company American Zoetrope. Cafe Zoetrope is described as a “European-style cafe” which offers “authentic Italian cuisine”. The menu includes “spaghetti and meatballs”, described as “Francis Ford Coppola’s beef, pork, and veal meatball recipe”, as well as a wide range of pizzas and pasta dishes.
Food is so important to Coppola’s understanding of the world and how families operate, and you can see its importance in most all of his films, The Godfather especially. The Corleone family came to America from Sicily, and threw themselves into rough capitalist life in Manhattan. One of the ways they maintained their ancient traditions is through their food (something that is true for most immigrants). While the outer world may be new and challenging, sitting down to a family dinner, eating the food that was familiar to their ancestors in the old country, is a comfort.
The famous opening scene of The Godfather features the wedding of Connie Corleone (Talia Shire), an extravagant event, with plates of lasagna, antipasto salad, and a gigantic white wedding cake being carried through the crowd. Throughout the film, food is a way to show trust, it is a way to show good business practices. Oranges are important symbols in all three of The Godfather films, and they often show up when death is imminent. Renaissance Italy, the Medici family in particular, bustled with the orange trade. Oranges symbolize life and regeneration, wealth and stability. Two important scenes in The Godfather have to do with oranges being a harbinger of death. In one scene, Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), being driven around by his son Fredo (John Cazale), asks to get out and buy some fruit. As he picks through the oranges at a market, he is gunned down by an unseen assailant. Later, in the film, we see Don Corleone as a light-hearted grandfather, cavorting in the backyard with his grandson, playing with slices of oranges. It is there that he is felled by a heart attack. The Godfather is incomprehensible without its food. Food is used as humor, food is used as comfort and tradition, and food is used as a way to manipulate your enemies.
Cannolis
Perhaps the most famous line in The Godfather is Don Corleone’s line: “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse”, although “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli” runs a close second. Cannolis, of course, are a staple of Sicilian cuisine, pastry-light tubes filled with creamy filling, so delicate that it is absurd to see them show up in a scene involving a violent murder. Don Corleone must keep everyone in his ranks on track: he has to keep his wild son Sonny (James Caan) on a tight leash, he must watch over his subordinates, he must handle problematic situations and cloak it all in plausible deniability. When it becomes clear that Paulie (John Martino) is a liability to the organization, Don Corleone sends his thug Peter Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) to handle the situation. Clemenza and a hired assassin drive Paulie out into the wilderness of the Meadowlands in New Jersey (the Statue of Liberty is seen gleaming above the waving reeds), and Paulie is shot. It’s quick and brutal, and the businesslike nature of such “hits” is highlighted when Clemenza, dismissing the assassin brusquely, says, “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.” It’s grim. It’s funny. Even assassins deserve delicious desserts!
Tomato Sauce:
One of the most famous “food scenes” in film comes from The Godfather, and the scene highlights the importance of food to the family, and highlights the importance of passing those traditions down. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) has separated himself from his family, he is a war veteran, he has a girlfriend (Diane Keaton) who is not Italian. The family is proud of him, and they protect his innocence, keeping him out of the more dirty operations (at least at the start). But in one scene, Michael is pulled over to the stove by Clemenza, who walks him through how to make tomato sauce with sausage and meatballs because “you might have to cook for twenty guys one day.” Clemenza shows him how to put in oil, garlic, tomato paste, tomatoes. He then pours in the meat, adds wine, adds sugar. In a movie filled with thrilling sequences, the “tomato sauce” scene is a breather before things get violent. It is a reminder that what is happening here, in all senses, is happening because of tradition, the same tradition that created that delicious meaty tomato sauce.
Veal CutletsL
The great Sterling Hayden plays Capt. McCluskey, a corrupt cop on the payroll of one of the other New York crime families. At a crucial moment, he calls off the police guard around Don Corleone’s hospital room, leaving the wounded Don vulnerable and unprotected. Michael, drawn back into the family, knows he (they) must retaliate. An elaborate plan is drawn up, where he will meet McCluskey and Barzini (Richard Conte) at a family restaurant in the Bronx. A gun will be placed in the bathroom for Michael to retrieve during the dinner. The sequence is a thrilling masterpiece, with Michael, a newbie to crime violence, trying to keep himself together, play it cool, not show his hand. Louie’s Restaurant is an isolated and empty establishment, with cold black and white tiles, white linen tablecloths, and hovering deadpan waiters, who have probably seen many hits go down within those walls. The pretense that this will be a friendly business chat, is highlighted by the fact that there is an antipasto salad on the table, wine is being poured. Breaking bread with one another means you establish trust. Sharing food is one of the ways relationships are cemented, and Michael is about to betray that. McCluskey is not Italian, and is unfamiliar with Louie’s, and Barzini says to him, casually, “Try the veal. It’s the best in the city.” McCluskey, napkin tucked under his chin, eats veal cutlets, and Michael sips his wine, taut and coiled with the knowledge that in about 10 minutes, he will go into the back, retrieve the gun, and blow these two gentlemen away. Food or no food, it’s got to be done. And in that moment, Michael Corleone rejoins the family. There will be no going back.
