Scarecrow suggests | Like 'Julie & Julia'? Find more movies about the joy of cooking on DVD

If "Julie & Julia" whets your appetite for more cinematic works celebrating food and the joy of cooking, here are a few of our favorites.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Laura Esquivel, "Like Water For Chocolate" (1993) is a testament to the cathartic power of cooking.

Tita is the youngest of three daughters and, according to Mexican tradition, she must care for their cantankerous mother rather than follow her heart. When she falls madly for a young man named Pedro, he returns her affections, but their love is forbidden.

Instead, Pedro marries her older sister, and Tita and Pedro embark on many years of secret desire.

Tita channels her pain, heartbreak and frustration directly into her elaborate meals. "Like Water For Chocolate" is romantic without resorting to cliché, magical but believably real, and even at times a bit ... spicy.

It's hard to properly summarize the feel of Juzo Itami's "Tampopo" (1986). Some call it a "noodle Western," others see it as a lighthearted commentary on Japanese consumerism, but pretty much everyone agrees it's all about the food.

The main plot crux follows a grizzled truck driver named Goro, who makes it his mission to help the young widow Tampopo turn her modest noodle shop into the best ramen restaurant in town.

Peppered throughout this sweet story are vignettes about anything from "proper" table manners to how a gangster likes his eggs. As our colleague says in "The Scarecrow Movie Guide," "It's strange. It's bizarre. It's playful. It's ironic. It's fabulous!"

Secrets seep throughout "Babette's Feast" (1987). Two deeply pious sisters in a 19th-century Danish town take in Babette, a French political refugee, as a housekeeper and cook.

Years later, Babette happens upon a bit of money and volunteers to prepare an exquisite banquet in honor of their late father, the town's pastor. The feast is nothing short of a masterpiece.

As the courses come and go, the diner's are enriched and enlightened by her act of generosity, and we also learn the truth behind Babette's true identity. The film won an Oscar for best foreign film.

Other tasty recommendations: "Sense & Sensibility" director Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman"; Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci's Italian-fest "Big Night"; the Korean thriller "301/302"; Lasse Hallström's "Chocolat," starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp; Germany's "Mostly Martha," about a perfectionist chef who must care for her young niece after her sister's sudden death, and its Americanized remake, "No Reservations," with Aaron Eckhart and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Contributed by Scarecrow Video, 5030 Roosevelt Way N.E., Seattle; 206-524-8554 or www.scarecrow.com.