This Food Stylist Made 800 Cubano Sandwiches for One Movie

Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin Appenbrink
Kristin is the co-founder of Part Time Vegan and Silent Book Club. As a former editor at Real Simple, she is compulsively organized and loves solving people's problems. She has a weakness for desserts, especially ice cream.
published Feb 25, 2015
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We love getting a peek behind the scenes when it comes to making beautiful food — whether it’s how a cookbook is made, how our favorite bloggers or chefs cook at home, or how movie magic translates to beautiful food on screen.

NPR recently interviewed Melissa McSorley, a chef and food stylist who worked on the movie Chef, for which she estimates she made close to 800 Cubano sandwiches — all of which were perfectly edible.

McSorley also shares her secret for on-screen oysters, which aren’t oysters at all:

“Oysters are always scripted into scenes because they’re very sensual, but many actors don’t want to slurp those down on camera,” she says. “So I tend to make a lot of fake oysters, which I make out of flan — a custard — which I then color and air brush, and I shape it. It perfectly slides out of the oyster shell.”

Get more of her behind-the-scenes secrets over on NPR.

→ Read more: Hollywood Food Stylists Know: You Can’t Film Styrofoam Cake And Eat It, Too from NPR